Am I the only one who doesnt seem to like Christmas?

I'm not really a fan of Christmas either. I wouldn't say I dislike it, but it just doesn't carry a whole lot of meaning with me anymore. It's like the older I get the less it matters. I was really poor when I was growing up. And we never got to have Christmas and it kind of hurt, because a lot of my friends did. So, I guess it just brings up a lot of bad memories. And like I said previously I don't dislike it. I just think of it as just another day. I hope that makes sense.

@ladyofborders

I understand that people may have their own different opinions about things. So it is fine for you to think like that.

@ladyofborders i m sorry you feel that way i will say your feelings are valid and holidays including christmas are not very  moments of joy or excitement you are not alone feeling this.

I agree please vent on

I stopped liking it because when the kids were really little I got excited and did up the whole thing. But all they cared about was presents, and not even getting the presents, just ripping the presents apart.

I watched, horrified, and gathered up the opened presents tossed aside to reuse or regift later.

I resolved to make the next year better. I asked them to make a list for Santa so they'd get something they really wanted. Any time we were out and they'd ask to buy something I'd say put it on the list for Santa.

They often asked for very expensive things and I did my best subbing what I thought were extragent requests for 12 yr olds for example instead of name brand $10 nail polish I would get $2 nail polish. Instead of an iPhone pro 11, the most basic cheapest iPhone. Boo hoo! I couldn't believe how distraught the kid was for years about such nonsense constantly bringing it up as a sign I don't actually care about her.

One year long ago in college when I first started making enough money to get by I got my parents gifts, but later found them tossed around the house unused, which hurt my feelings because I'd worked hard for the money and out a lot of thought into the gifts. We had a talk about the importance or lack thereof of gifts and decided we just wouldn't gift each other, only the eventual kids because that's sad to not gift kids. So for 20 years or so, my parents and brothers just don't gift. When married I convinced my inlaws to forgo gifting in lieu of a single white elephant gift. That went awry when we realized we were wasting $15 ea on a stupid gift no one even wanted like the year of two popcorn makers. Finally we switched to edible gifts only, with a max budget of $15, the most interesting thing you can find.

Still,

The kids(now teens) seem to get really high strung about presents. The kids want the house decorated in lights and a fancy tree all decorated, but aren't willing to help put them up or take them down. Then after Xmas not two days my daughter was texting me, very angry that I hadn't gotten her some necklace that had been on sale on her list, claiming that because I told her to wait and see if "Santa would get it" she didn't get it and therefore lost out on getting it on sale. "Santa" is the family passing around the wishlist to get inspiration for gift giving. I thought it was likely someone would buy her the necklace and didn't want her to spend her money at the time. It's like if I buy the kid one thing, she complains I didn't also buy something else. Just accept the gift and say thank you!

And to top it off I'm in retail so working up to Christmas is extremely stressful as everyone wants their stuff in time. It's just stuff, can everyone stop whining about what things on their list they didn't get and stressing about getting stuff in a particular date?

There's more. The concept of Santa is weird to me. Someone that watches you all the time and judges if you're a good person or not? What if you're having a bad day and snap. Why does Santa buy Sarah at school better presents than my kids (lol).

Once the kids told me how I was a bad mom and didn't do nice things like Santa and the Easter bunny. I lost my temper and let them know who the real Santa and Easter bunny was.

Now I get to hear all the time about how I ruined their childhood with that outburst.

I told the family all I want for Christmas is for the family to get along. And I mean it. This year and forever.

Even writing this rant I think ah maybe I am a crap mom because I didn't raise my kids well enough how to appreciate and accept a gift or I didn't raise them to not be so materialistic.

So that's why I hate Xmas.

@ladyofborders, I am curious to hear more about this, and what specifically makes you feel this way?

@ladyofborders Christmas hasn't been the same since I left home at 18. My family are filled with narcissist and enablers. It came to a point to where the disrespect was intolerable, and it was extremely detrimental to my mental health/physical health. I haven't had a Christmas that was filled with love, comfortability or pure genuine happiness for the holiday. I have my own little family now, and you would think I would go all out the tree, presents, decor, movies, pj's but in actuality, its hard knowing that 45 minutes away, I have a family that celebrates in a way I mourn for, but I know I couldn't lie to myself anymore about how much pain I could take from them. Or how resilient I've labeled me to be. I'm learning how to detach traditions and make my own that brings me the same emotions that I've once felt on Christmas/new years.

@ladyofborders I'm a month late but you can vent all you want ahahah I also don't like it

I can understand.

Everyone has a different family and family tree. And usually the bigger the family the more issues that you could expect at Christmas.

@charmingdom