I love the Christmas Eve Service, celebrating the birth of Christ, Such a wonderful time of glorious Christnas music, candlelight and prayers and seeing everybody with a wonderful spirit.
Christmas is a religious holiday, taken over by commercialism , sadly but of course I enjoy that part of it, too. I like seeing the beautiful decorations both commerical and the local residents who sometimes rival commercial enterprises in decorations. I even like Santa but I do not confuse him with our Saviour.
All in all it is a wonderful time of year.
Merry Christmas, everybody !

Actually, from an environmental standpoint, real trees are the better choice. Artificial trees are chemical-laden, made mostly in China- then shipped across the globe, and eventually end up in landfills where they don't disintegrate. Real trees are a renewable resource, many are locally grown- meaning less transportation related pollution, and many are recycled into mulch. Even those trees that are not mulched will naturally disintegrate.

I'm Jewish, but still enjoy the Christmas season. I especially enjoy all the lights and greenery. I could live without the tacky decorations and blow up lawn ornaments.

One thing I dislike about this time of year are the disagreements on whether "Happy holidays" or "Merry Christmas" is more appropriate to say. I don't mind having a Merry Christmas wished to me, as I take it in the spirit of its offering. No one is wishing me harm by it; it's not a curse. I politely accept their greeting and simply wish them also a Merry Christmas. The political correctness is out of control.

I dislike that so many people focus on the consumerism of the holiday instead of the spirit of it. I wish more people would buy fewer things and redirect their gifting to those that are gifts of time- going to an event together, baking together, or volunteering their time for others.

This is the only thing negative about this time of year that I can see. And its really only been an issue in recent years. Like you said, when strangers wish a Happy or Merry whatever, it is a kind gesture and should be seen as such. But now its become awkward. I use both. Just whatever comes to my head. I've never had anyone comment either way, thankfully. Technically, the winter solstice is a common time for many religions and cultures in history to have a holiday or holy time. Does it mean I have remember to wish good wishes for each one? I hope not, that's a lot of memorizing! I think it would take a college level course to learn about them all. So Merry Christmas is my way of saying have a good whatever you celebrate!!

This is actually my least favorite time of year. The days are short which I hate. Traveling is a nightmare. Driving on some roads is a nightmare and going anywhere near stores is a nightmare.

Having said that, I decided to travel for Christmas this year. It means a lot to my mom and my grandfather recently died so its going to be a tough Christmas for my family.

I had ordered some Christmas activity books, stickers pages of a nativity scene and a Baby Jesus color book with a small box of crayons attached to each.

They came yesterday so I placed them on a table in our narthex of our sanctuary.

Way-WAY! cool watching the excitement on the kids faces as they pick them up!

Makes it all worthwhile....

Christmas is my favorite time of year. The rampant consumerism bothers me, but when you get past that the overall message of Christmas is beautiful.

I work in a Catholic school and I really love being able to decorate my classroom in Christmas things

This.

It's been a topic on my Facebook for a while recently - not started by me. Posted as status updates by friends complaining (not even their original words, either) about how you can't say this or that. Frankly, I've NEVER had someone get upset at me for saying Merry Christmas and I wouldn't get upset if someone said Happy Hanukkah to me. It's the SPIRIT in which it is said that counts. You're wishing the other person a good holiday season, because it IS a holiday season; with christmas, hanukkah, winter solstice, kwanzaa and al hijra(think I spelled that right, possibly not) happening all in the same month.

And I hate that 90% of the time it's only ONE SPECIFIC GROUP of people who are complaining about this "merry christmas" stuff.

That would be my beef with the season; only one I can think of.

Most years, I want to love Christmas, but then end up getting caught up in the stress of it all. Primarily from trying to do too much and living up to expectations (whose, I'm not sure.)

This year is different. I've given myself permission to only do what I can. I know I won't get to everything I want to, but that's okay. I will not stress out over Christmas. I want to enjoy the season.

The things I love:

Church services. I love the Advent season. It's nice to have the reminder to reflect and think upon why I believe what I believe. It's supposed to be a peaceful time and I'm working on that.

Baking and giving those baked goods away! I don't need to eat them to enjoy them.

The other (non-baked) foods.

Crafts!!!

The music (religious and secular.)

Spending time with family and friends.

The decorations and lights.

The parties!

Watching my toddler son experience the holidays.

Traditions. I love the comfort of them.

Things I dislike:

I miss my parents most this time of year.

The traveling. I love seeing family, but getting there sucks!

The mass consumerism. It's not about stuff and shouldn't be.

We don't put up a tree because we travel.

I'm Christian, and Christmas was held pretty highly when I was a kid. My father's side would come together at my grandparents' house, and there'd be gifts for the kids and my grandparents and a huge feast. It was a wonderful time, but since my grandparents have passed, the "reunion" has ceased. It's a bit depressing. We hold a Christmas Eve party just between my parents, brother, uncle, aunt, and their children since they live just down the road from us. Also, in the middle of December my mother's side comes to visit. They live only an hour or so away, but we really only get to see them once a year, because they don't like "traveling".

We don't have much money at all (especially this season), so it's a little depressing that I can't do a lot of the "fun" Christmas things like baking treats for people, buying gifts for people, or going out and doing stuff.

I also don't like how close Christmas is to my birthday, so there's always the stress of "what have I done this year" hanging over me.

I do enjoy Christmas music. Since I'm more into classical singers, it's really the only time they play some of my favorite singers on the radio. Then, again, I'm not always in the mood for it, especially when I'm feeling depressed.

I like the decorations, cold weather, and snow too.

I really hope this doesn't offend anybody, but:

The thing that bothers me the most (more than the commercialism) is the fact that most people put on their Christianity like it's a winter sweater they've kept in the dresser drawer all year long. They wear it this time of year, and then it goes back in the "drawer" until next year.

I agree with this too. I am NEVER bothered when someone wishes me a Merry Christmas; I thank them and cheerily wish them a Merry Christmas in return. What does bug me is when someone gets annoyed that, when offering the wishes first, I've wished them "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas". I'm not trying to remove Christ from your holiday, I just don't know what you celebrate, if anything at all, and I'm merely wishing you happiness no matter how you spend your December.

Gosh, that would make a great FB post.

You have it capitalized like you KNOW who the one group is. Do share!

Although I do tend to get overwhelmed and sometimes inexplicably sad around the holidays, there are so many things I love.

The smell of pine trees... mmmm.

Decorating the tree with my family and laughing at the doozy ornaments I made as a kid.

Making use of the christmasy plates/utensils/coffee mugs.

Driving around and looking at the lights and decorations.

The "spirit" of the season.

What I don't love? How crowded the stores are and how CRAZY people get. I hate how they mill around the stores walking into each other and completely oblivious to their surroundings.

But then again.. I do it too.

I do not celebrate Christmas. This is not a Scrooge thing, I honestly see no real point in it and it seems to be a terribly stressful time for so many people, especially during the money crunch.

At this time of year with so many advertisements about gifts and tables laden with banquets I am always more and more aware of people who will not see a meal today or for many days, or are dying of hunger and diseases that could be cured with simple medicines that they cannot afford.

So I give something extra to charities and ask anyone who has me on their present list to make a donation to the Red Cross or Unicef.

I would ask you to do the same. The gift of life is something you can afford if you just perhaps give up one of those pairs of slippers or box of chocolates. Or just slip a few coins in the RSPCA donation box ... or drop off a few cans of cat and dog food to your local centre.

Ask your child if he, or she, would like to help another child this Christmas and perhaps they may just choose to make a donation instead of having that extra little gift in the stocking. You can make a little card from Santa to thank them. It may just be the present they most remember when they are adults and will create an awareness for them that will embrace life for all.

I always hate the Happy Holidays vs Merry Christmas thing. Happy Holidays is an all-inclusive greeting that wishes a person a nice holiday regardless of what they celebrate...what's so wrong with that?

I'm still bitter from when I was a teenager working in a drug store. I wished everyone a Happy Holiday because I had no idea what they celebrated unless they made it known (like...wearing a cross or something). A few people yelled at me that I should be wishing them a MERRY CHRISTMAS and that it was so HORRIBLE that I was taking the Christ out of Christmas. Ugh.