Some people look forward to it all year, while others dread Christmas with all their heart.
Aggression
I work in sales, and people become unbearable this time of year. Their rudeness, impatience, and aggression make me feel sick. By the time the “blessed and cozy” Christmas Eve arrives, I’m emotionally and mentally drained—I just want everyone to leave me alone.
Nightmare
Endless Christmas songs, tasteless decorations, a stressed-out host running ragged. Someone cuts their hand (bleeding) while carving the tree stand. Arguments about how much someone should drink, how the cookies should be baked, how the tree should be decorated, then fights with the kids to behave. Thoughtless gifts and forced smiles. The usual family conflicts after dinner: passive-aggressive jabs, shouting matches, calming down, then hurt feelings. Overeating, upset stomach, and gaining three extra pounds. And next year, the same story. I hate Christmas.
Rushing Around
It’s an impossible mission, a scramble with tough logistics. My parents are divorced, so that’s already two separate countryside stops. Then there’s grandma’s, my mother-in-law’s, my husband’s grandparents’, and my sister’s families, who can’t be combined with my mom’s because they haven’t spoken in years. That’s six addresses, all far apart. For two days, all we do is sit in the car. I hate it all. Once we dared to travel away for Christmas, and since then, we’ve been called selfish everywhere.
Surprise
We were poor and never had money for gifts. In January, it was heartbreaking to listen as classmates excitedly showed off their amazing dolls and toys, while I had to come up with something because I couldn’t say we didn’t do Christmas gifts at home. I’m over 35 now, but every Christmas I still feel that shame—nothing else.
Kids...
For months, my little brother and I felt tension between mom and dad, but we still awaited Christmas with the pure excitement only kids have. We looked forward to visiting grandma’s in the countryside, seeing our cousins, the cookies, the gifts. Instead, that afternoon we spent hours listening to our parents yelling at each other. Then mom came into our room with tears and told us they were divorcing and dad was moving out. Dad quickly packed and left without saying goodbye. Mom locked herself in the bedroom and didn’t come out until noon the next day. So my brother and I opened gifts alone, crying, unable to enjoy them. Since then, I’ve hated Christmas—I have PTSD from it all.
Always Bigger and Better
It’s all about consumerism. Officially, that means a social and economic attitude that ties happiness and success to buying, owning stuff, and constant shopping. My whole family lives this way at Christmas. It’s not about being together and enjoying ourselves—it’s about outdoing each other with the most expensive, extravagant gifts. When my brother gifted his son a car (!) last year, I told them I was done: I won’t buy gifts for anyone anymore, and no one should buy for me either. From now on, I’m opting out of this unhealthy competition.
Forced Smiles
I have to smile and play along while listening to my relatives’ sharp remarks and hurtful jokes disguised as humor. If I snap back, my mom would be furious, so I hold myself back.
Terror
Even as a kid, my mom was a nervous wreck weeks before Christmas Eve. She kept bossing us around and made us clean the house from basement to attic to perfection—so clean you could eat off the floor. She drove my dad crazy because nothing he brought from the store was ever good enough, so he spent the holidays drunk. Mom prepared brutal multi-course meals for relatives, while my sister and I set tables, served, refilled drinks, and washed dishes until midnight. We basically worked through the whole holiday like restaurant staff. And we never got a kind word for it, so I have no positive memories of Christmas…
Incident
I never loved Christmas, but since my brother died on December 24 (he slid off an icy road rushing to us), we don’t celebrate anymore.
Comparing
I know “comparison is the thief of joy,” but on social media all I see are proposals, luxury gifts, pregnancy announcements, tropical vacations, and magazine-worthy decorated homes. It makes me feel like a failure in my own life.
