Anyone else hate Christmas?

[andy68]

BAH HUMBUG

[Evening Star]

Let me be the first to wish you a Happy Easter.

I Hate December 25th, 26th, 31st & Jan 1st. All a load of bunkum, which costs me holiday & money.

['daiking']

I like Christmas but have just had to write 25 cards to my son's nursery classmates, that I did not like.

[PhilP1903]

I like and enjoy Christmas as i get to spend time with family and friends, it should be a sad time for me as my sister died last month and a good friend of mine committed suicide on Xmas eve 4 years ago, but i use this to strengthen my resolve and thank my family and friends for being there for me and also make sure i am there for them. I do find it sad that it is less of a religious festival any more and wish that it was not so commercial. I also detest that commercialism starts advertising xmas and putting xmas decorations up at the end of October because by the time xmas arrives everybody is totally sick of it.

[jrw]

Can't stand Christmas for the following reasons...

1. Expensive waste of money buying people a load of old crap they don't need

2. Pretending to like people you couldn't care less about the other 51 weeks of the year.

3. Having to spend too much time with relatives who treat you like **** all the time and you can't have a go at otherwise you'll have "ruined their Christmas"

4. Over sentimental repetitive music that comes out every bloody year.

5. Pressure to be "sociable" with people you work with. See 2.

6. Kids watching every commercial break exclaiming "I want that!"

7. Present competition with ex-wives/husbands, trying to out do whatever you've bought.

8. Travelling to see relatives. See 3.

Plus a few others I've forgotten for now.

Is it just me?

1. Agree

2. Agree but getting better at not bothering with people i don't care about and vice versa as i get older

3. Agree and see 2

4. Disagree - music is the best bit!

5. See 2 and don't bother with all that anymore, too much bitching at my place.

6. N/A

7. N/A

8. Disagree. This is another enjoyable part if they don't come under 3!

9. The effort you have to go to, to decorate your house for 3 weeks of the year and seeing the neighbourhood trying to outdo one another with lights (I have none outside my house!)

Overall i think xmas is a total waste but it is a good chance to spend time with people you don't usually get chance to spend time with and to drink and be merry.

[matt_theforce]

Can't stand Christmas for the following reasons...

1. Expensive waste of money buying people a load of old crap they don't need

2. Pretending to like people you couldn't care less about the other 51 weeks of the year.

3. Having to spend too much time with relatives who treat you like **** all the time and you can't have a go at otherwise you'll have "ruined their Christmas"

4. Over sentimental repetitive music that comes out every bloody year.

5. Pressure to be "sociable" with people you work with. See 2.

6. Kids watching every commercial break exclaiming "I want that!"

7. Present competition with ex-wives/husbands, trying to out do whatever you've bought.

8. Travelling to see relatives. See 3.

Plus a few others I've forgotten for now.

Is it just me?

Nope

Before SWMBO and I had kids, Christmas would see us travelling from St Albans to Wetherby on Xmas Eve, then seeing both sets of parents on xmas day, grandparents on Boxing Day then back to St Albans to have a day or so to ourselves before going back to work.

Since having kids we have said every year that Xmas Day we are staying at home so the boys can spend time with their presents, we host an open house and any family member is welcome on Xmas day but we refuse to travel anywhere. This year is a slight exception for me, its the 1st time in 4years I've not worked Xmas day and really looking forward to spending the whole day with my boys and wife.

Our boys often say 'I want that' but only have 1 TV in the house (which we regulate what they watch) limits this, we hear it more from the Argos Catalogue

Matthew

[gac]

1. Expensive waste of money buying people a load of old crap they don't need

2. Pretending to like people you couldn't care less about the other 51 weeks of the year.

3. Having to spend too much time with relatives who treat you like **** all the time and you can't have a go at otherwise you'll have "ruined their Christmas"

4. Over sentimental repetitive music that comes out every bloody year.

5. Pressure to be "sociable" with people you work with. See 2.

6. Kids watching every commercial break exclaiming "I want that!"

7. Present competition with ex-wives/husbands, trying to out do whatever you've bought.

8. Travelling to see relatives. See 3.

1) I only buy things people want (this year my dad's getting a book he's been after, which he told me about, £20 and he'll be happy with just that) or generic things like chocolates

2) None of that in our family, we only see the people we care about, everyone else can swivel

3) See 2, Christmas Day will be me, my parents and my gran for the morning, then probably visiting a friend with my daughter in the afternoon

4) Yep, drives me nuts. Car is loaded up with several MP3 discs of trance/dance/dubstep so I don't have to listen to Dominic the sodding Donkey every day on my way to work

5) Everyone knows at work I don't do any social engagements anyway, I haven't been to a single one of our Christmas parties or graduation parties in 10 years, so they don't bother asking now

6) My daughter doesn't do this at all, she's a legend. I had to practically sit her down and force her to write a list for Santa, after about half an hour she'd only thought of 4 things to put on it.

7) Thankfully, she'll get what she's given and like it. In the good, non-sarcastic way.

8) Most of our family is local, the one's who've moved away are mostly the swivelers from point 2...

To add to your list, I don't do cards or any of the other usual workplace stuff, those who I actually like I'll stick my head around their office door and wish them a happy Christmas in person, those who I don't like can watch me doing it and feel left out

It has changed since my daughter was born, but I still don't really get into it apart from when she's staying with me rather than her mum. Bah humbug all round

[Sonner]

i like boxing day as i get to see all my family uncle/aunties, grandparents etc etc.

but i hate the commericalism.

i go to church to remind myself WHY we are actually celebrating.

I have bought my partner, mother, sister, brother ABSOLUTELY nothing for christmas.

I got my dad a tray of ferrio roche things as i know he likes them but i'm not wrapping it.

I live with my dad and we don't have a christmas tree or any decorations and haven't for the past 4yrs.

I love it that way. i avoid shopping centres around christmas time because of the music

[MartynVRS]

I'm not keen on it especially when you're single it's always harder. Really hate the commercialism of it. My dad always puts decorations but and I always tell him what's the point. I only buy for my cousins little girl who's 2.

[Web Ferret]

Glad its not just me - too commercialised and I don't like what Christmas has become.

I've been putting off writing cards to relatives I've not seen for years nor want to but my mum gets hassle if I don't send cards to them all. Here I am on forums rather than doing the cards I vowed to do tonight. Still, its only early

I like giving stuff that is a real surprise but that's hard year on year. I hate buying cr@p just because. I really dislike the office secret santa, I buy some cr@p for someone and they buy me some cra@p. I'd rather have a gallon of diesel.

Its more the festival of shopping rather than true Christmas. Good cheer is fine and a few days off the grind but its not special any more just more grief and hassle.

Told the wife not to buy me any tat. Simplest way to please a man is to strip off and pour a beer - Summer or winter. (Same goes for all persuasions).

Edited 12 December, 2011 by Web Ferret

[cjb]

Can't stand Christmas for the following reasons...

1. Expensive waste of money buying people a load of old crap they don't need

2. Pretending to like people you couldn't care less about the other 51 weeks of the year.

3. Having to spend too much time with relatives who treat you like **** all the time and you can't have a go at otherwise you'll have "ruined their Christmas"

4. Over sentimental repetitive music that comes out every bloody year.

5. Pressure to be "sociable" with people you work with. See 2.

6. Kids watching every commercial break exclaiming "I want that!"

7. Present competition with ex-wives/husbands, trying to out do whatever you've bought.

8. Travelling to see relatives. See 3.

Plus a few others I've forgotten for now.

Is it just me?

I like Christmas, but hate No.1. The others don't affect me: I don't see/socialise with people I don't like, including relatives. Some of the music bothers me, as do the adverts. I don't have kids or an ex-wife, so 6 & 7 don't apply, and all my relatives live within a few miles, so I can walk.

The commercialism really gets on my nerves, especially when it starts in August. I personally think Christmas should be illegal until Dec 1.

[cjb]

Christmas is OK if you're religous

I strongly think we should take the religion out of Christmas.

[David 8]

Wow the milk of human kindness overuneth in here lol

Various reasons (like some of you say not so memorable events) I can understand, and lack of kids doesn't help.

The rest of you are just miserable

I got bored of it when single it was just a big **** up, but the kids love it these days. If you have young kids I find it hard to understand how you can not enjoy it

And I do agree about it getting earlier each year

[2SkodaFamily]

I'm really not sure what started it off for me. As a kid, of course I loved Christmas and opening my own presents, but I used to really love the look on my mum's face when she opened her presents. She always seemed genuinely thrilled with whatever she got, bless her.

My mum died in November, 20 years ago. The first Christmas afterwards my sisters and I wanted to "do" Christmas to give ourselves a bit of a lift but my dad refused to participate in any way. So we went round to my eldest sister's place and spent Christmas there. My dad spent it alone in the house. It was a bit like losing both my parents in one go.

There's been a couple of major family falling-outs over Christmas since then, and that's even before I got married/divorced/remarried!

These days what with work, home chores and travelling to take kids to ex wives/husbands, me and SWMBO hardly get a moment to ourselves. If I ask my ex-wife for my kids early (this year I get them on Boxing Day for the first time) I get a gobful; if I ask for them later I get a gobful because she'll have some self-interested motive (i.e. going away without the kids or New Year's Eve) which she'll dress up as "me not doing my bit with the kids".

At Christmas it just seems if we go and stay with relatives, we get the usual family goings-on, and if we stay at home we're just run ragged all week as well, so it's a no-win situation. I personally can't wait for January and everything to get back to normal.

Oh, and the house is already busting at the seams with toys etc. In two weeks time we'll have another load of old tat, and another year's worth of carp will go up into an already over-ful loft.

[SNH]

Christmas is about my kids normally but this year I'll be making an extra special effort with my mum and grandad as we've recently lost my grandma so this will be our first Christmas without her :(

I don't believe in buying/wasting money on the adults!

I'm not 2 faced so people of no interest and that I don't like already no this so dont need to pretend just for Christmas. (can't stand fake 2 faced people)

My girls are also fab in the respect that they don't want everything they see and never say "I want that and that and that"

It is very over commercialised tho!

[PhilP1903]

Wow the milk of human kindness overuneth in here lol

Various reasons (like some of you say not so memorable events) I can understand, and lack of kids doesn't help.

The rest of you are just miserable

I got bored of it when single it was just a big **** up, but the kids love it these days. If you have young kids I find it hard to understand how you can not enjoy it

And I do agree about it getting earlier each year

[Mike Wrightson]

When you work in retail, Christmas is the worst time of the year. If you're in food retail, you work like slaves up to Xmas, if you are in other retail, you work like slaves from boxing day.

I get Xmas day off. That's it, so I will spend it with family