Hello Dear Reader,
It has reached the time of year where the advertisers want to convince you of the following.
You will go to many many Christmas parties and you will need a total makeover, lots of makeup, to get totally pissed, your house will be overflowing and you will need to run back and forwards from the local shop just to cope with the copious munching.
Just to manage this, you'll need a new set of underwear, lots of shoes, effin' awful sparkling nanna dresses from Marksies and you'd better get down to that blue cross sale and get some perfume or not only will you look like a nanna but you'll smell like one!
And so you cope with all the clothing, eating, stinkin' like a tart's handbag and the gastric band you'll need after the turkeyfest................. there's always Wonga to help you pay for it all!
Your house will need decorating (noticed all the sales advertised for paint?), you will need a new sofa and of course, it will be delivered in time for Christmas. You will need a new pine or oak dining room suite or nanna will be sat in the arm chair throwing sprouts at her twin set. You'd better get along to Ikea and get a new kitchen or the children will not be able to have any fun when the robots come round for lunch!
Can we all just get a chuffin' grip! It's ONE day! In truth? No one I know goes to a single party! No one I know eats buffet food! No I know goes out in party dresses and no one I know (unless the people I know in Scotland count) rarely get any snow! The worst part is that every one I knows falls for the whole commercial lot of it. They might think they are being 'rad' by making their own presents but they still fall for the whole commercialism by feeling they have to give someone something.
This year, really be radical and don't give anyone anything! If anyone gives me anything it will end up in a charity shop..........which is good for the charity but please don't waste your effort. Instead, just donate the money you would give to charity in the first place. Choose anyone you like, or something that means something to you, such as Cancer Research and give them a wadge of money. Don't kid yourself either that it's all about the giving, you give because it's a tradition, whether you buy into it or not. You have a choice and you don't have to.
I am a Christian and believe that God touches our lives every day, in my case to forgive me! I believe in the teachings of Jesus and that he is the son of God. However, we have no idea when Jesus was born, although we know it's not the end of December. We also know that at no point did Jesus ask us to celebrate his birthday, or our own and that he threw the traders out of the temple. A clear indicator to me that Jesus was as anti-commercialism as we frugals! So, if you are not a Christian..............there's no need to get on the band wagon and if you are, there's every indicator that you don't need to either. Jesus simply asked us to remember him and none of that needs any help from John Lewis!
I know I will get the 'what about the children' debacle. So, here's my point of view on that. You make your own choice but the whole Santa sack, stockings and presents nonsense is overkill. Children get way too much and a lot are spoilt. Get them to focus on looking after people, visiting neighbours with them and teach them about being charitable and caring. Get them to help out at home and earn money that they can donate to charity. It's not all about them.
Stop shopping, there's no need to order a goose and if you want a focal point of the year, then focus on love, family and friends. Enjoy a bank holiday, light the fire and put your feet up.
Over to you Dear Reader. Who feels sucked in and obliged to join in? Who feels pressured by the whole event? Who dares to be radical and rid themselves completely of commercialism and give and receive nothing?
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxxxxxx
All children need as gifts are: a toy, a book and a game. Maybe some chocolate. But you are right (as ever) it is all too much these days. Hope your Christmas is as you like, however, son in laws birthday is Christmas Day, he is more excited than a class of mixed infants and we are not allowed to mention the 'C' word until 1st December. Which is when he puts up his advent calendar in his dentist's surgery!
ReplyDeleteWonderful post, I am with you a 100%. Christmas only really started with the victorians before that it was based on pagan stuff and was a night of debauchery! In our family we use the time for family to get together and there are no presents. Although I do give token presents I have made for friends who would be hurt or dont understand my attitude. I suppose it is easier for kids here in NZ as it is the long summer holidays and they dont go back to school for a number of weeks, so they are not quizzed on what they got for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent rant , had to pop into town today and the xmas lemming fest has started , queues to get into carparks stretching for miles , Boots brings to mind the question has anyone ever used any of the gift sets they were all piling in their baskets?
ReplyDeleteWe are Christians. We don't give presents or cards. We don't spend money on new clothes and attend parties with people we don't even know. There will be the usual 6 people sat at the table on Christmas day, for a normal sized meal rather than so much food you can't move from the table afterwards. Lasagne is a great meal to have on Christmas day because you can make it the day before and just reheat. We will be attending a Carol service on Christmas eve, which we have done for decades. Hubby conducts the music and as far as he is concerned that is Christmas. We don't have a tv so we won't be watching the Christmas episodes of all the programmes, if they still do that sort of thing. We will be keeping warm and well fed. We will be spending several hours playing card games together and having fun. I already have many hats and scarves made to gift to the local homeless charity and that's all the giving I want to do this year.
ReplyDeleteWe are Christians. We don't give presents or cards. We don't spend money on new clothes and attend parties with people we don't even know. There will be the usual 6 people sat at the table on Christmas day, for a normal sized meal rather than so much food you can't move from the table afterwards. Lasagne is a great meal to have on Christmas day because you can make it the day before and just reheat. We will be attending a Carol service on Christmas eve, which we have done for decades. Hubby conducts the music and as far as he is concerned that is Christmas. We don't have a tv so we won't be watching the Christmas episodes of all the programmes, if they still do that sort of thing. We will be keeping warm and well fed. We will be spending several hours playing card games together and having fun. I already have many hats and scarves made to gift to the local homeless charity and that's all the giving I want to do this year.
ReplyDeleteKudos to you for not paganising your Christmas - all the other traditions are about Yule and I don't celebrate that either
DeleteWe've stuck to 'something you want, something you need, something to wear & something to read' for the children for the last few years. None of them have complained & it's helped us to rein in the craziness of Christmas and two birthdays in quick succession.
ReplyDeleteThis is the time of year when I pretty much turn off the television completely, and try to avoid the shops as far as possible.
This year I'm only giving homemade gifts to my parents and any money that I had saved throughout the year for is going to buy food for food banks and that'll also include cat/dog food. With regards to sending Christmas cards, I've also told people that I won't be sending them but donating money to the Woodland Trust! I do however love going around garden centres and seeing all the lovely Christmas displays and then heading back to my car for my coffee and homemade cake! It always tastes so much better when I return to my car. :-)
ReplyDeleteThis year I've decided that I'm only gifting to my parents and the rest of the money I had saved throughout the year is going to buy food for food banks and money from Christmas cards going to the Woodland Trust. I do however love to engage in going around Christmas displays like the ones at Garden Centres and then going back to my car for my coffee and cake from home to warm me up. :-) I love Christmas and enjoy opting out of the commercialism. Christmas Day will be with my parents and a simple meal and just enjoying being with each other.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention that the credit for the idea of contributing to food banks came from 'a girl called Jack's blog.
DeleteI love Christmas. Love putting up the decoration, having some different and special food, buying gifts that I know will be appreciated and used, having a family get-together. We never go into debt for Christmas. We buy what we can afford. If family members cannot afford to buy anything, they don't need to. We have fsmily stay at our house. Last Christmas we had about 18 family members over. The kids had a ball playing with each other - chasings, swimming in the pool, skateboarding. Everyone contributed to the lunch.
ReplyDeleteIt is a day my extended family look forward to. We are all off on the same day and can kick back and relax. That said, we don't buy new furniture or kitchens or anything for the day. And we get together for other public holidays, like Australia Day.
Maybe because Christmas is the start of summer holidays for us, but for me it feels like the start of a weight lifting from me, down time from work.
So I am definitely not jumping off the bandwagon.
I agree with you lucindasans!
DeleteI'm with you Lucnda - love the Christmas tradition of getting together with family and friends. I don't need presents, but love giving them to the children (with a little restraint!), and baking Christmas cookies for everyone else. I love to pause and think about other people. I do agree Froogs, that it is a wonderful time to teach children about caring about other people. I love the tree and the decorations, but don't need any more. I absolutely agree that it is completely contrary to the season to make it about spending or going into debt. But I must confess I am a sucker for Christmas movies and all the soppier carols:)
DeleteSo I am going to vote for our happy simple Christmas in the Australian sunshine.
over here in South Africa where I live at the moment it's also the beginning of the summer hols. Having cooked a traditional Christmas lunch in the heat over here I must confess to enjoying our friend's idea - a planned bring a dish to a communal feasting with family and friends - much less hassle for the main cook in the family and also much cheaper
DeleteShirley, we do the same, all cold meat and salads with good friends and family. Simple and brilliant!
DeleteWell said!
ReplyDeleteWell said!
ReplyDeleteI love this and laughed and cheered all in the 5 mins it took me to read it thank god someone at last talks sence WELL DONE
ReplyDeleteHi Queen,
ReplyDeleteI offer to work over Christmas, as my family live out of town and I don't have kids. That way the young ones at work, and the ones with families can take the time off (I work at a hospital). For me, I get myself something tasty to have for my Christmas dinner/lunch few treats - some icecream/fruit/pavlova (it's summer time at Christmas here). I am happy to have the day/evening at home relaxing and I catch up with my family on the phone.
I like to put decorations up, I love the sparkly lights but I don't feel the need to buy any new ones every year unlike many of my friends. I exchange small gifts with only my four best friends and for my family, I give my teenage niece and nephew $150 each, so they can spend it on what they want.
No point buying myself anything, as the sales start as soon as Christmas is over, so that is the time I might look out for anything I need.
I then take some time off from the 27th to enjoy the hopefully summer weather.
Julie Q
Well done at last someone talks sence loved and laughed both at the same time WELL SAID.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that Froogs.
ReplyDeleteI love Christmas. Absolutely love it. Our children are now adults, and they love it too. In my heart it is the birth of my Savior. I spend time thinking about the Holy Family and their trials - then their gifts. To us.
ReplyDeleteDid I say I love Christmas? Those of us that live in the same area get together for good food that was made with love and pride. We share a gift or two and enjoy the great feeling of togetherness. We consider this time a gift from the very One whose birthday we are celebrating. And we are very frugal, so we don't fall for all of the hype. The most fun thing we do is go to thrift shops and look for a really ugly Christmas sweater, then take a picture for our facebook family members to giggle at. The sweaters get donated back and we spend another three dollars the following year. Donations to food pantries are on the list as is a family in need. All the bases are covered here in Norfolk, USA.
Hi Froogs!
ReplyDeleteWe definitely don't go OTT here. this year we're making a few more changes to what we usually do: we are not buying our big tin of Xmas chocs we used to buy -- I can pretty much guarantee we'll be bought one by somebody. Ditto for the tin of fancy biccies we used to buy. Our gift-giving has never been on the lavish 'hundreds-of-pounds' scale. Our 3 DDs do get quite a lot from their friends as well as family. We have so much already, we do not go hungry, we do not go without. In fact, when I see the trolleys so over-laden in the supermarket, I feel sad and angry at the same time. It's basically for one day, maybe two, and it's basically another roast dinner, and I bet a fair bit of that excess stuff will be thrown away! We will have treats. It is easy to get sucked in to all the commercialism, the 'must-have' hype and all that. For me it's all about the company, friends and family, relaxation, fun, games, quizzes, maybe a bit of music and dancing...certainly it's about stepping off the treadmill for a day or two.....Christmas is also a time for thinking of others, and we make sure we do that too.
I remember a man taking me to task in the supermarket because my trolley was laden. He was very rude. My reply: ' this is not just for the next few days, this is for the entire holiday. I choose to shop for the whole two weeks today so that I don't have to go shopping again until my children go back to school and I can spend more time with them. And apart from that, you don't know how any people I am feeding' The rest of the queue at the checkout were supportive because they were shocked at his rudeness.
Delete....and you'll need a stack of Tena lady for reading Froogs' posts..... Seriously, some your posts should come with a health and hygiene warning - "You will laugh so hard, pull out your waterproof chair covers now"....
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, adverts are already making me want to spit. Coleford (near where my mum lives in the Forest of Dean) has had their town christmas decs up since about two weeks before half term and they are GRIM, worn out tinsel and grubby plastic snowmen but... apparantly it's what people want or so she is told when she makes her annual complaint...she doesn't shop there from October onwards because of it. Blimey, I've started a rant now too!!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love Christmas! I love going to the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Xmas eve and watching Its a Wonderful Life and then going to midnight mass with my neighbours. Then getting up on Christmas morning and my now grown up children opening their presents whilst listening to cheesey Christmas songs. All my family coming over for Christmas lunch .. Everybody sitting around the table laughing and joking and then playing silly games. I don't redecorate my house or get into debt. I just love to have the chance to have my family altogether under one roof and for them to relax and have an enjoyable day in my home. For me Christmas is about family and creating traditions and memories for your children. X
ReplyDeleteJust another day in the year, we may have a roast as it is an easy meal or we may have a curry. What we will not have is a pile of tat wrapped in paper and tape, or enough food to feed a small nation for 3 days or sufficient fizzy and alcoholic drink to float a battleship. We will have no debt to pay of either. What we will have is the carols on the radio and the single neighbours round as and how they want, we will have books to read and a film to watch in a warm comfortable home. But then we do all this every weekend.
ReplyDeleteI most look forward to listening to Christmas carols. Every year more than once, I watch the BBCs Grumpy Old Women at Christmas on DVD, and every year I relate to it more and more.
ReplyDeleteI have finally convinced my siblings not to do presents. Only for children under 18 (only 3 left). Instead we are having a feast. Everyone is bringing a dish. I cant wait. I sure there will be Wii bowling going on.
ReplyDeleteI'm a nanna. Thank you for your kind words about nannas :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, it's just way over-hyped.
ReplyDeleteSeems to be just an excuse (as if we needed one) to over-indulge in everything.
Ideally we like to spend it somewhere else, preferably somewhere warm, to side-step all the mayhem.
For me Christmas Day is just another day! Fifteen years ago I started to rebel against consumerism and stopped sending Christmas cards. From then on, each year has resulted in more withdrawal from the madness. Seeing Christmas displays late August/early September really got to me and helped me to stick with my belief. Now I don't spend anything extra on Christmas at all. No presents, no decorations, no new clothes etc.
ReplyDeleteI'm not religous, although I was brought up in a Christian household, so I don't go to church either.
We always have a nice home cooked family get together meal at one family members home but we have them throughout the year anyway. No presents or new clothing etc required! Just a pre agreed home cooked food item to help with the cost for the host.
Other than that I'll walk the dogs and get on with the day. No TV, no partying, no boozing! I might listen to the radio, get on with a project or read.
I don't feel I'm missing out on anything by treating Christmas like any other day because that's exactly what it is if you choose to ignore convention and advertising hype.
You have my total respect - I'm actually offended the the commercialism, over indulgence and bling and you stick to your values
DeleteFroogs I have a lovely meal with all my family around, and we play silly games. We don't exchange presents. We have our heart-felt "Christmas" - quite often in october or may half term cos that's when all the family can get together.
ReplyDeleteThen in december I'm sucked in to all the crass commercialism too, to my utter horror, for the sake of my in-laws. I feel trapped and it's made me hate december in general! My hubby tries to understand, but I know I just come off as a killjoy! I'd love to strike a balance xx
You are not a kill joy - you, unlike the rest of the suckers, have integrity
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteBreath, Sandra, breath! I understand. If she must have a gift, either give her something handmade - if you do that sort of thing - or get her something from the charity shop. The fact that you and yours get socks and tights strikes me that her Christian charity is quite shallow. If she respected your view point at all, she'd give you a hug instead.
DeleteRobyn, thank you so much. I really don't understand the mindset and never will. Am determined not to stress about it this year and have gone ahead and bought a little something before waiting for 'the list' and damn the consequences!
DeleteHi Froogs,
ReplyDeleteI used to love Christmas, but since the recession, I have really paused to consider money we spend on gifts and the craziness of the day..My mum lives in the UK and we (my sister and I) live in Dubai so we take turns spending Christmas in the two countries....we go to Church in the morning and then spend the day at home as a family and cook a small lunch (which has to include a gammon!) and any leftovers are consumed over the next few days. There is no waste and very little excess and we love it. Gifts are simple and really not pricey but rather something thoughtful..this year I am giving both my sister and my mum oil paintings I have been working on for the past two months. My mum will always give us a gift from an antique store or a thrift store, like a silver serving spoon or a lovely little jug she found ...I love the fact that she thought of us while shopping.
In Dubai, the spending goes into overdrive and there are more Christmas decorations in the malls and shops than I have ever seen anywhere....not only the Christians celebrate but every other religion too....the only thing which does save the day is the fact that it is usually a normal working day here in the Middle East, so most non-Christians are working! Imagine the chaos if they weren't.....
I am saddened that an Islamic country succumbs to this - let them celebrate eid in their own way and avoid all the pagan bling
DeleteSorry if this offends, but my children go to a school in North East England, now this school celebrates Winter Solstice, Eid (both of them), Christmas, Divali, New Year, Chinese New Year and Easter. They also cerebrate the solstice and various other smaller festivals and go the whole hog when it comes to Remembrance Sunday.
DeleteI think this is great as allows the children to learn all about the different cultures and traditions.All the school children bring in food, drink and have a party celebrating each festival. They make hats, decorations and as a rule the headteacher refuses each family not to spend more than £3 on food and drink donations. For many children this could be they only taste of say for example Eid.
The headteacher during this time tells stories etc and explains what each festival is and what is about about. So it may not be necessarily about bling as you both say but it could be more about sharing cultures and festivities together.
I know in my son's school its amazing seeing all the children playing together and chatting about what they do during the festivities. This has helped break down barriers and allow the children to take part in a activity with language being a barrier. In my sons school we have 15 different languages alone and having things like this places all the children on a equal footing and make friends at the same time. All the children's parents fully agree with this and actively give they full permission.
Hey Kerry I love this. As my Mum says when you want to get to know someone you ask them what they like to eat. As everyone has to eat it is a great leveller. And I think that school is a shining example of inclusion and understanding. it is a shame there aren't more schools like it. there would be less hate.
DeleteThanks Sol, its great isn't it, i recently moved house and i haven't changed my child school simply because i want him to have the great community within the school.
DeleteIts so true if people were more open we wouldn't have the misunderstanding and conceptions stopping our society from being whole.
I just get upset when go on about bling and Christmas, for a lot of Christians they over style they house with Christmas decorations because its they wish to. I know five very traditional Italian families and you see theirs, way over the top for me. But for them they decorate they homes exactly as they did in Italy, loud and brash. Not my taste at all, i just have a real tree which we all pick as a family (our little tradition) and home made decorations. Oops i tell a lie we have the same decade old tree lights. We like them, don't see a need to change them. We have a very home made Christmas if that makes sense.
Well said Froogs! Too much spending and over indulging!
ReplyDeleteHear, hear ! I am not a Christian but people of my own faith seem to consider it a duty to stuff themselves senseless on friday nights and repeat the performance on every religious holiday. It gets on my nerves and I believe you can celebrate in a more restrained way while thinking of the true meaning of the occasion !
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong with paganism. More tolerance needed I think.
ReplyDeleteMore than happy for Pagans to celebrate Yule and the winter turning, more than happy for you to have a mid-winter feast and celebrate light and greenery - it's offends me when Christians do it.
DeleteThere are a lot of things that people do in the name of religion that offends me but celebrating Christmas is not one of them,. I'm an atheist and celebrate the seasons.
DeleteI'm not Christian, but my family has always used this time of year as an excuse to get together. We're not picky about timings (this year's meeting is mid January), but we do give gifts. For us it's mostly about being homemade or thoughtful - Dad insists on my cheese straws as his pressie every year, and I'll be making gingerbread men for another family to decorate themselves.
ReplyDeleteI don't see anything wrong with gifts, as long as you don't claim it's quintessentially Christian or bankrupt yourself. Give what you can afford: the rich wise men gave fancy stuff, the poor shepherd boy gave his heart.
I hear ya loud and clear!
ReplyDeleteThis year the kids on my other halfs side are getting £5 to go in their bank accounts. My nephew has had a growth spurt and is getting an item of clothing. My kids are getting a limited amount of cash to put towards something they are saving for. I make my mum and dad a gift because they look after the kids for me whilst I work. They save me a fortune in childcare. We do not go out buying tons of crappy decorations and food we dont need. The kids and I will have a baking session using what we have in the cupboards. I am working either all day christmas day or the night before or possibly christmas eve and christmas night so I will be sleeping. Boxing day we are going to mums and will take veg with us to contribute towards a nice family meal.I am not doing christmas cards this year. Especially when it costs more to post than the card costs. Kindness, caring and love should be shown all year round, not just when massive companys say we should. I do like christmas but it is more about spending time with the people I love than how many presents we have. My other half is getting a quilt made from old jeans . He will not mind at all that I have not gone out and spent money I don't have on something that looks nice or will end up not being used. One of my work colleagues spent £380 pounds last year on food for 2 days and that did not include alchohol???????? It really saddens me that people feel they have to spend shed loads of money.
ReplyDeleteFor the past few years I have made sure my family know that I am making them a present each and nothing more. This has been warmly received, as I admit that some years back we were the kind of family to go completely OTT on presents, and I realised that all we did after Xmas day was moan about how little money was left. Now, my mum seems completely relieved not to have to go out and face the shops and spend a fortune, which is nice, and for her that's quite a frugal alternative. I personally really enjoy setting myself craft projects to then give to family, as it keeps me busy, teaches me new things and people genuinely appreciate the effort I put in. I don't see that as being 'sucked in' at all. However, I do agree with lots of this blog post, particularly the thing about new kitchens, new wooden furniture, new sofas and sparkly dresses... why would people's kitchens/furniture suddenly be no good for Christmas?? And most of us proper ladies out there would look bloody awful in one of those sparkly dresses anyway! Me especially!
ReplyDeleteWell done though, Froogs. Loved reading this xxx
My family is very small and I am already sad that my daughter will be away for Christmas. Christmas has become a major stress. My reaction is we now use
ReplyDelete1. A small tree and one new decoration each year and one only.
2. Gifts for immediate family only. These should be small and thoughtful. Expense does not equal love.
3. My youngest is already enrolled to help at Church on Christmas day.
4. We don't have huge feasts. It is too hot in Australia. Instead I cook several small meals over the period. The proteins are already in the freezer.
5. Please give to charities instead of spending heaps.
That sums up our Christmas these days.
Every year is the same: I look at the content of my trolley and other people's trolleys at this time of year and I can't help thinking: "why have I bought so little? Have I forgotten something?" But no, I haven't! I just buy what I need and even if I had forgotten something, the shop are only closed for 1 day! People seem to forget that in their hysteria to stock up for Christmas!
ReplyDeleteLike you Froogs, I don't go to or have lavish parties, I don't have tons of visitors and I don't need to buy new clothes - I hate Christmas party clothes and I love your phrase of "nanna dresses"! So true! It's like a big fat conspiracy that we all know about but all fall for! I hate that all these adverts make the less strong minded feel that they have to have a good time, party and see people! And if they don't they are a failure! it's brainwashing, pure and simple!
But what I really don't understand is: why would you buy a new sofa FOR Christmas? All those adverts: buy now, pay in 4 years (you know the company I mean lol) and get it before Christmas. Why?
I think you are right and coherent. It really offends me wen non-christians get wed in church, and it happens all the time. They read from the bible and you can FEEL they don't care. They just want the big day. that is shallow to me, but it's they're life, I just don't go to that any more!!
ReplyDeleteBut then again, I am no christian, and I get together with my family to celebrate the tradition. I can accept if this is wrong to someone. The only thing we spend money on more than usual is flour, butter, and nuts. We give each other small gifts every time we meet, so nothing differs from usual.
and I have no tv (at our apartement and my moms home) so I barely see ads. Just those long the tram line. Most fugly and shallow..just like the rest of the year.
ReplyDeleteI love Christmas but hen I love anytime that brings family together and joy. As a Christian The focus is on Christ's birth whether it happened this day or not that is our focus. We attend church and a couple extra services. We sing carols and hymns. We set up our manger scene with the Bible story over a period of several days (first is Mary and Joseph, than baby Jesus, later the shepherds and later the wise men). I like buying/making gifts for loved ones and making a breakfast for my coworkers. I cook simply but different on Christmas as a treat. I don't bake much since hubby is diabetic but I will make a few special treats (cinnamon bread, roasted nuts, cinnamon apples...) I love outside lights and have several strings of solar lights I put out. I add a few decorations and we decorate a tree with decorations made and purchased over the years from places we visited and a few from my great-great grandparents trees. We usually attend a few special concerts as we are a very musical family and my daughter is a musician. I don't attend parties as my group of friends attend gatherings throughout the year and choose not to during this time ( I host an annual soup dinner party in the cold month of January). My husband and my family is from all of the country and sometimes the world so getting together with extended family usually does not happen, but I am thrilled that this year my brother and dad will be visiting. It was just the push my hubby needed to get the family room's much needed remodel done. So I guess you can say I've even bought new furniture I do all these things with great joy and I am not feeling I have to or rushed nor am I pressured. Hubby and I get a lot of time off in December from our jobs, daughters school schedule gives her time off. So December is a great time for us to do things as a family. There is no stress we don't feel we "have to" we feel we "enjoy to". We begin our celebrations in December. This all said Thanksgiving, in November is not forgotten. I actually feel more rushed and work harder at a meal and we try to travel to an extended families home and have less time off of work and school. The Christmas holiday should be what brings you joy. It is a faith based holiday and I believe those that are believers still keep it so. side note: As a Christian, for me, the most religious holiday is Easter. Christmas is a celebration, of a birthday, be happy!
ReplyDeleteI love this post.
ReplyDeleteI am a Christian.
I enjoy Christmas. I enjoy cooking a nice meal for all my family. But it is a very simple meal.
I do give small (useful) gifts.
I enjoy the fact that my husband has almost a week off work and when we have "done Christmas" for our elderly relatives we have time for us; for books in front of a log fire with a nice tipple or two! I like doing the "12 hats of Christmas" where each day I try to knit a hat for the homeless - I only managed ten last year but I so enjoyed it.
Christmas is what we make it not what the advertisers tell us we should make it.
L.x.
Lol. I hope the trolly, or in my case two heaped trollies, do not catch too many negative glares. :D We live remotely on an island, and so this time of year I do a big shop every 6 weeks'ish… but so often bad weather causes our already limited ferries (once a week due to refit schedule) to be cancelled. So, we use one trolley for food and one for household goods, enough to last 8 weeks. That said, we will make our own, grow our own, and will have a a nice big turkey (hatched and reared by us) but we still like to make sure our cupboards are well stocked through the long winters with long life milk and other items for power cuts, ect. Christmas for us, with 5 small children, is all about home baking, and little arts and crafts. There are so many free printable online: origami stars, colouring in sheets, and the vast array of food packaging makes great craft fodder. I hope people do not genuinely feel the need to spend much this year. I do so want to laugh every time I go into the Tesco and see the miles, seriously!, of quality street tins. Who is going to buy all that??? I am secretly hoping it is still there in February, just because I'll get a kick out of it. Oh, no new furniture here, delivery costs alone would make me cry!
ReplyDeleteMamadragon, for you an overstuffed trolley or two is practical. I used to do my shopping once a month, the day after hubby got paid. I had a standard list and rarely deviated from it - it was all essentials and it filled two trolleys, as my sons were all under 4 at the time.
DeleteYou have a wonderful Christmas with your family. It sounds like you have a wonderful and simple life. Your kids will appreciate it all the more as they get older.
And what is really sad is how much of it will be thrown out!
DeleteI hate christmas! That sounds really miserable but it is a big commercial rip off!
ReplyDeleteI plucked up the courage a few years ago now to tell the family I was no long buying presents full stop. It probably went down like a lead balloon but I feel liberated from it all. I have never enjoyed it and wish I had done it sooner. I enjoy my Christmas dinner and raising a toast. But the sheer overload of tat in the shops cant go soon enough. In fact all year round I hate shopping as I find there is just too much thrown at us. It is sheer greed really. When I think back to childhood there was only a small corner shop, our allotment to feed us and a yearly trip into the city to buy a winter coat. I think mum knitted most of my outfits. I was just saying to hubby recently how overwhelmed I feel whenever I go into a shop in town. Oh to go back to those simple days
ReplyDeleteWe celebrate Christmas as a family, with a simple meal and the children get something that they have saved up for and we chip in - or we buy them the little something they've been talking about if it's not wildly expensive. We always plan and budget, cook our own but don't forget either that it's a time when you think of other people. Totally agree about the merchants of the Temple.
ReplyDeleteI started questionning the whole Christmas hoopla 5 or 6 years ago (not that I had been a big fan of commercial celebrations anyway) and it impacted our way of consuming as a family, but not just. Family relationships are different now. I have a sister who is a compulsive shopper, she started feeling threatened by our new ideas and now she won't see me or allow her son to see me because she feels judged. How sad is that ! She even says things like we say odd things (much the same as in your post) and have endorsed strange ideas, therefore we have certainly been endoctrinated by some sort of cult. Well Froogs, have you ever considered becoming a guru ?? ;-)
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ReplyDeleteOur new Treasurer, Joe Hockey, has told Australians to spend up big this Christmas. Some will need no encouragement. I plan to ignore him.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Paola! We haven't played for years!
DeleteI'm not a Christian, I celebrate Christmas because it's a social convention and because it's easier to go with the flow than to continue to say I'm not doing it. Trying to avoid it draws more attention to it and makes the whole this less enjoyable. About 8 years ago we told everyone that we didn't want any gifts and would be giving charity gifts. Everyone ignored our wishes and bought us gifts anyway and didn't appreciate that we'd given to charity.
ReplyDeleteSo we go along with it. We get involved in the bits we like and avoid the bits we don't. Yes the gift giving is tradition but if spending a few bob is what keeps things easy to deal with, light and fun then it's worth it to us. I don't care about it enough to have all the stress and arguments of taking a stand so I don't bother. We don't buy gifts for friends, we get together for a bit. Lots of my friends do live all over the world so they do travel across the globe to get "home" for this time of year - it's important to them. Spending an hour or so together is important to do so when we can so we spend money on that too, but the fact that it's Christmas is irrelevant, it's just when they're nearby.
DH and I bought each other gifts for the first time ever last year, it was fun to do it but we're not doing it again this year.
I find that joining in with the 'Operation Christmas Child' campaign run by the Samaritan's purse really captures the spirit of Christmas. You fill a shoebox (wrapped in christmas paper) with small toys, gifts, sweets, writing/art materials, warm socks, hats, gloves etc and they get sent to children in areas of deprivation and orphanages in places that have been torn apart by war or famine. I hate all the Christmas tat that the shops are full of but doing this shoebox allows us to give gifts to children who really need them. It is very sad to think that, if a child in the UK found a toothbrush and toothpaste in their Xmas stocking they would probably turn their nose up at it, yet a child in poverty would think it was a wonderful gift. Just goes to show that the majority (although not all) of children in this country have everything they need already and want for very little. If we spend money at Christmas it should be on children who really need it. Great post Froogs.
ReplyDeletePS. I have been participating in Operation Christmas Child since I was 11 years old and I think it is a great thing to get your children involved in at Xmas, it teaches them to appreciate what they have. Get them to choose some good quality toys of their own to put in the shoebox and then they can spend their pocket money on adding additional items such as toothbrush, flannel, sweets etc. I did this every year (one year I made 6 shoeboxes!) and I think it helped to teach me the real meaning of Xmas.
We have always put a toothbrush and toothpaste in our son's stocking! But you're right, I'm sure most children wouldn't appreciate it. Well done with your shoeboxes. We've done this through school and it makes the children appreciate what they have.
DeleteHear, hear. Totally well said Froogs.
ReplyDeleteThis Christmas we will be moving into our 'forever home' a couple of days before the 25th. We have invited round those we love the most and we will spend the day together. Nibbling on foods, watching a bit of tele, doing jigsaws and having a chess tournament. It will be low key and it will be family. That's all I want for Christmas, a day with my family and no pressure.
I love the build up to the day, I even love the adverts, I enjoy taking my time in the supermarkets and watching the piled high trollies being manoeuvred round and lined up at checkouts. It's as though I took an antidote a couple of years ago because through all this I get no urge to join in, it's as though I am an outsider to an event and enjoying it all the more because of this.
I can not understand, as I stand at the check out with my usual supply of groceries around Christmas week, I observe these people with overflowing trolleys. I often want to go up to them and tell them the supermarket will be open on the 26th! They will have food the day after, and toilet paper! Instead, there they are, with at least a week's wages worth of groceries to feed people they probably don't like, with gifts to impress people they wouldn't normally give much thought to 364 days of the year. Just stupid!
ReplyDeleteWe have only immediate family to lunch - that is my three sons, their other halves, and the four granddaughters. The little girls eat next to nothing, and the big girls are encouraged to bring a plate. I cater by the numbers : I only cook as much meat as is likely to be consumed. I am usually out by enough for cold cuts for tea that night for Significant Other and me, cos the others will have gone home.
I just don't get the mass consumption, I really don't.
Our Christmas giving is a Kris Kringle for the adults. Everyone buys the little girls a gift, but everyone else gets a secret gift from one other person. As the boys haven't believed in Father Christmas since they were little, it just makes sense. If they need stuff during the year, we will help them out. Gone are the days of spending a week's pay on each person. It is just dumb.
Enjoy the side show people!
And what is really sad is how much of it will end up in the bin!
DeleteIn our house, Christmas is very much about Doctor Who. I'm afraid we're a bit unconventional. And OH kind of expects his box set... I can't quite shake him of the last vestiges of materialism - not where the Doctor's concerned.
ReplyDeleteI was raised semi-C of E, semi-Atheist, depending on my parents' whims of the time, and ended up a secular-humanist, married to a Taoist. We're conventionalists, though, much like Thrift's family. But I find myself wanting to celebrate at this time, to be thankful for my family around me, and to show them I appreciate them in a special way. It's all the more important now the most important one isn't there. Also, it's somewhat easier now every sibling has more important stuff to spend their money on.
My dad is supremely good at not gifting. I ribbed him about it recently, and he said, "I always leave that sort of thing to..." then realizing he couldn't palm that duty off on mom anymore, you could see the cogs working fast. "Your sis..." he began, before realizing that would be an unfair imposition on his youngest child... "I don't bother," he said finally.
Christmas is a choice.... how & to what extent you celebrate. If one over-indulges, then that's a problem all in itself.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you all-- too much consumption. At the end of your life (not to be morose), will you really regret not getting that new sofa, or will you wish that you'd spent more time with your family?
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving is coming up here (Nov. 28) in the US (I'm in Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC). It's my favorite holiday. One day, one large meal, friends, family, and remembering why we are truly blessed and thankful.
Here in the States it seems as if retailers and consumers want to do away with holidays all together. So sad that no one wants time with friends or family and have a nice meal. Since when did a TV or iPad become more important than our healthy relationships??
ReplyDeletehttp://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2013/1112/Black-Friday-s-creep-into-Thanksgiving-Day