Christmas can be a lovely time were we recieve and give presents, spend time with our loved ones and eat lovely food. But it can also be a time of recieving judgement from family, a time where we have to deal with the ignorance of family members and where we feel pressured to spend our last scraps of money on getting the right present so we dont look cheap or mean... Or we might have no one to spend Christmas with and feel lonely. So, this year, are you dreading or loving the idea of Christmas? Why? And what are you doing for Christmas? Are you prepared? What are your best and worst Christmas experiences? If you were in charge of Christmas this year, what would you do differently?
My family knows I make too little to buy anybody much of anything and that I don't expect them to give me anything. They still do and I don't feel bad because I'm a materialistic jerk. That said, they understand and accept, in some cases begrudgingly, that I do not like people and if I were to start dating before I die, it could be a man I bring to Christmas dinner. It'll more likely be a woman, though. As far as plans go, I'll probably just be getting money from my dad and going over to my sister's for Christmas dinner and presents from her and our mom. Nobody's said anything yet. And if not, Christmas will be just another day off, except with a parade on TV and Christmas decorations.
Normally I really dread the holidays, but for some reason I feel happier and more excited for it this year
As Tim Minchin said I'm really looking forward to Christmas. I usually enjoy this time of year even though its not the same as when I was a kid. Its going to be a bit hard this years as I'm single after four years so I'll be waking up alone in my flat that morning without any presents to open (except for the one I've brought for my feminine persona) On top of that my car is off the road having failed the MOT so going shopping is difficult. However I will be having dinner with my parents and seeing family over the holidays. I also helped with my town's Christmas lights so that gives me a sense of achievement and pride when I see them lit up. I also have two weeks off work (which is great as I hate my job)
I kind of hate Christmas. I detest that feeling of being 'forced' to socialise just because it's the 25th of December.
I usually love the holidays, but this year there's a lot of family drama going on so it's kinda sucking the joy out of it.
I love giving presents more than I like receiving them. I love wrapping presents and decorating the Christmas tree sneaking good bits of turkey to my dog. I love Christmas dinner and seeing my brother and sister. No one asks me about my dating life but my brother and sister won't get asked either we just don't discuss. My dad still doesn't know I'm gay and I'm 25 and I've never dated a guy. I don't think our love lives are on the forefront of their minds. And the best part about Christmas is no college and no sadistic lecturer who thinks it's fair to give an exam on a Saturday, like I don't have to catch up on sleep or anything.
Christmas has been a really crap uncomfortable time of year for me ever since I came out, I don't know why since my parents say it doesn't bother them, but I don't want to be here on normal days let alone Christmas.
I'm kind of on the fence honestly. On the one hand I like this time of year. I like seeing all the decorations and lights up everywhere. I think it kind of reminds me of happy times when I was a kid and my biggest worry was whether or not Santa would bring me what I wanted. On the other hand Christmas usually means two awkward days with my dads family. We usually go over there Christmas eve, then again Christmas day. It's not really that I don't like them, I just feel like I don't have much in common with them. I can't get in on a lot of their discussions because they are either topics I'm not really familiar with (like sports) or topics that would start arguments if I voiced my (very liberal) opinions. The only thing I ever seem to talk about with most of them is my job, which is the last thing I want to spend two days discussing. I already spend 40 plus hours a week there, I don't want to spend my days off talking about it too. Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact skipping would break my grandma's heart, I would probably try to find a way to avoid it, or at least leave early. This year however, things will be different, and I'm interested to see how it goes. Due to scheduling issues my mom's family is having their Christmas party on Christmas night. That means one one day with each side of the family. I feel like I get along better with my mom's family, so I'm kind of looking forward to the change. This will also be the first year I'm not in my parent's house for the holidays, so that will be interesting as well.
I'm honestly not really sure how to vote. Christmas is usually my favorite time of the year (although last year sucked), but I'm not feeling very hopeful about my future right now and that's definitely sapping my enthusiasm. Also, I'm half excited and half scared to give my present to my best friend/boy of my dreams as I don't know how he'll react. I'm definitely going to do everything I can to enjoy Christmas Eve/Day though as my family always puts a lot of effort into it. Hopefully everything turns out great.
So, did everyones Christmases meet expectations? Or were some of you pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised? Now its all over for me, I can say that I am not looking forward to doing that again. There were plenty of good moments but the bad stuff just keeps happening every year... nevermind.
My Christmas' expectations were met. Overall it was quiet but the spending the holiday season with friends and family made it quite nice, and enjoyable. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of bad stuff happened, and keeps happening? But glad you still had some good moments too.
It's not over for me...my family spends christmas at home, then we spend a week or so at my mom's parents and a day or two at my dad's parents. It's annoying because my cousins are all at least ten yrs older than my siblings and I, so there really is no common ground between us and the rest of the family. I may hate school, but I don't get to spend much time with my friends outside of school, so not having people to even just talk to gets hella boring. I do get stuff tho, so at least that's something.
Blast... Christmas is a day of mixed emotions. 2014 was a tough year for me. Several things had happened in my life that were not good that year. I was also finally realizing that the mask of a straight guy that I had worn for 50+ years was cracking. I had not yet admitted to myself that I was gay but pressure, depression and self-hate were becoming unbearable. That Christmas morning my oldest son gave me a gift that pushed me over the edge. What it was is not important. What is important is that it brought everything that I had dealt with for my entire life to the forefront of my mind and I could no longer pretend that everything was ok. That evening I had what I think of as the "Final Crisis". It was either accept that I was gay and get help somehow or end my life that night. I came out here on empty closets that night begging for help...and received it! The last three years since that night have been some of the best of my life. It didn't happen over night, but I have finally been able to get rid of the guilt, the shame and the self-hate that had been destroying me for so long. So Christmas is an important day for me, filled with with both sadness and happiness. .....David