# Why have we stopped putting effort into Christmas



## debodun (Nov 24, 2020)

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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## Knight (Nov 24, 2020)

Like not having a party line telephone times have changed. People adapt to change. 
Whether the change is good or bad depends on each individual. 
Speaking only for myself.
With our middle aged sons out living their lives the contact by video works for us. Trees, gifts & all the Christmas traditions we did when they were kids just doesn't work for us now.


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## Rosemarie (Nov 24, 2020)

Much of the excitement has gone out of life in general. Not because of the pandemic but because life has become too easy (just my opinion). In the past, we made a lot of things ourselves...not just at Christmas, but all year round. I was rather shocked to learn that handicrafts are not taught in schools any more. Gone is the satisfaction of making something yourself.
We have lost a lot in our modern world. People used to gather round a piano and have a sing-song in the evenings, now we slump in front of the tv instead.


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## Ruth n Jersey (Nov 24, 2020)

We still try to hold on to the old traditions. Special cookies that we have had for generations still get baked, Opening one gift on Christmas Eve, family reminiscing about Christmases past. A nice dinner which is now prepared from scratch by my daughter.
Of course this year will be different because of the virus but in years passed I still did most of my shopping, if not all, in stores and I still send out Christmas cards although the list has dwindled because many loved ones aren't with us anymore.


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## Aunt Bea (Nov 24, 2020)

I don't make much of an effort because I don't have anyone to make the effort for.

If I had close family and friends as I did years ago I would still be up all night baking cookies or driving from store to store looking for the perfect gift.


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## asp3 (Nov 24, 2020)

I think a part of it is because people don't have the time they used to in the past.  Consider that many if not most couples need to have two incomes to live up to their standards.  In some places it takes two incomes just to survive in the area if you're not in one of the high paying fields.  As a result there is less time to devote to many of the things you listed.  Another time sink is a commute which more people seem to have these days.

Although some people love the hustle and bustle of crowded holiday shopping many don't.  I think that if services like Amazon and eBay had been around 50 years ago you would have seen less shoppers out bask then as well.  I know my parents used to shop for at least some of our presents from the Sears catalog.  I remember how excited I'd get when the catalog came in the mail and I'd get to go through it and mark the things I'd want for my parents.  Some years I'd get one of the things I marked other years I wouldn't.


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## tbeltrans (Nov 24, 2020)

asp3 said:


> I think a part of it is because people don't have the time they used to in the past.  *Consider that many if not most couples need to have two incomes to live up to their standards. * In some places it takes two incomes just to survive in the area if you're not in one of the high paying fields.  As a result there is less time to devote to many of the things you listed.  Another time sink is a commute which more people seem to have these days.
> 
> Although some people love the hustle and bustle of crowded holiday shopping many don't.  I think that if services like Amazon and eBay had been around 50 years ago you would have seen less shoppers out bask then as well.  I know my parents used to shop for at least some of our presents from the Sears catalog.  I remember how excited I'd get when the catalog came in the mail and I'd get to go through it and mark the things I'd want for my parents.  Some years I'd get one of the things I marked other years I wouldn't.



To me, the sentence in *bold* says volumes.  We trade one thing for another.  I agree with your post overall, but that one sentence really stuck out in lights. 

Tony


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## asp3 (Nov 24, 2020)

tbeltrans said:


> To me, the sentence in *bold* says volumes. We trade one thing for another. I agree with your post overall, but that one sentence really stuck out in lights.
> 
> Tony


In our area it's more the need for two incomes to survive.  A fair number of the people who make minimum wage or near minimum wage in our area actually have to work multiple jobs each in order to have a place to live and food on the table.  If they aren't doing that they are often living in blended households with multiple family members or multiple families.


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## Ruthanne (Nov 24, 2020)

Hey, I put a lot of work into putting gifts into one of those decorated bags and lining it with pretty tissue paper and getting it to look "just right!"


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## Aunt Marg (Nov 24, 2020)

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.


I still do a lot of traditional things my own mom did at Christmas time, like bake and cook from scratch, decorate our tree with vintage mercury glass ornaments, and wrap gifts with real wrapping paper, including adding bows and ribbon and name tags (no gift bags here), and I still send out cards to family/friends.

I remember my mom and dad getting so many Christmas cards, mom used to tack lengths of strong to the living room wall and drape the cards over the string.


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## Gaer (Nov 24, 2020)

If i DID  get a tree, it would ONLY be a real Pine or Spruce, but there is no reason, since i'm alone.
I'd be like Aunt Marg, with everything from scratch and all the trimmings, if there were someone to share Christmas, but alas!
The China virus has ruined in-store shopping, so it's gift cards.  This year appears to be a write-off!

But we all still have memories of traditional Christmases when we were children and when our children were young, don't we?


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## Aunt Marg (Nov 24, 2020)

Gaer said:


> If i DID  get a tree, it would ONLY be a real Pine or Spruce, but there is no reason, since i'm alone.
> I'd be like Aunt Marg, with everything from scratch and all the trimmings, if there were someone to share Christmas, but alas!
> The China virus has ruined in-store shopping, so it's gift cards.  This year appears to be a write-off!
> 
> *But we all still have memories of traditional Christmases when we were children and when our children were young, don't we?*


Indeed we do, Gaer, and honestly, those are my favourite memories... memories I miss most.

Christmas seemed to last so long when I was young and growing. I remember the lead-up to Christmas in school, where we would make Christmas ornaments out of heavy colourful craft papers and tape them and hang them in class, and then came the Christmas plays in the gymnasium.

Christmas plays during school hours, and then special plays held in the evening where everyone's moms and dads attended. Of course who can forget about Christmas holidays! OMG! Was that the best, or was that the best! Tobogganing, making snowmen, having snowball fights, and just being away for school.

Then came Christmas morning, and what a time it was. I remember getting a record of two, and right onto the record player they went! I remember one Christmas getting two 45's, both Foreigner (Hot Blooded and Double Vision). I'm certain I wore those two 45's out by the time Christmas holidays were over! LOL!

And then there was the food, and snacks, and treats. Company would come and go, and we'd visit people and family, too. Such warm times, times where some days it seems like it was just yesterday, yet other times where it seems like it was a hundred or more years ago.


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## Meanderer (Nov 24, 2020)




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## SeaBreeze (Nov 24, 2020)

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.


Things change with time (thank goodness), the past will always be different from the present regarding Christmas and everything else, and the future will be different than things are today.  Not a bad thing at all.

There might have been undecorated Christmas trees available when I was a child, but likely were expensive so my family would not have bought one.  My father usually bought a small real tree the day before Christmas without my knowing, my parents decorated it and put down the gifts that night after I was asleep.  In the morning the tree was lit when I woke up and it was magical.  My older brother and sisters probably helped, but for me, I was unaware.

Everybody wrapped gifts, there were no gift bags sold, or they would have been used by some.  We had no computer, so no option for internet shopping (also didn't use credit cards then), we did what was usual for the times.  Although my mother did all the holiday cooking for us, I never recall her baking pastries or desserts, she bought those from a bakery for any special occasions.

Kids today don't realize what went into holiday prep 50 years ago because they weren't alive then.  They're just fine living in the present and not the past, IMO.....it's all good!


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## SeaBreeze (Nov 24, 2020)

Ruth n Jersey said:


> and I still send out Christmas cards although the list has dwindled because many loved ones aren't with us anymore.


Same here Ruth, my husband and I still send out Christmas cards each year and receive them from relatives and friends....but the list has unfortunately dwindled.


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## Nathan (Nov 24, 2020)

debodun said:


> Why have we stopped putting effort into Christmas


For a lot of people in our age group it's just *burnout*, all the focus on buy-buy-buy and the accompanying anxiety.   Where is the religious part of Christmas...oh yea, buried under the myriad of hype and advertising we're all bombarded with since late summer.
...all I want for Christmas is some peace, both for the soul and for the world.    Maybe some snow, not too much though.


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## MarkinPhx (Nov 24, 2020)

SeaBreeze said:


> Things change with time (thank goodness), the past will always be different from the present regarding Christmas and everything else, and the future will be different than things are today.  Not a bad thing at all.
> 
> There might have been undecorated Christmas trees available when I was a child, but likely were expensive so my family would not have bought one.  My father usually bought a small real tree the day before Christmas without my knowing, my parents decorated it and put down the gifts that night after I was asleep.  In the morning the tree was lit when I woke up and it was magical.  My older brother and sisters probably helped, but for me, I was unaware.
> 
> ...


I might add that we often forget the things that were not as much fun at the time.. Opening up and getting out all the Christmas lights, untangling the cords, and making sure that each light worked was not fun at the time. At least it was not for me.


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## tbeltrans (Nov 24, 2020)

asp3 said:


> In our area it's more the need for two incomes to survive.  A fair number of the people who make minimum wage or near minimum wage in our area actually have to work multiple jobs each in order to have a place to live and food on the table.  If they aren't doing that they are often living in blended households with multiple family members or multiple families.


I can certainly understand that, and you did include that in your post which I said I agreed with. 

There was a time, back in 2004 when Cisco Systems closed our facility as they were then doing to many remote engineering facilities due to the "dot com bust".  I really liked the company because it was among the best run that I have worked for.  In San Jose, the company would supplement the incomes of those who were laid off in San Jose, who were willing to work for non-profit companies for a reasonable period of time.

Anyway, I went to a local startup within a few days of being laid off.  There were no other jobs around here at that time for engineers.  The company moved to Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale) because they were able to get VC backing from Sequoia, whom I am sure you know of if you work in technology.  I spent a lot of time out there, both working and looking for housing.  We didn't want to move because we knew we would probably never be able to retire if we did.  Fortunately, I did find work here within a few months and we didn't have to move.  To me, that would be an awful life if we both had to work to stay above water.  I realize that there are folks who see enough upside to choose that lifestyle so I can't make a global statement expecting that everybody should fee as we do.  We are probably in the minority.

Tony


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## tbeltrans (Nov 24, 2020)




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## asp3 (Nov 24, 2020)

tbeltrans said:


> I can certainly understand that, and you did include that in your post which I said I agreed with.



I'm sorry, I mistook the bolding to mean that you thought the main emphasis was on couples both working to have the standards they want in their life as opposed to just being able to survive in the area.  I was just trying to clarify that our area (which you are very familiar with) it's a minority of the households that have two incomes so they can maintain higher levels of luxury or wealth.

The Silicon Valley certainly isn't for everyone and I certainly can see why many people live her begrudgingly.  I think the remote work started by Covid might stick around longer and companies will be more willing to have people work from home or in satellite offices.  However only time will tell.


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## Marie5656 (Nov 24, 2020)

*I think, back in our younger days, when families pretty much lived in the same town, or close too it, there were more gatherings, as the older generation planned it all. As families grew apart, and moved away, just stopped happening, especially with no one left to take the reins to plan the family fathering.
Before I was born, my grandparents house was where everyone gathered. Then, it seemed to become our house, for all the holidays. I miss the houseful of people.*


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## Gardenlover (Nov 24, 2020)

I never bought into the greed of Christmas.

My favorite holidays are 4th of July and Thanksgiving.

I'm back for better... never worse.


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## Giantsfan1954 (Nov 24, 2020)

I got to be pretty ho-him about Christmas a few years back, grown kids, deceased hubby and most extended family gone... then along came Connor in May 2012 and my Christmas spirit was rejuvenated!
It’s fun to buy toys, it’s fun to watch him open them and squeal if it’s something he was hoping for!!!
Long gone are the days of a houseful of relatives starting at noon and going well into the night but circumstances change and it helps to have a lighthearted outlook.


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## tbeltrans (Nov 24, 2020)

asp3 said:


> I'm sorry, I mistook the bolding to mean that you thought the main emphasis was on couples both working to have the standards they want in their life as opposed to just being able to survive in the area.  I was just trying to clarify that our area (which you are very familiar with) it's a minority of the households that have two incomes so they can maintain higher levels of luxury or wealth.
> 
> The Silicon Valley certainly isn't for everyone and I certainly can see why many people live her begrudgingly.  I think the remote work started by Covid might stick around longer and companies will be more willing to have people work from home or in satellite offices.  However only time will tell.


The bold was merely to highlight what I was responding to because I found it to be a unique, but often applicable, comment.  The rest of the post I agreed with.  I had seen that for myself while I was out there.  But thanks for the response. 

Tony


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## tbeltrans (Nov 24, 2020)

Marie5656 said:


> *I think, back in our younger days, when families pretty much lived in the same town, or close too it, there were more gatherings, as the older generation planned it all. As families grew apart, and moved away, just stopped happening, especially with no one left to take the reins to plan the family fathering.
> Before I was born, my grandparents house was where everyone gathered. Then, it seemed to become our house, for all the holidays. I miss the houseful of people.*


We have seen a similar trajectory in our condo association, and have come to understand this is quite common among associations.  The first group of people who bought in, were very involved in the association.  There were all manner of committees to handle many of the chores common to the building that we eventually had to hire a handy man for.  We had several association dinners over the course of the year and both a spring and fall cleaning day in which nearly everybody turned out to help washing windows, cleaning the grounds, cleaning the boiler, etc.  We had little trouble finding people to be board members, and we also had a monthly newsletter for which many of us wrote articles and then a woman volunteered to type up and then she and I would make copies and distribute them at everybody's door.

As those people moved on to nursing homes and new people moved in, we have trouble finding people to be on the board, we have no committees and no cleanup.  We had to hire a handy man to do the work around the building that we on the maintenance committee used to do.  Asking around, I discovered that this is a very common situation.  Fortunately, we still have a quiet building with mostly decent residents.  I would like to think that there are associations that have maintained that sense of community as people move through it.  Ours is probably a medium sized association with 72 units.

Tony


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## MarciKS (Nov 24, 2020)

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.


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## Marie5656 (Nov 24, 2020)

@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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## MarciKS (Nov 24, 2020)

Plus I no longer have the energy to get up at 5 AM and run around the house trying to wake the folks so we can open a bunch of presents. LOL


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## MarkinPhx (Nov 24, 2020)

MarciKS said:


> Plus I no longer have the energy to get up at 5 AM and run around the house trying to wake the folks so we can open a bunch of presents. LOL


I will probably be up that morning at 5 AM not because I will have presents under the tree but because nature calls.


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## MarciKS (Nov 24, 2020)

MarkinPhx said:


> I will probably be up that morning at 5 AM not because I will have presents under the tree but because nature calls.


Same here.


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## tbeltrans (Nov 24, 2020)

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


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


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## Wren (Nov 24, 2020)

Why make life hard for yourself when you can make it easy ? A mince pie fresh from the bakers tastes just as good (probably better) than one I’ve gone to the trouble of making and no doubt costs the same


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## Kadee (Nov 24, 2020)

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

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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## Ellen Marie (Nov 24, 2020)

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....


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## Aunt Marg (Nov 24, 2020)

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.


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.


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## C'est Moi (Nov 25, 2020)

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.


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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## john danson (Nov 25, 2020)

These days I find myself looking forward to the winter solstice far more than Christmas ,since it's really the first sign of spring.


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## gennie (Nov 25, 2020)

I'd be happy to go to sleep tonight and wake up on New Years Day.  Bah Hum Bug to it all. 

 I'll take those extra days in April, please.


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## Judycat (Nov 25, 2020)

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.


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## StarSong (Nov 25, 2020)

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.)


AMEN!!!!


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## RadishRose (Nov 25, 2020)

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.


Or like walking 5 miles to a supermarket pulling a wagon rather than drive the car.


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## Phoenix (Nov 25, 2020)

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.


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## Lethe200 (Nov 25, 2020)

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!


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## PamfromTx (Nov 25, 2020)

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.


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## peramangkelder (Nov 25, 2020)

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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## PamfromTx (Nov 25, 2020)

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


My one and only sister-in-law's birthday is Christmas Day and she is spoiled by her two sons and their families.


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## Judycat (Nov 25, 2020)

I can see how that would let the air out of ones tires every year. Buying yourself a big cake and singing Happy Birthday to Me would be clearly warranted.


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## john danson (Nov 26, 2020)

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.


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## Ruthanne (Nov 26, 2020)

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   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!) 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!


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## Gary O' (Nov 26, 2020)

Why have we stopped putting effort into Christmas​
'Who sez?


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