Christmas decorations

Our Xmas at home was like this, Witzend.
But I have gone off it in the last few years.

(A thought. There is a lot more wrong with society that this?)

Witzend I had wonderful, magical and very loving Christmas times as a child. But the Christmas festival was magical because I went to bed on 23 Dec and woke up to find the home decorated and the tree up! On Christmas Eve we visited grandparents and exchanged gifts. Christmas day was Father Christmas presents in a stocking , church, lunch and a special present from under the tree. Boxing Day was for extended family or friends who came to us or vice versa. Decorations disappeared for 12th night! Things that are made to go on for too long become mundane and, for me, lose the specialness.

I don't mind any amount of Christmas lights, though I agree October's rather early! Once the clocks change, I love the lights brightening up the increasingly dark afternoons, never mind the long dark evenings, and hate it when they're all gone in early January, which can be dreary enough anyway.

I often wonder why people hate or dislike Christmas. Yes, it's all over commercialised, but you don't have to buy into that. Did all the haters have miserable Christmases as children, or subsequently, or did a close relative die at Christmas, or what?

Maddyone I echo your sentiments exactly.
My irritation at the commercialism is not helped by articles such as this one! 300 presents!!
www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/this-obscene-single-mum-branded-11689360

Said the kettle to the pot.....

Stop being a kill joy

Is this the Britain we are becoming?
Men abuse disabled child and baby before punching mother in Manchester hate crime independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/… is this the Britain we are today creating? There must be plenty of cctv footage and witnesses of these thugs? The hatred and poisonous racism in our society is due to a sickness we rarely saw before Brexit. How do we cure it?

I think the central message is still there, maddie. Lots of charity events and collections, organisations offering shoe boxes to fill. Round here we’re doing the reverse Advent calendar, putting one item a day in a box for the local food bank. Some of us are doing that early, in November or even October, to spread the donations. It’s very sad and shocking that this is necessary, but I do think people are more aware and more generous than ever. I’m a bit of a Pollyanna though.

I quite like Christmas but I do feel that the older I get, the more cynical I become. The religious meaning of Christmas seems to a large extent to have been forgotten, which for those who are not religious is fine, but the central message of Christmas ‘peace and goodwill to all men’ is a message that those of all beliefs and of no belief would do well to remember.
The commercial side of Christmas seems to have grown and grown since I was a child. I find this rather distasteful, a cynical attempt by business to manipulate our love for and feelings for our nearest and dearest, the implication being the more we spend the more we love them. I have heard it claimed that the earlier the Christmas products appear in the shops, the more money they make, and presumably the more the gullible think Christmas is just around the corner. I prefer not to see Christmas lights in private homes till at least December, and I would prefer not to see Christmas lights and products in the shops till at least mid November.

I love Christmas, but not in October.....or November. I much prefer to see festive decorations in December. Months of them simply "devalue" the whole festive season for me.

We look forward to lots of fun and cosy meals lovingly prepared for seldom seen friends. No religion, no decorations, no discord, just special gatherings.

*Santas does.

FYI, the word Santasdoes not have an apostrophe when used as a plural, only as a possesive noun, 'Santa's sack'.

Thanks Maggie.

I’m really sorry to hear that, oldbatty. I know I’m an odd one out looking forward to Christmas, but I still do, even though we won’t have the family with us. And we don’t spend much at all. It seems that more people dislike Christmas than like it these days.

Sincerely, good luck with your festivities Maggie. I suffer with SAD and had ghastly Christmas times as a child. We have evolved our own, low key couple of days which seems to work OK.

We enjoy Christmas and are lucky enough to have family and friends around us and have a lot of fun. Decorations go up about one week before the day and come down around the 2nd/3rd Jan.

I suppose it depends on your circumstances, oldbatty. We’re having a quiet Christmas this year (we have all the family on alternate years and they’re off to the in-laws this time). But I’m still looking forward to lots of things. The lights, Christmas Fairs, the DGS’s excitement, reading them Christmas stories, Midnight Mass and the Christingle, the smell of the tree, putting up the same old decorations with all the memories they bring back, watching the same old sentimental films while wrapping presents and writing cards, making the cake and pudding and the heavenly aroma of spices filling the house, re-reading A Christmas Carol, shopping for special presents and checking out the window displays and maybe carol singers or the Salvation Army band at the corner, oh, and the food and drink. I’ll stop there, but I could think of more. Can you tell I’m a fan?

One of the many delights of going cruising with Galen over Christmas is that I don’t have to bother putting up any decorations at all. Bah! Humbug!

I no longer bother with decorations , just glad to get the two days over, decorations would drag it out to two weeks.

regarding " What's not to like?" sorry but " What's to like?"

I agree mumofmadboys media hype gives us such unrealistic expectations of Christmas
Let's remember the real meaning for the celebration and enjoy our own version of the period. I love all the decorations ( tasteful of course) and giving and receiving of small personal gifts. It's a much more low key time here in France with people back to work on 26th.

Tanith I have the same sort of tree bought owing to limited space as very slim,its a nod to the season.

I always loved Christmas and I used to decorate most of the ground floor (including the kitchen), now I am on my own it doesn't seem worth it so I put up the tree and a few decorations the weekend before and take them down just before 12th night.

I'm sure all the hype contributes to people feeling their Christmas isn't wonderful enough and all the fallouts and upsets that can follow. Let alone folk overspending who can't afford to. I much prefer simple celebrations.