Do you open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
When I was a kid, me, my mom and dad, and older sister would all go over to my aunt’s house on Christmas Eve, usually around 5pm or so. It was about a 30 minute to an hour drive and once we got there, her house was warm and cozy. It always looked like one of those house sets on the shopping channel or a house decorated for Christmas in a movie. She would always go all out with all her decorations and make sure to do it big. She’d decorate the outside with lights and the inside will all sorts of cute decorations and whatnot. It was like being in a fairytale land. Her houses were never large (over the years she had moved and lived in 3 different places) but she managed to make them feel big.Anyway, we’d watch a movie, she’d cook (she loved making gourmet dishes), we’d exchange presents, and just spend time together. The presents she got us, we would always open right then, in front of the whole family, on Chirstmas Eve.By the time we got home, it was 12 or 1am and Christmas morning, technically. I remember being like 4 or 5 and begging my parents to let me open a present under OUR tree… and so the tradition began. Each year, til I was about 14, we’d get home from spending Christmas Eve with my aunt and I got to open one present.Of course, the older I got, the less I wanted to do this and the more I wanted to open all of my presents on Christmas morning with everyone else. Especially since sometimes I only get one or two presents and I want to open them around everyone.Now a days I just wait til Christmas morning to open presents with my mom and sister (my dad is there too, but he doesn’t really celebrate Christmas for no reason in particular). My aunt died about a year and a half ago, but for about 4 years prior to her death, she was really sick and so we stopped going over her house. I do miss that experience and I certainly miss my aunt and the fun time we would all have at her house.But every time I hear Christmas smooth jazz (or regular smooth jazz, honestly) I always associate it with the drive down to her house and spending time with her (I HONESTLY don’t know why.. she didn’t play any as far as I can remember.. my parents might have played it in our car idk). Maybe it’s just the sound that matched how festive and Christmasy her houses always looked.
My mom is working on Christmas morning?!?
These days I volunteer at a SOUP KITCHEN on Christmas but As a Nurse for 40 years I worked 80% of the Christmas days and sometimes double shifts Because other people had needs as do police and firemen and many workers SORRY VIRGINIA the world does not stand still and society does not stop for everyone on December 25th You might want to at age 15 engage in what is called paying it FORWARD and spend time with people who don't even have something to eat spend the morning at a soup kitchen pick a elderly neighbor who is also alone go volunteer at a nursing home to sing carols ......go visit patients in the hospital having cancer treatments to cheer them up bake some cookies and bring them with you there are many things to Brighten YOUR day and spend time with others then make a nice meal for your mom for when your mom gets home and she will be tired post pone your presents opening so she could enjoy watching you opening them since it was most likely her hard labor that bought them looks like this year your true gift is learning a lesson the world does not revolve around you . . Happy holidays your on the road to adulthood and the true reality of how life works
Is it normal to feel like crying on Christmas morning......?
Find someone else that is down and cheer them up. It will cure you. The depression can be caused by memories of past Christmas's or the let down because of unattainable goals or too much sugar in the preparation, or loss of family and friends, or just winter blue's. Whatever the reason Giving from the heart will warm it all up.
Who else is having a terrible Christmas?
I'm 14 and I'm spending Christmas by myself :c I didn't ask for any material thing at all this Christmas. I just really wished to have a very nice traditional Christmas with my family. Didn't happen. A week before, I asked my parents if we could just stay home for Christmas and not go out to a friend's or anywhere else, just to stay home and spend Christmas together. Weeeeeeell, tonight they just headed off to one of their friend's party and is spending Christmas Eve over there. My older brother is out. I'm at home. Not only that, I am really really miserable! My mom was being really hostile toward me and made me cry. . . The same thing also happened during Thanksgiving. 2011 is just not my year -_________- I hope you guys are having a great Christmas C:
Help! I've lost my Christmas spirit!?
uh, until you figure out what the xmas spirit is.. you are going to have trouble... it comes from within. no movie, no music, no wrapping, no tinsel, no bows or ribbons.. no holiday ham no caroling no charity... no matter the doseages of eggnog and champagne.. anything will help... without that inner spark. until then you will just have to struggle.. so many have this issue... xmas is inside... watch out for those whining anti xmas folks.. they will do anything they can to destroy that spirit... you're very young yet.. they have the time to work on you real hard! don't let that happen... find that good cheer and spread it around like a communicable disease!
How can I get in the Christmas spirit when I feel uninspired and depressed by tragic events in my life?
It depends on how far into the Christmas spirit you absolutely have to get.If your family expects you to unwrap presents with them on Christmas morning, that’s one thing, and you can certainly explain in advance that you may be feeling a little down because of X event, so please, can they be gentle with you and not also expect you to go caroling? And maybe let you take a nap after Christmas dinner?If you play Santa at a mall, or you are the priest/pastor/minister of a Christian church and expected to give a sermon/homily/whatever on Christmas morning, you are obviously screwed by professional obligation.If you have kids, this may be a “fake it ’til you make it” situation. Do what they want and need you to do as much as possible, but also schedule some self-care time. Even relatively little kids can understand things like “I feel sad because I miss Grandma and Grandpa. Let’s all take a nap after Christmas dinner.”If you live alone, do only what you want to do and for pete’s sake, do not force yourself to do more than that or turn on the radio. If you want to go to a movie and out for Chinese dinner, do that. This would obviously be the situation that allows for the maximum of self-care.
Why doesn't it feel like "Christmas" as you grow older? And what can you do as an adult to make it feel more like "Christmas"?
Most of the magic of Christmas happens *to* children.“Kids, let's go to the parade!” How is there a parade today? Magic!“Before we go home, let's walk through the park.” How did the park transform into a holiday wonderland? Magic!“Have some cookies!” Where do all these cookies come from? Magic!“All your cousins are coming over tonight and we'll open presents first thing in the morning.” How is the house suddenly ready for 20 additonal people? Magic!And so on.As an adult, however, you know none of this is magic. Even the stuff you (probably) don't do yourself, like decorating the city park or organizing the parade, you understand is stuff that takes work. Baking several dozen cookies is work. Buying and wrapping gifts is work. Preparing for guests is work. And so on.For me, the one thing that still feels magical is playing Christmas concerts, which is why I book as many gigs as I can this time of year, paid or unpaid. Concert prep for Christmas is never difficult, and audiences are so receptive to being put in good cheer that they are incredibly kind. Just play some Leroy Anderson and you make their entire holiday.Spending time with my nieces and nephews also feels magical, so I try to take them off their parents' hands for an afternoon or two before Christmas and during the school break. The kids get to do fun stuff, the parents get a break, I get to be with the kids in a way we don't have time for during the ordinary school year. Everyone wins.Ask yourself: Does doing a thing make YOU happy in the end, either directly or because you love seeing how happy it makes other people? If not, can you just remove it from your Christmas traditions?
It's Christmas and I'm sick. Can anyone make me feel better?
Awwh I know the feeling of being sick at the worst possible time! (I was ill this year on the day where I had 5 hours of exams- definitely not fun!) On the plus side, from what I can see there's 2 bugs going round at the moment, the vommiting one which you clearly have, and the flu-ey one (which I just had last week!) The vommiting one seems to last a lot less time than the other one, so hopefully you'll be feeling a lot better by tomorrow! Remember that you and your family could always have "christmas" a few days later if your son and everyone was ok with it... And here's a joke to raise your spirits... What time is it when an elephant sits on a fence? Time to buy a new fence My sister told that joke continuously for years when she was a toddler... Happy Christmas/ Hannukah/ Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year! (almost...) and feel better soon!
How many of you are sad on Christmas Eve?
I wish I wasn't, but it seems like a rule of thumb to have an unhappy Christmas. I just want to say at home and cry to myself while eating turkey. Just classic! Enjoy guys if you are having a wonderful night.