....until Christmas!" cried my ecstatic granddaughter on the phone last night. "I'm sooooo excited!" And she went on to tell me all her plans, and how she was going to raise money to buy presents, and how there was only Halloween to go and then ...and then...and then...
And I started wondering when it was exactly that I stopped being soooooo excited about Christmas, and began to dread all that hype, and the ghastly catalogues, and the appalling tunes with which we are bombarded in shops, and the desperate, miserable faces of shopppers as they scurry around buying those "gifts" which are of no use at all, but are the last resort of the desperate (odd-flavoured vinegars, with plants floating in them; useless little boxes of tiny soaps, which are of no use unless you are a very clean dwarf; scented candles designed to make the house smell like a brothel; tiny diaries, when you've had your new one for weeks etc etc;).
For years, I "did" Christmas for the whole family, plus extras, and had nightmares about it for weeks beforehand. I remember one night, weeping because I hadn't made the mince pies, with my poor husband saying "but nobody likes mince pies!" It was fun, usually, when the kids were small (opening stockings at 4am springs to mind), but now, things seem different, and the Christmases seem to hurtle round with increasing speed, and this year, we haven't even had a summer in between.
So, darling Phoebe, I'm sooooo glad you're excited about Christmas, and of course, I lied, and said I was, too. But actually, I'm not. Not at all. Although with you there, I know it will be fun.
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Glad I'm not the only one.
ReplyDeleteAnd I thought it was just women wh felt like this!
DeleteThat's a good question. I wish I were as excited about Christmas as I used to be. I know it't the sickening commercialization of it all. Here, it starts with the runition of Thanksgiving by the stupid midnight sales that droopy, dead-eyed people fall for. What if they threw a sale on Thanksgiving Eve and nobody came?
ReplyDeleteOh yes! Thanksgiving. Does that mean you have to cook turkey twice?
DeleteI love Christmas - every year! And believe it or not, I already know what my Mum is going to get from us (too big/expensive for just myself, therefore it's going to be from my sister as well, plus possibly our Dad will chip in). Christmas and our beautiful Christmas market here in town is the only thing that "saves" winter for me; otherwise, it is the most dreadest of all times of the year because of the cold and the dark.
ReplyDeleteMeike, somehow I knew you'd be a fan! You come across as very organised, whereas I ......oh, well.
DeleteI just refuse letting anyone or anything putting me under pressure - there is so much time, we always know when Christmas is going to be, so it is no surprise springing on anyone, really. And of course I should add that I never host the entire family for Christmas - my Mum usually does that, and so all the hard work is on her...
DeleteI don't get excited now but I do still like Christmas and all that ditsy, glitsy stuff, but my down-to-earth husband can't stand all the commercialism. I'm looking forward to my wee granddaughter getting old enough to be excited!
ReplyDeleteYes. Grandchildren certainly help. Except when they phone to tell you how many days there are to go.....
DeleteI quite like Christmas now but then I don't really "have to" anything... (including I don't relly have to start thinking about it already in September)
ReplyDeleteI try not to think about it, but the world keeps on reminding me!
DeleteOh, how could you, Frances? I'd managed to forget all about it until I read your post. It's resurrected nightmare memories of previous years and all those ghastly, wasteful, tat-filled, ear-busting, nerve-jangling months that are, no doubt, due to begin again any day now.
ReplyDeleteI'm off now to bury my head until January.
So sorry, Gail. But it's reassuring to know you're with me on this!
DeleteI love Christmas and I do still get excited but its notthe same as when the kids were little. 94 days is that it? maybe its time to start thinking about buying some presents.
ReplyDeleteI haven't counted up the days myself, so Phoebe could be wrong, but somehow I doubt it...
DeleteAaaaaagh! I love some bits (the ones involving the kids and all the lovely twinkly lights) and I used to relish all the rush and hassle, but these days I find it all too much too soon x
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it didn't used to be like this....
ReplyDeleteOh, me too, Teresa. Me too.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely with you on this one Frances. Each year I promise to buy less food and fewer presents, but by the time it arrives (I can't even say the word) I've done exactly the same as last year. Help!
ReplyDeleteI can't help, Maggie. I'm the same, and I remember my mother making the same vows before me!
DeleteI agree - it comes round so rapidly, especially when it's all in the shops already, and we're even past the point of 'subtle green and red stuff' and straight into Christmas cards and holly and blah blah blah please slow my world down ....
ReplyDeleteI've come to think that once every five years would be ok...?
DeleteChristmas was a time for visiting parents. We lived 450 miles and (in the early days a 2 day journey) away. Our parents looked forward to it. I've always been a bah humbug person though I'm afraid. I'd abolish Christmas at a stroke if I could. It's a commercial racket nowadays akin to Fathers' Day.
ReplyDelete