39 replies to this topic

[Elfie]

What are YOU doing, when, what happens, do you like it, why?

We celebrate Christmas, we start out by having the kids clean out their toy boxes and donate the toy they don't play with anymore. Nothing with the Christmas theme can start until December 1st. Then my grinch of a husband has to get over it and suck it up. We buy a real tree, decorated it together, make sugar cookies (kids) for Santa, and have dinner at nana on the 24th (husbands birthday) they stay we leave. Go back early Christmas day and the crazy begins!! I love it! The food, family, the joy on the kids faces, the sacrifice from my husband. My heart grows 10x during the holidays

[BloodPrince 2.0]

Sounds really warm and fun.

For the longest time, my family all celebrated Christmas, but since last year my brother and sister and I are starting a new set of traditions separately. Since we've all come out to each other about being atheists, we simply celebrate Yule while everyone around us is doing the whole Christmas thing. As we've never been really big on the decorations, we just manage to find some tiny tree or other and just make it look happy. We carry on with normal life until Christmas since we are doing the Yule thing undercover, and then we just go all out with having fun, relaxing with the family, giving each other (usually) handmade gifts, and all three of us mess around in the kitchen with Yule recipes we search up online. It's better than we've had in years.

[Elfie]

Explain to me what Yule is. My husband doesn't believe in God, and I do, but not a Christian

[BloodPrince 2.0]

Yule, or Yuletide, is a pagan festival that starts on the winter solstice and goes on for twelve days (Where did you think the song 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' came from? I actually had no idea until last year that Yule existed before Christmas, which is not too surprisingly based off of it.) It's pretty interesting.

[Calvary]

Yule was crushed by the Catholics when they suppressed and re-wrote Christmas as a Christian festival.

 

I suppose I celebrate a weird quasi-religious Christmas (I write it Xmas) with all the hallmarks of a Christian celebration (tree, candles, decorations, Advent Calender) but without any of the religious attachment. It's more about family and gifts I suppose.

 

Any way, I fucking love Xmas, my family colludes with my uncle and aunt and we tend to go to their cottage or they come to us and we have a small gathering. There's only ever six of us 9 times out of 10 but for me it's just right. Absolutely the best time of winter.

 

I can't drink this year because of my medication so it'll be the first remotely dry Xmas since I was about...9 or 10.

[Elfie]

I agree! We don't celebrate the Jesus part haha. We celebrate the warm hearts, a giving part. I love family time and I feel like a strong bond with a group is very important. I love the music, and the snow, the traditions, and the movies. Christmas/Yule haha is really my favorite time of year. My husband isn't a huge fan, but since the kids came along he has really opened up to it. My favorite movie is white Christmas (musical)

[Silver_rose]

I do the whole 'no Christmas stuff until December 1st' too, I honestly feel it's too early to decorate before that.

 

I go crazy with the inside decorations, when I get enough outside lights and have a front garden that isn't covered with tall as fuck all natural Australian trees, I'll probably do the same for the outside of the house too.

 

But with my family - Christmas is all about the fighting and the food.

It's actually really horrible, the fighting that is. When I make a family on my own the fighting tradition will change.

The food on the other hand, is great. I cook/prepare the meals, I love doing it, I'm going a step beyond this year and making things like cookies and freshly made custard, it'll be great.

 

All in all, my family and I, we don't really do anything before the actual day, other than prepare for the exceptional amount of food we eat.

 

Hopefully there will be no fighting this year.

[Big_Willie_Styles]

Day after the big day I head to visit my young niece and nephew. They're both in that really young pre-preschool phase where it's fun hanging out with them but also somewhat tiring, at least the niece who's old enough to be talking and walking.  Soon, she'll be old enough to show more complex films to and will hopefully lose her somewhat troubling obsession with Frozen.

[Elfie]

My family is really "bite my tongue" kinda fighters. It's kinda passive, none of us are confrontational so we just bitch about each other hahaha. Stuart family is really hard core about constantly arguing. It's crazy, for a really long time I thought his mom hated me because she was constantly overstepping.. Nope they all bust at the mouths to disagree hahaha. That's probably why stuart likes me, cause I don't like to fight. The food!! Oh gods the food!!! I REALLY enjoy eating. Stuart's birthday is Christmas eve so we also get cake and ice cream

[Elfie]

Frozen rocks BTW!

[Big_Willie_Styles]

Frozen rocks BTW!

Not when you've seen it enough times to analyze the gaping plotholes.

[Wolf]

Not when you've seen it enough times to analyze the gaping plotholes.

I too, find alot of plot holes in movies predominantly for children,

 

OT: Working, probably 10 hours on both christmas eve and christmas

[Elfie]

Frozen is not meant to be deep, it's meant to make young children smile and sing. I don't allow my kids to re watch movies repeatedly like that. I did more with Aiden. But now my kids watch that movie like once a week. But she listens to the cd everyday at least twice. All Disney princess movies have issues haha she likes tangled a lot too.. And the little mermaid.. I'm gonna rock her world with some Beaty and the beast and Aladdin! Aiden is only interested it movies that are over the top stupid for laughs, but hey, he's 7.

[Elfie]

Omg!! That sucks! I'm sorry

[BloodPrince 2.0]

Even keeping the plot holes in consideration I like Frozen. Must be my kid side. Let It Go really speaks to me even if the later parts of the plot cheapen it somewhat. And don't even get me started on Hans. Ugh, I am going to have to add him to my list of favourite villains.
The only things I can't forgive are Olaf and the random troll rocks, but I guess those are probably perfect for most kids. It's a pretty alright movie all in all, and if someone wrote a good novel based on it I would read the living hell out of it.

[SushiKitten]

The holidays for me is getting to spend time with my family. I moved away for university so the only time I get to see my family is when I'm off school which isn't often anymore. My plans are relaxing, working on the website for the domain I bought last month, and watching shows and playing games with my sister.

[SpleenBeGone]

You guys make me feel like a holiday slut what with not celebrating things that aren't your religion. I'm an athiest and I celebrate christmas. I'd do hanukkah, kwanzaa, ramadan, diwali, and vesak if I could get away with it too, because fuck yeah giant feasts. 

 

Anyways, I'll probably spend the morning with my mom's side of the family and the evening with my dad's side. I'm not much for christmas music, so i try to avoid that, and I won't  decorate until this weekend probably. I don't like that the holidays all kinda run together. I will however exchange my ball cap for a santa hat for a day or two before. 

[Bowsette]

I honestly don't know. I don't like Christmas, and I haven't actively celebrated it for years. I am actually buying gifts this year though, which is new. Whether I'll have time to give them out is a whole different thing. Last year I had to work the days coming up to/coming out of Christmas day, and I imagine that will happen again this year.

[Elfie]

That's right!! Frozen rocks!! Plus Elsa is idina menzel from Rent!! Come on!!!

[Affray]

I do more now with Christmas than I ever did before the lady friend's family became part of my life.

I used to do Christmas eve at my aunt's house where the whole extended family met, then Christmas morning at my mom's house.

Now my immediate family doesn't do the extended family thing any more, so I don't have to deal with that craziness, which is nice because they are all gigantic schemey degenerates. My family was never big on the religious side of Christmas, it has always been more of a family gathering type scenario with gifts and feasting.

 

Now I do one day at my parent's place, one at the lady's parents, one at her grandma's and sometimes one at her other grandma's.

It is not even close to my wheelhouse being smack dab in the middle of several big, not my family gatherings surrounded by people I only vaguely enjoy the company of.

Nearly every single person in her family is religious to a slightly annoying point and thinks that their judgements on any subject is superior, which makes everything uncomfortable as hell. Last year her mom said "Merry Christmas" to me when we got to the house, and I replied "Thanks, you too.". Her dad stopped in his tracks, turned to me, and said "Say Merry Christmas." To which I chuckled, and he did not. My religious views (or lack thereof) are known to her family, and though I hold no judgement toward their beliefs, they always seem to give me looks or scorns when I don't know the rules to their club.

 

So, other than the one day I spend with my family, Christmas is essentially one week long annoyance that is to be endured, not enjoyed.