Christmas!

[Verena]

It's round about now that the collective sending/ posting of Christmas wishes and profound thoughts to all and sundry starts - and like most years I find myself just wanting to hide away.... Anyone else feel like that??

It's not even that I don't like Christmas, or appreciate my friends and family....

[Bearbonesnorm]

I'm very much like that V, although I was never a fan of Christmas even as a kid. I also dislike New Years eve and even in the days when I may have ventured out, would always vanish well before midnight ... all those people who generally wouldn't give you the time of day for the other 364 days of the year suddenly turning into your best friend, bugger that

Anyway, happy Christmas everyone

[RIP]

all those people who generally wouldn't give you the time of day for the other 364 days of the year suddenly turning into your best friend, bugger that

It's the production line of sending stereotyped greetings that gets me down. Conversely, it takes a lot of effort to tailor something to each recipient. And allow me the privilege of being the first to mention the cringeworthy I Had 3 Months Holiday In The Maldives / My Daughter Is Now A Doctor / I've Got a Fantastic New Job / We've Moved Into A De-laight-fully Quaint Little Place In The Lake District / I've Treated Myself To A Brand New High End Leafblower/Patioheater/Drivewayjetwasher newsletters!!!

Much nicer to send greetings or be nice/curmudgeonly to people as and when throughout the year really.

[gairym]

Yes!!! I can finally let my inner Grinch express itself.....

I find the whole thing to be a great big loathsome commercial, consumerist nightmare!

I get into it solely to see the wonder on the kids faces but I also make sure I educate them about the pagan origins and downplay any mention of that jesus fella.

I make an extra special effort to go to bed even earlier than usual on NYE - don't think I've seen one in for a decade or two and no desire to do so anytime soon.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!!

[Dyffers]

"... I Had 3 Months Holiday In The Maldives / My Daughter Is Now A Doctor / I've Got a Fantastic New Job / We've Moved Into A De-laight-fully Quaint Little Place In The Lake District / I've Treated Myself To A Brand New High End Leafblower/Patioheater/Drivewayjetwasher newsletters!!!"

Perpetuating half truths to make other people jealous has pretty much entirely moved online now.

I enjoyed an instagawp tagline earlier this year "Don't cry, no one cares; smile and everyone's jealous"

I'm agnostic about Christmas but I have young children who understand how capitalism works so I get carried along on the wave.

[fatbikephil]

Well I enjoy it Specifically as I get to spend some QT with my folks, chill out after yet another hectic year at work and do some nice Durhamshire bike riding. I also like turkey and scoffing a large plate of veges that my folks have grown in the garden (veges, not turkey, it came from the local butchers)

Have a good one all, what ever you do, looking forward to more adventures in the new year

[Lazarus]

I find the whole thing to be a great big loathsome commercial, consumerist nightmare!

I get into it solely to see the wonder on the kids faces but I also make sure I educate them about the pagan origins and downplay any mention of that jesus fella

THIS - my kids are teenagers so i dont have to pretend i care as much as long as i buy them things

[Dave Barter]

It's round about now that the collective sending/ posting of Christmas wishes and profound thoughts to all and sundry starts - and like most years I find myself just wanting to hide away.... Anyone else feel like that??

Bit late. Last post was Tuesday ;-)

I wish my friends/relatives posted long boastful missives in their cards. I just get "Happy Xmas".

[Bearbonesnorm]

When cards arrive I rarely open them and just pass them over to Dee. Always amazed how many people spell my name wrong (inc my own relatives) or / and address it to Mr and Mrs Wright or Mr and Mrs Jones. Kind of makes me think people are just going through the expected social norm motions.

[Shewie]

I make an extra special effort to go to bed even earlier than usual on NYE - don't think I've seen one in for a decade or two and no desire to do so anytime soon.

We ended up in a nightclub in Chamonix for NYE a few years back, you're not missing much

[Verena]

It's the production line of sending stereotyped greetings that gets me down. Conversely, it takes a lot of effort to tailor something to each recipient. And allow me the privilege of being the first to mention the cringeworthy I Had 3 Months Holiday In The Maldives / My Daughter Is Now A Doctor / I've Got a Fantastic New Job / We've Moved Into A De-laight-fully Quaint Little Place In The Lake District / I've Treated Myself To A Brand New High End Leafblower/Patioheater/Drivewayjetwasher newsletters!!!

My previous reply got lost - hate it when that happens

Well said Reg, that's exactly it, hadn't been able to quite put my finger on it... the combination of the stereotyped/ superficial on the one hand, and the shame/guilt of not having made any effort whatsoever on the other... (don't worry, nearly over that one, just get an unpleasant little feeling now, hence the urge to hide/ run away)

As for the cringeworthy annual newsletters, my dad has been doing these for many years, yes cringeworthy in bits, especially the half (if that, and often overinflated) truths involving me... This year's edition arrived this morning, and reading it made me feel quite sad.... sounding more and more like an old man saying his farewells....

But I did get one recently from someone I used to be vaguely friendly with, which was almost exactly how you describe it (in fact, do you know her??? She's called Sally) - I phased out somewhere after her eldest getting a first from the university in Biarritz and having bought an old farmhouse in the Dordogne to do up with her no doubt also fabulous boy-friend....

[Loki]

I am not a Christmas person in the slightest, it all feels so fake and has no real value to me, I would rather some one sat and genuinely talked to me than send a gift I really don't need (they cannot afford) or a card, this year is tough as we had a death in the family at the start of the month and this week has seen a brown water leak from the toilet upstairs wipe out most of the kitchen so yeah, less than christmassy lol But new year, yeah I look forward to New Years.

[Rob S]

It's nice if you've got young 'uns about, non-event otherwise. Unfortunately after much intense philosophical discussion my lad figured out the Father Christmas 'thing' last month. Had to happen one day!

Bah humbug, but also merry Christmas everyone.

[rollindoughnut]

Hey, I like Christmas!
It's a chance to give myself a week off work, and to spend a couple of days without trying to fit in a bike ride around everything else. I let go and live like a normal person for 48hrs
Then after Boxing day I can bugger off for hours and nobody cares, plus I'll have massive chunks of Christmas cake to weigh me down/fuel me.

[Keith74]

Have never really been a Christmas person and been incredibly lucky that this year the girlfriend has said I’m allowed to head out a pedal before meeting her family for dinner. Out at 6am to get away from the Christmas stuff and back at 4pm quick shower then dinner.

The whole life story in a card does my head in. Haven’t spoke to people for ages and there’s folk that walk past me in the street without saying anything but come Christmas and it’s all cards and pretend to care.

[macinblack]

We love Christmas, mainly because we can all get together as a family and this year my son is home for it for the first time in years. It's always chilled and even though the youngest of us is 30, there is still a ripple of excitement about it.

So whether you are a festive frollicker or humbollocker, have a good day or two.

[Jurassic pusher]

I have been thinking about this thread a lot, I had a very happy childhood and Christmas was to me always a magical time, as I have got older the magic has faded completely and been replaced with a sadness for those long passed times.
Sorry its not a very cheery post, I am going to try and have a great day, in memory of those great years as a youngster!
Merry Christmas everyone.

[Jurassic]

Crap TV, fake sincerity, pressure to eat, drink and spend too much and not being able to do what you want to due to social pressures and conventions, what's not to like?
Merry Christmas everyone anyway.

[frogatthefarriers]

Christmas Eve (Wigilia), is the bigger occasion in Poland. We have always had a whole-family gathering then, to eat too much and exchange news and jokes and let the newest generation to get to know each other. There should be twelve dishes with no meat - it’s a fast day (like Fridays) - but fish is OK.

I love Wigilia, but the whole Christmas festival, is not a comfortable time in the frog-pond. Mrs Frog gets goes into a cleaning frenzy for a month before and if she’s busy, I’m busy. No rest for Froggy in Advent.

New Year, I don’t like at all, and like gairym I make sure to go to bed early. I’ve grown out of the partying thing and now I like to get up early on New Year’s Day and do something nice to start the year.

[RIP]

deleted

Oh no! Now you've accidentally gone and deleted Christmas! I take back what I said about it, I'd love a lie in, a few drinks and cake, and some new socks!

[Jurassic pusher]

deleted

Oh no! Now you've accidentally gone and deleted Christmas! I take back what I said about it, I'd love a lie in, a few drinks and cake, and some new socks!

Reinstated now Reg, just needed to think about it !

[Shewie]

Merry Christmas boners, all the best for 2922

[Bearbonesnorm]

all the best for 2922

I know the last 2 years weren't great but I'm hoping it might get better before then

[ScotRoutes]

Christmas wasn't a big event when I was a bairn. It wasn't even a Bank Holiday in Scotland until the year I was born (I'm not suggesting there's a link btw). My Dad would often be working too. Mostly it consisted of some paper decorations and a few presents for my brother and I. I don't remember any special Christmas meals. We weren't religious either so skipped on that element.

Hogmanay was, however, a time for the big family party and, even as kids, we'd pull an all-nighter. We all had our songs/jokes to perform. Growing up, despite the ongoing Anglicisation of Scottish culture, I retained that focus on Hogmanay.

Since our daughter grew up, my wife struggles to get me interested in the whole Christmas thing. I think that coincided with me becoming more and more cynical about the spend/acquire/waste side of it too. We'll still celebrate the New Year, though this year will be very limited due to Covid.

[GregMay]

We have a 4 year old, christmas is now a thing for us.

I grew up in a very Roman Catholic house, so the religious side was huge - midnight mass the night before, mass BEFORE presents on the 25th, then watching mass later in the day. All of this sounds wonderfully pious from my parents, but they hated each other and inevitably the day turned into massive arguments and them in separate rooms watching separate TVs and me playing with my Lego while my father got pissed. So yeah... traditionally not a big one for the festive side.

My wife and I celebrate the event, but not the religion side of it. Move on 20 years, have had a kid, who is now very self aware and has changed the day for me. We will still go out for a family walk (used to be a long run/ride). We will eat. There were gifts. But it's more like a family day at home rather than anything else.

Racing tomorrow, then a few days planned in the hills as a family interspaced with running/climbing with our mates. I've never felt the need to conform to visiting family or being forced to doing anything outside what Id normally do. But I'm lucky to have a partner who sees the world as I do I guess.

Now, time to make my Lego Taj Mahal - some things appear to not change