What is your tolerance level for Christmas sugar and spice?
I'm a little too tart-tongued sometimes in my reaction to highly sentimental items, and for this I apologize. This leads me to ask, as the Christmas season approaches: How much seasonal sweetness and light can you stand? Do you go all out with warm and cozy books, songs and movies? Is your idea of a perfect Christmas getaway a Thomas Kinkade cottage on the outskirts of Mitford? Or when you ingest warm and fuzzy, do you need a cocktail of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" and "Bad Santa" as an antidote?
For me, it depends. I have an amazingly huge love of genuine, deeply felt sentimentality...I'm never going to get sick of real sweetness and genuine light. However, I think that for a lot of people, the feeling isn't genuine anymore...it is just "what you are supposed to do". And I have a VERY low tolerance for people being fake-sweet-sentimental because it isn't REAL.
In my family, our closeness/sentimentality/etc. is usually centered around less traditional things anyway - picture our family of four in a Christmas DDR battle, or cheering eachother on at Guitar Hero - but with traditional, sentimental things mixed in. My grandfather cooks a special, one-time-a-year breakfast, we see a movie on Christmas day every year...these things are sentimental and special to me, and I'll never get tired of them.
I think our traditions are a nice blend of the Thomas Kincade Christmas stuff and our own unique spin. For example, when we cut down our tree every year, we go to a particular tree farm, get some mugs of apple cider, and pick our tree as a family. But then we sing the Monty Python "I'm a Lumberjack" song while my dad cuts it down. Loudly. With dad singing the lead. And that means just as much to me as the Rockefeller Christmas stuff, maybe even more so because it is our own tradition with a little bit of flair.
So - I never get tired of genuinely meant, sincere, and loving Christmas sentimentality, but my own traditions have little quirks that make them more fun/less typical.
ANOther - Just like most other holidays, I love, love, love Christmas because it means the people that I love get together and eat and talk and carry out traditions and simply enjoy each others' company. I am blessed to have a family that is much closer then most.
I never got to celebrate Christmas when I was a child, so for me, each Christmas is extra magical. Seeing my niece and nephew react with wide-eyed wonder to the tree and rip into their presents with such enthusiasm is the best part.
However, after working for three years in a mall, I hate Christmas music. The only kind that I can stand is in the same category as "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"! *lol*
My favorite Christmas movie of all time is "A Christmas Story". I think every man, woman and child should see it atleast once. I can't stand a lot of others, though.
So my Christmas won't be sentimental so much as a big heaping dose of nice, with a little dash of naughty thrown in
Last edited by just_a_dreamy1; 11-19-2007 at 02:10 PM.
ANOtherMy favorite Christmas movie of all time is "A Christmas Story". I think every man, woman and child should see it atleast once. I can't stand a lot of others, though.
So my Christmas won't be sentimental so much as a big heaping dose of nice, with a little dash of naughty thrown in
I saw A Christmas Story just once and didn't quite see what everyone else does, but I think it is trying to strike the right balance between sweet and sour, so props to Jean Shepard and Bob Clark for that, and RIP to both of them
I hate the commercial christmas holiday with a passion. I hate the shopping, I hate the crowds, I hate all the food, I hate it all. What I do love is spending time with my family. This year DH and I are heading out of the country to spend Christmas and although I'd like to spend some time with family, I am looking forward to our trip. Last year, I think we ate leftover Chinese food for christmas and it was just basically another day.
I never saw "A Christmas Story" all the way through. I could never get through the first 20 minutes. Bleh!
I like the stop motion stuff like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and cartoon stuff like Frosty the Snowman and Charlie Brown. But I only watch maybe 2-3 Christmas specials a year. I listen to Christmas music, but usually its piano music or traditional Celtic Christmas music. I can't take Christmas music with singing for more than about 6 minutes.
Mostly, I enjoy getting to see my family and spending time with them!
Height: Tall enough for my feet to reach the ground
I too have never seen "A christmas story", I havnt even ever watched "miracle on 34th st" or some other christmas classics. I love what christmas symbolizes (or at least is supposed to) the family togetherness, traditions, warmth, ect. But I absolutely HATE the commercialism of it all. I just get sick of it before the big day is here.
When I was younger (up through college), Christmas meant getting together with our extended family (several generations, in-laws included) and spending the day together. We'd meet, packages in hand, at one house for brunch. We'd eat and then sit around for hours opening presents and ooohing and aaahing over them. Then we'd go home and rest for a few hours and next go to another house where we'd all meet up again for a big Christmas dinner. Both homes would be decorated and the food would be fabulous.
These days, I'm far from home so these extravagant get togethers rarely happen. We may be just the four of us or lately my in-laws come over. We spend the day together and have a nice brunch and dinner (dinner is DS's birthday celebration). But most of the afternoon tends to be "just another day." The kids are out and about with friends, the in-laws are on the phone with relatives. DH is in front of the boob tube and I'm usually cooking. It's gotten to be a chore setting up the Christmas tree and putting up lights so we only do that every couple of years. Don't think that I'm all bah-humbug--I'm not. I mostly just yearn for yesteryear.
And don't get me started on shopping! I hate crowds. That should say it all.
It probably truly depends on my mood... In fact, it most certainly does. But for me, I love it all. I love the cheesiness. I love the pseudo-sentimentality. I love the REAL traditions. I just love it all. The time of year, the decorations. The "Happy Holidays to the Merry Chrismahanakwanzikadons!" I just can't get enough. Even the Walgreens commercials... I don't care ^^ I hate Thomas Kinkade paintings with a passion, but I do enjoy the idea of snow-covered cabins in the woods with a fire burning inside... as long as that cabin has cable & internet access. So for me it's an excuse to break out the "Happy Whatever! Yay! Eat some good food, spend some great times with family and enjoy!"
The "Happy Holidays to the Merry Chrismahanakwanzikadons!"
I have to agree about the commercialism of Christmas. It can be appalling. However, in my family, it's basically understood that no one expects or has the money for extravagant gifts. We usually all get something that is homemade, or has been put together with a lot of thought and creativity. It means so much more then anything that big money could have bought.
It probably truly depends on my mood... In fact, it most certainly does. But for me, I love it all. I love the cheesiness. I love the pseudo-sentimentality. I love the REAL traditions. I just love it all. The time of year, the decorations. The "Happy Holidays to the Merry Chrismahanakwanzikadons!" I just can't get enough. Even the Walgreens commercials... I don't care ^^ I hate Thomas Kinkade paintings with a passion, but I do enjoy the idea of snow-covered cabins in the woods with a fire burning inside... as long as that cabin has cable & internet access. So for me it's an excuse to break out the "Happy Whatever! Yay! Eat some good food, spend some great times with family and enjoy!"
Ya know what, Faerie? You sound like my kind of gal
Every year they have that 24 hours of a Christmas story on Christmas eve. I'll just turn the tv on and leave it on that channle all day long. I can not get enough of that story.
I think there is a little bit of everyone's family in that movie. A perfect slice out of the time period. Plus it's what I watch as I wrap gifts.
I don't like that Christmas means gifts. I love giving gifts, don't get me wrong. But I rather get.. "Oh I so needed one of these." rather than " I so wanted one." I've already finished my shopping thank goodness.
I miss the days when I was younger when the house would have all those little christmass knick-knacks. home-made (or school-made) decorations. sitting at the tree and just looking at the lights reflecting off those glass balls for at least a hour every night. Making at least 4 dozen sugar cookiees on christmass eve because half the family would already be here. I would sleep in the front room by the tree with my cousins. (there had to be at least 5 or 6 of us all lined up with pillows by the tree.) Stockings would be hanging all over the place. Everyone had a stocking...even the dog.
Now it's almost like every other day. I miss the magic we had in childhood.
What is your tolerance level for Christmas sugar and spice?
So for me it's an excuse to break out the "Happy Whatever! Yay! Eat some good food, spend some great times with family and enjoy!"
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