Wednesday, December 9, 2009

It's okay to hate Christmas....really.

LOL....Okay.
I've seen a couple posts lately by some edgy super uberparents of tiny little children who for some reason feel the need to be intensely defensive about liking Christmas.
Guess what. Here's the news bulletin:
You are supposed to like Christmas.

But someone like me has as much right to hate Christmas and the holiday season as much as you have a right to love it.

Here's the deal:

I am 60 years old.

I have been around the Christmas block once or twice.
I live on a fixed income.
I have no particular religious leanings.
I do not like children (everyone who knows me knows that..)
I do not have any children. hence no grandchildren to indulge.
I have no extended family whatsoever.
My friends drive me crazy.
There is just my husband and me.
And Christmas is not a happy time for him (when he was 16, his father died suddenly on Christmas Eve).

Christmas has turned into a time that is all about greed, conspicuous consumption and selfishness.
It is a time for retailers to make their bottom line.
It is a time for greedy children who have to get the "must have" toy of the season and a time to make parents feel guilty if they cannot get that toy.
The church groups can scream "Remember the Reason for the Season" all they want but they cannot win against Tickle Me Elmo or a ZhuZhu Hamster.


We do not want to feel pressured to buy gifts that we can't afford for people who don't appreciate or need them.
We find the traffic and the crowds to be extremely annoying.
We cannot STAND the Christmas music that starts blaring in the stores as early as October.
We hate the rampant commercialization.
We find the craziness on Black Friday frightening.
We find the political correctness to be ridiculous.
We don't like the cold weather.
(You want a white Christmas? I want to live in Florida..)
And we cannot wait for the holiday season to be OVER, the sooner the better.

On Christmas Day, we eat at a Chinese restaurant and then take the dog for a long walk in the park.
And we buy $100 of lottery scratch-offs.
That is what we do for Christmas.

If I had my way, I would avoid it all together.

So you and your little babies have a wonderful Christmas trying to make memories.

But don't try so hard.
And don't get so defensive about it.
It's okay.
But give me my space to hate it.
I have my reasons too.

3 comments:

Bev Sykes said...

I agree with you. Our Christmas is very low key without all the triggers you mention and it's just fine with me. I don't put the holiday down, but since my kids died, it has never been a happy time for me.

garnett109 said...

well said

Jennifer said...

Great post. My nephew asked for scratch offs for his Christmas. And my sister is doing it for him. I think it's hilarious!