Does anyone actually enjoy Christmas?

I’m in desperate need of help or counselling before I become a miserable old f@rt

I used to love Christmas as a kid (a long time ago now) but as I’ve got older I see it as a rip off and a guilt fest with everybody having different expectations about the day

Am I alone in thinking like this and what do you do to keep positive?

🎅

I like the 2 weeks off not working.

Short answer is no

To deal with it try and step back work out what you want and then try and weave that in. Often people are happy if you are, half the people you think want what has always has happened think the same as you.

There are always going to be compromises but it doesn’t have to be the awful experience of yesteryear

Things I like about Christmas:

Seeing family
Seeing friends
Posh booze
Loads of food
Mince pies
Getting a nice bottle of whiskey from MrsD
Having a tree in the house
Taking time off work

Things I dislike:

Adverts (but I don’t watch much TV)
Tat (I ask family to only buy me presents I can eat or drink)

On balance, it’s a yes from me

I like it as we catch up with family and friends, have a few drinks and good food.

I’d happily not bother.

I’d rather save myself for Hogmanay.

NO.

Wife wants to go out
Sister wants to stay in
Sister in law wants to lie on sofa snoring
Brother won’t get out of bed before midday
Dad wants to go home to bed
Mother in Law wants to talk at me non stop
I just want to relax in front of the Poseidon Adventure or some such nonsense

I like the 2 weeks off not working.

I hate that I have to take four days annual leave, plus a good proportion of our annual bank holidays; during the shortest, shittiest days of the year when nothing fun is open.

I’m always relieved when the season of goodwill is over and I can go back to being a right ****.

This year- hosting elder son, his partner and their son (my UK grandson – others in the US) definitely yes.
When I was a long-standing volunteer with Crisis, the national charity for single homeless adults – another definite yes.
Otherwise – no.

Not really. I enjoy seeing family and friends. Otherwise it’sa nice break to get some biking in daylight beefier the dark season

I like Christmas!

But in Australia it tends to just get treated as a bank holiday weekend – there doesn’t seem to be such a long ramp-up as in the uk.

Kids (3 and 5) are at the point that they are enjoying it, but don’t yet want games consoles etc….. which I appreciate is a small window.

The key to enjoying the build up to Christmas (I have found) is buying yourself a Wera advent calendar.

No, I hate it.

Always kind of suspected I hated it so, but last year stayed at home alone cos single/pandemic. It was the best Christmas ever.

I’m not a killjoy. I can party with the best of them. It’s the fakery and expectations and having to spend time with people you’d rather not, and having to have a big shit-eating grin on your face through the entire ordeal Had some absolute horror shows over the years.

Big thumbs up from me!

This

I hate that I have to take four days annual leave, plus a good proportion of our annual bank holidays; during the shortest, shittiest days of the year when nothing fun is open.

And this

It’s the fakery and expectations and having to spend time with people you’d rather not, and having to have a big shit-eating grin on your face through the entire ordeal Had some absolute horror shows over the years.

Sums it for me.

I like the 2 weeks off not working.

Supermarket trucker here,Since 1999 the only time I’ve had time off for Christmas was last year,& it was a lockdown…
We’re not allowed holidays from mid December until the second week in January.We also get ****** over to do loads of overtime that we don’t want & all the yards at the stores are full of extra hazards,the driving conditions are not good & the great british public are even worse than usual.
The depot closes about 9pm xmas eve & the first journeys go out 2 am Boxing Day.
We start delivering Christmas tat straight after August bank holiday & the shops start playing soul destroying Christmas tunes about now..
So that’s a NO from me
Roll on retirement!!

What date is it on this year? Seem to have missed it in 2020

No i ***ing hate it, always have even as a kid, its a “dead zone” i just wait it out and try and remain civil.

I dont get birthdays, anniversarys, Easter and so on.

I do have Aspergers which probably accounts for this.

Pretty much agree with what doris5000 has said.

It’s an ideal opportunity to catch up with friends and family (this year especially) and to overindulge massively on food and drink 🙂

Bring it on 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Like seeing people, love the atmosphere, hate the faff.

I hate that I have to take four days annual leave, plus a good proportion of our annual bank holidays; during the shortest, shittiest days of the year when nothing fun is open.

Pre Covid a bunch of us went to the canaries for some kite and wind surfing. So you can get away.

The depot closes about 9pm xmas eve & the first journeys go out 2 am Boxing Day.

You get Christmas Eve night and Christmas off? Nice.

I like time off work, and building lego with the kids, we always get in a movie marathon with them, star wars, LOTR etc
I like cooking too so Xmas day is great, usually have lots of family round
I even like my in laws
And I always get a day away to myself biking.

I dont like the cost
and the too many work Xmas parties

What I look forward to at Christmas is the annual STW ‘mother-in-law at Christmas’ thread.

No. We haven’t done christmas here for a good 10 years. No cards, no decorations, no presents, no celebrations and no faff. We quite often just go to a beach somewhere as they are ussually quite empty (though have noticed they have got a lot busier in the past 2-3 years). Sometimes just go ride my bike. Last year my christmas dinner was a pot noodle on the bonnet of the land rover in the middle of a forest.

EDIT: Should have mentioned we have no kids which probably makes all the difference 🙂

I hate that I have to take four days annual leave, plus a good proportion of our annual bank holidays; during the shortest, shittiest days of the year when nothing fun is open.

That is my biggest gripe about it, but I also hate the music with a vengeance and any form of enforced jollity, usually sick of Christmas by late September.
I hate the ubiquity of it, it is inescapable. I am not a Muslim and find it easy to ignore Ramadan, I am not a jew and find it easy to avoid passover, I am not a Christian and Christmas is ****ing everywhere! Mostly perpretated by other non-belivers trying to make a quick buck I’ll bet.
It is not an inevitable thing, like the solstice for example, if we all choose to ignore it it will go away.
I quite like the food though 🤷‍♂️

If this ^ is a representative sample why is Christmas even a thing any more?

If this ^ is a representative sample why is Christmas even a thing any more?

It’s not representative: people who enjoy it aren’t as motivated as the moaners and misanthropes.

I prefer the term “individual” 🙂

I’ve never been hugely excited about Christmas or certainly from the age when there were wives or gf’s to weave into the arrangements. With 1 family the level of BS is just about tolerable but with 2 it’s tiresome. However one thing we started when the kids were young was going away with several friends (also with young kids) for a week over new year. That makes the period much more fun because you get a week with people you actually like doing fun stuff (whether that’s snowman building, jigsaws or mountain biking). It also immediately sets the rest of the family’s expectations – no we won’t be coming to great aunty’s house on the 2nd of Jan just because everyone always has for 50 yrs, her lentil soup is nice but I saw half the people I’m supposed to be excited to see on Boxing day for some other family feast.

We’ve gone away just the four of us over Christmas once skiing in France. That was pretty good – again it stops you just vegging in front of the TV then sitting on someone you don’t likes sofa for a few hours before vegging at home with leftovers. We won’t be doing either this year, so am currently considering a DIY project just to stop the monotony. I always do the catering for Christmas day – in part because the other options involve overcooked sprouts and dry turkey but also because it means I can avoid the total timewaste of the day by hiding in the kitchen doing something.

I love Christmas. Agree that the gifts can get out of hand but it’s the company, food and drink that I really love.

Just ignore all the marketing bull and concentrate on enjoying the simple things that seem to coincide with Christmas like:
– Cracking nuts
– Port
– Stollen
– Putting up the tree
– Bucksfizz and bacon rolls for breakfast
– Family board and parlour games
– Mince pies
– Brandi butter
– Christmas jumpers

Happy times don’t need to cost a lot of money.

Used to like it as a kid.
Wasn’t too bothered about it in my 20’s & 30’s.
Been a bit different since we had kids, so
I like spending time with my daughter.
We used to alternate between our house and my folks house for dinner – but since my Mom died in 2017 it’s always at ours now.
We went away to Euro Disney in 2018 and that was a brilliant Christmas.
My MIL has recently declared she hasn’t liked spending Christmas with us for the last few years – so we’re buggering off to Wales for a few days of solitude and she’s spending it on her own.
I do enjoy a Christmas roast dinner though!

I wish the build-up would start in December though (like when I was a kid lol), already fed up of adverts and crap Christmas songs by October now lol

That is my biggest gripe about it, but I also hate the music with a vengeance and any form of enforced jollity, usually sick of Christmas by late September.
I hate the ubiquity of it, it is inescapable. I am not a Muslim and find it easy to ignore Ramadan, I am not a jew and find it easy to avoid passover, I am not a Christian and Christmas is ****ing everywhere! Mostly perpretated by other non-belivers trying to make a quick buck I’ll bet.
It is not an inevitable thing, like the solstice for example, if we all choose to ignore it it will go away.
I quite like the food though 🤷‍♂️

You know most of the typical British Christmas traditions pre-date Christianity or are modern concepts that make devout Christians cringe inside? If you identify the bits you like – like the food you will perhaps see why we’ve had some sort of festival in the middle of the coldest darkest period for so long. Now just cut out the nonsense you dislike. (FWIW I think most of the food is mediocre – for what should be the most spectacular meal of the year).

Only 4 days annual leave! We’re forced to take two weeks. But as the whole construction industry is also off, there won’t be a ton of emails waiting for you on your return.

FWIW I think most of the food is mediocre – for what should be the most spectacular meal of the year

Just cut out the rubbish you don’t like. 😉

I find the run-up to Christmas Day too stressful which makes me not enjoy any of it.

It’s partly work which gets steadily more crazy and reaches the same climax on Xmas Eve.

I then just want to keel over but can’t, as we end up hosting Christmas every year, it just makes sense for us to as we’re the only ones with kids and a house big enough.

At the same time I cause myself huge amounts of stress with the Xmas preparations and present buying, feeling like I’ve not done enough and the kids are disappointed.

The present buying especially just fills me with dread and I never have time to do it. Inevitably I will leave it all to the last minute, even though last year I vowed to never let that happen again, and all the years before!

I hate the peer pressure to buy loads of stuff from certain female members of my family. Makes me not want to invite them, but I kinda have to.

Kids also have high expectations, and I know they’ll still have a great time, but mainly down to the efforts of my wife who ends up doing everything. Again more guilt for me!

Any riding plans I make for myself usually go out the window or don’t happen until February.

I do enjoy the food though!

I like Christmas. I usually only get a couple of days off work, but I’ll take a few days of annual leave, then go and work at the ski resort and teach people to ski while they’re enjoying their vacation. It’s weirdly pleasant to be with people enjoying themselves instead of being with the extended family all hating life and each other!

I love it, friends, family, food, music, indoor tree and crackers with silly party hats.

Whats not to like?

I am very excited for Christmas, I’m even getting to spend it with my Mum this year.

It’s the first time in 8 years I’ve not have to work over Christmas, so I’m going to make the most of it.

All the people saying they like because of the food and seeing family, you do know you can eat good food and hold family gatherings at any moment, right?