Why have we stopped putting effort into Christmas

I don't put any effort into Christmas. I have no place to go for dinner except work which is where I'll probably be. I don't take part in any gift exchanges. I live alone. It would be pointless to put in much effort for myself.
 

@tbeltrans I just moved into my senior apartment building last month. Obviously with the shutdown, there have been limited activities, They had just reopened the community room for limited activities, when the second wave hit. So no Community Christmas gathering this year. Tey hope to be able to start things bac up by summer, if things get better
 
Marie5656 said:
@tbeltrans I just moved into my senior apartment building last month. Obviously with the shutdown, there have been limited activities, They had just reopened the community room for limited activities, when the second wave hit. So no Community Christmas gathering this year. Tey hope to be able to start things bac up by summer, if things get better
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We used to have a holiday party every year and that did continue through all the changes I mentioned earlier. We would discuss who would do what at the annual meeting, which usually happens in November. Typically, there will be one or two people who organize the thing and several people volunteer to set up and take down tables and chairs and a bunch of people who sign up to bring food as a potluck.

However, several years ago, one woman who converted to being Jewish as an adult, said she was offended by having a holiday party. We had to stop having it because we couldn't risk getting sued since we need the association funds for roof replacement, elevator overhaul, and other planned large projects that occur on a maintenance schedule.

As a result, we no longer have even that holiday party. It seems odd considering that we have various nationalities living in our building that represent a variety of belief systems, and all of them have enjoyed the get together. But that is the world we live in today. One person can ruin it for everybody else.

Tony
 
Christmas has never meant anything to me ,however when my children were young I’d make it nice for them making special treats / hot baked lunch with hot pudding

It’s usually over the old 100f here on Christmas Day
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I never ever received a gift of any sort as a child my parents would say your old enough to understand we can’t afford gifts ....... but but ....they could afford to go to the pub and smoke everyday :(:(

Now days we have a quiet day at home as the only family that live close ( daughter ) works on Christmas Day so we have a little get together about a week before.

Last year we had a light lunch on our own Christmas Day was a salad on a fancy plate with lettuce / sliced avocado/ tomato / and freshly cooked king prawns 🦐 ( some may call them shrimp )
we don’t eat “heavy” meals now days so we enjoyed the light meal and will likely have the same again this year
 
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I prepared two pies from scratch today, yesterday I made special candies from scratch....In the morning I am baking "ice box" cookies before I leave for the Holiday to see my family.... Yes.... I am traveling with the covid restrictions. Who knows, it may be my last holiday with my kids/grandkids, and I am going to make the most of it.

Tomorrow, I'm baking four pies from scratch..... I love making the holiday treats.... I love the decorations, putting up the tree... and I bought 400 new lights to replace some of my outside decor... about 100+ feet of holiday garland with lights and bows.

It is a lot of work... but I love the finished products.....

Then...I have to sit quietly looking at the Christmas tree and reflect on Jesus being the reason for the season... to know that wise men still seek him....
 
debodun said:
Now we can buy artificial trees already decorated right out of the box. Gift bags replaced hand-wrapped gifts. Now we buy cookies from a store bakery or make them from prepared dough. Tele-visiting has replaced going to grandma's house. No more driving from store to store shopping for gifts when there's Amazon and eBay. Almost seems like people just want the easy way out nowadays. Kids today don't realize what went into holiday preparations 50 years ago.
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Additionally, remember that back in the day, Sundays were a day of rest, everything was closed. To add, women stayed at home fulltime, so there was plenty of time to schedule in baking, cooking, and preparing for holidays and special events throughout the year.
 
debodun said:
Now we can buy artificial trees already decorated right out of the box. Gift bags replaced hand-wrapped gifts. Now we buy cookies from a store bakery or make them from prepared dough. Tele-visiting has replaced going to grandma's house. No more driving from store to store shopping for gifts when there's Amazon and eBay. Almost seems like people just want the easy way out nowadays. Kids today don't realize what went into holiday preparations 50 years ago.
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That's like asking why put clothes in a washing machine when a person could use a scrub board. It's human nature to want to do things the easy way. (And I seriously doubt that kids today care about what went into preparations back in the stone age, just as we didn't.)

I'm pretty much a humbug now that our kids are grown anyhow. I slam a wreath on the door and call it a day.
 
Christmas was great when my parents were alive. It was great when my husband was alive and the children were still living with us, time marches on. Not much sense to bother decorating the whole house for just me. I'm ok with that. The people who are still together decorate and do all the other stuff. Nothing wrong with keeping things low-key when your family is gone. The stores still have a big bash over Christmas, people still spend loads of money on things they don't need like they always did.
 
C'est Moi said:
That's like asking why put clothes in a washing machine when a person could use a scrub board. It's human nature to want to do things the easy way. (And I seriously doubt that kids today care about what went into preparations back in the stone age, just as we didn't.)

I'm pretty much a humbug now that our kids are grown anyhow. I slam a wreath on the door and call it a day.
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Or like walking 5 miles to a supermarket pulling a wagon rather than drive the car.
 
My parents are gone. Dad loved Christmas. My sister and brother are gone. My sister loved Christmas. The last time I saw my brother at Christmas, he was in jail. My husband's kids are jerks. Their kids modeled after them. I never had kids. My husband never cared about Christmas and only celebrated it with his kids as they were growing up. I'm not religious. When I used to give people presents, they were polite when they received them, but they really never cared about what I got them. I stopped doing that. If I put up an old fashioned Christmas tree, a tree would have to die. A tree is a being. It's just another day, these days for me. I do love red, and that is a Christmas color. So...that's something.:)
 
I think for many people Christmas decorating and gifting is a lot of work - and often, much of it falls on the women. My spouse and I are childless; when we were working we often celebrated Xmas but sometimes did not. We both worked which is how we managed a very comfy retirement in a very expensive area.

But if I caught a winter cold or an emergency work project that had to be completed ASAP, then yes, Xmas decor was skipped. I love to cook, as my family does potlucks, so if I didn't have time for cooking AND decorating, then cooking took precedence.

My family gave up gifting years ago. Only two kids in the next generation, so once they reached 8 and 10 yrs old, they preferred money as they would save to buy the "extras" they wanted.

These days I'd rather gift people when I see something they would like, and give it to them next time we're together. Why wait?

Now that we're retired, I still only do Xmas decorating periodically. It's a lot of work, although we love the way it looks.

Artificial tree and garlands/flowers only. I'm actually allergic to handling evergreens, LOL. For this year I bought three new sets of the battery-operated wax candles with the realistic "flickering flame." I have some older ones, but the newer ones have a REMOTE CONTROL. I LOVE it - instead of turning 15 candles on and off by hand, we can just 'zap' it on or off!

Because they're all the same brand, one remote works for all three sets. Give me progress any day!
 
Being that this will be the first year that we are to celebrate with just those that actually live in our household, I found no reason to go overboard with the decorations. We have decided that we will not decorate our huge Christmas tree but rather just display decorations around our home. Cooking will be minimal since it is just the two of us.

I am just thankful that we have survived the Covid-19 ~ since it so bad at the present time.
 
If your birthday close to Christmas Day trust me NO-ONE cares about you
My birthday is a non event because for almost 68 years Christmas has overshadowed it
Huz has even more reason to dislike Christmas because Christmas IS his birthday and after 77 years he's has also had enough
Sorry to 'rain on anyone's parade' but if you have family members with December birthdays make a big deal for them
 
peramangkelder said:
If your birthday close to Christmas Day trust me NO-ONE cares about you
My birthday is a non event because for almost 68 years Christmas has overshadowed it
Huz has even more reason to dislike Christmas because Christmas IS his birthday and after 77 years he's has also had enough
Sorry to 'rain on anyone's parade' but if you have family members with December birthdays make a big deal for them
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My one and only sister-in-law's birthday is Christmas Day and she is spoiled by her two sons and their families.
 
Maybe it's because at some point Christmas became Christmas Inc. , complete with with stampeding mobs fighting and crushing each other on black friday for some silly toy or game. It starts in September now, is just too long,and we're constantly told "hey it's Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year." No thanks,I'll take the month of May.
 
I guess it's all in the name of "progress" I'd say. I recall so many years of wrapping xmas gifts and I come from a large family so it was a real chore to wrap all of them plus I'm not a good wrapper :LOL: so I was very happy to change to the decorative bags--at least the gifts would look more inviting then.

I used to love the pine trees and the scent but all those pine needles getting stuck in my feet..yeesh! I also am alone so putting up a real tree would be a major hassle--no one to carry it in--I guess I could've asked someone. But really it's just me and the pets so who's to see it. I do think a real tree decorated nicely looks just splendid though. Now, I have a small artificial one that has lights attached and I like to turn it on on the days near and on Christmas.

I would still like to make some cookies but I'd also eat them all and my waistline (or what used to be my waistline!:LOL:) wouldn't appreciate that. I think a lot of people still bake cookies, though, it's still a big part of Christmas. I don't mind purchasing a small container of Christmas cookies every few years, though. They sure aren't as good as warm, freshly baked ones.

So, I guess there's some progress to it but it's a little sad, too, that everyone doesn't seem to take the time to do the things they once did. I guess they are too busy looking at their cell phones!:D:LOL:;):censored:
 
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