I’m so glad Christmas is over. I really hate this time of year.
I got sick on Christmas Eve Eve. I’m not sure what it was but there was a lot of puking involved. It’s really not a holiday in my family unless someone gets sick. By Christmas Day I was feeling a little better. We did the Santa thing with our six-year-old and then went out for Chinese food. It was a very chill day and I am grateful for that.
I would love to hear about how you spent your holiday! How did you keep the Christ out of Christmas?
Made it. Very easily because I’m so lucky with my family and living in Oz. Had a nice relaxed Christmas lunch with my (also atheist) parents & brother and .. that was it really. Nothing terribly hard or exciting or interesting to report.
Hope you’re fully recovered from whatever it was you had. LOL @ “keep the Christ out of Christmas”.
This was the first Christmas without my mother, who was the Keeper of the Traditions, no matter how stupid or counterproductive. It was an overwhelming relief not to be performing Christmases past–for example, everyone in the extended family hates Side Dish X, but it has to be on the table because Reasons, which led to my mother in a foul mood and taking it out on everyone else that–yet again for the 50th year straight!–nobody partook of Side Dish X. It was also a relief not to have to engage in the torture of “Look! I got you this pile of presents that don’t represent anything you have ever liked or needed or wanted, but you still have to be grateful because It’s A Huge Pile! I demand you act like you’re thrilled! Meanwhile, I will take great offense against anything you got for me because clearly even though this is something I enjoy, it’s just not good enough.” I also don’t miss the competition by the extended family to see who can be the most offended by utterly trivial things. It’s just not Christmas if someone isn’t pouting over made-up stuff.
We had a quiet holiday with the grown kid who lives close dropping by for a chat with the longterm love interest, and we all bundled up and took the dogs out on a long nature walk. We had a phone call with the grown kid who lives too far away to drop in. It was fantastic.
I had a pleasant day just by myself Cooking and watching movies. Some family were sick , some working . Ordinarily I’d go to their houses and pig out. All the toxic family members are all dead now , so holidays are much more pleasant when we get together.
Did the Christmas thing on Boxing Day since the electricity might have been an issue on Christmas Day. My Mom is 102 and this will very likely be her last Christmas at home so I felt obligated to do things the way she used to do them. Next year, who knows? Looking forward to just me and the dogs.
For me, it’s not really “over” until all the decorations are boxed up and out of sight, the tree removed, and the leftover needles vacuumed up. And that won’t happen until after 1/6. Oh well, at least the deluge of stupid annoying TV ads is (mostly) over, along with the annoying carols overplayed in every shopping center. The most stressful bits — buying presents — are all done, so all I have to do now is decide whether to maybe return one or two gifts I got that don’t totally suit me.
At least that bloody sub-freezing storm is gone. I hate winter more every year, and this year I got sick of it before NYE. It’s gonna be a long one…
My wife and I talked to my parents, and we opened presents.
Fortunately I live in New Zealand where Christ rarely makes an appearance in everyday life. It’s possible to get through the entire festival of bad taste without hearing a single reference to anything religious. Unfortunately, there’s no way to avoid Mariah Carey, although I have been known to stop in mid-purchase and run out of the store in an attempt to avoid that awful shrieking and wailing.
I don’t really do family or holidays. So for me it was just a long weekend and I spoiled the cat a little. That qualifies as a pretty good holiday for me.