People Confess What They Hate Most About Christmas

I love Christmas, but that's just me.

I know plenty of people who hunker down and just survive this time.

Mandatory

"The expectation to still give gifts to friends or family who are very aware that you are struggling financially (ie behind on utilities and getting food from pantries). ESPECIALLY hate the mandatory employee contribution to gifts for the boss." ~ FlippingPanda

Too Much

"Grandparents loading my kids with toys. It sounds really nice, but when you have multiple grandparents just going crazy, they end up with a lot of cheap crap. Like seriously, don’t get 7 or 8 $5-$10 toys, get one nicer toy. Or throw some books in there. If it has pictures, they’ll like it, I promise. Or clothes."

"Ask me their sizes, and get a shirt or something. But PLEASE no more cheap toys that aren’t age appropriate or aren’t their interests or that break as soon as they use it. It’s so wasteful and it turns Christmas into an endurance run just to satisfy your own ego because you never actually visit." ~ shelbyknits

I Hate Him!

"Elf on the Shelf. I have an irrational hatred for that creepy little b**tard." ~ KirbyBucketts

"Ha! It’s actually quite fun, we don’t do any of the lore, or 'she’s watching you' crap. We just pose her in funny situations each night and the kids love waking up to see where she is the next day. Tonight she’s being attacked by her toy dinosaurs." ~ Buildsoc

Not Authentic

"How commercialized it is. It has essentially become a big marketing event for companies that guilt you into buying things you normally wouldn't." ~ Tuesday2017

"Shopping isn't even enjoyable anymore. I miss the 90s when I could excitedly save up and then buy the latest CD as a gift, now I spend months stressed, trying to think of something each family member wouldn't have already bought for themselves." ~ Famous_Paramedic7562

What a Waste!

"It’s the end of the year and a cold, harsh reminder that another year has gone by and I haven’t done a f**king thing that was at all meaningful." ~ eggshitter

It really has gotten so commercial on the outside. What I buy you, doesn't measure my love for you.

Not Impressed

"I used to hate needing to come up with cool ideas for gifts for the whole family that's not too expensive. But recently I got over it and I'm not trying to impress anyone anymore, so now I just buy every family member a box of assorted chocolates." ~ PrettyPotapenko

Rub it in...

"My parents and all my relatives have passed away, so no Xmas shopping, parties, and dinners. No cards. No calls. No gifts. Just getting through the whole month of December, as they ram happy family entertainment into your senses 24/7." ~ DungeonPeaches

"And then people who literally know this rub it in by asking afterward how your Christmas was. How do you think it was, just like the day before and the day after." ~ bay_lamb

That Tree

"Putting the lights on and taking them off the Christmas tree. I LOVE Christmas trees and I LOVE sparkly lights, so when I do my lights I do them right. Every singe branch is wrapped, from the trunk out, and the entire truck is wrapped too. I like the sparkle to come from within. No for needle is spared."

"For example, I did my moms tree a couple years ago when she was sick and couldn’t do it herself. I put 6000 lights on a 12ft tree. She said everyone who saw it was like holy crap, it’s so bright! My mom thinks I should do it professionally, but I hate putting the lights on and taking them off. It’s soooo time consuming, but the pay off is worth it." ~ snowf**kerforreal

'Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer'

"How the lesson of tolerance in 'Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer' is flawed: he is treated with respect only after showing his practical value. This has bothered me for as long as I can remember. Largely because of how very popular the song is." ~ JSanzi

"I totally agree with your sentiment, but I don’t think it is saying that he only gained value due to his usefulness, but that the other reindeers only realized his value afterwards. That’s just how I’ve always interpreted it, I could be wrong." ~ Nice_Entertainment91

Fear

"Gift anxiety. It's supposed to be great, but I loathe trying to pick a gift for someone. It makes my sick with fear that they'll hate it." ~ Glorfindelirious

Let's try our best. Times are tough. Money is tight.

Let's try to celebrate, even if we have to find strangers.