Should I feel guilty for hating Christmas?

Misfit

Lawful neutral
Everything seems to say Christmas is the best time of year. Jesus was born to save everybody, Santa brings the kids presents. My TV has Claymation snowmen, Winter Warlock’s and the Abominable Snowman all over the place. Every commercial has a happy family’s sitting around a fireplace giving each other stuff, laughing… or a good looking couple in love sharing romantic moments. Meanwhile every year I mope around grumbly and sad. I did have some significant life moments occur around this time of year. When I was a kid one of my best friend’s house caught fire and he died a couple days before Christmas and I always remember my parents fighting around the holidays. The great Thanksgiving brawl of 1983 sticks out vividly, but I still like turkey day. :shrug:

Anyhoo, I feel guilty for not liking this time of year and I wish it was spring. :frown:
 
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Larry Gude

Strung Out
Depends on what Christmas means to YOU.

I HATE black Friday and feel like it is this sick thing but, it doesn't ruin Thanksgiving for me because Thanksgiving, for me, is the meal and the people I don't see very often and the mood and the conversation. I hate the commercial aspects of Christmas and the whole thing has long been hard to swallow; Christ's Birthday, so, let's have some super hero fat guy do the impossible with a sled, flying reindeer and hit every house in the world with toys to celebrate our savior. :yahoo:

So, I get into the kid aspect and the family gathering part. I mean, we're always looking for reasons to celebrate. So, is it really all that absurd, the Christ birthday, Santa thing? I mean, it is but, we're people so, what's not absurd? :lol:

if you need deeper meaning, the winter solstice is real and it does have physiological effects on us so, there is that. :buddies:
 

Amused_despair

New Member
I tend to feel guilty if I have a disparaging thought about someone I do not even know, a thought that I never vocalize but just keep in my head. Since Jesus' birthday was probably in the Spring or Summer time and we actually celebrate the birthday of the bull god Mithra on December 25 I think you are OK in not having a love affair with Christmas. Many people, myself included, have had bad things happen this time of year which tends to sour our happy-happy-joy-joy outlook on the festive season. I am not a big fan of turkey and cranberry sauce so Thanksgiving isn't a big holiday to me. I prefer the traditional chili-making holiday of St. Patrick's Day. I try to keep the joy of Christmas for the little kids and my immediate family and keep a positive outlook. I enjoy baking cookies so this is by tradition the perfect time for baking goods for others so that they too may become overweight like me. It is the gift of sharing :)
 

BadGirl

I am so very blessed
I hate Christmas, too. It wouldn't be hard for me to completely ignore it, but I have a son to think of, so despite what I feel about it, I feel like I have to do something for him.

I immensely dislike the music, the "Season's Greetings" messages, and I hate, hate, hate the presents - buying them, wrapping them, giving them, getting them, and paying for them. To date, I haven't bought the first present, and I really hope that I don't break down and buy one - I didn't buy any last year, and it felt great to not have that stress on my shoulders.

I wish I could just fast-forward through the next two weeks.
 

Dakota

~~~~~~~
I miss the "old" Christmas where people actually took the time to celebrate the true meaning of it.

Old Christmas to me is when I was a kid. Now those were the days. I got yummy treats and gifts and didn't have to deal with the expense or effort.
 

Misfit

Lawful neutral
My wife decorates the house like Santa’s village and it makes me want to cut my wrists with a shard of Christmas bulb. I end up cleaning up tinsel for 6 months. It gets tied up in the vacuum cleaner bristles and I always end up trying to find a stick outside to get the glittering string of poop that’s dangling from the dogs butt while he’s looking at me with his help me face, plus I always end up eating and drinking too much so I’m always hung over with heart burn. None of this happens during Halloween.
 

MMDad

Lem Putt
I used to hate Christmas with the commercialization, crowds, and hypocrisy. But I've figured out how to minimize my exposure to the negatives and only experience it the way I want to. I used to feel obligated to go to the parties where all the coworkers who hate each other during the day pretend to be friends as they get falling down drunk. Now I just spend some time with the kids. I don't wait in long lines for a poor imitation Santa.

But I completely understand the hate of Christmas, as contacts with certain family members remind me of just how dysfunctional some of those "happy holidays" can be. I'm just glad they are 2,000 miles away.
 

Bay_Kat

Tropical
My wife decorates the house like Santa’s village and it makes me want to cut my wrists with a shard of Christmas bulb. I end up cleaning up tinsel for 6 months. It gets tied up in the vacuum cleaner bristles and I always end up trying to find a stick outside to get the glittering string of poop that’s dangling from the dogs butt while he’s looking at me with his help me face, plus I always end up eating and drinking too much so I’m always hung over with heart burn. None of this happens during Halloween.

Okay, I had to laugh at this. Sorry. :lmao:
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
The Grinch hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season. Now please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason....

I immensely dislike the music, the "Season's Greetings" messages, and I hate, hate, hate the presents - buying them, wrapping them, giving them, getting them, and paying for them. To date, I haven't bought the first present, and I really hope that I don't break down and buy one - I didn't buy any last year, and it felt great to not have that stress on my shoulders.

This always surprises me about you because you're so generous, love to celebrate and cook, and are so into your family. You should be a natural for Christmas.

Have you always hated Christmas or is this something that came on as an adult?
 

BadGirl

I am so very blessed
The Grinch hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season. Now please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason....



This always surprises me about you because you're so generous, love to celebrate and cook, and are so into your family. You should be a natural for Christmas.

Have you always hated Christmas or is this something that came on as an adult?
But see, for the reasons you mention, is why I LOVE LOVE LOVE Thanksgiving. I get to have all of the cool family togetherness (and I do ADORE my family), but I get to have all of that without the pressure of buying presents and going in to debt to do it.

I don't have wonderful memories of Christmas as a kid (but don't think I had a crappy Christmas....I just have very few memories of a kid in general). I do think that my Christmas tree is beautiful. :yay:

I guess my frustration with Christmas is borne from disappointment: from getting presents that I don't need/want/like, to giving presents that were an ill-fit for the recipient, despite me making my best effort to find the perfect gift. And the idea of buying presents for people I don't even like just pisses me off. I do best if I can just totally avoid the present giving/getting part of the holiday. BUT, I do like to grab something off of my shelves that I've made (homemade jelly/jams/pickles,etc) and just give it to someone who would appreciate it .... with no expectation of getting something in return.

There is also so much frenzy involved in Christmas. I get super-involved for Thanksgiving, that by the time Christmas comes around, I am just burnt out and I feel like I have nothing to celebrate. All I want to do is rest, watch really bad Lifetime movies on tv, eat deliciously 'bad' food, and nap when I want, and - generally - just have a lazy day.

Fundamentally, I just hate spending money, and shopping gives me great anxiety. And let's not even talk about all of the crowds that make me cringe. The NOISE! The PUSHING! The KIDS SCREAMING! The FULL PARKING LOTS! The ARMS FULL OF PACKAGES THAT I HATE CARRYING AROUND! All of that just totally sucks for me; I have no joy in it at all.

If I just skip the present aspect of Christmas, I think I'd like it a whole lot better.
 
For some reason Ive come around and like it again. For most of my adult life I did not. I wont beat a dead horse- but xmas has NEVER meant someone's bday for me. I grew up without religion and find the stories laughable and have yet to meet anyone that humbly celebrates xmas, like the stories say people once did or should. I dont like hearing from other parents the long list of brand name garbage they bought their kids, so little of it needful things- more like wants. It saddens me to hear from friends the fights the grandparents have over whose house the kids will open presents at first. The stores stuffed with china made crap no one needs but people clamor for like its some sort of emergency.

We just did a gift exchange at work -$10 max- and IMO- we all should have banded together and gave that money to a food pantry- not trade around mugs, candles and gift cards (again- no one needs or barely wants)

There is a lot more wrong with xmas IMO, that I could name- but I am thankful that over the years my family has found a way to enjoy this season. Id rather be somewhere warm, Id rather the world gave up on religion, Id rather we gave to those in need more than we as humans do....

However, my children have learned to be very thankful for small tokens. They give to each other generously and ask for so little. We get a day or 2 or 3 off (4 this year!) that we spend together eating great food, with no pressures to get anywhere fast. We reconnect and are thankful for the day marked on the calender that says Stay Home-Enjoy Each Other- (your calender probably simply says...Christmas)
 

PsyOps

Pixelated
Everything seems to say Christmas is the best time of year. Jesus was born to save everybody, Santa brings the kids presents. My TV has Claymation snowmen, Winter Warlock’s and the Abominable Snowman all over the place. Every commercial has a happy family’s sitting around a fireplace giving each other stuff, laughing… or a good looking couple in love sharing romantic moments. Meanwhile every year I mope around grumbly and sad. I did have some significant life moments occur around this time of year. When I was a kid one of my best friend’s house caught fire and he died a couple days before Christmas and I always remember my parents fighting around the holidays. The great Thanksgiving brawl of 1983 sticks out vividly, but I still like turkey day. :shrug:

Anyhoo, I feel guilty for not liking this time of year and I wish it was spring. :frown:

Go find someone truly in need and buy them something, make them a dinner, something... Send something to one of our troops:

https://operationshoebox.com/

http://www.christmasforourtroops.org/

http://www.treesfortroops.org/dnn/default.aspx

You'll feel better, I promise.
 
I don't have wonderful memories of Christmas as a kid (but don't think I had a crappy Christmas....I just have very few memories of a kid in general).
And this ^ is why I'm very glad you haven't chosen to totally ignore the Christmas holiday. The traditions you and itsbob chose to put in place will carry on as memories and set the basis for how your son looks at Christmas and handles it when he has a family of his own or a S/O that he'll be expected to share the holidays with long after he leaves you two and has his life of his own.

My immediate family has unconventional traditions when it comes to the various holidays. My husband's family is very traditional and family oriented for ALL of the holidays. My kids are exposed to both and as a result I see them react to both sides of the fence and am watching them come to conclusions on their own about what they'll carry forward in life.

Memories fade and get twisted with time... the efforts you put in now during his developing years will be the legacy you two leave with him forever.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, etc... :huggy:
 

Misfit

Lawful neutral

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Fundamentally, I just hate spending money, and shopping gives me great anxiety. And let's not even talk about all of the crowds that make me cringe. The NOISE! The PUSHING! The KIDS SCREAMING! The FULL PARKING LOTS! The ARMS FULL OF PACKAGES THAT I HATE CARRYING AROUND! All of that just totally sucks for me; I have no joy in it at all.

If I just skip the present aspect of Christmas, I think I'd like it a whole lot better.

aHA!

See, I don't do that - buy a lot of crap for people who don't want or need it. I buy for my kids, my grands, and my folks and that's it. Neal and I stocking stuffed for each other, and I put goodies in Apollo's stocking. Most was bought online while I sipped a cup of cinnamon coffee. Zero frenzy.

I do not understand the attraction to Black Friday shopping and going into debt buying a bunch of stuff for everyone you know, but tons of people do it every year.

Nuts.

I'm more into the nice part of Christmas, where you smile and greet people you'd normally ignore. I like saying "Merry Christmas" to the checker at Target and having her say it back to me. I like Christmas carols. I LOVE! getting newsy brag letters from friends in my Christmas card. I like all the parties and happy hours. I like how the apartment looks all decorated and festive.

But I agree with Misfit - tinsel was invented by Satan. I didn't think anyone even did that nonsense anymore.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron

RoseRed

American Beauty
PREMO Member
I volunteered at the soup kitchen for almost a year but got discouraged serving people with base badges. I see what you're getting at though. A selfless service might change my focus.

Really? Professionals or service workers?
 
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