Who hates Christmas?

[tcklishredhed04]

OK, first of all, I'm sorry that I hate Christmas, but I have good reason(s)!

1. My parents are divorced, holidays SUCK!
2. Christmas music is the worst thing to ever hit the radios (after Ashlee Simpson)
3. I have to look at it and hear about it from before Halloween until New Year's!
4. Christmas trees are messy! Every year I step on a damn pine needle and that hurts!
5. I have to buy things for people! I'm POOR! I can't even buy gas!
6. One word, RELATIVES
7. Unmarried couples sending pictures of themselves as Christmas cards, ew
8. People who go WAY to crazy with their decorations that blind me when I'm staggering home drunk

So if there are any more of you scrooges out there, feel free to complain about the "most wonderful time of the year". I feel your pain

 

[ShiningIce]

Hmm I think redhead needs a little more laughter during the holidays.

 

[lilwolf]

I love Christmas! ^_^

Hope you dont hate me for saying so! ^_~

I don't much care for the gifts and things. It's the deeper meaning behind it all that I love.

If our wonderful redhead needs more laughter for the holidays. She needs only ask!

 

[amk714]

The spirit of Christmas is good (and I'm saying that as a nonreligious person). Unfortunately, it gets lost amid all the commercial hoopla and hype. If the focus was on noble things like peace on Earth and caring about those who are less fortunate than yourself, then the holiday season would be much better. I'd glady sacrifice the ritual of gift-giving (and remember that many presents are returned) and spend the money saved on feeding the poor and hungry. Bah humbug.

 

[amk714]

While I can't say I "hate" Christmas.....it is a very emotional time of year for me; a time of year I hate to admit I dread

To suddenly lose my mother at such an early age (she died at 41; I was only sixteen) was traumatic enough....to lose her only a few days before Christmas was beyond traumatic. I also lost a beloved aunt five years ago on Christmas evening (Dec 25th), so December is a sad time for me; a time when I just want to be left alone (I don't mind a quiet ride through the countryside to view the wonderful decorations; but don't shop much....send gift cards to my loved ones). Also don't care for parties or other holiday events where there's a crowd.

Wow, you've been through a lot, Koo. I hope you make it through Christmas this year, and remember, if you need us, we'll be here for you. Good luck.

 

[Mitchell]

AWW, redhed. I'm sorry to hear about your parents being divorced, and holidays sucking for you.
I'm not thrilled with holidays either. For most of them, it is just my mom and me, because our relatives live far away. Iam Jewish, but totally not religious. In general, holidays havent been my favorite thing in the world since my parents seperated on the Jewish New Year in 1989, and since my grandmother died in 1995. After that, my mom and I barely celebrate any holidays. Having divorced parents sucks on holidays. I've had that for 17 years, and it is awful.
I do hope you can try to have a bit of peace anyway. January 1st isnt that far away.

Mitch

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

I'm not saying it'll work for you, but I watched this:

last nite, and it was the ultimate solution to the Holiday Blues.

 

[venray]

1. My parents are divorced, holidays SUCK!

Celebrate without them. Holidays are a good excuse to party!

2. Christmas music is the worst thing to ever hit the radios (after Ashlee Simpson)

Change the Station. I never listen to them on the radio.(or Ashlee either)

3. I have to look at it and hear about it from before Halloween until New Year's!

I kinda just let it blend into the background and ignore it.

4. Christmas trees are messy! Every year I step on a damn pine needle and
that hurts!

Two words...Artificial Tree..

5. I have to buy things for people! I'm POOR! I can't even buy gas!

Homemade gifts work wonders.(or the dollar store)

6. One word, RELATIVES

Free meals!!!

7. Unmarried couples sending pictures of themselves as Christmas cards, ew

Filed in the circular filing cabinet.

8. People who go WAY to crazy with their decorations that blind me when I'm staggering home drunk

I wear my sunglasses at night.....(c'mon...you KNOW the song...)

Merry Christmas Red......

 

[dskodj]

I def feel your pain red head. Im with ya 100%. Some of the reasons I hate it are a few of the same exact ones you wrote! I also have many of my own not typed above. I'll just say it used to be a decent and happy time of year I loved and looked forward to when I was kid, growin up, in my teens and even when I was married once apon a time. But now days its the time of year I get most down, upset and even majorly pissed off, what more can I say? BAH HUMBUG!

 

[Sultrybrunette]

I also have a hard time with the holidays. My ex and I split up during thanksgiving and that first year between thanksgiving and christmas my furnace went, my engine blew on my car and my water pipes froze. It seems that something falls apart or happens every year. It is depressing when you dont have money also. I know its not supposed to be about the gifts but when you have to tell your children...I am sorry I dont have any money to buy you anything this year...that hurts. Luckily they are old enough where they understand. I used to love Christmas. It was always my favorite time of the year. But Christmas has always been, and will always be, a children's holiday.

 

[Ignatz]

We need a new movie now entitled How Venray Saved Christmas. Sound advice indeed, Hoss.

I still cherish and cling to the core of Christmas, though it gets harder every year. Here are a few tips.

1. Music: Seek out the lesser known Christmas carols and, Venray-like, tune out the threadbare tunes played to death on the radio and the store P.A.'s. The Middle Ages and the Renaissance produced some lovely carols and, if you have the taste for it, there's always the mighty Christmas Oratorio by Bach.

2. Gifts: Avoid the practical. This leads to the vexing question of "What does he/she need this year?" And before you know it, you and your loved ones are, in effect, simply placing orders with each other. Likewise, with the children. Sure, if there's something you know the kiddo has his heart set on, get it for him. But discourage the making of wish lists. If you don't know the child well enough to know what he would like, you shouldn't be buying for him. Same for the grownups.
(I admit I have lost this battle in my own family after fighting the good fight for years. It's gotten so bad with me and my mother that I simply go out and buy myself something, she does the same, then we pretend to exchange gifts on Christmas morning.)

While we're on the subject of gifts, here's something I don't have a solution for, but it gnaws at me.
Have you ever observed a toddler on his or her first Christmas? You have to teach her the drill, of course...put the first present in front of her, help her unwrap it, relish the delight with which she reacts to the wonderful toy inside. Then she settles down happily to play with her new whatsit. Oh, but she has a dozen more gifts under the tree, so you have to take the first present away from her so she can open more. She howls in anguish, of course, but after repeating the scene a time or two finally gets the idea and the pattern is set for life. Obviously, the kiddo would have been happy as a pig in slop just receiving one present. But how are you going to tell Grandpa and Grandma and Aunt Hester and Uncle Charley not to buy something for Baby Dumpling on Christmas? And which parents in this affluent age are going to have the steel to resist showering multiple gifts on their darling(s)?
(I do it myself. I spoil my nieces rotten every year, but that doesn't mean I can't get pleasantly melancholy over the irony.)

 

[isabeau]

While I can't say I "hate" Christmas.....it is a very emotional time of year for me; a time of year I hate to admit I dread

To suddenly lose my mother at such an early age (she died at 41; I was only sixteen) was traumatic enough....to lose her only a few days before Christmas was beyond traumatic. I also lost a beloved aunt five years ago on Christmas evening (Dec 25th), so December is a sad time for me; a time when I just want to be left alone (I don't mind a quiet ride through the countryside to view the wonderful decorations; but don't shop much....send gift cards to my loved ones). Also don't care for parties or other holiday events where there's a crowd.

omg Koochee i'm so sorry. i also dont care for parties. and my dad was actively dying during christmas one year.... and my mom was in a mental hospital one year. and i lost one of my babies close to christmas. i feel your pain i really do.... i'm here for you as well as amk. dang now i am complaining. i do have much to celebrate however. a wonderful husband, who no matter what, is my rock. he can be a major pain, no doubt about that. but he has stuck by me thru thick and thin.

and yes an artificial tree is best, also less expensive, and looks as much as a real one does, at least mine does. and if you want the smell of pine, you can buy those spray bottles, or buy a pine scented candle. and as for gifts, i think gift giving is overrated. if you have children by all means buy or make them gifts. dont go broke thinkiing you must spend and spend. i quit buying for everyone lately. and a nice drive looking at lights is a great way to spend quality time together. just a few thoughts there/

i dont hate christmas, i am stilll a child at heart, and even listen for santa on christmas eve lol.

and as clicheish as this sounds, if you are religious, go to church, and remember the true meaning, and i'm not trying to preach....

isabeau

 

[Knox The Hatter]

To me, it's just like a whole month of stress. I don't even enjoy it anymore.

I especially dislike it when I have to be there for when my wife's family has their bash. I feel as much out of place with these people as would a Bedou sheepherder. I have nothing in common with these people whatsoever, and lately, it's become a drudgery...especially since my own family's not around anymore, and I can't get down to see them. At my wife's family's party, I think I would actually have more of a fun conversation with the food processor in the kitchen than I would any of her relatives.

I've already talked about the Christmas music. There's plenty of ersatz joy, but no humor. Tiny Tim, or even William Shatner singing "Silver Bells"? That's humor. Lou Monte singing "Dominic the Donkey"? That's stupid. And, here, you get two months of it.

Today, I get to help Mrs Knox decorate the house. Which is nice, I guess...but it's all for her.

 

[isabeau]

wow Knox you and i have so much in common. i also have nothing in common at all with my inlaws. lately however i deal with it by tuning them out when i have to visit lol.

isabeau

btw redhead you are adorable....

 

[Knox The Hatter]

I usually just sit there, among them, and they're all talking to each other, but no one is conversing with me, but it's like, I have no desire to be conversing with them. The things they discuss never had anything to do with me. I'm not a part of their family, any more than a Bedouin sheepherder would be, or a Martian. But then, I think it's me, really. Last year, one of the kids in the family, who's now 14, came over and sat with me and made conversation with me, and it changed the outlook somewhat, but, for the most part, my wife's family I have nothing in common with. Now, my family...we'd have discussions (arguments) on pop culture, politics, current events, stuff like that, and while it gets kind of irritating at times, it's never dull. My wife's family talks about...well, who knows what they talk about. I think this year, I have a date with the TV set.

 

[Storm_Cat]

OK, first of all, I'm sorry that I hate Christmas, but I have good reason(s)!

1. My parents are divorced, holidays SUCK!
2. Christmas music is the worst thing to ever hit the radios (after Ashlee Simpson)
3. I have to look at it and hear about it from before Halloween until New Year's!
4. Christmas trees are messy! Every year I step on a damn pine needle and that hurts!
5. I have to buy things for people! I'm POOR! I can't even buy gas!
6. One word, RELATIVES
7. Unmarried couples sending pictures of themselves as Christmas cards, ew
8. People who go WAY to crazy with their decorations that blind me when I'm staggering home drunk

So if there are any more of you scrooges out there, feel free to complain about the "most wonderful time of the year". I feel your pain

...feelin' a little emo, luv?

answer to #1= my dad is dead!
answer to #2= I'm getting the "unrated" (n00die) release of "Dukes of Hazzard" - or - listen to Death /\/\etal for revenge's sake ... !!
answer to #3= two words ... blindfold ... earplugs
answer to #4= barefoot? ... even in the winter? ... my kinda gurl ... !! (I'll help you get that pine needle outta your foot ... !!)
answer to #5= steal it! ... the ultimate Scrooge ... !!
answer to #6= be happy it's only once a year!
answer to #7= well, ... honestly, ... I don't have that problem
answer to #8= staggering home drunk? ... definitely my kinda gurl ... !!

post more piccies, red ... !! ... outside of the laundry room ... !!!

 

[Knox The Hatter]

My family? They're all down in Florida now, and I don't have the money to go down and see them right now. I might go after the new year, if things hold out. Who knows?

Mrs Knox and I share our own Christmas traditions together, watching certain programs, which are on video now, thank God, and we don't have to adhere to a network schedule...we have our own way of decorating a tree...stuff like that...but lately, it all seems like it's done by rote.

 

[CaptainQuantum]

While I can't say I "hate" Christmas.....it is a very emotional time of year for me; a time of year I hate to admit I dread

To suddenly lose my mother at such an early age (she died at 41; I was only sixteen) was traumatic enough....to lose her only a few days before Christmas was beyond traumatic. I also lost a beloved aunt five years ago on Christmas evening (Dec 25th)

Damn, I can't imagine what that must've been like, except that I was very close with my granparents (on my mom's side; my grandparents on my dad's side both died before I was born). My grandpa died in late october and was buried on holloween so that was fairly close to Christmas. That took everything out of my grandma, she was never quite the same and she died 5 years later, a little bit before Easter. My grandma has been gone 9 years and my grandpa 14. And I still shed tears sometimes from missing them. Makes the holidays difficult for me too.

Also, and some of you will find this pretty stupid. But there was an exotic dancer at a club where I used to go to who I was MADLY in love with. We hung out once outside the club, not a date really cause she just liked me as a friend unfortunately. I've since lost touch with her cause the club got shut down. That also makes the holidays difficult for me cause I never really got over her. Even though like I said some of you will think it really silly. And I'm in no way comparing that to what happened with your loved ones, Kooch.

Oh, and having depression doesn't help either. Cause this other stuff probably wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't.

 

[CaptainQuantum]

2. Christmas music is the worst thing to ever hit the radios (after Ashlee Simpson)

I don't know if you care for Queen much, but they made a Christmas song in the early 80s called "thank God its christmas". Its kinda saying that the concept of God gives people (supposedly) a reason to be decent to each other one day a year, and why can't they be that way every day.

4. Christmas trees are messy! Every year I step on a damn pine needle and that hurts!

No doubt because your poor soles are so sensitive

8. People who go WAY to crazy with their decorations that blind me when I'm staggering home drunk

TOO funny!

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

Seriously.

Rent some old Xmas horror-flicks, lock yourself in a dark room with a DVD/VHS player and some pizza or popcorn, and get relief from the Seasonal bombardment that hits you as soon as you walk out the door/turn on the radio or TV/answer the phone/check the mail.
It just makes for a nice break from the constant holly-jolly-harrassment.

 

[Kitten_Kat]

I don't HATE Christmas. I just don't like certain things about it.

1.) Wasting money on gifts people end up breaking by the end of the day.
2.) Getting GANG tickled by over 12 cousins and such, some older then me. (Hey, I like tickling >:3 But sometimes its too much to handle T.T)
3.) Christmas trees that are fake annoy me because they don't smell nice, real one annoy me because they drop needles EVERYWHERE.

Plus. Its just to hard to get things done at Christmas time. Hurrah for Online Shopping and Gift cards!!!

 

[Mimi]

I get frustrated and stressed with Christmas. So much to do, so little time, so many busy stores and rude people and bad weather and insanity all around. Then we have the joy of trying to buy for two boys who will play with nothing but video games, and the games they want cost $50-$60 a piece, and with 4 kids and limited money to begin with, we can only do so much, and THAT hurts (though, thankfully, the two girls are super easy to buy for).

But then Christmas day comes. And we see the delight on their faces as they open their gifts...and even if that materialism defeats the purpose of Christmas, it's still a great moment as a parent...that you can give them joy like that when life is often filled with pain and hardship and confusion...but for this single morning all is right and warm and perfect with the world, at least from your personal view on the living room floor. That is what gets me through, and makes it all worthwhile.

In the years to come we won't be able to make all right and well in their lives with a single present on Christmas morning, so I'm going to enjoy the simplicity of it all while I can.

Mimi

 

[goddess_nemesis]

maybe it's because i'm young person, but i absolutely love christmas. and it's not because of the gifts i get (cause most of time i get really shitty ones. ), but it's because i get to spend it with my family. every year we go to my paternal grandparents' home and celebrate christmas together. it's even more special because my aunt and uncle from down south come up north and visit for awhile. we are a tight knit family and it'll be a little difficult this year without my paternal grandfather (he passed away in this past June) because christmas was his favorite because we were all together under one roof.

and i'll admit people do go over board for christmas and every year the season seems to start sooner and sooner, but that's only because it seems like you have less and less time to get everything done in time for Christmas.

 

[Hiryu]

I used to enjoy Christmas back when my family would get together and all but, in the past few years we've all drifted apart so, I really don't care anymore. Also I believe we have turned it into a day of greed as though it is our birthday instead of Christ's.

 

[Feathery]

I Love Christmas!

I really love the whole Christmas season! It's the last bit of fun for the year, before settling into the doldrums of winter.

I suppose it also appeals to my optimistic nature. Like the little boy who has been bad all year and wakes up on Christmas morning, only to find manure in his stocking. He looks up and smiles, his eyes twinkling, "Oh boy, I know there's a pony around here somewhere!"