The H word!

A good friend of mine here mentioned the H word in a PM yesterday. It's November 3 and the ads have already begun. Anyone else not looking forward to two months of hard sales? I don't watch tv so I miss a lot of it but there is no avoiding all of it. That and trying not to bum anyone out with a lack of Christmas spirit and a strong cynicism for the commercialization of days that should be spiritual.

I was in a store this morning and they already had Christmas stuff. Ugh! Too early for that, I'm not ready. But then I never am.

Everyone complains about how early H season starts, yet they continue to push it further and further back.

I was in Wally World (Wal-Mart) before Halloween. They had a Christmas display setup next to the Halloween decorations. The alltime worst I saw years ago was Christmas stuff in a store before Labor Day!!!!!

I'm not ready for the commerialization. I'm not ready to have the Hallmark card version of the holidays rammed down my throat. Used to be I got depressed around the holidays because our family celebrations were so far from what they were portrayed as on TV, movies, etc. A friend of mine and I decided our definition of a "good" holiday was that no one got too drunk and no one got in a fight. One or the other usually happened though.

For a few years, I could actually enjoy the holidays when it was just Mom and me. Now that she's gone I feel this huge void. Part of it is having the idea of holidays = family rammed down my throat by the media. Part of it is just plain I miss her and everyone else who is gone. I'm trying to sort out what I want this year.

Your right George, should be renamed the worry season, what will I get this person or that person, it has surely been over commercialized with far less emphasis on what should really matter most.

"I don't do Christmas." That's what I tell people. None of the Christmas crap affects me. For me, it's a quiet time of year. I especially love it if it snows a lot and I can go for a walk in the quiet.

agreed, the season begins too early, and last too long $$$$

Excuse my ignorance but what is the H word?

I think that means "Holidays" or Happy Holiday... etc...

As for me, I just ignore all of it. Among my family we have a 10 dollar per person rule, and try to get creative. I usually do my shopping before Turkey Day and then stay the hell out of big retail till January. I do not go to Holiday Parties, although I do attend the obligatory family get together just to eat some good food and catch up.

Our staff party is November 10. They want to get it done and over with before the rush starts, since we are employed in a major grocery chain. I feel calmer about it all this season, but, this will be the first one without my oldest son. It will feel odd.

I didn't have any say in it

I know... even I have some good Christmas memories. Was there ever a Hallmark special where the father got falling down drunk every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve? Although I guess there was no reason why those days should have been any different
And yes, sorry, Sabrina, the Holidays... when we're all happy and stuff

Ah, the Holidays. For some reason I thought you were talking about Hell.I suppose some would see it that way too. lol.

Sabrina, I have heard them referred to as the Hellidays!

We don't celebrate the holidays now. Just another day in my life…

One good thing - altho maybe I should start another thread? Nick Park claymation videos where he's got Britishers talking and singing - see Creature Comforts. I'm planning a video fest for myself this year, I boughtthem all up last year. And you need the dogs barking and cats meowing carols. But aside from that - well and cooking a capon (cuz that's how we like our boys, eh?) - I'm as bah humbug as the next curmudgeon.

Here's a true-to-life family Christmas lyric for you, in keeping with the spirit of the original post:

St Stephen's Day Murders

I knew of two sisters whose name it was Christmas
And one was named Dawn of course, the other one was named Eve
I wonder if they grew up hating the season
That good will that lasts 'till the Feast of St. Stephen
And that is the time to eat, drink and be merry
Till the beer is all spilled and the whiskey has flowed
And the whole family tree you neglected to bury
Are feeding their faces until they explode
There'll be laughter and tears over Tia Maria's
Mixed up with that drink made from girders
Cause it's all we've got left as they draw their last breath
Ah, it's nice for the kids, as you finally get rid of them
In the St Stephen's Day Murders
Uncle is garglin' a heart breaking air
While that babe in his arms pulls out all that remains of his hair
And we're not drunk enough yet to dare criticize
The great big kipper tie he's about to baptize
With his gin flavored whiskers and kisses of sherry
His best Chrimbo shirt slung out over the shop
While the lights from the Christmas tree blow up the telly
His face closes in like an old cold pork chop
And the carcass of the beast left over from the feast
May still be found haunting the kitchen
And there's life in it yet, we may live to regret
When the ones that we poisoned stop twitchin'
There'll be laughter and tears over Tia Maria's
Mixed up with that drink made from girders
Cause it's all we've got left as they draw their last breath
Ah, it's nice for the kids, as you finally get rid of them, rid of them
In the St Stephen's Day Murders

and here's the song, played by the Chieftans, with Elvis Costello (the songwriter) singing:

Now that sounds like a fun party!! Along the lines of Grandma got run over by a reindeer. You knew my favorite holiday tune was I want a hippopotamus for xmas... I should say, I dont have a car, and I am not close to a shopping mall, so I am able to avoid the two biggest sources of unwanted carols. And I do avoid family. I just hang out here and we talk about how NEXT year we're gonna plan a cruise!

Yep, I totally effin hate this season. Aside from the horrible family blowout that happened when I was 13 on Christmas eve that leaves a bad taste in my mouth to this day, the ad nauseum gets me everytime. Its way too damn early! I miss the days when I was a kid when the earliest X-mas commercial and such was the day after Thanksgiving.

And Canadians can also be glad that we (my name is Douglas,
and I! Am! Canadian!) have Remembrance Day as the only holiday
associated with those of our people who died in wartime.
Americans seem to be torn in two about whether Veterans' Day
(11 November) or Memorial Day (last Monday in May) should be
the day to honor their war dead. At least Remembrance Day
and those el cheapo Flanders poppies keep Canadian minds
away from "the holidays" until mid-November.

Alas, I miss the times when the Grey Cup (second-last Sunday
in November) could also pull my fair homeland together in an
East/West direction. That day, too, kept our minds off
preoccupation with "the holidays." I wonder if the old system,
where CBC sportscasters did one half of the game and those from
CTV/Bell Media did the other half could bring back some of
that magic....

Sabrina, maybe this world needs more of the innocent kind of "ignorance"
you showed in this question. Thank you.
Part of me wishes I never had to learn what "the H word" was.

Only 231 days til spring! All I wants for Christmas is...yah dah dah da-dah! *grin*

The H word means the nice long break between the fall and winter semester. I use the time to rest and recover. Anyway I don't celebrate Christmas.

I'm all excited for Halloween, but after that's hit, I start the annual downhill slide. I like some things about the holidays, but I also dread them. That's a shame, too, because when I was a kid, it was so much fun. That was before OCD and panic disorder, though, too. I look forward to certain foods, and some of the music (I get sick of it pretty fast these years, now), some of the secular stuff, and even though I'm not religious, I understand how people feel about Christmas being commercialized. I also get riled by separation of Church and State issues even more at this time of year.

I can't wait until after the New Year. And even more so, I can't wait for the spring and warmer weather.

I hated Christmas celebrations as a child. My parents did not believe in overindulgence, so we only got one gift for Christmas - usually an article of clothing. There were no treats or Christmas "feast" - no salt, no sugar, and no second helpings. I'd always dread going back to school because the teacher would ask us to announce what we did and got for Christmas. I'd listen to kids list all their great gifts and describe luscious meals with various meats and side dishes. Then it would be my turn. I'd stand up and show everyone my sturdy, oversized, and ugly sweater. Then I'd describe my bland dinner as the kids laughed at me.

I'm thankful I was able to afford Christmas when my son was young, and I made sure to make it big for him. When he was around 3, after gleefully opening all his packages, he turned to me and said "Mommy, where are YOUR presents - weren't you good this year?" It didn't occur to me to place any gifts for me under that tree, so I told him my gift was waiting for me under grandpa's tree. I called my dad and asked him to wrap a $20 in a shoe box and place it under the tree for me to open. They were on a fixed income, so I gave it back to my dad afterward.

When my son found out the truth about Christmas, he was very angry with me for lying to him about Santa. What bothered him most was knowing how much we had sacrificed in order to give him a good Christmas.

I'm also thankful my son is an adult now, no longer living at home. We no longer decorate our home. We can barely afford milk, so there will be no holiday shopping either. I'll try my best to endure the onslaught of shopping and holiday treat ideas. I'll try my best to swallow the painful memories, and I'll try my best not to cry over the good memories that will never happen again.