I don't do Christmas - anyone else feel the same?

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I'm pretty "Meh" about setting up decorations, but I do it for the neighborhood. I have everything on timers so I don't need to worry about flipping switches or remembering to turn things off. We are similar to many above....if i want it, I buy it!

I do notice the grand kids seem to call me more often right before Christmas, but won't hear from them after Christmas for another 11 months. Pretty sad if you think about it. My dad was the one who instilled in me how important it is to keep that connection going all year with family. I must have failed passing on this tradition.
 
backlash said:
My MIL would just keep plugging in Christmas decoration till she tripped a breaker.
It was a real fire hazard but I could never get her to not do it.
I once found 15 strings of light connected to extension cords all plugged into the same outlet.
There was only 1 outside outlet.
This was way before LED lights so they were all the big outside lights and other stuff.
It kept tripping the breaker and she thought the breaker was bad.
Even worse, she lived in a 1970s trailer house with aluminum wiring.
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This is probably one of the reasons that there are house fires at this time of year.

Space heaters and Christmas tree fires also contribute to house fires this time of year.

 
We used to do huge Christmas trees in the house. We have super high vaulted ceilings and the wife was always bound and determined to find the tallest tree in the area. We had eye bolts in the walls (hidden behind Ansel Adams pictures during non-Christmas time) for guying up the monsters.

I just saw an ad in the newspaper for a local tree lot. They had pictures of people standing next to these 4 or 5 foot tall Charlie Brown Christmas trees on the lot. And price tags from $199 to $299 for them. No thanks!

We do artificial trees now. And normal sized ones to boot. No longer does our house look like a set from The Nutcracker Suite.
 
Haertig said:
We used to do huge Christmas trees in the house. We have super high vaulted ceilings and the wife was always bound and determined to find the tallest tree in the area. We had eye bolts in the walls (hidden behind Ansel Adams pictures during non-Christmas time) for guying up the monsters.

I just saw an ad in the newspaper for a local tree lot. They had pictures of people standing next to these 4 or 5 foot tall Charlie Brown Christmas trees on the lot. And price tags from $199 to $299 for them. No thanks!

We do artificial trees now. And normal sized ones to boot. No longer does our house look like a set from The Nutcracker Suite.
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So you are an Ansel Adams fan too? Best photog ever IMHO
 
I don't like Christmas, but when I was a kid it taught me a very important lesson. Santa claus taught me that I could be conditioned to believe in literally anything. When I found out he wasnt real it was open season on the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy and all of the other holidays, children's tales etc. Eventually I thought "hang on... is God made up too?"

Frankly it was a nightmare for my parents. Luckily it lead me down a path of exploration. I've always been obsessed with the truth of things and all truths lead to God so in the end it was more than all right.

I don't like christmas- I think it's a paganized holiday of gluttonous, greedy consumerism... but it's a good excuse to treat my wife and eat some good food. it'll be fun with my kids and I hope they can benefit from a similar realization when they come of age. Besides, it wasn't all bad when I was a kid. I remember the wimsical wonder of Santa Claus and the north pole and elves and Rudolf and all that garbage. It was magical, and I think that feeling is important for kids- they'll have plenty of time to be an adult and pessimistically dole out ugly truth to folks.

So, I guess we're doing Christmas 🤷‍♂️
 
I live alone. Off the road so dont even put a wreath on the door. No one but me would see it. Kids live out of state so they dont visit. Too hard to drive for me. never been invited anyway. Grandkids, i send money for birthday xmas but think this is the last time. Since they dont say thanks or hay got the money so i know it was not lost in the mail. whats the point. One set of 3 grandkids have moved and i dont have their address. Tells you how much my kids think of me. So nope dont do holidays .
 
forcast said:
I live alone. Off the road so dont even put a wreath on the door. No one but me would see it. Kids live out of state so they dont visit. Too hard to drive for me. never been invited anyway. Grandkids, i send money for birthday xmas but think this is the last time. Since they dont say thanks or hay got the money so i know it was not lost in the mail. whats the point. One set of 3 grandkids have moved and i dont have their address. Tells you how much my kids think of me. So nope dont do holidays .
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Sorry to hear of your situation. It reminds me of that neighbor man in Home Alone. (Hint, hint: Maybe try what he did in the end? You never know what will happen until you try. Can't hurt.)
 
Haertig said:
Definitely! I can just stare at one of his photos and get completely drawn into it for extended periods. Exploring every detail and imagining things about the place where it was taken.
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Wife got me a couple photo books of his. I can dig thru them for hours. I enjoy photography, so it ibterest me trying to figure out the settings he used. Of course his were all Large format and not SLR. A lot of his pics were enhanced inthe darkroom as well. Well corrected would be the correct term . Not like photoshop
 
lonewolf said:
Brits were pagans long before christianity arrived, centuries of .
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So were Germans ....

And I think Christians consider Hindus and Shintoism and other religions like that "pagan" also

I think I am mostly leaning towards Wiccan

My first granddaughter's name is Guinevere :) ( my sil is English)
 
Canon29 said:
I don't like Christmas, but when I was a kid it taught me a very important lesson. Santa claus taught me that I could be conditioned to believe in literally anything. When I found out he wasnt real it was open season on the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy and all of the other holidays, children's tales etc. Eventually I thought "hang on... is God made up too?"
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My parents didn't try to convince us any of it was real. We were always just told it's "tradition" , no religious or supernatural meaning attached to it. We did celebrate birthdays however
 
sonya123 said:
My parents didn't try to convince us any of it was real. We were always just told it's "tradition" , no religious or supernatural meaning attached to it. We did celebrate birthdays however
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So since the pagan factor has been brought up, I can share a bit more why I don't do Christmas, Easter etc.

I chose to go my own way to find my relationship with God. Every religion I looked at had elements that I was uncomfortable with. So I looked to the Bible as a guide. Aside from the angel speaking to Mary and the nativity story that were adopted to go with the Christmas story, I found zero evidence of Christmas in the Bible. Not in there so no-go for Ben.

Ben
 
Neb said:
I found zero evidence of Christmas in the Bible. Not in there so no-go for Ben.

Ben
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thats because it's a pagan holiday hijacked by the Romans to convince the pagans in Northern Europe to become Christians ( Christmas tree is a pagan thing that was done in Germany long before Romans brought Christianity)
Same with Easter eggs
When I was a kid we still celebrated April 30 Walpurgis Nacht by making a gigantic bonfire with a witch on top ( we made it out of sticks and old clothes) . The kids would play pranks on people at night , like take the door matts and throw them in the bushes, or put mustard on door handles, or ring bells and run away , all sorts of mischief . The adults would hang around the fire and drink a lot
Fun times :) I wonder if they still do that , have to ask my dad
 
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oh my I can relate to acouple of you......the kids & grand kids for instance 11 months out of the year they don't know you LOL
out of my own guilt I do double down on cash at all the birthdays..... I don't shop for anything - would'nt be good enough anyway.
 
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