No No No It's Too Early

[Guest]

old now but never did, told them from day one no such thing as father xmas, tooth fairy etc etc.

 

why lie to kids????? and no im not tight, i just dont belive in buying gifts for a so called someones birthday who didnt exist etc.

Weren't you guilty of inflicting your own ideas about Christmas onto children too young to understand the concept of Christmas as a religious celebration? Did they not get excited along with the other children at school, who'd have been talking about going to see Father Christmas, putting up tinsel, making cards and such like?

 

I'm fairly hard-hearted, and not much of a fan of Christmas (or kids), but depriving children of presents at Christmas does seem rather excessively harsh. Although I agree about not deceiving your children, shouldn't there be a wee bit of flexibility, such as making the 'no such thing as Father Christmas' thing be an age-appropriate discovery?

[Karis]

I don't see what the problem is (unless it's Xmas music in stores in September). I've been getting ready for Christmas for the past two months and people Do start buying early...

 

So I think it's OK, as long as it's not rammed down our throats

[Alcoblog]

Hey! ... The Peacock at Owler Bar had Chrismas decorations up last Friday!

[pattricia]

I don't see what the problem is (unless it's Xmas music in stores in September). I've been getting ready for Christmas for the past two months and people Do start buying early...

 

So I think it's OK, as long as it's not rammed down our throats

 

But it is rammed down our throats.

[Suffragette1]

old now but never did, told them from day one no such thing as father xmas, tooth fairy etc etc.

 

why lie to kids????? and no im not tight, i just dont belive in buying gifts for a so called someones birthday who didnt exist etc.

 

Blimey, you're not a JW are you?! Seriously, that seems really harsh. I recall the childhood excitement about the excitement of Christmas and would never deprive my children of that, no matter how jaded I am about it all. I've always made a huge thing of Christmas, they're not little for very long. We have staged the downstairs to make it look like Father Christmas has been, left reindeer food out etc. This year we have told my 9 year old daughter the truth as I was worried she'd be teased at school if she still believed.

[discodown]

But it is rammed down our throats.

Whats rammed down your throat? Has someone been choking you with chocolate?

 

Every year it amuses me how the people who in september are whining "its too early" are also the ones in december whining "i'm not organised, there wasn't enough time". Christmas should be a time of stressless, family quality time and the only way to achieve that is to get organised. the only way to get organised is to take advantage of the buying early. I'm already more than halfway through present shopping amd will be finished by November, that way I can have a relaxed but busy december doing stuff with child and laughing at all the people who left it until the last minute and pitying the people who "don't do" christmas because they think they are cool or post modern but actually are a bit dull

[HappyHoosier]

I work part-time in retail and everything comes too early at stores these days. We started getting down parkas and snow pants in early July during a heat wave. We got winter boots a week later. By then, of course, our swimsuits -- which arrived at the store in February -- were on clearance and totally picked over.

 

It's insanity. Even the most prepared person doesn't shop for a winter coat when it's 96-degrees outside, does he?

[discodown]

I hate xmas, and told my kids since day 1 no such thing as father xmas, presents etc etc. see the other thread that someone started days ago.

 

xmas should be banned

Why should it be banned? Also banning xmas because you don't like it and depriving your kids seems unfair. Did you not return xmas cards or anything?

[Smithster]

Weren't you guilty of inflicting your own ideas about Christmas onto children too young to understand the concept of Christmas as a religious celebration? Did they not get excited along with the other children at school, who'd have been talking about going to see Father Christmas, putting up tinsel, making cards and such like?

 

I'm fairly hard-hearted, and not much of a fan of Christmas (or kids), but depriving children of presents at Christmas does seem rather excessively harsh. Although I agree about not deceiving your children, shouldn't there be a wee bit of flexibility, such as making the 'no such thing as Father Christmas' thing be an age-appropriate discovery?

 

You could also look at it from the other point of view that by not filling his kids' heads with nonsense about non-existent bearded fat men, he has done them a favour.

 

I loved Christmas when I was a kid. I loved it because of the knowledge that I was going to get lots of toys and things bought for me; it was a purely materialistic view. Spending time with family etc... didn't even register on my scale... I wanted PRESENTS! This is one of the main reasons why now, as an adult, I despise what Christmas has become. By telling kids that Santa is coming and will bring them lots of goodies if they behave, I believe parents are creating a sense of materialism in their kids which, as with all behavior patterns that are nurtured during childhood, will remain with them throughout their lives.

 

Christmas, such as it is in the 21st century, is an utter abomination. The yule festival used to be about celebrating the returning of the light at winter solstice; about gathering all family and friends, enjoying a feast and creating a sense of togetherness to get the family unit through the dark winter nights. But then the church decided that they could not accept people celebrating a pagan festival so they hijacked it with some complete garbage about the virgin birth of Jesus (who according to most historians was probably born in either march or september) and ordered everyone in Christian countries to celebrate their festival or else.

 

Having been hijacked by the church, in the 20th century it was then hijacked by capitalism. We are so bombarded now with advertising from around September onwards that it is impossible to escape it anywhere. I read somewhere that the common image of Santa Clause in a red suit was invented by none other than the world's worst marketing slags, Coca Cola. Traditionally he was green before they got involved. Even companies whose products have sod all to do with Christmas have to jump on the bandwagon to 'maximise revenue' these days. Last year, Macdonalds was running a special festive menu FFS. What the hell?!?

 

But it is not just advertising that has society over a barrel, it is the social pressures that go with it. It is almost as if the message is "if you don't spend lots of money you don't have on buying pointless crap for your kids then you are a bad parent". And people swallow it hook line and sinker. Many parents feel that they absolutely have to spend £hundreds on Xboxs, bikes etc.. because they feel that to do otherwise is somehow socially unacceptable and that other people will scorn them for being so frugal when they should be showering their little darlings with gifts just to remind them how special they are. Isn't showing kids love enough these days?

 

Have I turned into a grumpy old man? Too right I have. But I would prefer to stand up and say 'enough is enough' and to recognise this depraved irrationality for what it is, than to just play along with the pretense that modern-day Christmas is a wonderful, magical time just to fit in.

[USUK]

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