Xmas or New Year?

I'm a Christmas person. Love the lights and brightness but simplify decorations now at home and try to minimise the commercial aspect. The decorations are usually away by New Year which usually just passes quietly. Not a party person. Never have been so a quiet and often reflective night.

Neither for me, I go to bed on NYeve. I am just glad when it is all over. No resolutions either, why wait to make changes?

What does it matter that Christ wasn't born 25th December, what matters to the worldwide Christian church is he was born. Pagans can still celebrate winter.

I love everything about Christmas, including Advent and Boxing Day. It's a big family celebration for us. I would never take the decorations down before Twelfth Night. New Year is a bit meh. Forced gaiety, prices bumped up, not being able to get a taxi home if you go out. A bit depressing if you stay in. We've had some cracking ones over the years, but some stinkers too.

With only a small family Christmas has always been quiet for us even when I was little. Mum used to stay from Christmas Eve to the day after Boxing day but these days it's just DH DS and me. I used to love the day watching the children's joy. I think unless your religious Christmas day is nothing without children.

We always stay up for midnight on NY, have never been out to celebrate, we used to alternate going to friends and them coming to ours but haven't done that for years. We watch Jools Holland and open some fizz. I always cook a roast on NY day, and that would be our family day as DD would be with ex SiL family at Christmas. Not anymore though

Christmas for me too. We don't usually do anything about New Year although this year we have been invited to two drinks parties on NYE and NYD. My usual routine is to take down all the decs on NYD, clean the house and cook a really nice dinner- feels like a fresh start.

I love them both. I enjoy preparing Christmas for the family and celebrating New Year with friends. I like to think optimistically of New Year as a fresh start. Unfortunately the optimism is short lived as January really depresses me. It is so dark and miserable.

Definitely Christmas. New Year is too near the end of the holiday.

I love Christmas and put my Christmas lights up on 1st December. Not bothered about New Year just spend the night at home.

What does it matter that Christ wasn't born 25th December, what matters to the worldwide Christian church is he was born. Pagans can still celebrate winter.
I agree

Christmas, carol services, little children getting excited, dressing up as angels, shepherds and a real donkey for the nativity is what I enjoy!
I used to love New Year's Eve too but now it is just another evening, although we do wait up, have a drink at midnight and wait for the DC to phone (or phone them!).

My GSs' nativity play next Sunday. Elder GS plays the drums in the backing group. [proud]

I'm not sure it's actually called a 'backing group'.

I have always loved Christmas, I would love it even if I spent it on my own.

New Year just passes me by. We have celebrated at various times in the past and it was very enjoyable but since Brittany Ferries made travelling to France for the New Year so expensive, and anyway all the good restaurants in our area of Normandy closed down, the recession I assume, I quite happily stay in the UK and go to bed as normal.

www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-nhs-choir-christmas-number-1-interview-an-incredible-institution-deserves-to-be-at-the-top__12813/

Anybody want to download this to get the NHS choir to number one in the charts? It's either them or Bieber at the moment, I think.

I agree it does not matter that Jesus was not born on Christmas Day, but I was trying to explain why we celebrate Christmas on December 25th to my grandson. He had read that Jesus wasn't born on 25th December, so why do we call it Christmas?
It was Starbird who said that pagans should move their festival so that Christians could keep Christmas religious. I was just suggesting that if anything it should be the other way round.

I do love Christmas but these days it just seems to start far too early and the hype and build up only serve to make me feel stressed. The best part of Christmas for me is Christmas Eve - presents all bought, wrapped and under the tree, food all bought and prepared, clothes all ready, house all cleaned and tidy. And, most important, it's too late to do anything about anything I might have forgotten, so I can just pour myself a glass of wine, put my feet up, relax and look forward to the family festivities and the children's excitement
New Year doesn't really mean much to me. We generally stay up and see the New Year in, but as I've got older, it always makes me feel sad and it feels slightly incongruous to be 'celebrating' the passing of time.

I have always loved Christmas. When I was a child we spent most of the day – and quite a few days after – with my aunt who lived in the last family home of the previous generation and who also loved Christmas (and children). As the years went by and my aunt grew older and frailer, I took over the responsibility for Christmas and entertained and fed my quite large extended family on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. In my house, absentdaughter opened her stocking presents in the morning, but we didn't open family presents until the afternoon. I chose to decorate the tree on Christmas Eve, so everything was just ordinary until the magic of Christmas Day.

Now it is absentdaugher's turn. She decorates her tree earlier and family presents are given in the morning. It's usually quite hot here (summer in the Southern Hemisphere) on Christmas Day so lots of salads and barbecues.

I'm still not good with New Year. I always hit the bit when I think Mozart – or whoever – was XX years younger than me when he died and what have I achieved. I spent many a January midnight cuddling my lovely dog Max and weeping into his coat. My beloved dog was very ill over the Christmas period a few years ago and died in my arms on New Year's Day. Absenthusband always reckoned that Max stayed alive, however bad he felt, to see me through new year – and, bless his brave heart, he did.

I love and enjoy both for different reasons. Christmas is such a lovely time with children, and New Years Eve is my favourite party night of the year.

www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-nhs-choir-christmas-number-1-interview-an-incredible-institution-deserves-to-be-at-the-top__12813/

The NHS Christmas choir is only 600+ downloads behind Bieber now.

There must be at least 600+ gransnetters who haven't downloaded it yet.
It's Bridge over You, to Bridge over Troubled Water, by the choir that sang on workplace choir with whatshisname who does all the choir competition programmes.
We don't want Bieber to win, do we?

I love both. I put my tree up in early December and have the lights on every night. DH and I spend most late afternoons watching terrible Christmas movies that we love.

We wait for the day with as much excitement as our grandchildren . A lot of our gifts are home made and we get huge pleasure from the effort made by young and old.

Commercial? As much or as little as you want to make it I think. I don't begrudge a penny for the magic I feel colours the season.

New Year is much quieter these days but we have plenty to be thankful for each year and whilst we briefly reflect on the year gone by , it's all about a brave new year starting for me.

I'm a Pompey girl born and bred and I remember opening the front door at the turn of midnight and seeing the dockyard spotlights lighting up the sky and the sound of a myriad ships horn welcoming in a new year .

It's a new year and I'm going to make the most of it :-))

mollie, I love your idea of adopting a word for the year. What sort of words have you adopted and then what do you do with them?

I remember that in Hull, NanaandG. There used to be loads of ships on the Humber at midnight.
The last time we were there in 1998 there was only one. Quite sad, it seemed.
However, we had moved to York where New Year was celebrated much more.

Christmas for me I love the preparation and the lead up to it almost more than the day where as new year always seems like a bit of a farce I'm usually happy if I sleep through it and wake up fresh the next morning to hit the sales.

Not a Christian, but do love Yuletide (my personal pagan celebration). There are only DH, MIL me and son, and even then we tend to rub one another up the wrong way! When there more of us we used to take it in turns to host Christmas, with all mucking in, then we went to MIL's. Now it's us, with MIL coming each day to visit. I like the hope that comes from the promise of the coming year and as the days start to get longer. From a Scottish background, so grew up celebrating Hogmanay, but now since I'm up by 7 to do paper round, can't stay up after midnight (besides, used to like Jules Holland's Hootenanny show, but bored with it now - hasn't changed in at least 10 years; same boring acts, same boring format!) and nothing else on TV. Happy New Year, everyone!!!