A thread to rant about anything you don’t particularly like about Christmas.
Personally I don’t mind Christmas as an event, but I hate that TV is so boring at this time of year - endless repeats and no new Christmas movies for 10+ years now. Thank goodness for YouTube and DVDs in this household!
it is just another day when you are a widow…don’t do presents any more, no Christmas cards and just a dinner on a tray…I will be glad when it is all over and done with and back to routine…simple as that really..
Rushing around..shopping, wrapping, decorations, trying to fit everything into the house which ends up cluttered with decorations and presents, having to empty under the bed in the sewing room and put it all in the loft so there is somewhere to hide presents. Oh and I hate glitter and bling 
, my Christmas hat is black with white fur and has Bah Humbug embroidered on it. ..oh and Christmas cards because I’m always last minute and end up posting them 1st class but last year didn’t bother as it was too late. It’s nice when it arrives and nice when it all goes back away again.
I get terribly homesick at this time of year. Not for a place, but for a time, when my family was still alive. It feels empty and hollow without my brother, parents and Grannies, no matter how much effort we all make.
Glad I’m not the only bah humbug 
. I used to love it when me and hubby first got together and always the first to send cards. I used to really enjoy this time of year. Now I hate it. So commercialised and cheap junk everywhere. My Christmas cheer has long exited. I haven’t even started writing any cards yet 
. But nearly the shortest day, roll on Spring. 
I know exactly how you feel Lois @Beesandblossoms I’ve only got my mum and son left, the rest of my family have gone, even my younger brother. Christmas just feels empty and lonely now. We do our best but yes it feels hollow. x
Brenda
Are you honestly on your own? I thought you had your granddaughter living with you! I hate the idea you feel so lonely, if only you lived near me. My son lives in Jersey and my grandsons are 15 and 12. We have never had a Christmas together which has broken my heart many times. Out of site out of mind until they need something. My oldest son is a single dad with a three year old. Little one is with his mother this year so we are celebrating Christmas day on Boxing day when he will be with his Dad. The court order stipulated each perant had alternating Christmas day. We paid over £7,000 for my son to get access to his own son. We did well with a good solicitor. Little man legally has two homes with shared perantal right, so mother is not the main carer legally, thank goodness!!!
Gail @DemelzaDesigns my daughter lives with me but Christmas day is no different to any other day. So we just have a regular meal on our lap trays.
My son lives in Scotland and a similar situation to yours , has a daughter and his wife (soon to be x) makes life very difficult for him so he won’t even see his daughter this Christmas. We rarely get to see them as Scotland is too far to travel. I feel lonely because when my husband was alive, we did presents and dinner with all the trimmings and people visiting. Now they have all drifted away and everyone is busy with their own families. It is just so sad remembering how it USED to be. Neither Kelly (daughter) nor I like Christmas pudding, cake or mince pies…so it will just be dinner. We don’t drink or smoke either and Kelly doesn’t eat chocolates or sweets. We decided two years ago to stop doing presents, as people spend a lot of money buying things that the recipient doesn’t really want and we suspect they get thrown or given away. and the same with Christmas cards. My daughter only has a part time job and so we are trying to save money as best we can. When I leave this world she will struggle to pay the bills on her low income, so we are trying to save as much as we can so that she can keep the house going.
So…I suppose that I feel sad to think of everyone having lovely family get togethers but to us, it is just another day..xxx
The smarmy adverts are all about this mythical, golden, sparkly Christmas and nobody really has that. You just need to look at family homes with little kids to hear the sobbing of overtired, overwhelmed and over sugared little ones (and their parents).
i’ve still got husband Mike and dog. I still haven’t lost all my Christmas sparkle but I know it’s nothing like it used to be with all the family. Auntie Margery is 89 and she comes for Christmas Day. My mum’s old friend is on her own, she’s 91, so we’ll be inviting her this year too - not sure how they’ll get on as they’ve never met, but over the years we’ve had various combinations of different relatives, in-laws, and friends at Nan’s, then, my mum’s, then Auntie Pat and everyone makes a big effort and makes new friends, if only for a day or two. I’m hoping on Boxing Day my friend and her ill sister will come, just how well she’s feeling on the day. It’s not good to be alone at Christmas, especially for those who have always loved it. I just hope that if I’m left on my own, that someone will invite me for a few hours, it does make a difference.
We don’t really do Christmas, we do enjoy Christmas dinner and the chocolates. For us it is a sad time of year as we have both lost a parent days before Christmas. When the kids were little it was all so exciting. I get annoyed in shops been asked ‘are you ready for Christmas’. Luckily I dont go in many shops anymore!!
It’s our first year living away from family, but we will see them, it just takes a bit more organising as we are nearly 4 hours away.
Christmas should be fun and joy and all those things but for me that is just sugar coated nonsense. I try to take the ‘sting out of the tail’ by remembering it’s just another day with a nice dinner. We do have presents but since the kids have grown it isn’t the same, it just feels forced and I find it iincrediblly stressful and exhasuting as it’s me that has to think of absolutely everything invcolved from what to eat to christmas wrap and who to buy for, so no I definitely don‘t enjoy it. We have decided that next year we are going abroad for a break in the sun .
My Dad’s birthday was Christmas Day and it was always a really Joyous (sorry !) occasion with all the grandparents, children, grandchildren and dogs and random elderly relatives who happened to be on their own otherwise. At one stage my Dad used to get a pair of odd socks each from myself and my sister and he always blew out the candles on the Christmas Cake. Last Christmas like that was 1999 and it has never been as good since as he died late 2000. In 2000 we had the family party on Boxing Day instead as my Mum, now in a really nice care home, had a party there which we didn’t want her to miss.
So all I can say is that Christmas in the last century was for me a far more enjoyable day than this century. Nowadays it is fine and lovely to see my chidlren and grands but not the fun occasion as only one daughter has children so they don’t have the same fun my daughters had with all their cousins.
I have made Christmas so much better for myself by no longer buying things for people that I felt duty bound to buy for. Wasting money that we don’t have.
I prefer to spend time with my loved ones and I am so lucky to be able to do so. We will be watching Muppets Christmas Carol on Christmas Day at our house with grandkids followed by Christmas dinner at my daughters then Boxing Day all at our house to watch Stranger Things.
I find Christmas a difficult time since loosing mum. I have spent every Christmas with my parents except for lock down (when we had the different tiers and we were in a tier that couldn’t get together) It really upset me that I couldn’t be with my parents and everyone was saying ‘they’ll be other Christmases’. That was my mums last Christmas 
. Even though I hosted Christmas in later years, mum was always the centre of our family Christmas.
Now I still have my dad and brother over and I do a dinner but that’s as far as Christmas goes. We do cards but not gifts, only gifts for the 4yr old step grandson. No decorations. My heart just isn’t in it anymore and I long for times gone by
I don’t “do” Christmas, I have to go to my sister for lunch (the hassle if I don’t just isn’t worth it). What I dislike most is the amount of plastic tat that the youngsters get given. Everything comes from Amazon or Primark, nothing long lasting, nothing brought from a small business. I always leave before the present giving.
Please cheer up, you have made me feel quite despressed. 
We have 9 great grandchildren or rather Bob has. I bought 9 gifts from Amazon for them and nothing tat to be found. The only plastic is in the 4 lego sets. I buy the two older boys gift cards as I refuse to buy Smiths toys. Just because it comes from Amazon does not mean it is rubbish. They sell a lovely range of children’s books too. In my case means I have no decent shops to buy from within any reasonable distance so it’s Amazon or a not very big Tesco. My daughter’s craft table has come from there too and my sister’s phone charging pack. When you have 5 children betweeen you, 9 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren and two sisters and spouses for all of them …… then small business,handmade is not really an option especially when you are having a lovely rush of orders from super customers. …
sounds lovely Joy @JOYSofGLASS but difficult when there is no family to share it with…I know I have Kelly but she is here every day and so it is just a normal day…gone are the days with family and presents and dancing and parties. It really just isn’t the same any more and difficult to explain when you had a partner for over 50 years and now they are not around. ( well not physically anyway ).
Brenda I do absolutely understand. I cannot imagine life without my Bob and we’ve only been married 30 years. Will send you Happy Christmas vibes every day to keep you cheered.
Here’s one
xxx
My Christmas grievance is being forced to listen to Cliff Richard warbling on the radio….