Am I Crazy?

[Pnytenshi]

Okay... for as long as i can remember, I love christmas! As well as most of you. But unlike most people i know, I start my celebrations of christmas right after halloween...

people have called me crazy and that i should start celebrating christmas after thanksgiving... I tell them that i'm celebrating with the rest of the world where thanksgiving doesn't exist...

So ATG...
- Am I crazy?
- when do you start celebrating Christmas?
- favorite holiday memory/toy/tradition
- holiday etc.  

[Jafthasleftthebuilding]

Sorry, but before Jesus Day, I must have Turkey Day. OM NOM NOM!!!  

[Chexley]

I'll paint you mornings of gold,
I'll spin you Valentine evenings...

Oh, don't worry. Wal*Mart usually starts selling Christmas stuff right before Halloween. After Halloween, it comes in full-force. I wouldn't be surprised if they keep the stuff warehoused somewhere and just truck it out to the stores.

Though we're strangers till now,
We're choosing a path between the stars.

 

[Taeryyn]

I don't start feeling even a little Christmasy until after Remembrance Day. But then I tend to break out the holiday music and enjoy the lights and get psyched about the holidays. :3

From Halloween until New Year's is my favourite time of the year, hands down.  

[^^Psycha^^]

I celebrate christmas on christmas day
lately for me like a copuple of years ago is just a normal day expet I have to go to the mass at the curch and spent almost the whole day with my family and receive presents but really I dont feel nothing for me its almost like any other day  

[Rica is insane]

I adore Christmas. I try to start celebrating as soon as I can. I even keep Christmas music on my mp3 player year round.

Hmm...my favorite holiday memory, I'd probably have to say the family Christmas party right after I learned that the guy who was Santa (costume naturally) was my Uncle d**k, I stayed the night at my Aunt Kathy's that year without my brother for once and spent the night gaming with my cousin.

 

[Koneko Midoria]

- Are You Crazy: A.. little...
I can't stand Christmas music when it starts. Which is usually about a week after Halloween. It goes all up until even into like half of January, drives me nuts. Some Christmas music I like, but -- seriously, play something else for once -- it doesn't get me in the spirit to hear it 24/7.

Not to mention there were Christmas items... SERIOUSLY -- Christmas items already on sale BEFORE HALLOWEEN. What the hell? I don't want to see packages of ornaments or reindeer with fake cotton-ball snow adorn my mall before Halloween. EVEN SANTA'S OUT! He was doing pictures with the little kids. My parents came home and said "Hey, your nephew was happy he saw Santa," really now? Isn't he supposed to be seeing the Grim Reaper, it was before Halloween.


- When do you start celebrating Christmas?
Probably winter break is when I start. I don't even buy my gifts for others usually until then. Granted it's harder to find certain things, but that's what lame gift-cards are wonderful or cards filled with money are for. I think it's stupid to get any 'gift-gifts' for people. Including when they may never use your gift other than to hold it up and smile... while thanking you. I always think cash is better, less 'thoughtful' to people -- but I'd rather get a wad of cash that I could spend on something I want. Like an education or maybe just save it up.

Don't give me that 'make a list' BS -- I do make one -- I ask for cash.


- Favorite holiday memory / toy / tradition
We always go over to someones house for the big holidays [i.e: Thanksgiving, Eve/Day Christmas, Easter... ]. So I guess you could call it tradition, but which house we meet up at isn't, it switches year to year who gets to host what holiday. So there's tons of good and bad memories mixed into those. As for toys, cash... my favorite toy I ever received was cash -- cause then I got to buy the toy I'd actually use or save up for college!


- Side Note
While I like the gifts and everything on Christmas, it's just not the same anymore. Really, when you grow up -- it gets sort of lame. Same with Birthdays. You just don't get many gifts, not even cards with monies. I'm not even expecting anything this year to be honest, I was surprised my parents even got me anything for my Birthday this year. Heck, we don't even get a tree anymore to decorate -- we didn't even get a pumpkin this year or the year before... or before. My family [ Parents / myself - Sis has a kid and moved out like a year or two ago ] just doesn't celebrate holidays to be honest -- which is sad, but I guess I've accepted it. So whenever I get with the family the Holidays are a lot better.

A fun fact. I never believed in Santa, because 'he' wrote like my mother. Yes, when I was younger I could recognize handwriting. So I never fully believed in Santa from the start -- actually, every year I asked when Mom would be putting out presents. She'd lie and say Santa did that and I'd just let her believe that I believed. Seriously, I'd stay up long enough [ pretend sleep when they peeked in on me to see if I was out ] watch my parents om nom the cookies I slaved over to make [ when I was allowed to use the oven on my own ] and pretend that everything was normal. Seriously, what kid would want a stranger walk into their house to give them gifts? What are we teaching youth anyway.

/endlongsortaofftopicrant  

[God-Raped-Me]

GRM LOVES CHRISTMAS!!!!! I really do. It's a great holiday that has always reminded me of my family! I don't think you're crazy at all, we have already put up a few lights, we need extension cords for them however. Normally we don't start until like the week before, but that's just because we're a new family and the sales on christmas stuff doesn't really start until then. This year will be AWESOME though!

One christmas I did the whole "is that it" for gifts, I didn't do it because I wanted more, but because the whole holiday they were hinting at one of my gifts being a watch and I didn't see one christmas morning. My parents were really upset and they told me that it was very selfish of me to say that. I told them that I didn't mean to be selfish, that I just REALLY thought I was getting a watch. My mom says "You didn't get a watch?" I said no and she's like "Oh, wait a second.." She runs out to the garage and comes back with another gift and apologized to me. My favourite gift, and is even to this day is a dog my mom made from old clothing. I loved it and did love it for years. It didn't look JUST like a dog but as a child I didn't care. When I found out later that she made it for me because we had no money for anything, I loved it even more!

I hate when the holidays are hard! I make it a rule that my kids only get one or two gifts on christmas day, then we go out shopping for them on boxing day. I'm making sure that my kids know that Christmas is about family for us. Not about gifts, not about being selfish and not about a religion. It's all about the family for me and I want to pass that on to my kids.  

[Thaliat Everwood]

- Am I crazy? Nah. But I'm going to keep my distance just to be safe. You never know.

- when do you start celebrating Christmas? The week of 12/20 (because of Yule) and no earlier. I don't even turn the radio on until that week. I can only take holiday music for so long before I go nutty. Yule is what gets me ready for Christmas with my family.

- favorite holiday memory/toy/tradition On Christmas there is loads of food at my house all day. It's even better than Thanksgiving and Easter rolled in one. Food has always been the holiday focus at my house. We don't bother with that religious stuff. We just like the excuse to have special foods. And the presents are a plus. That whole "family together thing" isn't any different from any other day in our house, so I didn't add it to the equation...it isn't needed if it is already a natural occurrence.

- holiday etc. Halloween/Samhein (sp?) is my favorite. Costumes and candy for the win! Besides it is good to remember those who've died, you know, ancestors and loved ones. Celebrate their memories and have a day where you can be anything you want. It's pretty cool.  

[umi505]

To me that seems a tad too early. I start feeling christmas-y like the week of.

Honestly the thing I like best about Christmas is the part when it's like 9:00-11:00PM and everyone is just sorta talking about the funniest things. Everyone in my family get's easily annoyed with each other but it's the one time of the year where we actually can just joke like crazy with each other. It's pretty great.

AND FOOD!...I love home cooked food, my mother is a freak'n star chief.  

[Voo to the doo]

I celebrate christmas on the 24th where I open one present and the rest the next day... 'The rest of the world' of which you speak seems more like the rest of the market, or media or something. Just because Thanksgiving isn't as economical doesn't mean it should be celebrated any less than any other holiday. And in between the two is the quite annoying christmas songs aggggh run away!!!  

[wolfgrl12]

Everyone's crazy. and i gotta argee with Turkey boy. like the second one 2 post. Turkey THEN Jesus Day> I dont care how much ya love it. Turkey day comes first!  

[124-C]

Chexley

I'll paint you mornings of gold,
I'll spin you Valentine evenings...

Oh, don't worry. Wal*Mart usually starts selling Christmas stuff right before Halloween. After Halloween, it comes in full-force. I wouldn't be surprised if they keep the stuff warehoused somewhere and just truck it out to the stores.

Though we're strangers till now,
We're choosing a path between the stars.

That's spot on, Chex. Wal-Mart does have regional warehouses that store goods are dispersed from. Just imagine how early they get bombarded with Christmas. wink  

[God-Raped-Me]

Last night I bought a Spongebob DVD that's all Christmasy and about winter for the girls! ^_^  

[[ Terra ]]

Yes, you are completely mad! wink

I honestly feel that November is far too soon to be putting out Christmas decorations. October is even worse. It really irked me to walk into some stores and see Christmas merchandise right next to the Halloween stuff. Not only do we not particularly partake in Halloween here in Australia but black, green, orange, and red is really not a good colour scheme at all.

Working in retail I find the absolute worse thing about Christmas is the music. It's even worse than dealing with the customers who are all stressed out because they left their shopping to the last minute and now the gift that they wanted to buy is all sold out. You try standing at a register for five hours straight and having to listen to the same Christmas album on repeat. It is torture, truly.

In my household we bring out the Christmas tree no earlier than December 1st. It's still several weeks before the holiday anyway. Mum might also put some extra tinsel about the house and some Santa figurines and whatnot but nothing too over the top. Sometimes she will put a wreath on the front door as well.

Most of my household's celebrating is done on the actual day. I am not a Christian and my family is not strictly religious, but we do have lunch with my dad's side of the family at a restaurant or club somewhere and a BBQ dinner with my mum's side. The BBQ is always fun and I get to catch up with cousins who I don't get to see often. I really like giving gifts to the people that I love too so the shopping in the weeks leading up to the event is always fun. It has always been a tradition that my household all open our presents together and then sit and have breakfast together. It's all about family for us too so GRM, I think that it's really great that you are stressing it being about family to your kids! It's the fun things that they did with their loved ones, not what they got, that will give them the best memories of the holiday when they are older.