So what the heck do I do about my hatred of Christmas?

Question

What do I do? I know I need to be of good cheer and all that for my kids now that they are getting older. I however D-E-S-P-I-S-E Christmas with such a ferocious passion. I hate the fact that I will be drug to my inlaws, and subjected to almost a weeks worthy of cheer and faux kindness. Am I the only one that hates this time of year like this? My blood pressure and stress level will be at a much elevated level from now on out. Am I normal?

In response to the first question. I was born and raised a Jehovahs Witness. I did not have holidays when I was a kid so I am new to all of this, even though I am out of that cult 10 years or a bit more.

Answer 1

You are VERY normal - EVERYONE gets stressed around that time of year, and family (or LACK of family) it the major cause of it...

In fact, suicide rates skyrocket from about mid-December until the first week of January :(

TRY drowning your sorrows with a LOT of rum and eggnog - you won't feel quite as bad, and they will think that you ARE feeling the x-mas spirit ;);););)

Answer 2

Just treasure the time with your kids.
Maybe it might seem like 'faux kindness and cheer' at your in laws because of the way you feel about Christmas. Just don't take it so seriously. Relax, enjoy your kids & family, Christmas feast, presents.

One thing I do every Christmas is buy a few toys for a local toy drive for children who have parents that can't afford presents. Not only am I helping someone out but it makes me feel good inside to know that some kids are going to open up a present on Christmas morning. It makes me realise how lucky I am and not to take anything for granted.

Answer 3

If you really want to deal with your feelings about Christmas, you need to discover WHY you feel this way. Is it really the whole, unpleasant trip to your inlaws, or do your feelings go back farther than that? Did something bad happen to you during Christmastime when you were a kid, for example? Or, was the whole holiday season a parade of fake smiles and biting people's heads off, etc. the whole time you were a kid?

You may very well be normal. Lots of people have trouble feeling good during the holidays. The holiday itself is probably not the problem: it is what you associate with it.

You may need to get a counselor to help you work through your feelings about Christmastime. This is no shame. Sometimes we all need help in being honest with ourselves and our own feelings.

I hope you get things worked out.

Answer 4

I enjoy Christmas, so I would say, no, you are not normal. How do you know the cheer is false? I feel more cheerful when I am in the store listening to Christmas music, and get to have fun times with friends and eat lots of junk food!

I love shopping the day after Thanksgiving, at 5 AM! It has become a family tradition. My sister, dad and my oldest son also go. My 17 year old wants to come with us, but I have made an "over 18" rule. Otherwise my 10 year old would want to come too.

If your relatives make you so uncomfortable maybe you and your spouse need to sit down and talk about what activities are "must do" and which ones are "can live without". Maybe that would make things less stressful.

Has your family made gift getting the most important part of Christmas? I go on-line and look for unique and interesting games to play. We never "just open gifts" we play a game and the winner gets to open a gift. Therefore Christmas Eve is more about hours of family time, not just presents.

Good luck.

Answer 5

I never hated holidays, but I never liked them either (after becoming a working teenager). They were simply another day to work where you got paid double time.


What helped me was having a child.

What really helped me was indulging my passion for poking a finger in the eye of the establishment via over the top Christmas decorations.

After we moved to our home, the local homeowners association (HOA) started to have an annual Christmas decoration contest. Up to that point in time, we did nothing more than hang a wreath on the front door and kept the porch light on so you could see it.

This was back in the early 90's and white lights were everywhere.

When the HOA decided to have a contest, many homes that never decorated were out to win. Out of 250 homes in our neighborhood, about 200 of them decorated and all of them were white lights.

Now, I am the first to admit I march to the beat of a different drummer. Seeing all the white lights, I naturally rebelled against the establishment and went with multicolored lights.

Strewn neatly about the perimeter of our home, the lights were a site. Static on, I did think that they needed a bit more flash, so I upgraded them to a variable pattern where they would repeat flashing and fading.

I was very proud of my display and honestly thought I had a shot. Ha! Was I in for a shock. The winning home was tastefully decorated in neat patterns of white net lights in the shrubs and a strand around the door. There could not have been more than 2K lights compared to my 10K of lights.

The next year, I put out more lights and lost. Every year was the same. More and more multi colored lights, yet loosing.

I finally talked to one of the guys judging and was promptly snubbed as the guy with all those tacky multicolored lights.

Let the games begin. If they had thought they had seen tacky, they hadn't seen anything. Then, I discovered computerized lights and the rest is history.

I do not decorate to win the HOA contest anymore. Last year, we entertained 1000's of people with our "tacky lights" programmed to music. Families were parked down our street to watch our lights, enjoy the music, and spend time with each other gazing into the lights, reliving the favorite Christmas memories.

I had an epiphany last year: My decorating was a bigger thing than my silly rebellion. It was giving back to a community that needed a way to spend a free night getting free laughs, oohs and ahhs.

This is why I decorate now. Not for me, but to give back. I now have a more mature understanding and enjoyment of Christmas.

I plan my display for an entire year and spend all that time listening to the same set of songs over and over again as I tell each strand of lights to turn off or on to the music.

My joy comes in knowing that there will be a small boy that will get glassy eyed, much as I was when my father took me looking at lights back in the 1960's.

That is how you can get rid of your hatred of Christmas.

Answer 6

I used to be a Jehovah's Witnesses.. When I found out that they did not celebrate Christmas- let alone your birthday!! I cried..and felt very sad and lonely for 6 years that time I was with them..I think that they are too obsessed with anything they think that's harmful to their religion..No where did it say you cannot celebrate holidays in their bible- they make everything up..
However, my ex- husband hated Christmas with a passion, because he felt that he gets too greedy about what he wanted as a present and doesn't get them...I thought he was really out of his mind.
I have been out of their cult religion for 10 years now..

Answer 7

I think alot of people feel this way around the holidays and it's indeed sad. It's supposed to be a time of giving and happiness. Why don't you do somehting for someone else? Perhaps donate to a charity? That will help you get into the spirit of the season.

Answer 8

Just deal with it. Either way, Christmas is coming whether you like it or not. Since there's nothing you can do about it you might as well just sit around and wait for it to pass on by like any other holiday. look how quickly Halloween went by. just think, in about 2 months, it will be a whole year until it comes around again.

Answer 9

i think you dont hate christmas. i think you hate some people you spend your time with during christmas.
i also think you should not force yourself to do something you dont want. why you do have to go to your inlaws when you dont want to? i think that is what makes you miserable during christmas. your inlaws must have been mean or nasty or cold to you for you to feel that way. but if they are not doing anything bad to you, then there must be an issue you havent resolved about yourself for you to associate christmas with hate.
if you dont want to go to your inlaws on christmans, you can make up an excuse not to go. make it a gift for yourself on christmas.
p.s. i think you are normal too. i am just sorry that you have to go through what you are going through during this season because of others. but these external forces must not determine what kind of christmas or day you will have.
as christmas is the season to remember how God loves us by sending His only Son to us, it is your day too! claim that right to be happy, warm, and positive this christmas season.
good luck!

Answer 10

No, you are not alone. Christmas is all about $ now,it has nothing to do with anything else. I feel like if Jesus were to come back during" His" Day, he would be so, so sad.