I love Christmas, I really do – but I am so glad that it's over for the year. As much as I hate to admit it, you see, there are a lot of things about the holiday that bother me. Some of them are legitimate and some of them are pet peeves. Either way, I just really can't help these 9 things about Christmas that get on my nerves. Maybe you can relate.
Every year, you start seeing toy commercials and hearing Christmas music earlier and earlier. Pretty soon, you're going to start seeing tinsel in the stores around September. It'll be on the other side of the aisle filled with school supplies, and adjacent to the one brimming with Halloween costumes and decorations. The earlier it seems into my consciousness, the more stressed out I get.
Speaking of early commercials, Christmas is getting more about commercialism. It's so materialistic! Regardless of your religious affiliation, everybody knows that the most important things about Christmas involve being with the people you love. Yes, sometimes that means giving – I love giving nice things to the people who mean the most to me. But when you start expecting presents and that's all you think about … it makes Santa cry.
Since I have gotten older and established my own home and my own traditions with the Better Half, Christmas has gotten both funner and more stressful. Why? Because the both of us always freak out about making it perfect. We want to impress both sets of parents and other family members with how well we can put together the holiday, from decorations to presence to the big Christmas meal. It gets more intense ever year, rather than less so. Like, I'm going to need the entire year to recuperate from the holiday just past.
Oh, I hate this. Have you ever agonized that the gift you've gotten for your partner, a good friend, or a family member just isn't as good as the one that person got you? It's silly to be competitive about such things during this time of year, I know, but I can't help it. I suffer from gift anxiety. On the plus side, I am always uber relieved when the recipient in question loved my gift.
You all know my opinion on this. I think holiday sweaters need to be burned. The only time I like them is when Colin Firth wears these hideous creations in the Bridget Jones movies – and to be fair, that's only because I think Colin Firth would look hot in a burlap sack.
I am never more thankful for the internet than I am during Christmas. I've never enjoyed going to the mall, no matter what the time of year. During the holidays, you have to drag me kicking and screaming – mainly because I know there will be lots of unattended children who are also kicking and screaming, along with their parents, who throw elbows to get what they want, walk slowly through the corridors, smell bad, and are inevitably always in my way no matter where I'm going.
I know the holidays are an awful time for store clerks. I know the customers are harried and rude as well, and I cannot imagine dealing with them during this stressful time of year. I'd get fired well before Christmas. But you know, if I'm being nice to you because I don't want to be like all the other rude, “me, me, me” customers, would you like to repay the kindness? No? Okay, then I'm going to enjoy watching you cringe when I wish you a happy holiday.
I don't know where my ornaments are from last year. So the BH bought all new ones. And I know that, next year, they will be missing as well. But I will find their hooks in the carpet until sometime around Easter.
I know this shouldn't be important, but I hate this. I hate it. You spend tons of time, effort, energy, and money trying to find the perfect gift for someone, only to discover that they got you the most generic, impersonal gift possible. Or, you watch as one relative gets tons of stuff, and you get, like, a pair of socks or something. Yes, this is akin to materialism, and it's horrid, but I can't help it; it bugs the hell out of me.
Every year I say I'm going to deal with these things better. 2010 was not that year, but maybe 2011 will go better! Are there any things that annoy you during the holidays? How do you deal with them?
Top Photo Credit: peia... Merry christmas and Happy new Year!!!