Now I'm nearing 30 I've experienced over a decade of Christmases as an adult, the same pressure to buy things, send cards, attend work team meals, see family over several days, buy too much food etc.
I have made a few changes this year:
- Limited who buying presents for so I can save money for my own needs
-Using brown paper and string to wrap presents - cheaper, lol. and less commercial
- Not sending cards, partially because I can't be bothered, partly because of the paper waste, and partly to save money. At least with a spotlight on consumerism and unnecessary waste, I can say "It's called being good for the environment" ahaha.
-Not stock piling so much food weeks in advance. I need to eat better anyway and soooo much money can get wasted on food that makes you feel bloated and sick. Instead, I'll buy some mincemeat and some pastry, make a few dozen mince pies and that's my lot. "Christmas" dinner will just be bog standard chicken, potatoes and vegetables.
Luckily at work my team has a deadline to meet (20th Dec) and noone can be bothered to decorate the office so in a way, work is a nice escape this year from the buildup. The only thing I've not managed to swerve is the department Christmas meal, because work is paying for us and shutting the office, and I don't want to use up a day's leave to avoid going in, lol. Call me Scrooge but I hate large-party meals. When you have food allergies and end up picking the only shitty menu choice, and you don't drink, it's hard to enjoy when everyone else is getting increasingly more merry lol.
Hubby and his family have never been big on Christmas so there's no real pressue on me to "perform Christmas" but let's face it, for many, Christmas is an expected performance, you gotta make it happen, for some that means eating beans for months (
), for others it's spending time with people that threy don't get on with.
I do however like all the shitty telly and rom coms whilst eating a mince pie, having hot chocolate, and also I am grateful that working in education sector, means we get paid to be home for a week and a half (very grateful to have time off for Xmas and New Years).
There's absolutely no hate on anyone who loves Christmas as much as Zoella, if that's what makes you happy then that's amazing. I think what jades a lot of us is the 2 or 3 month build up, the escalating tendancy to spend pennies "because Christmas", mass consumption, and then the pressure to perform/provide.
Maybe my views will change if I become a parent, but for now, I'm happy to be low key, and spend with the few people in my life that matter most, whilst also having some much needed time off work, post crazy deadline! Is it just me or does December always have lots of crazy deadlines running at the same time as the build up to Xmas? I'm feeling so run down right now!
I've always liked Easter though 
