2 wk. ago • 92%

What do you like most about the Christmas season?

There's lots of things I like about Christmas but for me it's simple. I love the presents. Even if I don't like the present I love the thought of somebody thinking of me and putting hours into/using there own money to get me a gift.

53 comments

My favorite part is when it's over and all the fake cheer dissolves.

32
- I feel this. I have a really hard time with holidays and i hate the media portrayal that it's a beautiful day for everyone. Abuse, neglect, illness, and everything else continues regardless of the calendar. This will be my second Christmas without my mom. I keep thinking of all the things she did over the years to make Christmas nice for me and it's made me want to participate a little more this year.
  
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- I started to downvote you, but it's an honest answer, so I stopped. But I can't bring myself to upvote you either ʘ‿ʘ
  
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- I get this, after working retail as a teen/early 20's. I hated the music, the commercial nature of everything, the fakeness of it all. As a special extra, for those in the southern hemisphere "traditional" Christmas food is so dumb here.
  
  But you know what "cured" me of this. My kids, they are what it's all about, they love the songs and gifts, time with us. Lake days and sun... its all wonderful to them.
  
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I found out a few Christmases ago that I really love gingerbread houses. I used to build scale models in grad school and got really into it. Gingerbread houses are like that but without grades or measuring. My weekend plans are to order trash pizza, put on Home Alone, drink some weed sodas, and decorate gingerbread houses til I'm too stoned to hold a piping bag.

I also love that it is cold and I can snuggle my husband to suck up his warmth and make him yell when I touch him with my cold toes. 😈

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- Making gingerbread houses is so much fun.... we're still at the level of just copying from gingerbread house youtubers, but its a fun day putting on xmas music and making them.
  
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I'm not christian, so idk if this counts but I really like all the festive vegan food options that have started being sold in the supermarkets at this time of year. They've gotten really quite good in the last half decade or so!

(Edit: my spelling is terrible, sorry!)

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PTO

13
Die Hard.

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I like having slightly more free time.

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The decorations are nice. Haven't really been in the Christmas mood since 2018 but I love seeing the lights outside

9
That it only comes once a year?

9
It’s when we watch Lord Of The Rings.

8
Time. My wife is a school teacher and I'm an engineer at a place that shuts down from Christmas through new years. I absolutely love having no schedule and just waking up every day with the kids and figuring out who were going to see and how were going to spend our time. It's an absolute luxury and I love it so much.

8
- Same. We have a lot of little shutdowns leading up to Xmas (Thanksgiving, off-site Holiday party etc) plus the Xmas shutdown. I've worked like 40 hours since Thanksgiving and it's been glorious.
  
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Food

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Easier to shoplift since there's so many people distracting the employees.

(/jk I don't shoplift, but I just noticed how vulnerable stores are when its busy)

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- oh yeah this definitely counts against the good things about christmas :D I live in a relatively rich part of Italy where shoplifting is very rare, and if you're not wearing "suspicious" clothes (eg. clothes that might suggest that you're poor), if the store is crowded and the staff is busy and you make the anti-theft sensors ring while crossing them, they likely won't even question why they are ringing and just assume an anti-theft tag wasn't properly removed during checkout. when I was a kid I've stolen sooo many videogames this way during christmas season, my parents where just too good looking to the staff that nobody ever suspected a thing lol
  
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Mariah Carey. All I want for Christmas is you is one of my comfort songs, it reminds me of so good memories. Sorry guys, I'm this person who listens to it unironically every year

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  Love you too ❤️ Merry Christmas !
  
  8
- Same. I voluntarily listen to Christmas music all the time between our Christmas parade in late November and Christmas Day. And it always starts with Mariah, that’s the signature tune.
  
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  We are really the same
  
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My favorite things is January 2nd

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- Actually though, right after new years is about when my seasonal depression turns back into regular depression
  
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- What happens on January 2nd?
  
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  January 2nd.
  
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  all the holiday bullshit is over. no more traveling during the most dangerous weather of the year. no more seeing a ton of people out of obligation. no more shoving bronze age blood cult nonsense that just normalizes a beliefe system that promoted patriarchy, racism, misogyny and fear.
  
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Hanging out with family. Making the same baking my stepmom made. Unscheduled time.

6
Seeing how excited my kids get. If it wasn’t for that, it’s just an extra busy time of year.

6
Cinnamon. Cinnamon everywhere in all the dishes.

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The lights and giving gifts. My own christmas tree and lights up on people houses or businesses. It almost makes the early nights of winter worth it. Giving gifts is an art form for me. I alternate between hand making, scouring stores, and gift cards so I can invest as much time as I want each year.

5
That it ends. The amount of social needless obligations is just annoying to me.
Snuggling up in a comfy blanket is nice tho.

5
I get to pretend for a little while that things are OK. All of the songs are really happy. I think I get wrapped up in the nostalgia and remember being a kid.

5
The music.

Brenda lee, nat king cole, sinatra, harry belafonte, all made some incredible xmas albums. I play piano, and there are so many great jazz christmas books too.

5
- Yes! Nat King Cole is my jam.
  
  2
Leftovers. Making sandwiches/tacos with leftover pork and chicken makes the 25th and 26th the two best days of the year, honestly.

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Mainly the nostalgia of it. The familiar peaceful Christmas hymns and the way Christmas lights reflect against soft snow. My spirit drifts somewhere between commercial Christmas and Yule.

4
Im going to agree with most that people who are into it put more effort into being cordial, next would be food and treats, then decorations, then sales so its oftentimes a good time to pick up something you need. I hate gift giving as an obligation though. I love when I can give something to someone because I saw something that really fits them and is relevant and that makes it so worth it. I hate a gift being given because its a time of year and reciprocity and such so it ends up being something to go to a land fill or such. When in such a position I tend to try and buy food or alcohol in the hopes it won't be a total waste. White elephants can be fun when its limited to actual found items and I think oftentimes it actually ends up rescuing something from a landfill.

4
In the southern hemisphere? Summer.

It's the best time of year, amazing weather, long days, warm nights.

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The atmosphere in the air. Offices get quieter and shopping malls get merrier (assuming no crying children or arguing parents)

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I like that most people become a little kinder at Christmas.

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Drinking, smoking, eating, trying to forget my ex, more drinking, etc.

It's like a regular work day, but coffee is swapped with gin, and emails are switched with cigarillos

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Lots of free time due to me taking at least 2 weeks vacation at the end of the year. Visiting family and giving each other presents. Baking cookies with friends. Going to the Christmas market. Decorating. Eating gingerbread. The whole end of the year let’s have a good time vibe.

3
The darker nights, the Christmas music, giving others presents and receiving presents from people, and having an excellent excuse to eat huge amounts of chocolate!

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Kindness towards others. Yeah there’s crappy humanity stuff like black Friday, but generally the holiday brings out more good than bad in people.

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Some people are more happy this days, that's good. But that's all for me.

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The NYE party/vacation, and the xmas dinner with the extended family. Basically the only two things I like about december. Everything else is just a giant advertising ploy or an excuse to cover up how alienated, cynical and out of touch the western world is during the rest of the year. It's very frustrating for me because I cannot overlook the very evident consumerist and narcisist side of Christmas

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Snow

And sarmale

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Not really any of the aspects, but if I had to choose, the weather.

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The food. Tamales hit different around Christmas for me, New Year’s is menudo/pozole. I also can’t get enough of Christmas cookies.

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Family. I'm very lucky to have a good one. I grew up with parents who moved away from their families before I was born, but we always traveled back - once in the summer, and then again for Christmas. Despite living a ways away, I had great relationships with my grandparents, cousins, etc.

Then it was my turn to move away. I'll be home for Christmas. :)

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