What I love (And hate) about this time of year.

OK folks, another chance to vent about what you love and hate about this time of year.


I love the spirit of giving, but hate those "Giving Trees" where the reciepents are demanding the latest gaming system of the newest game (Both of which are too dang much!)

I hate the commercialism of it all.  It's all about relieving us of as much money as possible.

blue

I hate not having money to buy any presents, but I am comfortable with it.  I try to do stuff like give heirlooms or bake or make something.  However, the recipients don't seem too appreciative of that, for some reason.  Heck, I'd be happy to GET something for a present.  My b-day is the week before Thanksgiving, so the non-gifting starts there.  My little 4 yr. old granddaughter gave me a birthday card the other day, then wanted it back to give to her daddy!  I told her no, his birthday isn't until June!  I think for Christmas I'll get a book from my daughter.  The library she takes Abbey to for storytime has free books outside...LOL

I love the sentiment but hate that we tend to forget it the rest of the year.

I love that it is a time of remembering those who mean something to us and forgiving those we wouldn't necessarily forgive any other time of year. I hate that we only stop to think about those at holiday time and once the holidays are over it is right back where it started from.

Lips

okay i guess i forgot to say the things i love about this time of year. 
uh, it's not so darn hot outside
it might snow!
lots of holiday tv shows, some of them funny, even!
families get together (maybe not mine, but I've heard this happens!)
there is a spirit of giving going on everywhere for other people/businesses.
pictures with Santa Claus!
elves!
Happy New Year!

and more I hate:
giving so taking can begin
too many new christmas carols not enough old ones
TRAFFIC!!!!OMG!!!
(okay, this year that won't bother me so much personally)

I hate the commercialization....I don't think Mr. Jesus recognizes his birthday.

I don't like (not hate) the whole Santa thing.  For every young children, he is fun.  But, there are lots of problems with Santa.

I love Christmas Eve candle light services.  And I love Christmas Day dinner with my family.

meh, I don't mind Santa; kids needs to beleive in something magical. As far as Jesus, well, his birthday isn't even December 25th anyway

Got to agree with that. I don't think that children or adults alike should ever be deprived of something magical. To suppress that and wage a war of what is more important, Santa or a "higher power" is just a tad too radical for me.

We all believe in a higher power and i don't think we end up worshiping Santa our whole life because we believed in him as a child.

Lips

Jesus would not be too pleased with many things but I do not believe that Santa is one of them.

well, regardless of it being Xmas, Christmas, Il Fitri, Ramadan, Kwanzza, or Hannukah, we hopefully can all just say safe and happy holidays

oh, and sorry, if I butchered the spelling of anyone's holiday, lmao

you forgot festivus!

lol

lmao, I'm sure I forgot a zillion: Drunky Day, My Mother-In-Law Judges me -Day, Regifted Fruitcake Day

I love to celebrate Drunky Day. I try to commerate it at least once a week.  But least we forget, Drunky Day is also I've got a Bitch of a Hangover Eve.

oh, is that the one also followed in 9 months by mother's or father's day?

Lips and dtsweet....Hmmm...just for the sake of friendly conversation, why is it vital we believe in something magical?

promotes a child's imagination, gives them hope, inspires creativity; why deal with ALL the harsh truths of the world at 7

C'mon doc everybody loves something a little magical now and again. Why even you do! Magical is in the eye of the beholder whether it is the Madame with a whip or or Santa with his whip as he flies across the night sky........without a little magic what a dull world it would be!

Lips

ba hahahahahaah, zing

life is just a fantasty, come and live this fantasy life!

I love the spirit, everyone seems so joyful and cheerful around this time of year, love the lights and decorations, the weather, fireplaces, the festives, shopping sales, family flying in from all over the world, christmas cards and unexpected presents, the commercials, the seasonal movies and shows that come out, and santa cause he is going to bring me lots of toys n stuff..it's a magical time of year.. everyone seems to transform, i wish it was all year, lol

i hate that bell they ring in front of the stores it drives me nuts, i wish they played recordings of christmas music instead

I hate that it starts in October now lol

Lips.....Oh I agree.  Truly, it is in the eye of the beholder.  I like your take on how it expands imagination in a child. 

mmmm darn, I don't want to be a scrooge, but are we promoteing a fantasy island type way of living, or is it just a seasonal thing? The seasonal thing is liveable, but full time?
Mind Doc stand by, your services will be needed, if this grabs ahold of too many, and dominoes!!
                              Rico

rico......It's not a fantasy island type of living.  It is a very comercial way of living.  Santa, for example, is mostly a marketing invention.  If you go to very poor nations that celebrates Christmas, they have no Santa and yet STILL have a profoundly meaningful Christmas experience.

I never had a problem separating the religious celebrations with the Santa and his Elves and the reindeer and NorthPole kind of fantasy season.  I was raised a Southern Baptist (don't snicker, Dave) and my Dad led the choir so every year there was the Christmas Cantata going on and learning about the events leading up to the birth of Christ.  But the rest of the time, when not in Church, it was driving out to see this whole neighborhood, Windcrest, that had mandatory christmas light restrictions on the properties.  Windcrest was like a train of cars winding through a winter wonderland.  And the lights on the riverwalk in San Antonio are so darn pretty, the whole town glows in the spectacle.  There is a river parade with beautiful floats. Then Christmas Dinner was a special prayer and lots of good food.  We had to wait until Christmas Morning to open presents, and my favorite tree was the aluminum one with the pretty lights.

They are two separate but simultaneous events, celebrating the birth of Christ and celebrating Christmas, to me.

and frankly, I don't mind if someone wants to celebrate the Christ aspect (even though Dec 25th isnt his birthday, but anyway) so try not to judge me if I celebrate the loot and the decos and the events

hey mind doc, your are a 100% right, the holiday season has been comercialized. Heres the thing, all we have to do, is go back a few years, and we're able to see, big bussiness isn't controling the holiday season yet. People are. If we, as citizens of this country decided to live in a full time holiday mode, where do you think we would be? Our middle class, which has allready taken a beating, will be a thing of the past.
Probably the point I'm attempting to make, and it's only mine, the holidays season is for the kids, and adults too, but when the new year roles around, shifting gears is a must, and getting the work done, comes back into play, full-time.

yeah, darn it all.

rico......well, commercial-big Christmases (And Santa, too) are almost a 100% American invention.  I have done mission work in Central American in some pretty poor places.  They DO celebrate Christmas...its really a big deal to them.  They mainly focus on family and communities coming together....and (imagine this!) celebrating the birth of Jesus.  No Santa.  No buying.  No elaborate decorations.  BUT...they still have lots of joy over the time of year.

well, let's be honest...it wouldn't be so overly commercialized if there weren't the buyers to support it

Good things: It's one of the few times a year when you get Conservatives to even consider being compassionate outside of their inner circle.It brings people together to celebrate the birth of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, which gives him His Glory he righteously deserves.Sometimes its great to get with your relatives after not seeing them in a long time.
The bad things are:implied obligations of gifts and invitations to parties.For every penny they spend on the less fortunate, they'll spend dollars on themselves, and feel good about doing so.

dtsweet....BINGO!  We, the American Consumer, feed the machine and the myths!  We all grumble about how we dislike the comercialization of Christmas, yet we enable it!  From a form psychologist's perspective, that is pretty sick stuff! 

Kevin.  I am a liberal Christian, very liberal.  (But politically, I am very conservative.) But, the research and data is pretty clear.  Conservatives are far more generous than liberals....lots of exceptions, but that is what the data shows. 

I guess that's because of fat-cat tax cuts and ok I'll hush now.  I grew up with a law against women discussing politics and relligion. 

I like the Christmas candy.  Especially Hersheyettes!  I love Hersheyettes and they only come out on holidays and cost way too much because of the darn fake candy cane container.  I hate the fake candy cane container.

lolololol mind doc, are you checking everyones brain power? liberal christian, and politicaly conservative. Around of applause for the mind doc. I truely laughed hard at that. don't come back and say your serious, either. I'll loose respect for ya.
                          Rico

rico..........well.....well.....I guess it would be more accurate to say I am a liberal Christian and politically libertarian

doc, all kidding aside, don't you think our political people, (oh, how can I say this), or our political system, is basically something to be embarrased about. The last time our country felt good about a president, was when JFK was in office, and JFK wasn't perfect. He was good though, (in my humble opinion).
Today when we go to vote, we're not voteing for the best individual, we're voteing for, who will not be the worst of 2 evils.

rico...I don't think its between two evils.  I don't think we've had anyone evil run for President.  But, I do think running government is a WHOLE lot more complex than 50 years ago.  Plus, the electorate is more picky. 

mmm, drickie dick nixon, spiro agnew. ok not evil, just awfull

Sure, they were criminals, but I would not say they were evil.  But, I did note you had to dip 40 years back in history to find an example!  Woo!

well to end this mess, Harry Truman was the last good chief. JFK was OK. the rest, well one can get a pair of dice, and start shaken them. Snake eyes are gonna come up sooner than later. The country, (our country) was no better off, when each of the following chiefs left office!! However, we still live in the best country, on this planet.

rico....I agree.  I have travel a lot in Asia and Central America.  Nice places to visit, but GOD BLESS THE USA!!!