‘Tis the season! Love it or hate it?

I like Christmas because it’s a time to get the whole family together. The presents are nice, but everyone gets off work for long enough that cousins and aunts and uncles I only see once a year can all gather.

I’m pretty ambivalent about the holidays. I like seeing my family and eating some really good and unhealthy snacks.
But the holidays are a reminder of those that are no longer with us and how much I miss them. My family gets smaller and smaller and I sometimes wish I could just sleep through the month of December and wake up on Jan. 1.

Both. Hate the short days, traffic, and general gaudiness of holiday marketing. Love watching little kids get excited to see Santa, time with family, and coziness in general.

For the most part, I love the holidays. I enjoy putting up a tree. I like the concerts by various choirs. I like all the stuff.

(My response is short. I’m sick.)

Awww, @Hawaii_Jake Feel better!

I enjoy the energy Christmas generates, hate the gift giving. I have 10 grandkids and 1 great GK and with our shrinking budget I just can’t do it any more and I feel so guilty.

My donation to Christmas cheer.
Bohemian Santa on a Ladder.

@Dutchess_III My grandparents made us gifts. Not sure if that’s an option for you, but I still treasure some of their gifts. Even something simple like a handkerchief with their names sewed in or something like that can be a special gift that doesn’t have to break the bank.

Oh yes, I LOVE it! This is a wonderful time with all the sights and sounds, the hustle and bustle. The aromatics in the shoppes shiny garland and stuff everywhere. Magical if you just let it flow through you. Forget all the commercialism and junk and enjoy the spirit of the time and let it move you into a trance like state.

I love it and always have. What would mid-winter be like without Christmas?

I’m very much a Christmas celebrant. I get sentimental, weepy at the displays of love and connection and family.

We have set timelines in my family of when things occur. A fresh wreath went up on the front door on Friday. We will get a tree this coming weekend from the Boy Scout tree lot. When both my kids and I are home, we will watch Charlie Brown Christmas, and my daughter will check if I am crying when Linus explains “that’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown”.

And at 6 a.m. on Christmas morning, I will be at my AA group’s annual Christmas morning omelet fest, a sober start to the day.

I encourage everyone to start their own tradition. Anything you do two years in a row becomes a tradition to do every year!

@zenvelo I’ve always thought you were Jewish this whole time.. lol.

LOL!

Both. It truly is a love/hate thing. Just like people in general.

I used to love the holiday season when I was a kid. But now I mostly enjoy watching Christmas themed horror films, like Black Christmas and Better Watch Out.

I like it. I don’t know if I would say I love it. Lately, in the past few years, I’ve tried to minimize the people I exchange presents with. I have to admit that when I used to go on shopping sprees to buy lots of stuff to give as presents, it added a dimension of fun to the whole holiday season. However, due to not needing anything and trying to cut back on spending, I told some friends let’s not continue exchanging gifts. I do like going to craft fairs and I like looking at Christmas lights and decorations on people’s houses, in stores and other places, and holiday foods are fun, too. I like going to the city (NYC) a few times to see the holiday stuff, even though it’s usually so packed it’s crazy.

It’s kind of a downer, after December, when winter stretches before us for the next few months and it’s just cold and dreary with no festivities. Once the new year comes, I feel like I’m ready for Spring.

@jca2 but the days start getting longer in December….

@Dutchess_III: Yes after December 20th, the days start getting longer but the temperatures are way colder in January and February.

November can kiss my ass. It was the worst month for my family. Pneumonia haunted my elderly father and Covid tortured myself and my immediate family. I’m ready to embrace the holiday and enjoy every minute of it. By every minute I mean time spent with my family.

Conflicted. Love the songs. Like the movies. Love candles, feeling cozy, drinking Punsch (hot, spiced fruit juice). Dislike the short hours of sun, though I am accepting of it eventually. Dislike that it’s a time of grief for my family – more so this year because my two sisters are more or less staying out of the festivities. Love the iced cooookies. Love giving gifts when I know which ones would really work. Hate giving gifts when I don’t. Love the decorations (tends to be mostly fairy lights and candles over here). Love christmas market, advent wreath, my four advent calendars, the stockings, and dressing Wilson in his most handsome Christmas tie.

Thinking about this more, I might not be as conflicted as I thought.

@longgone, I figure the season really starts when Rocky dons his Christmas collar! :-)

@canidmajor Fancy boy! What does it look like? The tie was a jokey gift from my sister, but we’re all into it now. It’s just adorable :] Now we need something equally great for Rosie – it’s her first Christmas, and her birthday is Christmas Eve…if that’s not cause for dressing up, I don’t know what is!

Hey, it’s all too fun! His collar is black with Christmas lights printed on. Very festive! I used to have one with actual little lights, but a) they freaked him out, and b) he’s so hairy you couldn’t really see them.
Please let us know what you do for Rosie!

Rosie received a beautiful sparkling bow tie and a dark blue neckerchief. Wilson, being more distinguished, has a new dark green velvet bow tie.