Has Christmas had its Day ?....

[PriorityOne]

I have just "cancelled" Christmas ... not because I'm a humbug and hate having fun, buying gifts and the like, but because I simply can't afford it. In fact, I'm sick of what Christmas has become.

One day of the year is stretched out before us as a magical time of gathering around, happiness buying for this person and that person, dressing up, seeing smiling faces, stars in the sky, snow on the ground... blah, blah. The very next day, we get bombarded with adverts to spend even more money in the sales. Retail workers don't even get a proper break.... neither do hospital staff, carers, police officers.... and various others I can think of.

In reality, Christmas is now used as an excuse for retailers to make a fast buck.... even cards are on sale from August onwards ! It's a time of immense pressure financially.... and because of this, the true meaning of Christmas just isn't there any more. It shouldn't be all about rushing around buying presents for all and sundry and stocking up on food as if there's a famine coming .... not for me anyway.

So, I have told my (extended) family and all my friends not to buy me a gift this year.... because they certianly won't be getting one... lol .... and I don't need gifts from people in the same boat as myself anyway.

So far, it's been relief all round ! .

[diskmandave]

In fact, I'm sick of what Christmas has become.

An extra excuse to get more ratted than normal, in the name of Christmas of course!!

Bring it on!

[Woolleykat]

Don't like Christmas myself P1

reasons to be cheerful are none
My birthday for one - brill - not
Too much hype too soon so spoils it - whatever happened to an orange and a few bits in a stocking??
Hate doing the decs so don't do much and even then about 2 days before said day ( and taken down soonest)
Does this make me a scrooge???

I find it a lonely time as no one , neigbours etc. ever come round for a drink or anything these days so where is the spirit - apart from in said bottle which you've got 1 each.

[bazak1]

yep. have to agree.
christmas is commercialised WAYYYYYY too much. by the time christmas eve actually gets here, everyone i know is sick of hearing the carols etc. it has no religious meaning now in 95% of families, and basically only lasts as long as it takes the kids to rip the paper of their presents.
our decs go up sometime in the first week of december ( and that is too soon, but OH and kids complain ), and they are taken down again after dinner on new years day, and are back in the attic before the james bond film comes on.

[PriorityOne]

Originally Posted by Woolleykat

Don't like Christmas myself P1

I find it a lonely time as no one , neigbours etc. ever come round for a drink or anything these days so where is the spirit - apart from in said bottle which you've got 1 each.

I just think the whole thing's become a farce....

I get the decs. out, the old faithful tree comes down from the loft, etc... I love cooking Christmas dinner.... and I love curling up indoors.

BUT.... I don't like battling my way through crowds buying gifts I can't really afford, listening to Slade every year wishing "it could be Xmas every day"... and so on.

I just hate the pressure of it all.

Guess that makes me a Humbug after all.... but a Scrooge by circumstance.

[Rooster-UK]

Christmas, for me, is MAGIC.

But then we've always had a houseful of kids at Christmas.
Our own kids, and their mates and cousins, and now the Grandkids.
The magic of Christmases when I was a small boy is continued, almost unbroken, by the fact that there are always very young children in the house.
Christmas is a time of magic to young children....and that sense of magic rubs off.

Christmas? I love it.

[Woolleykat]

Rooster - that's how it's meant to be - all about the kids and the expectation in the couple of weeks run up - but not the starting months before and the endless that's what little Johnnies getting I want better, tele says Barbie X is better than Barbie Y so thats the one I want, nothing else will do. Oh! and must get the biggest turkey that will last till Easter, with matching pudding (which will probably last same) When of course you buy the next one - turkey that is.

[bazak1]

i know this isnt strictly what the threads about, but it just saves opening another one about christmas. does anyone have any routines that HAS to be done as a family tradition kind of thing. for instance, i ALWAYS cook a piece of pork and sausage with bacon wrapped around them ( pigs in blankets ), EVERY christmas eve, and have done for years.

[Woolleykat]

YOU cook it Baz - never happened when I was at home - was a woman thing then - however - always in my house - kids had stocking hung on bedroom door, pie and glass of left outside door for Rudolph and Santa, then main pressies left downstairs (god help the stairs if they creaked) followed by frantic opening of pressies at 4a.m followed by coffee with brandy in it. Then to parents to drop pressies off, followed by friends for drink, back to cook where hopefully remebered to put turkey on at 7 am stess stress stress, more drink - didn't want dinner in end. Now days wake up drink, drink, pressies, drink, steak and chips or something, drink , birthday pressies, drink, bed.

Oh Baz ! Can't beat homemade christmas pud with extra DRINK - cept now we don't eat it (no one likes sweet stuff - xcept me of course)

God what a rant - Happy christmas Baz

[bazak1]

happy christmas to you too woolley.
it was great when i was a kid, but as you get older it loses its appeal. then kids are born and its great again as rooster said. kids are now in teens and look forward to pressies that when opened contain clothes/trainers that are named, jewellery, top of the range perfume/aftershave, but still they love a selection box.
a guy who i work with was talking about all this weeks ago and he strongly believes that in a few more years christmas will have disappeared off the calendar altogether. although it can be a pain sometimes, i do hope it survives.

[Woolleykat]

So do I - even though don't like it much - only reason being my birthday too - bad luck hey!!

[bazak1]

it is but there wasnt a lot you could do about that, was there.
enjoy both your birthday and christmas and i hope you get all you long for, honestly.

[Woolleykat]

Peace and Goodwill to all men?? What am I saying I'M AN ANGEL - only joking - stallions not included lol - being a bit disloyal here but wasn't it angel Gabriel (man or mouse!!!) who saw to Mary - I mean came down to see Mary

[Bookworm]

Christmas?

[dave]

Just turn the TV off - or better still, get rid of it altogether.

I haven't seen any adverts for Christmas, and I'm pretty sure I won't anytime soon!

The only time I will know it's Christmas - apart from the date obviously - is if people put decorations up in the village.

Perfect.

[tiglet]

I LOVE christmas!!!! The whole thing, not just the day.

Carols around the guildhall, the lights, the children so excited they nearly wet themselves, granparents slightly tipsy and mellow, planning the menu and the decorations and presents weeks in advance - it's wonderful!

And not just for the kids - it's about things starting - the Nativity, New Year, Winter Solstice - it's all about new beginnings and positivity.

It only becomes commercial if you let it. Try to remember all of the wonderful things about it - smile, be happy and enjoy what you have got, not think about what you couldn't afford. Haven't got money to spend on presents - make them priority! A massage for a partner, a meal cooked for a friend, a blank book for a parent to write down their memories so you have them forever. there's so much you can do to show people you love them if you just put the thought in. And that's the part about Christmas I love the most - thinking about how to make it special for other people, which, in turn, makes it special for me.

Don't be grumpy boys and girls, or Santa won't come, you know ...