I hate Christmas. Who's with me?

red_devil

its dreadful to be in the shops, places stuffed full of items and carols playing. Loads and loads of chocolate like any one needs any more junk food?

calicocat

Shelly_C wrote: »

I'm with you all the way on this one. To me Christmas used to be about taking the time to choose a gift for someone, which you thought they'd like, then spending the time to wrap the gifts which showed how much you cared.

For me the monetary value was immaterial, it was the thought that someone had taken the trouble to think about it, and wrap it for you that meant the most. Now you give your requests - the worst one is "you just buy me a voucher and I'll buy you one" !!!!!!!! - Lets just not bother then. Or "I got this jumper, you can give me the money and it can be my Christmas present - and don't bother wrapping it, just shove it in a gift bag"!

Which is why, for the last few years I have taken part in a charity gift wrapping service in town. Wrapping Christmas presents is something I've always loved to do and this gives me a chance to do this, raise funds and help very busy people by freeing up some of their time. As a bonus I know that on Christmas morning people will be receiving beautifully wrapped gifts instead of something "shoved in gift bag", If you live in the North East and would like to help with this please visit http://www.thechildrensfoundation.co.uk/ for more information.

I'm always sad to wrap the last gift on Christmas Eve but I really do HATE all the hype and buildup which seems to start earlier and earlier each year. Shame we can't just fast forward from September to 2nd January. :T

I can't find the wrapping bit on that site, mind you I am a dork when it comes to the internet and finding things.

I'd be up for that though, especially this year as will have some free time as i'm going part time for a while, mainly to look after mum, but should be able to find time to do some wrapping. ....:T. There is a Christmas god out there..this year it is the work part time god.......... :rotfl:


Have just spent the last hour wrapping a few gifts as went to shops today. Even if I say so myself, they look pretty dammed amazing....:xmastree:

Caterina

LameWolf wrote: »

I'm sick to death of the "C" word already, and it's still November!

I'm not a Christian, and I don't have kids, so honestly, it's just another Bank Holiday to me.

Hi Lame Wolf,

I am Christian but I can assure there is no Christianity in the Christmas that we know, it is all about ads and greed and overeating, overspending. There is no fun in it, no real sense of family, you just have to open any commercial women's mag and find myriads of articles on "how to survive Christmas", honestly if f it was so great what's to survive? They mean the insane buying (suggesting you do it in advance/online/whatever) and food prep (why? What's wrong with eating normal food on the day?), recipes on how to use up the remains of the humongous turkey, how to make sprouts palatable, how to avoid killing your in-laws... I could go on :rotfl:

What's to like, other than as you rightly say, another bank holiday, time off for working people?

I for one will celebrate very quietly, go to midnight Mass, make a modest festive supper for the family, there will be modest gift exchanges. I would have happily done without gifts but the kids would be disappointed, as they like buying for us, and know that they will receive small and useful gifts and are ok with it.

I am the only one in the family who's bothered at all about the Christian message, but I also do Yule, quietly, there's always been and always will be a bit of witch in me

red_devil

Marks and spencers was busy with people thinking they are getting a deal in . They overprice all their stuff then reduce it your not getting a bargain.:eek:

Nargleblast

Christmas to me is a relaxing time at home with OH and DS, eating nice food, watching the odd bit of telly, doing our own thing. Sometimes I work over the festive period, and we have our Christmas Day on 24th or 26th December, but this year I am off. I already have most of the Christmas food in, including home made cake, Christmas puds and mincemeat, which OH will make into mince pies because his pastry is better than mine. We will see other family members in the period leading up to Christmas, or just after.

I make a point of not getting sucked into the stressfest nearer the time, not feeling the urge to go out partying or doing every social thing the advertisers imply you should do. I will not treat myself to a new £2000 sofa for Christmas, nor buy a 57 pound turkey to stick in the oven at 4:00 in the morning.

I do like the season, but hate the hype. And people who put decorations up in November should have their Christmas trees surgically implanted in an awkward place. Bah Humbug!

se_ren

Best Christmas I've spent was climbing on a beach in Thailand, Christmas dinner was curry, which tasted amazing. The time off from work was great, my advice is do something you want to do with the time, whether that's celebrating Christmas or not

margaretclare

Caterina wrote: »

Hi Lame Wolf,

I am Christian but I can assure there is no Christianity in the Christmas that we know, it is all about ads and greed and overeating, overspending. There is no fun in it, no real sense of family, you just have to open any commercial women's mag and find myriads of articles on "how to survive Christmas", honestly if f it was so great what's to survive? They mean the insane buying (suggesting you do it in advance/online/whatever) and food prep (why? What's wrong with eating normal food on the day?), recipes on how to use up the remains of the humongous turkey, how to make sprouts palatable, how to avoid killing your in-laws... I could go on :rotfl:

What's to like, other than as you rightly say, another bank holiday, time off for working people?

I for one will celebrate very quietly, go to midnight Mass, make a modest festive supper for the family, there will be modest gift exchanges. I would have happily done without gifts but the kids would be disappointed, as they like buying for us, and know that they will receive small and useful gifts and are ok with it.

I am the only one in the family who's bothered at all about the Christian message, but I also do Yule, quietly, there's always been and always will be a bit of witch in me

I completely agree with all of this.

As a Christian I have to wonder: how many red-nosed reindeer were there in that stable in Bethlehem? And how many boxes of Cadbury's chocolates did the wise men bring with them as well as gold, frankincense and myrrh?

I agree with your last sentence. Me too. I'd rather have our original Anglo-Saxon Yule back again. Turkey and sprouts - not heard of. Turkey is about the most tasteless meat available. Sprouts are nice if cooked with bacon fat from lardons, but not otherwise. Yorkshire pudding should NOT appear with a turkey dinner - it really only belongs with roast beef, or before the meat course served on its own. As for rushing around shopping, forget it.

Pollycat

margaretclare wrote: »

Turkey and sprouts - not heard of. Turkey is about the most tasteless meat available. Sprouts are nice if cooked with bacon fat from lardons, but not otherwise. Yorkshire pudding should NOT appear with a turkey dinner - it really only belongs with roast beef, or before the meat course served on its own. As for rushing around shopping, forget it.

I agree.

I'm very traditional, yorkshire puds only with beef, mint sauce only with lamb, stuffing with pork (not sure if this is traditional or not ).

And I wholeheartedly agree about turkey.
My OH won't eat turkey, I dislike it so we alternate between pork & beef.
We used to have a capon when I was a kid, plucked by my Grandma on Christamas Eve.

pickledonionspaceraider

Nargleblast wrote: »

Christmas to me is a relaxing time at home with OH and DS, eating nice food, watching the odd bit of telly, doing our own thing. Sometimes I work over the festive period, and we have our Christmas Day on 24th or 26th December, but this year I am off. I already have most of the Christmas food in, including home made cake, Christmas puds and mincemeat, which OH will make into mince pies because his pastry is better than mine. We will see other family members in the period leading up to Christmas, or just after.

I make a point of not getting sucked into the stressfest nearer the time, not feeling the urge to go out partying or doing every social thing the advertisers imply you should do. I will not treat myself to a new £2000 sofa for Christmas, nor buy a 57 pound turkey to stick in the oven at 4:00 in the morning.

I do like the season, but hate the hype. And people who put decorations up in November should have their Christmas trees surgically implanted in an awkward place. Bah Humbug!

Best post ever

Person_one

Pollycat wrote: »

I agree.

I'm very traditional, yorkshire puds only with beef, mint sauce only with lamb, stuffing with pork (not sure if this is traditional or not ).

You are entirely wrong. Yorkshire pudding should be eaten wherever and whenever possible, with all food groups and at all occasions.