However, there is one Christmas party I do look forward to and it involves wine, ugly sweaters and dog named Rufus.

I do enjoy buying people gifts, but that’s because I think of it as a time of year when I should show them that I’m grateful that they are in my life. I bake cookies for most of the adults (many of whom are single males in our family), and I purchase or make very carefully selected items for everyone else. It’s all about the happy, and I refuse to allow in any of the stress. If it’s not fun, then I just don’t do it. Period.

@Marginal Designs: I love your gift theory. I went to the I Made it! Market this weekend and was very excited by all the handmade goodies. I didn’t buy anything because they would have been for me, not those I should be buying gifts for.

Other than that, I really enjoy finding/making people the perfect gift, which tends to be some sort of craft item or something from Goodwill. One time I found this amazing plaque that has illustrated directions for preparing a glazed ham. It’s still hanging in my brother’s kitchen. Another time I found a small statuette of Richard Nixon that kind of looked like a bobble head but was larger and made out of some sort of plaster.

Now, even a Christmas grinch would love a gift like that!

I’ve hated Christmas for a long time, actually. I hate shopping. I hate crowds. I hate shopping in crowds. I hate feeling guilty every time I walk past a guy clanging a bell next to a pot and I don’t give him anything. I hate snot nosed brats screaming bloody murder in every store. I hate the fake “MERRY CHRISTMAS!!” attitude that most people adopt this time of year. I loathe christmas music on repeat on every station the radio has. I hate the pressure of buying christmas gifts so that they don’t look like I bargain shopped for them.

Aside from that, my Grandmother died around christmas, and I’ve always connected it to that, I suppose. So yeah. November 1-January 3 is usually the time I hole up and disappear so as to not ruin every one else’s christmas fun.

Bah. Humbug.

First: That is Dan Fogelberg. The only thing he is any good at is sucking. :)

Second: I kind of feel right on with you this year, but what made me feel better was adopting a family for Christmas. That got me right in the spirit. Of course, I’ve not exactly started any of the “fun” for the rest of the family and/or people I know. But! The adopted family is totally covered.

I usually love Christmas shopping, Starbucks in hand, tra la la. This year feels different and I don’t know why. It started with the guy getting trampled at Walmart and the terrible reaction of the shoppers in the store. I think that put a damper on my desire for holiday fa la las.

I don’t like shopping. I can’t stand Christmas music and the season of joy has become one of “get the funk out of my way! my kid deserves that toy!”. I’m a scrooge and if it wasn’t for Lushie’s family I’d probably be a miserable prick. With them it’s about family, food and celebration. Oh and I always end up with something Penguins :)

What it comes down to is interpretation and subjectivity of why we do the things we do. There are plenty of people that simply don’t get it. They get sucked into the Christmas void for the same reasons you’ve mentioned here, which is all sorts of pathetic and disgusting.

I choose to engage myself in silly rituals as a way of commemorating what was, and what I hope to be. I’m not Christian, but I celebrate Christmas, which really makes me a hypocrite, but I’m not celebrating for the sake of the birth of Christ, I’m celebrating for everything else the season calls for. Snowmen, sledding, hot chocolate, sitting around watching A Christmas Story, an opportunity for me to give things to those I care for (consider it a social doorway to accepted generosity), and deciding its ok to put army men on the tree.

I get a kick from seeing people enjoy themselves, and it just so happens that the holiday season can be a breeding ground for that sort of thing. Associatively, I crave all the silly things that come with this time of year, and now that I’m old enough to control all these things, I embrace it as much as I can.

Everything we do to interact as humans is intrinsically silly, but our ability to look past that and appreciate it, thats what gets you an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle on December 25th.