What is your least favourite holiday?

[disneychrista]

They've all turned into over the top capitalism binges.

Only if YOU let them.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I've never cared much for Halloween, even when I was a kid. We did take our kids trick or treating on our street and then they went to MIL's, where they were the only trick or treaters ever, and she always had a bunch of stuff for them. Neither of them care much about candy, so they always had it in the drawer for months until we finally threw it out. Now that they are grown, we buy a bag of candy just in case and eat it ourselves.

Valentine's Day isn't really a thing for us, but I don't dislike it. We sometimes exchange cards, sometimes not. We don't do gifts--I got a new car on Valentine's Day one year because it happened to be the day we bought it, and DH said that was for every V-Day forever. It was a joke, but we still don't exchange gifts (we didn't before that either).

Thanksgiving is hardest for me because that was the one holiday I was always with my (grand)parents, the one time we all got together. Mom and Dad are both gone, and the first two years after Dad died, I couldn't handle the family get together with my aunt and her family we had always done. I told her, she understood, and we (me, DH, and 2 DS') went to the beach for the week and again Thanksgiving week the following year. It was just the 4 of us, we fixed the meal we wanted, and it was all good. We'll see what happens this year.

Christmas - I love Christmas! After a couple years of having issues with my bio mother, we decided our Christmas would be what we wanted and not what anyone else wanted. We don't go overboard on gifts for each other or our kids; we set a dollar limit for the kids that we can easily afford (they are 18 and 16 now), and it is what it is. We have taught them since they were little that Christmas is not about "Me and what I can get", and they understand it. We buy for DH's parents and usually go in on a gift for his grandma and that's the extent. We spend Christmas afternoon/evening with DH's family. We only go to the parties and events that we really want to go to (no work parties, lol), we don't spend the month of December rushing from place to place seeing people we don't care to see, and spending a bunch of money we don't need to spend. It just isn't going to happen. We let go of the guilt and the expectations of anyone else, and it is much easier.

 

[luvsJack]

I'm with you on this one. They've all turned into over the top capitalism binges.

Halloween was okay 30 years ago, when there was very little prelude to the holiday... you'd see kids costumes in the store a week prior and that was it. Now all that crap (costumes, decorations out the yin-yang) shows up in July and you can't escape it. Plus it's decidedly much more gory now, and the focus has changed to adults instead of children.

Xmas was okay 30 years ago as well... Xmas crap showed up in the stores 2-3 weeks prior to the holiday, and Xmas tree lots popped up a week or so before. Now you see Xmas crap starting in September. This one was always an obligation-filled nightmare, but that's only gotten worse as time (and capitalism) marches on.

Thanksgiving is just an excuse for gluttony. Which I guess is redundant in a nation where 2/3 of the population is overweight or obese. We could just call it "Thursday" and people would still be eating too much food.

New Year's Eve/Day are just another day on the calendar.

St. Patrick's, Cinco de Mayo, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Memorial Day are just excuses to get drunk.

Valentine's Day is a bald-faced Hallmark holiday. And now it apparently starts the week of Xmas for some reason.

Easter is a pagan holiday, named after a pagan goddess, full of pagan symbolism, that Xtians celebrate for some reason, even though all those trappings are completely non-Xtian.

Columbus Day celebrates the murder and enslavement of Caribbean natives. The only reason it's a holiday in America is because the Catholic Church pushed for it (Columbus being a Catholic that had wide name recognition in the US... the church created the Knights of Columbus fraternal organization to keep Catholic men away from the Elks, Shriners, Rotary, etc. men's clubs).

Frankly, the never-ending harping on holidays in this country is out of control and exhausting.

Just a guess here but you must be a ball of fun of parties, right?




No day is “just an excuse to get drunk” unless YOU make it that way. We manage to celebrate most of those days without a drink at all. Our heritage is Irish. We go to parades on St Patrick’s Day. We wear green and we get the kids light up shamrock necklaces. No drinking required.

Mardi Gras is again parades and music and fun. No drinking required.


If you don’t get why Memorial Day is celebrated, well, far be from me to explain it. And no drinking is required.

Not even going to try and explain Easter to you because you know darn well what the celebration is. The fact of the pagan roots are just that the roots and most of the symbolism used for the holiday aren’t about what we are truly celebrating.

Thanksgiving is a day to remember to be THANKFUL. Yes it includes food but it’s about family and when family gathers, food goes with it. And it’s not like over eating is required.

Christmas is what you make of it. You don’t have to play into the capitalism of it. And get real, 30 years ago, I well remember Christmas trees being in the stores after Halloween. That has been an on going complaint most of my life and I am in my 50’s.

Holidays just like anything else in life is what you make it for your life. And choosing to embrace things that can make you happy.

 

[robinb]

Christmas. Our family is not Christian and I find the fervor somewhat annoying. Especially when Christmas decorations come out in October. As soon as Halloween is over it’s non-stop Christmas until the New Year.

 

[DuskKodesh]

Christmas. Our family is not Christian and I find the fervor somewhat annoying. Especially when Christmas decorations come out in October. As soon as Halloween is over it’s non-stop Christmas until the New Year.

I was seeing some Xmas stuff in as soon as August first. We already have a bunch of stuff set aside in our backroom for the after-Halloween reset. Also I hear you on the not being Christian thing. It's rough when everyone else just assumes you celebrate the same things. Hubs now takes off Winter Solstice so we celebrate it by staying up all night and watching the sun rise together. One of my fave days of the year. <3

 

[Kitty 34]

As my family grows, both my immediate and extended I would have to say Christmas. It can be such a struggle getting families together, worrying about their traveling (it's Michigan here) trying to get the "right" gifts, etc. When our sons were young and waiting on Santa Christmas was sooooo magical.

 

[Mermaid02]

Another Halloween vote. I just don't like it.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Honestly any holiday can be made to fit you and yours and it doesn’t matter what anyone else does with it. Instead of hating the day or dreading it, change it!

This is why a lot of people end up disliking the holidays — their holidays aren’t made to fit them and they don’t realize they have the power to change it. They have been conditioned by both family and society that these days are about family and togetherness and by default that’s with whom you must spend them. Unfortunately, some people have really crappy families and holiday visits become command performances full of trying to meet the expectations of one or more demanding family members who will never be satisfied no matter how much time and effort you give. People with normal families see holidays as a time for relaxation and celebration. For those with dysfunctional and/or abusive families, it’s weeks of dread culminating in a day of stress, tension, and conflict.

The best decision I’ve ever made was cutting my nasty parents out of my life and voila! I suddenly love the holidays! Even as a child I hated Christmas because it was always one of the ugliest days of the year in my home, but now that I don’t have to spend it with ********, I start looking forward to it months in advance.

Sadly, it took me way too long to realize that kicking toxic family out of my life was an option. Some people will never realize they have that option or they won’t have the courage to go through with it, so they will continue having their holidays made miserable by others.

 

[nicolita3]

4th of July is my least favorite. It's way too hot to do anything and the fireworks scare my dogs.

 

[OKW8297]

Halloween

 

[belleatdisney]

Christmas- if we are not traveling. It is too much work and family drama.

 

[RangerPooh]

Valentine's Day. The commercials that say if you really care for her you'l buy her this...and crap. As a kid it was fun to pass out cards, but as an adult I just don;t care for it.

Same with New Years. I get that we're ushering one out and one in, but ehhh.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I used to love Christmas, but since both my parents have passed away it's just sort of Meh. I don't hate it, it's just sort of there. And then New Year's Day, which is the biggest holiday in South Philly because of the Mummers Parade is just another day now that I live in New Jersey and watch the parade on TV...well, even in Philly, I watched the parade on TV, but afterwards my Mom would bundle us up and take us outside-we lived in the heart of the Mummers, 2nd Street, and we would go and meet my Dad's club to find him and then walk down 2nd with them to their clubhouse.

I know the above will be like trying to understand Mandarin Chinese with no lessons, but it's some of my most cherished memories as a child and teenager.

 

[MIGrandma]

I would have said the "work part" of Christmas a couple of years ago. It has always been at our house, since about 1980. And the older I got the more I dreaded all the "work" that goes into hosting Christmas Day. But. A couple of years ago I read a long post on one of the Facebook groups I belong to about a woman who used to feel the same way, until she changed her attitude about it and decided it was a gift she could give to her family. A day for her family members to enjoy. I had once thought about moving our family gathering to the township hall just down the road from us, but everyone balked at that and they all "love Christmas on the farm." I no longer work outside the home so why did I dread it so much? Now I see it all differently and I actually enjoy the "work" that goes into preparing for the day.

I guess the holiday I least enjoy would be two: Mother's Day and Father's Day. My parents are no longer alive so I don't enjoy those days so much anymore. And after my Dad passed away we would always take my Mom out for dinner, I miss doing that so much.

 

[holden]

Thanksgiving. The amount of work that goes into it just isn’t worth it. Plus it’s so fake. We get together with people (extended family) that we only see at Thanksgiving and who really aren’t part of our lives. Everyone pretends to be interested in everyone else and then we don’t talk again for another two years (we alternate which side of the family we see every other year).

 

[monarchsfan16]

Christmas. I'm a relatively newly married 30 something with divorced parents and no kids, so it is all about bouncing between houses. I believe last year involved 5 Christmas "celebrations" over 3 days. My mom isn't generally about the "image", but boy does she have an image in her head about what Christmas should be, and no amount of begging for it to be scaled down will change it. About as soon as it started to feel like fall here 2 weeks ago (apparently NH got 3 days of summer, and that was it), I started getting stressed about Christmas. And I think it's worse, because I know it doesn't HAVE to be like this, but I've done everything in my power to change it, and it isn't changing.

 

[fly girl]

Sweetest Day

Who made this stupid holiday up? I don't remember it as a kid.

 

[disneychrista]

Sweetest Day

Never heard of this one...is a holiday where we can eat all the sweets we want without guilty?

 

[low-key]

Never heard of this one...is a holiday where we can eat all the sweets we want without guilty?

lol, nope ta a fake Valentines Day ( I think it was started in Cleve) by (flower, card company), its only celebrated in some states

 

[fly girl]

Never heard of this one...is a holiday where we can eat all the sweets we want without guilty?

It is a made up, manufactured holiday. I say do whatever you want to do!

But @low-key is correct, fake Valentine's Day. It is in October sometime. I don't know the exact date because I don't care about it. lol