Would you cancel Christmas?

Just noticed on MSE the recent poll that currently 4018 / 6175 votes are to cancel Christmas! Almost equal stats.

single with no kids/kids have left school

Yes 74% - woman (861 votes)
Yes 74% - man (468 votes)

couple with no kids/kids have left school

Yes 66% - woman (1590 votes)
Yes 68% - man (831 votes)

school-age or younger kids

Yes 62% - grandma (790 votes)
Yes 64% - grandpa (458 votes)

doesn’t celebrate Christmas (eg, different religion)

Yes 82% - woman (107 votes)
Yes 83% - man (81 votes)

I’m non-binary or I don’t wish to reveal my gender (regardless of parental status)

Yes 80% (95 votes)

The only no winning are:

school-age or younger kids

Yes 46% - mum (551 votes)
Yes 45% - dad (343 votes)


I voted yes. :laughing: I hate the pressure of finding gifts and hate receiving gifts (unless I’ve given a shortlist of things I would like). I hate the fact the person buying for you is feeling pressured to spend money “just because”. I like the tree and decorations for about two weeks, but these days it feels like September-Jan is Christmas hype with crappy songs, and people going nuts on the road, in shops and supermarkets. I’d rather see people during the year and buy things I want when I need them. Buying a couple presents for kids is fine, but anyone older than 16 nah.

  • Yes, cancel Christmas
  • No, bring it on
0 voters
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You cant cancel a religious festival. If you don’t believe in what Christmas is truly about then don’t celebrate it. Easy.

Christmas (as well as many other religious events) have been exploited for commercial purposes.

If I could cancel anything it would be nonsense like Valentines day and mothers/fathers day.

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I like the messages behind Christmas and the idea of a time for family and friends to connect.

I’m not into the whole commercialisation side of it. I have insisted that no-one buy me presents (except my mum because she would ignore me anyway) and I would rather have time to spend with my friends and family. Go for a drinks, a meal. Anything!

But, Xmas films, spending days off on end with family and friends, eating good food and generally lazing the days away, love it!

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I find some sort of scrooge like irony that MSE readers all say bah humbug to Christmas :smiley:

I used to hate Christmas, I really did, but since having a young family and both my partner and I both work high stress jobs we really appreciate that almost enforced break just to spend some time with each other and with our extended family.

Neither of us are religious, and we don’t really care about the gifts so much, but we really do get to appreciate the time to just slow down and enjoy life a little. Reflect on the year gone and the year to come.

So bring on Christmas.

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Not for me to cancel Christmas, not believing in a diety so it’s not something I ‘celebrate’.

However, I would happily remove the commercialisation of the festive season. I kinda like the lights, and the ‘coming together’ it usually means for friends and family, but could do without the rampant push for us all to buy more stuff (thankfully, my family and friends are all smart enough to know better, and it’s only really my niece that is getting ‘spoiled’ and even then it’s with some limits).

We don’t do Xmas cards either, and replaced that with foodbank donations.

Like most ‘occasions’ I think they have some value to bring joy, reflection, etc. but can also be very divisive.

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Our family have had a pretty crap last 12-18 months so nobody is feeling very festive this year. We only just got the tree up on Wednesday! Hopefully by the time Santa comes round we’ll have cheered up a bit

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Sorry to hear that, hopefully it can be a time to reflect and that 2020 is a better year.

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I wish you all the best for the future, and a happy time for the festivities.

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I often say that I don’t really like Christmas, but I’m usually referring to that period of time between mid October and mid January where we’re bombarded with messages imploring is to spend more so that we can have the best time.

Having said that, if spending money really makes you happy, then spend money. If spending time makes you happy, then spend time.

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I’d cancel all gift buying obligations except for chidren (don’t want to ruin it for them and my nephews are the only people I actually enjoy finding them something cool!)

But the rest can stay. It’s good to have an excuse to spend time with family and friends and a bit of time off work!

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For what it is worth I hope you have a Merry Christmas.

All the best for the future and I genuinely hope that fortunes improve for you and your family.

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Hmmm, MONEY SAVING expert readers want to cancel Christmas. As an alternative, they could just not spend so much money on it?!

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Thank you. All the best you and yours too.

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Christmas is what you make it. You don’t have to do an expensive commercialised Christmas to enjoy it

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I think for me it’s the factors that you can’t control like the crappy music being played or adverts everywhere. :musical_note: :hear_no_evil:

:blue_car: :red_car: :fu: Or the amount of dicks on the road, either had a few or stressed. Road rage seems to be higher and more mindless zombies driving on the motorway in the middle lane.

:shopping_cart: :anguished: I also find supermarkets have an unnecessary apocalypse vibe with people stocking up on the months worth of stuff they really don’t need for the few hours that the shops shut.

:santa: Workplace also I could do without parties/jumpers/secret santa/crappy music and basically writing off December/Jan.

Should have added a two weeks max celebration, don’t buy stuff you don’t need, do it for the kids option.
:christmas_tree: :gift: :child: :baby:

Can that even get worse!?

I have the combo commute of cars swerving around the road who are clearly pissed, or pulling out of junctions without looking on the A / B roads, and then glorious M40 or A34 gamble where everyone forgets to move back over and someone has always crashed by not paying attention. :man_facepalming:

The weather don’t help either being darker and rubbish driving conditions, but then add on top stressed out or have their minds elsewhere people and its chaos. You’ve then got the battle of people commuting to see others that they only see once a year and always say we should meet up more often but never do because ‘Christmas’ is enough.

4pm onwards today on the roads will be nuts. :frowning_face:

I’d consider cancelling Christmas because I think the magic of Christmas doesnt seem to exist anymore.

When I was growing up in the late 80’s/early 90’s, Christmas had an element of excitement, getting a big present from the parents like a Megadrive and maybe a couple of games to with it…and then random stuff from grandparents/aunts/uncles, etc

These days because the majority of kids (including mine) are spoilt brats there’s not much you can actually get someone who more than likely has it already, consoles, phones, tablets…

For me, Christmas is just an expensive chore. This year I’ve left it solely to my wife to buy people stuff. I drive the car to the shops and that’s my involvement over. Its way too monotonous now and unnecessarily stressful.

I think next year Im cancelling Christmas and going on holiday for a week instead instead of blowing loads of money on stuff nobody needs

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I’m pretty much the same.

I remember Christmas being a time when I received things I wouldn’t have normally gotten. These days if I want something then I just buy it, if I can’t afford to then it’s not something somebody else could get me for Christmas. My kids get phones/gadgets when they need them rather than waiting.

I remember Christmas being the period when suddenly wave after wave of blockbuster films were on TV and I’d look forward to getting the 2 week bumper Christmas addition radio times to see what was on when. Now films and are on all the time/whenever you want them.

All that’s left for Christmas for me is a good excuse to meet up with people you normally wouldn’t and spending more time with the wider family.

Presents, except for the kids, seem unnecessary as people buy things for people that they don’t really need in exchange for receiving things that they don’t really need. Me and my brother have decided this year that the adults of our sides won’t buy each other anything, we’ll just do the kids :+1:

I wouldn’t cancel Christmas but I’d bin off the present buying which seems an unnecessary burden.

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I understand the religious significance of the event.
With children though we haven’t followed the religious path & it’s still such a special time.
Last year we went to Lapland & it made it so special.
Elf on the shelf adds to the magic.
Christmas is for me a family time where you can spend extra time together.

Even for those of us that are working on Christmas Day it is still special.

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