Does anyone else really hate this time of year ?

Noreen3 I sympathise. I have had some Christmases which were very difficult for personal reasons and the forced jollity felt very oppressive. You feel that you just have to grit your teeth and get through it. My mother is in her 90s and I speak to her on the phone on Christmas Day but I always feel that it may be the last Christmas. She has trouble following the conversation now which she is very aware of so it is difficult.
At least now it is possible to avoid Christmas TV with some many different ways to watch things, DVDs etc. The only consolation for people in your situation is that it will pass. Best wishes.

May I suggest Foxygran and Jaycee read the posts again, if Christians can be mocked as sheep on a hillside awaiting a celestial choir why should they not reply ?

No more to say on this

Anniebach You know very well you meant it as an insult. You do it too often and then plead innocence which unfortunately some people fall for.

Victoria8 Buy as much ready prepared as you can. It does make it easier and why not, it's Christmas after all.

Was fed up with Christmas till my lovely DS said I would be going to spend the day with him, his lovely wife & my gorgeous GC! Had been thinking it would be just another day on my own with no chance of even a walk if it was snowy or icy out due to dodgy legs. So more happy now but still tuning out all the adverts & buy this buy that on tv & radio. It is lovely for children though who believe in Santa wish more children could enjoy it!

Do we have Scrooge's ghosts hanging around?

Christmas past, with children, families and energy;
Christmas present, when everything is so much harder;
And Christmas future, that we daren't think about.

Oh dear.

sorry,meant to say-It's difficult,don't know what happened to my typing.

It has got so silly now I am not affected. For instance I decided for the first time yesterday to go into Leeds centre to get some presents. I thought the car parks will be full....I must be mad but no. Plenty of spaces and very spacious shopping experience with great help. This is because people have apparently already bought and wrapped their presents. The Guardian full of Xmas tv... the trolley man in Waitrose wished me happy Xmas... it’s 10 days away I laughed. The world’s gone mad. Last Thursday on the 7th of December The Nnew Sstatesman Christmas edition was published....this weekly paper next edition till 4th Jan...it’s so silly it has surely fired itself up its own bum.

I don't like Christmas either.My husband is in a care home,I'm not sure how much longer I'll have him for.I think Christmas starts too early in the shops,a lot of people don't like Christmas very much,and there's just too much of it.I've had to come out of places if they're full of happy looking people and Christmas things everywhere.It's difficult if you've someone who's not well,or have lost someone at this time of year.

Jaycee5, I totally agree with your comments. Well said.

Friday was only responding to the first insult about the Morning Star. Is she not entitled to defend herself?

We're all entitled to an opinion and we've been asked to offer one and so let's be kind to one another. Especially as it's meant to be the season of goodwill.

For me any excuse for a party and a holiday is a good excuse. Any excuse to spend time with family members I don’t see enough of is a good excuse. I’m very fortunate to have DCs and DGC.
However, I do sometimes feel that the commercialisation spread by the media is a type of emotional blackmail which feeds the sense of loneliness and loss felt by those who have no close friends or family, or have lost loved ones recently, at Xmas or through war or crime. It must be devastating for them and seriously difficult to ignore the message that they should be enjoying themselves with family.
Apparently suicide and divorce rate increase at this festive time of the year.

I really dislike Christmas Day, although I have grandsons, two of which will be their father and the other I will spend it with and DD. Trouble is, neither of us enjoy cooking the Christmas dinner.
It's always a big stress fest, and I loath it.
Last year we went to a restaurant for Xmas dinner, but not this year.
If someone said, come round to ours for dinner, I would be there like a shot.

Merry Christmas everyone.

I so agree with the idea of Christmas every 5 years, but the shops won't.
Now that the bible's been almost rewritten to fit in with modern ideas, and many people don't believe in God, then whose birthday are we celebrating?
It can be a cruel time of year with it being rammed down our throats, and getting to be made feel like failures because we're not out there partying and don't have loads of people dropping in to see the new sofa that was, as promised, delivered in time for Christmas. September the 4th was the first ad I saw in TV promising that! Who needs a new sofa for Christmas?
Christmas music blaring out in every shop makes me want to find a silent shop, and what about the non-Christians working in those shops? We're supposed to say 'Happy Holidays' so as not to offend, but it can be sang about!
When you have small children and 3 generations get together it can be fun, but as children get older they ask for exactly what they want. In my grandchildren's case it was new phones, and they got them two weeks before Christmas! Isn't it more exciting to wait?
I'll be glad when the whole thing's over as will countless people who have to spend it alone without even shops, libraries etc being open to spend time in with other people around.

Used to love it until I lost my husband four years ago. Now I can't wait for it to be over. Will travel a very long way to be with our lovely daughter and family, and no, I won't be a grump - how could I be when they're all so kind and loving? But I'll still be relieved when it's all over - we used to have such great Christmasses, just the two of us.

I agree with much that has been written. I don't 'hate' Christmas, but for my DH and me it is largely a non-event. When it comes to watching TV we record a lot of it and zap the adverts. Christmas should not encompass the whole of December and much of November. It is just a bore.

referring to The Morning Star was an insult? Surely not, it was founded in 1930, just change of name from Daily Worker.

I used to love Christmas when I was younger and there were children around to add to the fun and excitement but now I find Christmas sad. The family is slowly disappearing and this year it will be with my parents who both have Alzheimer's . So I can't get jolly but I wish lots of happiness and fun to those with busy families,though I know that can bring its own problems!
And for those who are alone and lonely, I wish you a peaceful day because in the end that's all it is,just another day and for some it's best not to think too much about it.

I love Christmas but l hate the commercialisation of it. It seems to be all about the big sell these days. I am not really a great believer in God but l do have a Christian spirit and l think the whole meaning of the Christmas story, whether it's true or not, is lost. Its just the way the world is today.

I love Christmas and we do it very traditionally. But each year in the autumn I think it would be handy to have it every other year. Then I get swept up in writing cards, wrapping presents while listening to carols, decorating the tree, cooking and so on. I am able to ignore the majority of the commercialisation aspect. Sorry about your mum, Whitewave. I have a sister in a nursing home, whom we'll visit with presents on 21st. We already went and decorated her room on 1st (She is so far away - her choice - that we normally can visit only once a month).

Friday was responding in the same tone as the original comment. Was the reference to the Morning Star not meant as an insult? (personally I think that it is considerably better than the Daily Mail or Sun, but the comment was not meant that way). I think people should read the whole thread because accusing people. It is better to rise above it, but it is surely understandable when people don't.

I enjoy Christmas but there are people who seem to want to prove that their Christmas is better, or more 'proper' than other people's even to the point of unkindness at times and that seems to be against the whole ethos of Christmas.

JessM I agree. I used to have a number of Clients who ran restaurants and they all found it a more difficult season commercial because of the void times when people were away, offices closed etc. which the few days before Christmas did not make up for. I know their are businesses who get most of their profits in the run up to Christmas but there are many for whom it is not a benefit.

Witzend you did say - the moaners , it would have been kinder to say 'those' would it not? ?

My problem is that I have plenty of opportunities to socialise and eat and drink and relax, and see family from afar, for the other 11 months, and December just interferes with it all. This year we don't have an opportunity to see family on Christmas day itself, which will make it flat, so I just plod through the month from one eatingfest with crackers to the next, and roll on January

Anniebach, I said that I myself do not like the over commercialisation of Christmas!
Just that alone does not make anyone a moaner - not to me, anyway.

Me too, Eazybee, BBevan, Auntieflo and Annie

Thank you Eazybee and BB and Auntyflo x x x