Does anyone love Christmas?

[blossom hen]

Many years ago, out of necessity (because I was a single mom with never enough money), I began making all the gifts we gave to family members. I made gift baskets and tried to be creative enough that I didn't do the same thing every year. Soon, everyone else was making their gifts for each other. Now, that is one of the "traditions" we all look forward to! And, working on the ideas earlier in the year means that we can be stress-free at the holiday. (Last year I made packs of handmade Christmas cards for everyone and gave 'em to family and friends at Thanksgiving so they could send them out in December. That is truly the best "holiday season" since all I had to do in December was the decorating and the cooking at Christmas.)
I have about 45 lighted christmas village houses and churches that I set up on display and have a collection of angels, a collection of santas and a collection of snowmen. I can do a theme throughout the house or pick a different theme for each room! Have been collecting these items since 1968 from garage sales, after-Christmas sales and antique/junk shops. Now I have to have a storage building just to keep all the "stuff" in. So I guess you could say I must like Christmas a lot!

(Sorry this post is so long.)

 

[doghamstyluv95]

I celebrate Hannukah! It is so fun to get together with the family and light the menorah and get some presents! Looks like im the only one who celebrates Hanukah.

 

[ruth]

I had always loved Christmas but as each of our 5 children grew up and moved away and married or had significant others, Christmas, Thanksgiving and other holidays got farther and farther away from the Normal Rockwell image I had in mind and drove myself crazy trying to create. It is a second marriage for my husband and I and so my 3 kids and his 2 kids have the "two house" visit to have to make on any given holiday on top of the my parents/your parents visits those that are married/involved must make. Got to the point I would shop and clean and cook and WAIT and WAIT. I woud get "we can only be there from 2:00 till 2:30 cause we have three houses to visit and three meals to eat" and you would wait and wait and they might show up at 4:00 because things ran longer at the other homes. Everyone had the similar comment but with different time frames - even - "we can't come that day but we'll be there that weekend". Got to where it turned into a 4 day ordeal of cooking, cleaning and waiting. Never was everyone together at one time.

This past Christmas was the best ever - best holiday ever - best week of life ever. My son had been away in army for 3 years with his final year in Iraq. He came home the week before Christams. I was so thankful that the Lord spared him (he was blown up twice among other things) and that he was healty and whole - I booked the whole family on a cruise out of New Orleans. We left Dec. 20th and returned Christmas Morning. I told everyone that it was what I wanted for Christmas - for everyone to be together. I told them all the deal was that no one was to buy any presents -for each other or for us. Save your money, book your vacation time and tell your other parents and parent-in-laws that you will see them Christmas Day. It was truly the best Christmas. We had myself/DH, my parents, 4 of the 5 kids came along with their spouses/fiances and our one and only grandchild - so 12 in all. Everyone had a ball - everyone bonded. There was no stress because we were all relaxing on a cruise boat the whole time except for Christmas Eve Day when we disembarked in Cozumel Mexico. So our Christmas pictures are of all of us on the beach. Everyone agreed it was the best Christmas ever. Best thing about it was that the whole thing was not that expensive. It was only a little over $200 per person and we would always spend that or more on each one anyway and usually end up getting them something they didn't need or want. Last few years we had just started giving them money but that always seemed so impersonal but that's what they wanted and needed. Anyway, everyone thought the family vacation is what we should do every year. Well not really everyone - my parents hated it and stayed in their room the whole time only coming out to meet us for dinner but then you can't please everyone. My mom watched all ship activities on t.v. in their room. Maybe they were just too old and too set in their ways - they wouldn't get off ship in Cozumel.

Christmas Eve Day on Beach in Cozumel - We call this our Mexican Christmas. My son Michael who had just returned from Iraq is in center of back row in light blue shirt:

Christmas Eve Dinner - and I didn't have to cook or clean - Best Christmas Ever. I'm the proud mom in red in center of back row with her "real" brood of babies around her.

 

[MandyH]

My side of the family is HUGE, dh's is tiny. Well my family always got together and ate and spent the day together. His did the same. When we married we went his family's on Christmas Eve then to my family's on Christmas day. We would eat, visit and then me and him snuck out and went deer hunting while everybody else was napping. We were never supposed to have children but after 5 years the good Lord decided it was time and we now have a beautiful 2 year old. I stress about the finances part because we now have two sides of the family to buy for AND dd. His family is all about the gifts, mine is all about the food! ANyway my birthday is 2 weeks before Christmas so it has always been my favorite time of the year. As you grow up and things are different we start new traditions that are even more memorable than before. Me and dh DECORATE the entire place. We have people come from miles and miles away every year to sit in our driveway and look at all the crap in the yard. It takes us 2 months to get it all out and put up but it is great. I'm waiting for an airplane to land in my yard one year!! LOL I also agree with the commercialism part though, it seems with technology comes more stress. I wish it was like in the good old days when you got an orange and a pair of underwear and just enjoyed the day, the reason for the season and sat around the fire.

 

[lacyloo]

i dont belive in santa, or will a tech my kids about santa, sure im 13 but i will never fill my future ckilderen with b.s. i think people should honor christmas foe the real reason, i really hate holween cause it supports the devil, i also hate easter