Sick of it already

Ah yes Im68, holiday planning. We do that round the table at Christmas, so another plus for the festive occasion!

Maybe you should start a 'Bah humbug!' thread, so that those who feel the same can have a good old grump together.

Keep your head down Shanma, their are poster who question the very meaning of life.

This is a public forum and you can ask whatever you like.

In our case we start Christmas shopping in November nice relaxed stroll around the shopping centers, arranging the menus and the entertainment for Christmas Day & Boxing Day.

It sets us up for the very boring January & February of the new year, and then in March we start planning our holidays.

jane

I think you also tried to put the dampers on a recent thread about a lovely Christmas stay in a rural cottage by calling it a "nightmare" Shanma. Why not just accept that many people enjoy everything that Christmas has to offer, even the early preparations?

It is such a shame that Christmas has so many negative connotations now. A time that should be a happy celebration has in many cases become over commerialised and a picture built up of perfect family life at this time. As we all know the perfect life is life is not there for many people and the hype around Christmas exacerbates this. Wish we could go back to celebrating in a much more simple way.
I enjoy Christmas, the childrens excitement, traditional food, cards from old friends etc, and yes the gifts are good too don't let's spoil what we do enjoy by griping.

*It is NOVEMBER, and already there are threads on and on about Christmas, for goodness sakes it is only another day on the calender^
So why have you started another one?

I agree. The cards and other media images can trigger much sadness and sometimes despair for some people, including those bereaved or socially deprived. I also agree with n&g that it can be a very special time if a family has a good and close relationship and practicalities allow. It has a deeper meaning for some, but not all. It's a polarising time like no other. I don't think anyone here assumes that Christmas time is the same for everyone, we just reflect on our own situation in awareness of our uniqueness.

For myself I love the lights, lifting the darkness, the traditional cake baking, the chance to eat food that I like but that is not necessarily traditional, the excitement of children, the potential for quiet and reflective space, choosing small, special things. I thoroughly dislike commercialism and the media pressure. Some close family work in retail, they are exhausted by it all and have just one day away from the workplace. It impacts on us all but we manage something lovely together at another time and plan what is possible. Our family traditions have evolved and are unlikely to ever reflect the traditional images, a bit of me is saddened but there is much to be grateful for.

Nanaandgrampy not everyone has the ideal family gathering that you love Christmas is the time of highest suicides and family fall outs
By the way I m not disagreeing with those saying don't read the threads I m just saying not everyone's world is ideal and it can be a VERY painful time for many

Plus some of us don't have a lot of money to prepare for such big events so have to do it in advance. Since being on benefits, I have never borrowed a penny for Christmas, unlike when I was married and we hammered the credit cards. It's amazing how you can do it with less and still have a great time. My children have never gone without neither, I have just budgeted really well.

6 weeks isn't that long if you are planning a family get together. We do a secret santa so dont do masses of shopping, but if you are buying online, which many of us do, you need to do it a bit in advance. I love Christmas too, and you don't have to read any threads you're not interested in.

Anyone can ignore threads that they find uninteresting, including threads about Christmas.

Each to their own, I say.

I love Christmas, time with my family and I work hard to make it fun. That doesn't necessarily mean vast sums of money. It's about the shared experience, the making of cakes/puds, which anyone who's around helps with, and decorating the tree, using some ornaments that are over 40 years old, preparing vegetables on Christmas Eve with carols playing and the scent of home made mince pies in the air.

It's the company of my nearest & dearest and the making of memories that's special to me. Christmas is what you make it, there are no rules.

I don't think it unreasonable to start preparing for Christmas in November and in fact we always start with cake and pudding making in September unless we are going away. It is all part of the anticipation and excitement and helps the darkening days to seem not so bad.
More than anything I love the true meaning of Christmas and all that it can mean to everyone who hears the message. I loathe what big business has tried to turn it into and I say 'tried' because we, and many families we know, don't succumb to their ideas or get caught up in their nonsense.

We have our own traditions in that on Christmas Day we go to the Church service, have a good lunch and then a walk if possible. We all give each other nice (small) gifts and then, apart from enjoying each others' company, watching the Queen and playing games, that is it. It might seem boring in comparison to the adverts but we are happy and that is what counts and we also remain solvent thankfully!

Sadly, as many of us are aware, there are those that do get sucked into the excesses and land themselves in debt or over indulge in other things. Part of being human.

It Is November , and there are threads on and on about Christmas, and rightly so it's much more than just another day in the calendar .It can be as commercial as you want to make it and expectations are there to be managed.

It's a magnificent celebration of family and love and togetherness underpinned by our traditions and beliefs. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

I love it !