Bah Humbug!

[mrsbrown]

Why can't christmas be like it was when I was a kid?

Where are the cool presents, the singing, the candlelight, and the people who are interested in me and what I have to say?

Please, if you want to give me a gift, make it something that reflects who I am - even chocolate is better than perfume or soap! If you can't manage that, don't give me anything!

And don't watch TV while I'm trying to socialise with you. Or get angry with me because I failed to see that it is reasonable to put my daughter in an out of the way room, in front of a kids TV program, at a party ..on a nice day.

And why am I the only person who didn't have to bring any food? Is there some social nuance I'm missing when I take them literally after I ask if there's anything I need to bring?

Comments

[doushkasmum.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you are out of step with your family, a sad thing. I hope your Christmas season improves!

[enrobso.livejournal.com]

Well I can sing for you if that'll help.

Er..no. It probably won't.

So instead at 1.03.05AM AEST I've arranged for there to be peace on Earth. For that one second, everyone on the planet will forget that they hate their neighbors. Of course at 1.03.06AM, it'll be back to the same old shit-fight, but that one second is a start and it's my gift to you.

Next year, I'm hoping to arrange two seconds.

[mrsbrown.livejournal.com]

thanks!

I love it.

[enrobso.livejournal.com]

I kept the receipt just in case you didn't like it.

[splodgenoodles.livejournal.com]

Where are the cool presents, the singing, the candlelight, and the people who are interested in me and what I have to say?

Your Mum made suggestions about what to get you (and kids are easy to impress anyway), the singing was off-key, dunno about the candles, and the grown ups were just pretending to be interested because it's important to Make Kids Feel Special.

So relax, it never existed so you never lost it.

[omnot.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Being wry, I ask; Perhaps you are misremembering Christmas? You may have been plonked in front of Seasonal Programming on TV while the festivities were underway, and have mistakenly remembered the lovely sentimental Family Christmas programs as your own actual experiences?

[charlesnaismith.livejournal.com]

I think omnot is right.

Now it is your job to pretend, make like your having fun.

[omnot.livejournal.com]

Not what I said, dude.

Definitely not what I meant.

[ms-kilian.livejournal.com]

I miss the Seasonal Programming that was actaully seasonal. Where is the 1970's stop animation Rudolph story? The tale of the Little Drummer Boy? We used to look forward to spending Christmas morning watching the same programs year after year.
I hope that you find your Christmas Spirit again soon. Then beat non-compliers over the head with it ;)

[celsa.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the other people you were interacting with in the way you describe also feel that something is missing?

You've mentioned a few things that put the Christmas in to Christmas for you. They sound reasonable. I say; foster those things. Try to cultivate a Christmas of your own, in which you can celebrate the things you cherish even in the face of having to deal with people who don't get it.

I'm looking forward to designing my own Christmas over the next few years. I will keep the traditions I like, and encourage other people to participate; playing board games and working on jigsaw puzzles, having water-pistol wars, giving to charity, eating trifle for brunch on boxing day, lying under a shady tree with a glass of wine or punch, brushing flies away, watching the kids playing with their new toys and just talking. I may not succeed in all ways, but I will hit as many targets as I can without letting it get me too wound up.

Also; re-gifting of impersonal gifts like soap etc is 100% fair, as long as they are gifted to people you know are into that kind of thing, or as generic kris kringle type gifts.

I hope the rest of your Christmas experiences are more satisfying, and soothe your soul.

[mishymoocow-2.livejournal.com]

For adults, Christmas is always going to be more fraught than for kids. We have higher expectations and more responsibilities. Responsibilities are usually un-fun making. We can't run away from the boring adults and play in the sprinkler anymore either.

As a kid you think you'll *die* if you don't get X, but when you don't you're usually kinda-ok with Y instead.

Presents that completely fail to get the Unique-and-Spirited-Woman-That-I-Am are necessarily painful, but i think they only really hurt when we're feeling NOT-SEEN in other areas of our life. Otherwise we just laugh and think, "Wow, how clueless was that as a gift for me... oh well."

I hope you will be seen and understood and loved for exactly who you are.

OF course, there is always the remote possibility that your hygeine standards have slipped below those normally pertaining in our society? Perhaps your loved ones are hinting?? (Not likely, but I guess it's worth checking???) :0P

[villana.livejournal.com]

I have no soothing words, anyone who buys me soap runs the risk of getting it shoved somewhere unpleasant. So I'm with you.