Just how Christmas are you?

[pendulum666]

My wife and daughter go mad for Christmas. So I have to provide a balance.
Can do without tbh, mostly because of the relentlessness of it all from September, regardless of how much you try to ignore it.
All that for one flippin' day, by which time everyone is exhausted anyway.

Everytime I express a view similar to yours to my girlfriend or family, they go mental at me and genuinely think I be deliberately grumpy about the whole thing. I could do without the expense and the rushing about as well. Now Xmas decorations and xmas day celebrations and food and drink is great and all, and I like being xmasy, but the whole presents thing winds me up. my g/f insists on buying for EVERYONE and then you have to play the lets pretend I know what "we" got you for xmas when you just did not contribute to buying at all lol. Its all so pathetic. The kids get spent way too much on and we have nowhere to put the presents. I get completely broke and broke some more having already been broke before xmas.

All in the name of December 25th eh. I best get a good present from Santa is all I can say as I've been a good boy.

[0iD]

You lot in Brantham are just essex wannabies!

Well I can hardly talk, I come from Colchester originally

I is essix, init, a

[Mutley]

Everytime I express a view similar to yours to my girlfriend or family, they go mental at me and genuinely think I be deliberately grumpy about the whole thing. I could do without the expense and the rushing about as well. Now Xmas decorations and xmas day celebrations and food and drink is great and all, and I like being xmasy, but the whole presents thing winds me up. my g/f insists on buying for EVERYONE and then you have to play the lets pretend I know what "we" got you for xmas when you just did not contribute to buying at all lol. Its all so pathetic. The kids get spent way too much on and we have nowhere to put the presents. I get completely broke and broke some more having already been broke before xmas.

All in the name of December 25th eh. I best get a good present from Santa is all I can say as I've been a good boy.

I'm glad its not just me! I actually have plenty of Chrismas spirit, but all this crap erodes it away!
The obsession with buying so many useless presents for people drives me nuts. Why not give the money to charity? To me that would be valuable giving.

[pendulum666]

I'm glad its not just me! I actually have plenty of Chrismas spirit, but all this crap erodes it away!
The obsession with buying so many useless presents for people drives me nuts. Why not give the money to charity? To me that would be valuable giving.

Yeah I know what you mean. The cost of toys for kids takes the biscuit too...they just milk the British public that pay the prices.

[Honoop]

I love Christmas but the first 2 weeks of December = exam time for me so I tend to get frustrated that I can't get fired up for Christmas until exams are out of the way.
But once they are done (last one tomorrow for me - yay!) it's full steam ahead for me. Will put the decs up within the next few days and will go out shopping at the weekend. I think personally that the run up to the day itself usually turns out to be much better than the day itself, but it's a really special time of the year when most folk are in a happy mood. Goodwill to all men n all that!

[0iD]

Putting up our deco's tomorrow due to kid pressure.

But as a non christian, it's all just a bit strange tbh. Even though I was brought up in a strong christian family, did the whole sunday school thing, I've never been a believer. To me it's just an excuse to spoil the kids really & a time for everyone else to relax, party, forget about your worries & have a jolly good time.

[tiggerai]

I'm the same...

As non-religious, non-believer etc It's all a bit wasted on me.

I just like that I can take some time off and spend it with my family and friends.

[Rishi]

I'm the same...

As non-religious, non-believer etc It's all a bit wasted on me.

I just like that I can take some time off and spend it with my family and friends.

Pretty much the same although I am sitting here doing extra hours to take xmas eve off cos I havent got enough holiday

Oh yea, I hit the thank you button for you by mistake haha

[TheAnimus]

I'm the same...

As non-religious, non-believer etc It's all a bit wasted on me.

I just like that I can take some time off and spend it with my family and friends.

I'm hardly known for my tolerance of what i consider stupid/pointless/welsh, but i really do like xmas.

You can either relax, and make sure you enjoy the christmass spirit, or be miserable.

Tuesday i was in the west end till about 10pm doing a fair whack of my xmas shopping, straight after work, it was actually good fun, thinking about friends & family, what they like, why i like them, what i think they should like. I don't find gift finding an odious task by any extent.

Regardless of if you think its the celebration of a man's birth who was later nailed to some wood, a pagan festival to help get through the cold long dark winters, or a time to apprechate the people who work for the advertising arm of Coke-Cola. You can take some nice warm and fuzzy things with it.

Family, chance for everyone to be together (except my sister, obviously)
Friends, get in touch with people you've dropped out of communication with (i'm very bad at that!)
Generiousity of spirty, giving regardless of what/if you will recive.

Stop been such moaning barstards, so what IF tv is worse than it normally is, TV is just a way of wasting your life anyway (and for me a chance to compensate, 52" baby!). Who cares if the going through the airport is going to be absolute hell, I still get those glories days off, and it will be nice to over-induldge.

[TeePee]

I'm the same...

As non-religious, non-believer etc It's all a bit wasted on me.

I just like that I can take some time off and spend it with my family and friends.

This, for me, is the true meaning of Christmas. I'm definitely in the 'Keep god out of xmas' camp, but it's nice to have a holiday that you can spend with family. Good food, thoughtful gifts, etc.

[kalniel]

I find myself having to actively avoid Christmasy things until advent - otherwise I do get a bit fed up. But.. if I can avoid them and follow the Church's build up to Christmas it's lovely. You just have to try and keep the commercial stuff from overwhelming it.

On the religious side of things though it's fantastic - second only to Easter really. It's especially nice to go back to your home church for Midnight Mass - with all of my friends from years ago we've spread out right across the country for our jobs etc. and it's lovely to reunite and catch up with them all again.

[tiggerai]

I find myself having to actively avoid Christmasy things until advent - otherwise I do get a bit fed up. But.. if I can avoid them and follow the Church's build up to Christmas it's lovely. You just have to try and keep the commercial stuff from overwhelming it.

On the religious side of things though it's fantastic - second only to Easter really. It's especially nice to go back to your home church for Midnight Mass - with all of my friends from years ago we've spread out right across the country for our jobs etc. and it's lovely to reunite and catch up with them all again.

This is where having a birthday on the 3rd december comes in handy... if anyone thinks I'm sorting out christmas before my birthday they've got another think coming.

This year I'm not buying presents, I am making them (obviously buying the things to make them with...) as I am as good as broke. Some of the best pressies I've got are ones that you can see someone has put the thought, effort, love and enjoyment into making them.

I'll show you the fruits of my labour later on.