How many of you guys and girls get into Christmas now? I thought it rocked when I was little of course and when my boys were all small. Now I can barely stand to hear Christmas music or all the commercialism that goes along with it.
None of the above really. "It's fun for the kids but thats about it" is the closest, but a little too cold to describe my actual feelings. These days I still get a pleasant pang of nostalgia when I see the decorations going up and I enjoy the festive atmosphere leading up to it. I loved it when I was young but now it's mostly vicarious enjoyment through the kids and an excuse to take time off and catch up with the family.
I chose the first one. I don't love Christmas itself, but I love that time of year because it's summer, everyone gets time off work, and it's just one big party!!
None from the above. I like Christmas very much, because they have a really warm and a somewhat romantic feeling (if you manage to ignore all the commercial and consumer crap), but I can't say I am crazy about them or that they are the best period of the year..
For years I really didn't like Xmas for a whole lot of reasons. But the one reason I dropped disliking Christmas for was because of the way it gets commercialized. I'll be damned if I'm going to let mass consumerism get in the way of me enjoying one of the few traditions I actually have. I'd find it terribly sad for my kids to grow up and have some jaded, cynical world view about mass consumerism because I couldn't manage to pass on the good traditions associated with Christmas. People get lazier as the years go by... they don't know how to cook or make the traditional Christmas drinks - they have no clue about many of the traditions associated with Christmas... generation by generation it falls off. I live in a semi-tropical country in East Asia and I still managed to get a Douglas Fir Christmas tree up and decorated. So no one really has any excuse. I get to see it from the standpoint of my gf who this year is the first year she ever got to celebrate it. Being as she's Chinese and many of them don't celebrate it. So for her it was like watching a kid - the whole going to choose the tree... shop for decorations... dress the tree... how to wrap gifts. The Christmas music (at the moment Tony Bennett does Christmas ) - so it's been really nice. It brought back a lot of memories - even after 15 or so years of NOT celebrating it. It can be a commercial nightmare. But I think that's where people need to get off their backside and actually start building some habits and traditions that they can pass onto their children. Otherwise we all end up the modern cynical logicians that will only pass on Ikea furniture to our children and look back fondly over... err.. emails? Yes in a way it's escapism... I've never hopped in a sleigh with top hat and tails and been whisked off to a Christmas ball with all it's Victorian trimmings - none of the string quartets, or the kids doing their best in choir hymns, none of the dozens of cakes and pies and the big roast turkey or venison. But what the hell... it sure is something nice to aspire to. So yeah... I think it's important to celebrate it! When we were tiny kids my parents were still married and my mom made big efforts to have a good Christmas even though we were pretty poor. She had a collection of ornaments that have been in her side of the family for years. So unpacking them was a big event... as kids it was a real treat to get to open these boxes back when ornaments were glass... and they still had wire hooks and of course every year one or two got broken... lol. Back then when having your pajamas with a zipper up the front and feet was cool. Actually being excited about something to wake up to instead of a hangover or trying to figure out who the broad in bed with you is and what happened the night before. ugh... see what I mean... far to easy in this life to be cynical. - So yeah celebrate Christmas!
Well i cant speak for everyone else but it has been the season of death for me and some people close to me and i also don't want to feed the commercialism of it all, birthdays, new years eve, engagements and weddings now thats different, having said that i don't realy care about my own birthday because lets face it i don't want to be reminded of how long i have left on this earth. Just saying.
Everything Slip said! Don't want to sound like a brown-noser, but that post summmed up my own feelings perfectly, so I've quoted it verbatim. I've always loved the traditional family aspect of Christmas, and I detest the commercialisation of it. (I haven't voted in the poll, because none of the options really fits!)
modern cynical logicians, REPRESENT! used to love it as a kid, and then i got hit in the face with the reality that it was all a lie, and hated it for a little bit, then i liked it for the presents, then i stopped giving a rat's ass about pretty much all festivities (i don't even like my own birthday, tbh), and to this day my attitude is a big resounding 'meh'.
uh-huh, so you roll your eyes at me and apparently consider me immature and an 'ass' because i tend not to enjoy festivities. truly enlightening, i must say.
My thoughs have always been, "why are you celebrating christmas if you are not a religious person?" Should this make a difference? Should we just celebrate, especially if we have loved ones in our lives? It would be easy to say, "it is the one time of the year that the family gets together", but why not put a bit more effort in for the rest of the year? I think from the aboce that I am not into christmas, a religious event ruined by the commercial aspect. Should I ignore that and just join in or would that make me a hypocrite?
I guess the smiley face on that post doesn't warm the little black piece of coal that is your heart. :love:
I think way too many people are reactionary when it comes to Christmas instead of just using it as a way to get festive and get together with friends and family for a good feed and some time to chill together. That's often the last priority in today's world. I'm not Christian even though I was raised Catholic - I don't really get too bothered about the religious aspect of it. It's more just an excuse to consider others. How many times during the rest of the year does one really consider what book a mate wants to read and buys and wraps it for them? How often do we actually sit down over a meal and break bread and raise a toast for friends and families present? I think the real tragedy (love the melodrama eh? ) of Christmas is mega-corp western world has made sour pusses out of everyone because of the crass over commercialization of it. And people get what they settle for in that case. Instead of putting a positive spin on it.
I love Christmas because thats when me and my family come together and eat delicious food while enjoying the presence of lovely, smelly tree. I hate Christmas drama however, thats why our family doesn't buy or give presents anymore, its an expensive pain in the butt. The day after Christmas is always good for bargain huntin.
I'm far more into giving than receiving, so it's still fun for me and a chance to spoil my family. Especially with kids it's gotten more fun as they're into Santa Claus and reindeer and all the magical stuff that goes with it. We keep it pretty frugal. The boys get a shared gift, some new clothes, a few toys, and some books/DVDs. That's really it. The wife and I do along the same lines, with my "toys" primarily being tools.
