Christmas sucks BIG-Time!!

My thoughts exactly. If I didn't buy my son stuff on Christmas he would feel neglected because all the other kids get stuff. Hell, I'd never hear the end of how cruel of a mom I am.

Grr... the ills of commercialistic society. That's probably why I'll end up living in the Pyrenees with only guests and A2K for amusement (Do you think that A2K will be running in 5 or 10 years' time? And do you think that most the regulars now will still be posting?) . Would he really say how 'cruel a mother' you are? I'd say that you are an example to others; you mix love with responsibility, which is more than most people can say. It's so sad that, failing to buy something can seem as if there's not love there, and buying it making it seem as if there is. How can one mom's love differ from another's just because of buying Nike trainers or X this?

Oh well.

Yes, I do think A2K will be around in 5 or 10 years and of course the regulars will be posting. I met many people here on another forum over 4 years ago and we are all still hanging out enjoying eachothers company.
Yes, my son would say I was cruel if I didn't shower him with gifts at Christmas :-(
Thank you for the compliment, that made my day.
I guess all we can do is to keep on truckin ;-)

Fantastic... this really is a haven on the net; I've never met so many interesting, nice and compassionate people in such a short time! It's an atmosphere you can hardly get anywhere else; from how Phoenix has described Abuzz, I'd guess it to be something like Abuzz before the idiots took over peoples' accounts. I will send whatever my Student loan/savings can afford when I can, to support.

Aw... see, that's why I think that Christmas is so sad. If I had the choice between a mother who didn't shower me with gifts at Christmas but did the right thing, or one that did not the right thing, but showered me with gifts, Student Loan payments, etc... I'd choose the latter. (Obviously, seeing as I think gifts are usually the redundant part of Christmas.) One must see in hindsight, really.

And (gah, starting off a sentence with 'and') I never compliment people without reason; I say what I see... and I'm glad that it did.

Whatever happens,- birthday disasters or gang warfare- at least we all have here, and everyone here!

And I can guarantee that Christmas will STILL suck even then! Or I'll still be insisting that it does!

My siblings and I are all we've got left in the world (other than our spousal units & children) and the whole realm of gifting... thinking about them & what they want and could use, imagining their surprise, wrapping it nicely, presenting it at a special occasion... all those things are important to us. We don't go overboard. For example, I am getting my three sisters Pashmina scarfs I bought on eBay... each in a special color picked out for her. Not expensive, but very nice and every time they wear them, I hope they'll think nice thoughts of me.

I do shower Mr.P with gifts -- why not? We don't spend more than we have and it is fun for us. If I didn't buy him some things, he'd never feel right spending the money to get them for himself.

I have a bit of a quarrel with the "Only for the Kids" attitude. Why should kids get all the fun? Further, why should kids get all the fun and then at some to-be-determined age, not get all the fun anymore? It doesn't make sense to me.

I used gift-giving as a way to teach my kids that they need to be able to dream, to imagine what they might really want... even if they don't get it. I think very few people know what they really want; they are so limited by what is available/what they can afford/what they think they should want. Of course, we don't get everything we want, but I want my kids to be allowed to dream wildly -- that's the way I live my life. Sometimes those wild dreams are more accessible than we think.

My brother and I have both got mortgages. We don't have the money for the gesture of a gift for a holiday that neither of us actually believes in anyway. It's ridiculous.

I think small, meaningful, gifts year round are better than whacks of gifts at Christmas. The whole focus on lots of gifts at Christmas seems like a middle-class perversion of what Christmas was meant to be about.

Piffka,I enjoyed your last post.
When do we not get all the fun any more?
Ha!
Very good.I still have fun at Christmas too.

I know what you mean, ehbeth.

Hebba!!!!

Ceili here is a present for you. My unrequited cyber love. It's the thought that counts, eh? :wink:

Aww Bear thats just too sweet and to think, you even added a canadianism just to make it seem closer to home.
Right back at ya, eh!
<<<<<smooooooches>>>>
Ceili

Or maybe it is a throwback to the Saturnalia-type festivals of the pre-Christians?

Hebba!!!!

Here for fun! Good to see you! Did things get a bit busy?!

Indeed margo.Thanks!
What with the hebblet and the wood and stuff,a2k gets knocked down the "to do" list.
Hoping that everyone is well and happy.
PIFFKA!!

HEBBA!

Twice in one week? It must be Christmas! And the Hebblet... awwwwwww.

I've heard the Danes go quite wild at this time of year. Please tell me this is true!

Piffka I can't believe that someone full of Christmas spirit and love would refer to their husband, chosen life partner, soul mate, as a "spousal unit". How de-humanizing.

I was just starting to feel Christmasy too, you old scrooge you.

Ah... but she was referring to not only her chosen one, but the spouses of other siblings, who have the potential to be completely unsavoury characters!

Soon, due to PC, everyone will be not husband and wife- marginalizing people into sex-defined roles - but spousal companion and spousal companion. Damn them.

Thanks D et R... Sounds like some bear got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.