I honestly don’t remember the last time I had “the Christmas Spirit”. I’m honestly not sure I’ve ever had it since becoming an adult: I enjoy the occasional party and have given and received gifts I really liked, and there are even many Christmas carols that I like, but my attitude to the holiday itself and all the surrounding stuff fluctuates between “here it comes again” and “SHIT! Here it comes again!”. I just generally am far happier to see it go than see it coming. (The fact I have some terrible memories of Christmas time [though many years ago admittedly] and was more often than not broke at Christmas contributes, but Christmases when I have money to spare… I don’t enjoy them measurably more than the others.)
So most of my friends, especially the ones without kids- are much the same way. They’re good people, would gladly “help their fellow man” when they can, all that, but can’t stand the holidays. Rather than bringing out the “spirit of the Season” it brings out, as in me, their irritation and “humans are so freaking strange and hypocritical” and “damn, are the stores really playing Christmas carols in early November?” Melvin Udall style cynicism and clarity. So I’m curious- who does have the Christmas spirit, and what’s different about them.
So were you in the Christmas Spirit this year- or last, or when were you last so? And if the answer is ‘yes’ especially, what’s your favorite part and why do you look forward to it, etc…
I freaking hate Christmas. When I tell people this, my answer to the inevitable “why” question goes something like this:
I am too old to have that childlike wonder and joy in the whole Christmas morning, opening presents, etc. I am too young to have my own children in which to vicariously get this enjoyment (plus the enjoyment of seeing it in those I love). So what am I left with? A holiday where I get to spend all of my free spending/saving money for a couple of months on gifts for people that, I mean, I like, but I don’t really like THAT much. And then the coup de grace is that I get to give them these things at a big awkward gathering, where the only question of interest is whether I will get bored or annoyed first. Then I get to drive a minimum of an hour home afterwards, since I live near the city in which I work, and all of my relatives live Out In The Boonies.
Christmas Day leaves me more depressed than just about any other day in the year, and it’s been that way for a couple of years now. Frankly I’d rather go in to work on Christmas Day than do the extended family thing. I think the last time I really enjoyed it was back when my parents were buying me lots of expensive stuff and I didn’t have to get anyone anything… so probably fifteen or so was the last year of that? Those are pretty selfish reasons to like a holiday, too, but we get our fun where we will, and mostly it was a thousand percent less stressful then.
On the other hand, it’s probably all worth it for Christmas Eve - in which we have a yearly gathering of people who basically see each other once a year, but have way more in common and are generally way more fun than the relatives we’re going to see the next day. I’m pretty sure my parents enjoy it more, too; it’s a group of people where the parents all worked together when the kids were born, and now everyone went their separate ways, but we all get together on Christmas Eve and drink moderately and eat gluttonously and it’s all still just as fun as when we were growing up. The conversation is better, the atmosphere is more relaxed, and everyone gets along much more easily. Christmas Eve might be my favorite day of the year, and I honestly hope it keeps going once the kids all start getting married, since we’re getting to be That Age or thereabouts.
Ah, well. I’m holding out hope that once I have a couple of little ones I will quite enjoy spoiling the heck out of them for a few years before THEY start getting as jaded as I am.
Yes, I like Christmas and have the Christmas spirit. I think my major strategy is to avoid shopping as much as possible, along with the attendant constant bad music. I listen to my Christmas music, which is good. I am picky about it. I have particular things that I do, and I try to limit our activities to those things. Like, I make my own chocolates to give out–but I don’t bake, my decorating is limited, I don’t do a lot of entertaining. I like to make a lot of my gifts (mostly sewing), but mostly only give presents to children and my own parents, not every family member. Decoration is focused on greenery, which is pleasant and entirely free from my parents’ acreage (as is the tree)–no expensive and over-the-top decorating.
Also, I am religious, and so I try to focus on that part of the holiday, not the whole materialism/greed stuff, which I try to stay away from as much as possible. No ads, no Walmart, but yes church choir and meditation, etc.
Also I have young kids and it’s a lot of fun to watch them enjoy everything–but before we had kids I still loved Christmas. And my family is pretty sane, so I like spending time with them. (Not so much my in-laws, actually.)
This year I wish I had started preparing a little earlier; I took on some last-minute sewing projects which were all good ideas but which had to be squished into less time. We had to spend a few days out of town on the 22/23 buying a much-needed car, which was great, but made for a little frazzlement. I wish we’d had time to make a gingerbread house, like the kids wanted. On the whole, however, we had a lovely Christmas.
I drove 200 miles yesterday to be with my family for Christmas. My poor brothers got stuck in a snowdrift in Idaho for 3 hours, had to pay $125 to get yanked out of said snowdrift, then had to wait another 5 hours because of road closures, before they could continue traveling. A normal 9 hour drive to Montana took them exactly 24 hours and 15 minutes because of bad weather. I got to see them for about an hour before we all had to get some sleep.
I got up this morning, and left my husband, my mom and my brothers and drove another 200 miles over shitty roads back home because I had to freaking work today. My day so far? I’ve driven for three hours, worked for about 8 hours and in an hour and a half I’ll be getting back in the car and driving back over the same 200 miles of shitty roads, in the dark, so I can spend Christmas with my husbands family tomorrow, only to drive home again on Sunday. Which, by-the-way, it’s supposed to snow again.
There is no religious significance involved; at best, it’s a celebration of the winter solstice. I totally freakin’ hate Christmas music. I hate buying gifts, which is why I give cash or gift certificates; sometimes I’ll buy something online. I hate having to get a tree and decorate it; major pain in the ass. I hate the friggin’ sappy Christmas movies for the most part; I do like George C. Scott’s version of A Christmas Carol (and I’ll tolerate Kelsey Grammer’s version because I totally lust after Jane Krakowski), and I like Tim Allen’s SC 1 and 2. Forget 3.
I don’t mind the family get-together for dinner.
All in all, if Christmas were abolished, I wouldn’t miss it at all.
The entire Holiday season just makes me tired. Christmas is supposed to be the season of giving. Sorry, all I see is the taking. From me.
Y’see, I’m a musician. And an actor. And an artist. Just an all-around creative-type person. It is expected of me to perform; choirs, handbells, solos, design, create, etc. By the time Christmas arrives, I’m just so sick-to-death of all of the cheap trappings and lip service and “Merry Christmas” and smiling when I’d just need to go home and listen to the silence.
“You can just say no.”
Sorry, I wasn’t raised that way. I will keep giving until I am utterly drained of all life and will.
“Every idiot that goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled in his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”
I do a lot of shopping early to take the stress off, but I tend to be a slow-starter when it comes to getting christmas spirit. I usually come around by christmas week, but it can go up to just a couple days before christmas before I get into it.
I like both my family and my husband’s family gatherings, so I can honestly say there’s no dread in that respect. The gift giving thing is fun, but I’m not real good at “getting” gifts. All in all, I’d say I’m mostly merry during the holidays.
The end of January and all of February and March are a challenge for me. I tend to get sucked into a SADS funky downward spiral.
While I’m doing ‘christmas shopping’ I can’t help thinking of everyone around me as slaves to consumerism. And I don’t mean that vaguely. I think of them as doing exactly what they have been programmed to do by the corporations they’re giving their money to.
And what’s worse is I feel like one of them. And if I ‘break free’ of it I’ll be seen in an ill light by my family.
There are good things about christmas though. I’m somewhere between Humbug and Tis Christmas. There’s good and bad.
Most years, I don’t have strong feelings about Christmas one way or the other.
I thought this year would be the same, “No Toys! He’s Too Young To Care!”. We stayed that way until the week before Christmas when we realized that he’s turning one soon anyway and will need some more developmentally appropriate toys. We decided Christmas is a good time to give them.
And Christmas morning was wonderful. He was more than old enough to care. His face lit up with every new gift and it’s a gift to me over and over again to watch him play with his new toys from mommy and daddy.
So I guess now I’ve been converted. We still were careful about not going overboard, and we will stay that way.
This year, due to extreme financial problems, we were completely of the humbug persuasion. In past years, we have been more Merry Xmas and hopefully will be again.
