# What do YOU like about the Christmas season?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [December 24, 2023, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084 "2023-12-24T18:09:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2023, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/1 "2023-12-24T18:09:09Z")
I didn’t want to bring negativity to other threads, and this isn’t a thread meant to trash Christmas or people who enjoy it. I’m honestly trying to get a better understanding. Inspired by a episode of International House Hunters where a family was so “into Christmas” that _where they would put the tree_ was a big part of decided what house to buy.
So, I’m interested in what you would call the “good part” of the holiday. For me, I prefer _not_ getting a tree or decorating it. I prefer _not_ having lights outside. I prefer going out for pizza or Chinese food more than spending hours of cooking (then clearing) at home. Finding and getting gifts is a pain in the ass. (my wife and I have agreed not to exchange gifts with each other) I sure as hell don’t want to go to church. But I know other people like those things. Is these the kind of things people who like Christmas enjoy?
Please share anything you like about the holiday, whether you observe it or not.
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/2 "2023-12-24T18:14:11Z")
I look forward to this all year:
[ ](https://s9155.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Luxembourg-City-Christmas-market-Winter-Lights-tree.jpg)
[ ](https://s9155.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Gifts-for-sale-at-Place-dArmes-Luxembourg-City-Christmas-market.jpg)
[ ](https://christmasmarketsineurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Luxembourg-City-Christmas-Market-1-1536x1024.jpg)
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/3 "2023-12-24T18:23:47Z")
Christmas was the heavenly center of the universe when I was a child. It still remained important if less magical in later years, and then when I had my own kids, the magic was rediscovered all over again.
But as the young have grown older, and the old more infirm and less able to travel, along with other factors it’s contributed to Christmas becoming less and less magical, less important, and now trending to hardly of any importance at all. Which for me is very sad, but it’s an unfortunate reality. The fact that the weather this Christmas is all fog and drizzle somehow seems fitting.
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### Author:  [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/4 "2023-12-24T19:13:18Z")
> [@Cervaise](#):
>
> I look forward to this all year
Same. I get seasonal affective disorder pretty bad and the Christmas light displays somehow help alleviate it a bit. Maybe its just a nostalgia thing but it definitely has a positive effect.
I like the meals and the routine of making a traditional menu, even though I’m at a point where baking bushels of sweets is no longer part of my routine.
I can take or leave the gift exchange bit but there is something endearing about seeing a pile of gifts under the tree. Again, probably a nostalgia thing. As our kids are now teenagers and just want money we’ve somewhat moved away from the spectacle of having a buttload of presents under the tree, but it is a nice visual when we visit family on Christmas.
I’m a teacher. I _really_ like having 2½ or 3 weeks of paid vacation every year 🙂 . We usually go out of town for a few days during the break just to detox and recharge.
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### Author:  [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2023, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/5 "2023-12-24T19:53:16Z")
When I was a kid, everything! When I **had** a kid, it was making Christmas special for her, and helping make midnight mass a my large Catholic church an immensely festive and solemnly grand spectacle.
Now, though? Advent was so busy I had no time to prepare and the things I still like to do – hang wreaths on the doors, put up a tree, write a Christmas Letter, mostly have ended up not getting done at all, to my disappointment. But it wasn’t shattering or anything. I’ve come to feel that Christmas isn’t much of a religious holiday (unlike Easter), and I only peripherally participate in the secular side. It’s mostly a way to distract me from how dark and cold it is, which I think was the original point anyway.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/6 "2023-12-24T20:01:55Z")
Good food.
But what I like most is when the season is over.
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### Author:  [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2023, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/7 "2023-12-24T20:55:05Z")
Catching up with friends. We’ll be out at a friend’s for a party on Boxing Day, and we’re hosting New Year’s Eve - happens every year, interrupted by COVID but back in full swing again.
The only other thing I like about it is breakfast on the day, when we’ll make a little effort and do something different. Bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese this year.
j
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/8 "2023-12-24T22:24:15Z")
Thanks everyone.
> [@Treppenwitz](#):
>
> Bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese this year.
We’re doing this on New Years, when the kids and grandkids are here.
Can’t wait.
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### Author:  [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/9 "2023-12-24T22:31:43Z")
I like hearing the Elvis Christmas Album each year. My parents played it all the time during the holiday season and It reminds me of when they were still here to celebrate Christmas.
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### Author:  [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2023, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/10 "2023-12-24T22:43:02Z")
I enjoy the house hunter shows and where to put the tree is very common with the female shoppers. I get it because that was always important to me too. When your house is where the party is going to be, you tend to think about those sorts of things.
I don’t do any decorating anymore at my house because everything is at my daughters place now. She’s been known to say that it looks like Christmas threw up at her house.
I enjoy the excitement of my grandkids, but other than that, I don’t get as much out of this holiday as I used to. But that’s true of most things as I’ve gotten older.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [December 25, 2023, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/11 "2023-12-25T01:34:05Z")
> [@Procrustus](#):
>
> Inspired by a episode of International House Hunters where a family was so “into Christmas” that _where they would put the tree_ was a big part of decided what house to buy.
I caught that one too, and asked my husband, “what’s wrong with that guy?” And then at the reveal, they had the most generic tree you might see in any department store.
However, I’ve felt glimmerings of the spirit today as I finally put up the decorations and prepared to host the family. To answer the question of the thread, the thing I enjoy most (and the thing I always told the kids to focus on if they wanted to have a great Christmas), giving gifts. I don’t even like the stuff I’m handing out this year, but I’m still excited to do it.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [December 25, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/12 "2023-12-25T14:41:21Z")
I kind of like “cleaning up the house”. We host my family for xmas eve debauchery. Therefore we spend 3 or 4 days cleaning and decorating. We get xmas decorations down from the attic, my gf collects evergreen branches and makes displays, etc.
On December 26 we put all the decorations away.
There’s also the idea that once xmas is over it’s just three or so weeks before our St Martin trip.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [December 25, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/13 "2023-12-25T14:57:15Z")
I like the lights, exchanging gifts, good food, seeing family and friends, the different holidays that all celebrate the turn of the seasons, the splash of color in the grey time of year.
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### Author:  [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)
#### Post date: [December 25, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/14 "2023-12-25T15:04:18Z")
I love the lights and decorations. I love the feeling, the Ho Ho Ho of it all. People seem nicer. I am nicer. I love red and green. I love the trees. I love the snow (although it’s rainy and dreary). I love being with loved ones. I’m meh on the food but last night I had a righteous egg roll and barbeque pork fried rice.
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### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [December 25, 2023, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/15 "2023-12-25T15:05:28Z")
For twenty years my husband and I did nothing for Christmas save exchange a gift or two. Then we had a kid. The first year, the COVID year, we were too overwhelmed to do anything. But with each progressive year we have built up our holiday spirit. It’s different when you see it through the eyes of a child and I had many happy Christmases so it brings a lot back.
What I am loving about it:
Decorating the tree. My son, who loves numbers, was gifted with some advent ornaments from my SIL’s family, so he gets to put a new number on the tree every day.
Picking out gifts. I freaking love giving gifts. We’ve sworn not to go overboard with our son - he gets four - but it’s fun to pick them out.
Decorating, period. Putting up the tree, yes, but this year we took out some old decorations from our childhoods and spruced up the place with holiday cheer. Every year I get one or two things. Oh - and I get to order a new ornament every year to slowly crowd out the lamer of the hand me downs. This year was a set of adorable gingerbread houses.
Holiday scented candles.
Christmas Carols and Christmas movies. I love even very religious Christmas songs because I find them so moving (even though I’m not Christian.) I also love how easy it is to curl up on the couch and watch something festive
Christmas lights. I was hoping to get out and see some but the family is COVID positive this year. Maybe next year.
Watching my son open presents - the best.
Turns out there’s a lot to love about this time of year.
Merry Christmas.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [December 25, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/16 "2023-12-25T17:19:56Z")
Thanks everyone and Merry Christmas. We have a fire in the fireplace and are watching the rain. Just me and my wife. It’s nice.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [December 25, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/17 "2023-12-25T18:04:02Z")
Every December 25th I find a way to mention who was born on this day. Our neighbor just stopped over with a mixed 6 pack and I toasted to “the one born today”.
He (agnostic, knows I’m an atheist) looked puzzled and asked if I was toasting Jesus. “Nope, C\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\*\*\*\*, my friend in Johnstown”.
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### Author:  [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)
#### Post date: [December 25, 2023, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/18 "2023-12-25T18:39:41Z")
I’m in Johnstown but those aren’t my initials.
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### Author:  [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)
#### Post date: [December 25, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/19 "2023-12-25T19:00:06Z")
> [@kayaker](#):
>
> Every December 25th I find a way to mention who was born on this day.
I did this exactly once. Very early in me and my wife’s relationship I said a toast during Xmas dinner: “to my messiah, the one who brings _me_ tidings of great joy and happiness, who was born on this, the most blessed of days… Jimmy Buffett.”
It did _not_ go over well with my Pentacostal-raised then girlfriend. Now 23 years later she is solidly agnostic and would likely laugh if I did it again but I’m a bit too gun-shy to try it.
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### Author:  [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)
#### Post date: [December 25, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084/20 "2023-12-25T19:54:38Z")
# [What do YOU like about the Christmas season?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-like-about-the-christmas-season/995084)
That it’s pretty much in the rear-view, now.
Dan
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