I am not a Grinch,but....

[secrets22]

Because i am not enamoured by Christmas, people should not try to convince me otherwise,people have their reasons for not following the herd.

Christmas was a celebration of Christ,hence the name Christmas,but it has turned into a celebration of alcohol,gluttony and greed and very few follow its true meaning.

Families and friends fall out,have rows,more often than at any other time of the year,and the pressure is on to outdo neighbours and friends decorations,presents and spending,and the thought of being holed up all day in someone elses house running out of conversation is my idea of hell,and worse is children screeching and many in tears cause Aunt sally gave them a present they hate,and little benny has a better present than them,and then we have the TV blaring in the background,good grief !!!! Yes i like to spend a few hours with good company,which i will be doing,but that is plenty.

Another downside which affects many people is the loss of a partner ,which in turn means Christmas is never the same,and many of my friends are in that position,but we get through it with bravado and a smile,but underneath we are hurting for thoughts of days gone past.

And if i'm a grinch,i am happy with that.

[MadBunny]

No you're not a Grinch at all. I feel very much the same myself. It's all become so commercialised and OTT. If people want to spend time and money like that, it's their decision. But not for me. No thanks.

[Hidden in reply to MadBunny]

Me too but I call myself the eboneser Scrooge of Xmas all I buy for is mam n pixie 😁😺💛he opens his presents I put cat nip toy in and treats he's rolling with excitement back n forth lol 😺😺😺his toys in his paw

😺

[Arymretep]

I so agree, the true meaning of CHristmas has been lost , people go mad because they can’t get a certain toy for their child when they already have more than they can play with

When I was young all the family used to go to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve it was wonderful and something I’ll always remember , life is so different these days and I dont think the Church has done much to help either.

It’s all about money these days , sadly

[Gillyflower18]

I agree. I work in retail which really sours you on Christmas! It’s never been a particularly happy time in my family either! The true meaning has been buried under rampant spending, ho ho hoing and canned music. Oh for a quiet beach in the sun!

[Blueruth in reply to Gillyflower18]

The only store I have worked that did it well is Crate and Barrel. They did a tree reveal on Black Friday of all their ornaments and they have nice ornaments. Not a ton of discounts either. Then on the day after xmas they had everything organized and they try to make it fun. Sadly I know they stopped the tree reveal. I don't even do a tree but I liked checking the ornaments.

[Blueruth]

My family dumped the whole present ritual years ago. I was relieved because my mother used to use presents as a way to be passive aggressive. One year I got only socks while my brother got whatever normal presents. Then my mother and sister would compete with the presents my cousin and I got. So if I got a camera, she got a camera. Thing is my aunt would buy these things she couldn't really afford so that was probably stressful.

The only stress these days is when there is a secret santa or I am bringing food to a party. Then I am overwhelmed with choosing what to bring.

TBH, I bet half the population that do not celebrate some other holiday hate it. Half of them are in the closet!

[secrets22 in reply to Blueruth]

yep we stopped all this present giving malarky years ago too.

[Hidden]

Are the dogs getting Christmas presents then?

Baby is getting her usual presents on Christmas day!

[secrets22 in reply to Hidden]

Oh yes my fur babies are well taken care of.x

[Midori]

Hi Secrets,

I agree with you, I'm not a Christmas person either (not Christian!)

I celebrate the Winter Solstice.

Cheers, Midori