why do people hate Christmas?

[DannyGirl]

As the title says really, when its comes to Christmas I love it and I go back in time and become a six year old again. I love the lights, the presents, :present: the food,:chicken: the family together pretending to be nice to each other :wink: (just kidding) Just the whole time really.

Why do some people hate Christmas? I understand that not everyone has a great time at Christmas because of the expense but is it that bad?

Ho Ho Ho
:santagirl:

[*kate*]

Coz they have to spend it with their families.

[sapphire]

I LOVE christmas. Even when I'm totally broke. In fact I enjoy it more when i'm broke because I make things and get more creative and it feels more spirited/

[Cherrypie]

I love Christmas. I love the way kids get so excited leading up to christmas, and the way the paper is ripped off all the pressies Christmas morning. I love christmas lights, decorations, mulled wine, the food etc.

We always had great christmases as kids, so I guess it evokes happy memories too.

[August Girl]

Not everyone is as fortunate to have good Christmases when they were young and each year drags up old resentments. I try and make it as nce as I can for my children so they won't have to look back and feel sad.

[MamaJ]

I work really hard at christmas, I have to feed everybody and everyone gets what they want for christmas dinner, I spend months buying and wrapping presents for everybody and in return I get to spend the whole day running around after everybody, cleaning up behind everybody and cooking for everybody and generally being the family dogsbody and up until the last couple of years when DD's hassled her Dad into doing it I never even got christmas presents.
My family think I enjoy christmas day but TBH I'd rather it was just another day....maybe if I got a bit more help it might be better but it's not going to happen:no:

[Swingo]

I don't mind Christmas in itself at all. I like my own little family enjoying Xmas and I always had good ones as a child myself. I'm no humbug.

However, I HATE how it starts way, way too early in the shop/tv ads now etc. You don't need it forced down your throat!.

I detest having to see particular relatives (on OH's side) albeit not on the actual day, but still..

We are staying up here this year for it so it should be a really good one. All I have to do is not go to a shopping centre or watch tv ads from now until the January Sales are over, then it'll be perfect. :lol:

[bubbasweet]

I hate that it starts in July (christmas decs were in Ikea). I hate that it makes me HATE the time of year I was born (Dec 19th) so that every year I have a battle on my hands trying to find somewhere nice to go for a few drinks or a meal that DOESN'T involve Christmas (shocking, I know :rolleyes: )

Why do people celebrate it in the first place if they're not Pagan or Christian? It's a Pagan/Christian festival, and the jolly father christmas guy in the red suit was invented by Coca Cola, which sums up the whole spirit of consumerism at Christmas rather nicely, and has got bugger all to do with Christmas, as the Father Christmas/Santa Claus/St Nicholas thing is just a nice story made up for children.

And I have to spend time with dull relatives. I have no idea how so many different people (ie: some normal and some terminally dull) could come out of the same mould :huh:

People spend weeks scouring the shops for the perfect gifts for everyone, spend hundreds of £s, and then spend Boxing day stood in the queue at M&S waiting to exchange the gifts for something better that they wanted. They may as well have gone out and bought what they wanted in the first place :loco:

Sorry, I thought of another thing: why do people have to be told to spend time with their families/friends? Why not do it spontaneously? The same goes for Mothers' Day (which actually has naff all to do with your Mother. It is another religious festival when everyone went to the 'Mother' church in the parish, the kind of head church), Valentines Day (I refuse to celebrate this. I appreciate my OH all year round ta very much), and Fathers'/Grandparents'/Dead Pets Days, which were just dreamt up by Hallmark in order to make a bit more money.

I'm a bit of a scrooge aren't I :grin:

[Valentine]

i lurve xmas. I love it even more now i have Connor. I cant WAIT to tell him all about xmas and get him all excited about santa.

[Em29]

I love christmas too and TBH Im not Christian or a Pagan, I just love all the little traditions, seeing family and having nice food, and I love having a christmas tree in the living room.

It is Ella's first christmas and our first christmas in the new house and I'm REALLY looking forward to it!

[parkejm]

I don't really like it. To me it means a lot of expense and a lot of pressure with family. Every year I have to hope that my mum will be out of the country so I don't have to invite her. I can't invite my in laws and not my mum - that would be unacceptable and more hassle than it's worth. I can't not invite my in-laws unless they have other plans (which they would never make until they knew what we were doing). We have to entertain them and wait on my FIL, and I just find it quite stressful.

I love the cooking and menu preparation and decorating and getting all the table set etc. I think that if it was Xmas by ourselves or with some close friends then it would be much much nicer and less stressful.

I would love to go away this Christmas but we just can't afford it. As we are both only children, I think there is a lot of pressure on us as well.

I never had memorable or particularly happy Christmases so do not have that same warm glow as you do (lucky you! :nod:).

janice

[Lois Lane]

I had wonderful christmasses as a child despite us being pretty badly off financially. I can only imagine though how my poor parents would dread it with the expense.:-(

As I got older and moved out of home I grew to dislike it because a) it starts WAY to early, b) there is a lot of expense involved c) it's a really pressurised time. Personally I'd spend every single christmas with my parents and sister but now I'm married and have my own child it's not an option as the outlaws would be offended.

We had such a mare of a time trying to please everyone last year that we vowed to go away this christmas just me , DH and Paige but now I'm pregnant and due just before christmas our plans are a wee bit scuppered!!! Best case scenario is that I have the baby early :fingerscrossed: and then we go down to stay with my folks for a week or so as my sister will have had her baby about a month before me.

[parkejm]

trying to please everyone

This hits the nail on the head for me - I'm so busy doing this, I cna't enjoy myself

[sersha]

I hate it - I hate the pressure to spend, spend, spend, and the fact that so many families are left in debt in January because of the pressure to get enough things for their wee ones. This year I am giving everyone I know the things I made in my pottery and glassmaking classes and spending as little as possible (again!)

I hate the pressure to be nice to family and stay together THE WHOLE DAY trying to be nice to each other when really one or two hours would be more than plenty. Its the whole "we must recreate the atmosphere of our childhood" attitude of my siblings which just doesn't work as we aren't the same people we were then!

Most of all I hate the fact that so many people are more lonely than normal because it's Christmas and everyone is "supposed" to be with their families. It's a miserable time of year for so many people who don't have anyone to be with and who must feel all the worse when Christmas comes round again!

Bah humbug!

[bluecow]

OK, my view of Christmas was/is all about giving and receiving.

Christmas was always a magical time for us as my mum was the 'matron' of a childrens home and every Christmas was spent there sharing it with children who couldn't be with their own families for whatevet reason. She and her staff spent all year raising funds to ensure all the children got the gifts they wanted and my mum and the staff also bought each child a gift.

It did make us (my brothers and me) realise that there are lots of people who spend Christmas alone and make us grateful for our families.

[Princess Fiona]

Because they're miserable Bar Stewards! :teehee:

[~Twiggy~]

Because bad things may have happened at Christmas time, like a bereavement. Because it higlights time for family when some people don't have friends and family to share with. Because of the stress of being with family. Because it's about how much money/presents you get out of people you don't see more than twice a year. It's about tit for tat. It's about commercialism. It's about 4 months prepration for lets face it not even two days now celebration.

I like Christmas though in December with immediate family.

[RedTiger]

the jolly father christmas guy in the red suit was invented by Coca Cola

Not according to this http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/santa.asp

I love Christmas, and I don't mind the Christmassy things being in shops at this time of year because it lets me get organised and pick up presents bit by bit - it's no fun going Christmas shopping in December with 2 kids :brainache: I'm not Pagan or Christian but I still enjoy Christmas as a family time - it's about the only day of the year when the 4 of us are all together for the whole day as my DH works just about every other day so it's nice to spend the day together, have some fun with the kids and see close family too.

[Petrus]

I used to hate christmas because i'd always have a row with my manager about working christmas eve and boxing day, i always lost :rolleyes:

[Lois Lane]

Sadly Christmas is the worst time of the year for a lot of people and it's the time of the year that people are more likely to commit suicide.:-( Dad was a mortician for 30 years and he said it was shocking the amount of suicides he had to deal with at Christmas. Whilst most people were enjoying christmas with their families and opening presents etc, we always had to wait for Dad to get back from work as he was on call.:-(

[moonie]

I hate Christmas as I always go out of my way to buy perfect presents for everyone and when I open mine it looks like it was the first thing that came to hand and they just can't be arsed to put some thought into it at all. I'm ungrateful like that. Now I have DS I will just spend time making sure he has a great time and not worry too much about everyone else.

[Teresa]

I hate Christmas now. As a child I had wonderful Christmas's every year with my family. My parents would make it really special for us and we'd have all the family round or be at my Auntie or Uncles house. There could be 20 of us there all having a great time or so I though. As I've got older, I hate Christmas more and more each year. I also wonder if my parents had as good a time as they made out or whether they just pretended it was all wonderful for our sakes.

I hate the there are Christmas things in the shops in July. It starts way to early and I refuse to even think about buying anything Christmasy until December. I hate that there is so much pressure to buy the right presents for everyone. We don't have children yet but I find it really pressurised buying presents for everyone else. I always really think about what people would like and try and buy presents I think they would love. I don't feel that the same thing happens for me though when I open up yet another gift box from the body shop.

I hate trying to please everyone and trying to keep everyone happy. There is so much pressure to have a great time at Christmas but I would much rather spend it on my own with my husband. My parents live quite a way from us so it is diffucult to see both my family and my husbands family. We have got into the habit of taking it in turns but it is still difficult. We have been together for 8 years and married for almost two, but have never had Christmas in our own home and cooked our own Christmas dinner. I would love to do this but we are made to feel so guilty for even suggesting it. We live in a flat and don't have the room to invite everyone to us for Christmas. I'm trying to persuade my husband to go away for Christmas but I don't expect we will. I'd rather it was just another day and I didn't have to worry about it each year. I can't cope with my mum as she seems to get so worked up about it all and I get stuck in the middle trying to keep everyone happy.

[Lois Lane]

but have never had Christmas in our own home and cooked our own Christmas dinner. I would love to do this but we are made to feel so guilty for even suggesting it.

You MUST have christmas together one year just the two of you. We did this the first year we were married and then again the year before our daughter was born. It was really special to spend it just the two of us and as a compromise we spent Boxing Day with the rellies.

Now we have our DD we feel we are obliged to spend the time with rellies - my family I don't mind but the outlaws are a whole other matter!!!!:lol: I'm angling to spend this year with my folks and possibly next year too as DD2 and my sister's baby will be too young for christmas this year and as she'll be nearly 4, DD1 will love it next year too.

[Muppetgal]

My mum did a really good job teaching me about how to enjoy Christmas, and to this day it's still my favourite time of year.

I absolutely adore buying Christmas presents for people, especially stuff I know they will like. It has SOD all to do with what I'll get, if I ask for "such and such a cd" then I'm happy if that's all I get. I don't really care about my presents, it's watching the look on other people's faces when they open what I got them that matters to me.

I shop early so we don't feel the pinch of buying everything in December. By being finished in Oct/Nov it means we have enough money to enjoy ourselves properly at Christmas time and since I can pay for it all in advance, little by little in cash there are no debts piled up.

We have an "open door" policy with my parents, which means if there is anyone around that has no one to be with on Christmas they come for dinner with us. Ever since we went to Canada we went out for dinner to a fancy hotel (saved my mum cooking all day for four of us) and nearly every year I think back on there were other people there with us. Last time I was home for Christmas (two years ago) my friend Lisa came with us, despite having never met any of my family before. She loved it.

You don't even have to have a lot of money to enjoy Christmas, certainly my parents have never been rich and there were plenty of Christmasses without loads of gifts. We always had a night where all our friends/parents friends etc would come around and have a cookie bake...we would make santa's, snowmen, stars and tree shaped cookies and then decorate them with icing sugar. Then we all judged who had the best one, and the prize was a CHEER and you got first pick at the cookies you wanted to take home. Mum brought out her guitar and we had a Christmas sing-a-long, and everyone had such a fantastic time. I started this again last year, and invited just a few people around for making cookies, and even though there were only a couple of us everyone said what a wonderful time it was. Not expensive, just good company!

[Princess Fiona]

I hate Christmas as I always go out of my way to buy perfect presents for everyone and when I open mine it looks like it was the first thing that came to hand and they just can't be arsed to put some thought into it at all. I'm ungrateful like that.

I'm the same, we spend a fortune on our friends and family and every year i wonder why i've bothered when i see what people have gotten me, DH on the other hand always gets BRILLIANT expensive presents and mine look like they've either been recycled from the previous year or bought becuase thye were in the sale. Sounds ungrateful but when you spend so much time getting stressed over Xmas presents for everyone else and put a lot of thought and effort into what you're going to get people you look forward to your own presents and its disappointing when other people haven't thought about you.

[redhed]

I'm an only child. My parents were only children. My mother's mother was the youngest of an enormous and fairly unpleasant family who bullied her. Every year when I was a child, we piled in the car and went up to Wales to spend Christmas with a lot of very spiteful old people. They spent most of the day arguing. We weren't allowed to have the TV on except for the Queen's speech. We didn't leave the house except to go to some Auntie or other's house and spend an hour sitting very still on a rock-hard brown sofa in a freezing front room while another part of the traditional bitchfest was completed. I have a few photos of Christmas when I was a child: we all look thoroughly miserable.

When I got to be about 12 or 13 I worked out that not everyone's Christmas was like this. I asked my Mother why we couldn't go out during the day. Or go to the pub the night before. Or watch the telly, or play games or anything, anything.

She said (and I quote precisely) "I was never allowed to enjoy a Christmas in my life, and I don't see why you should."

I try to make Christmas more fun for the Woos, but mainly by avoiding family on both sides and just making it about "us".

[Sweetie Pie]

I don't hate christmas i usually love it although i am dreading it this year, OH's cousin was killed the day before xmas eve last year so i think its going to be a very hard one this year :-(

[Sweetie Pie]

She said (and I quote precisely) "I was never allowed to enjoy a Christmas in my life, and I don't see why you should."

OMG Red thats really terrible :no:

:hug: :choc: :flowers:

[redhed]

Well, I was being a bit "it's not faaaaaaaaaiiiiir!" and as she'd just cooked Xmas dinner for who knows how many ungrateful crumblies I think she was feeling a bit grumpy. But it does sum up my experience of Christmas pretty well!

Of course, later when I got to acceptable drinking age, she and I would lock ourselves in the Kitchen with the turkey and the port at about 6am, so things improved very slightly! :lol:

[redhed]

Oh, and I used to have to wrap my own presents! I've just remembered that!

Only when I was a lot older and didn't believe in Santa or anything. But my mum would be rushed off her feet looking after the oldies and not have time to wrap anyone's presents. She used to get me to wrap them instead, and on occasion that meant wrapping my own so that everyone could see me unwrap them and not think that I had a Bad Mother. Who was (in reality) doing the best she could. I have a lot more sympathy for her nowadays!

[DannyGirl]

Oh gosh some sad stories there. :-(
:hug: to all of those who have a nightmare time with family from hell.

To me Christmas is about family, and I don't see the point of inviting great Aunt Nelly if you haven't seen her for the past 11 months.
I suppose for our family it was just close family members who were invited and as my mum did most of the cooking and got my sister and myself to help her, it mostly went smoothly (if not a little late). Presents were mainly for the children in our family, and adults either got a box of chocolates or money- not much I hasten to add, but it was family and they knew that my mum wasn't loaded with cash. But there was, not so much now tradition of putting up the Christmas tree, putting up fairy lights, and my mum baking cakes, cooking the ham the smell which used to fill the whole house. Oh it was brilliant, and I'm lucky to have such fantastic memories. :smile:

[Teresa]

You MUST have christmas together one year just the two of you. We did this the first year we were married and then again the year before our daughter was born. It was really special to spend it just the two of us and as a compromise we spent Boxing Day with the rellies.

Now we have our DD we feel we are obliged to spend the time with rellies - my family I don't mind but the outlaws are a whole other matter!!!!:lol: I'm angling to spend this year with my folks and possibly next year too as DD2 and my sister's baby will be too young for christmas this year and as she'll be nearly 4, DD1 will love it next year too.

I really want to do this but we've suggested it already and its gone down like a lead balloon. We spent last year with my family and so this year the out laws are just assuming that we are going to be spending the whole of Christmas with them. I would love to be able to do just what we want as I've not really enjoed Christmas for a good few years now. The only thing stopping us from putting our foot down and saying that we are having it to ourselves is that we are moving to Australia in about 12 months time. We will then have plenty of time to spend Christmas together although I'm sure the outlaws will decide to come over and ruin it for us!! We are pretty sure that this will be our last Christmas in the UK for a while and I want to try and see both families if we can. MIL is doing her best to stop this though but she is not ruining my Christmas again.

This year I think we are going to spend the weekend right before Christmas with my family and come back home on Christmas morning where we'll then spend the day with H's family. I'm angling for boxing day on our own but I don't expect that will happen either.

[Muppetgal]

right, my flat is tiny but you're ALL invited round for a cookie bake and sing-song this year....I'll put simmering pot pourri on the stove to make it smell like Christmas and you can all help me decorate my tree.