No not THAT C word this one is the C word that brings stress, anxiety and financial worries.
Yep its that time of year again when we start to get bombarded with the C word – Christmas!
Image taken from Wikipedia’s page on Christmas Day
I despise Christmas Day, a day when we are meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus but instead it is a day where I have to watch the kids once again be disappointed by a lack of presents. Even though they try hard not to be, and for that I love them, but every year I die a little inside because I cannot give them what they really want. I would hate to be them when they go back to school in the new year and hear how much their friends have received compared to the single items we give them.
That in itself though is indicative to the problems of Christmas these days, even going back 20 years ago when I was a teenager it was unheard of for shops to display Christmas items before December let alone AUGUST as some shops do now! I went to my local supermarket the other day and the have started filling the shelves with Christmas stuff.
And so as summer turns to autumn we now start the buildup to Christmas day and soon we will be unable to escape from it.
It is not even about family anymore its all about gifts and receiving them, Sheryl and I have not exchanged gifts for Christmas for years to ensure the kids get theirs first.
Why is it now so commercial? It seems to be less and less about the religious aspect each passing year and more about how much money the shops can make from us.
It doesn’t help when you have children so desperate to brag to their friends about what they got, how much it cost etc and I defy any parent to not want to do all they can for their kids at Christmas. They have all the build up from the media and friends and to then wake up to one present can’t be nice for them, but its one more than I usually get.
It is all well and good saying “others have it worse than you” but try making a child understand that! The shops know this and manipulate it to their advantage.
Do children even know what Christmas signifies these days? We are so busy with this political correctness crap that Schools seem to be more concerned with children being taught about other religions in the name of “tolerance and understanding” that we are in danger of forgetting that we live in a Christian country.
My birthday is on November 29th and any talk of Christmas is banned in the moose household until after that day but that does not mean the kids are not already planning their wish lists and that we are not already counting every penny to be able to try and give them what they want.
It is bad enough that come December you cannot walk into a shop without hearing the same Christmas songs being played, the same Cd that is released every year – Now that what I call Christmas – if you have worked in retail you will know these songs back to front, word for word and could probably sing them backwards!
If I ever see Yoko Ono I will rabbit punch her whilst singing “war is over!”
A Christmas rant in September who would have thought but before you know it the day will be upon us, I know this thanks to people posting on Facebook that its less than 100 days away – gee thanks for that.
All in all it means the next few months will not be fruitful in terms of my recover because I can honestly say I am not a fan of Christmas day in its current commercial only celebration. I would go so far as to cancel it for a year if only I could get away with it, if it was not for those pesky kids!
Depression and Christmas does not a happy moose make and as quick as it comes I will be happier come 26th December when it is all over for another year, well another 9 months until the shops start the whole process again!
I so agree, as the tally of grandchildren goes up ( we are about to inherit 3 ready-made) the fear goes up. I love them all, but do not want to join in the awful commercialism. It does add to the pressure of recovery. It is also sad they will not have some of the simple christmas pleasures we had. Where did it all go wrong??
sunday trading is where it all went wrong in my opinion
The only good thing we have brought about to help at christmas is limit all adults to spending no more than £10 on each other, That helps a little, and ”it’sthe thought that counts” really comes into its own. It is harder to find an appropriate small pressie. But that still leaves 5 grandchildren (and one under construction !!!).
but im so spoilt i want lots of presents 😀
Do you know what your kids like for Xmas?
not yet refuse to ask them until after my birthday LOL
i do not enjoy Christmas either it reminds me i don’t have kids to give to and can’t have them…however, it’s not quite as difficult now that we are far away from all family and only have each other to give to and celebrate with. Christmas also usually brings with it social events and being social phobic, well i’m glad to be far away…Hubby’s family is nice but big and loud and that is very overwhelming for me…my family…well you’ve read about them…it’s good to be far away…did i mention being far away is good?? 😉
both of my parents live less than 10 minutes away but i never see them and thats fine with me 😀
well that’s good if it works for you
We’ve done this thing in the past where instead of having Christmas on Christmas day we did it in the middle of July and just let Christmas be celebrated with family without the worry about buying presents or doing decorations or anything else like that. Granted it only works if there arn’t any little ones running around expecting there to be presents that day and wont understand why there arn’t any. Best of luck, and try not to stress too much, it will work out for the best i’m sure 🙂
thank you thats a nice idea 😀
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I’ve felt exactly the same way about the shops starting Christmas too early for about the last ten years. Until yesterday, when I had the epiphany that if I bought my Christmas stuff today then I don’t have to suffer the misery of Christmas shopping in December, and if I spread out the cost it’ll be more affordable.
I usually work on the 25th though, and have Christmas on 7th January, Orthodox Christmas. It somehow feels less pressurised having it on that day as well. And for us it’s mainly about the food. In fact we’re so into into food celebrations that we mark pretty much every other religious/cultural festival there is with a big meal as well.
ill email you my address you can send me any leftovers 😀
I hate being confronted with mince pies and christmas cake, already on ‘special offer’ in the supermarkets in bloody August before the kids have even gone back to school! How old are your children? What are they into?
3 11 13 15 they are into annoying me and eating me out of house and home 😀
Ha ha ha, that’s what kids are for! I’ve no idea what kids of that age enjoy and i can’t even remember what a 3 year old looks like! Computer games and mobile phone accessories i guess…? Or maybe you’ll surprise me and say they love nature and skateboarding and DIY and poetry??
ha ha no surprises there im afraid but i love your optimism
MAYBE they can be persuaded into liking such things! Trick them into it! The joys of growing their own allotment and stuff!
i like your thinking!