Let us just start with some facts:
I have a few nieces, one nephew
a brother sister and both parents.
There are more, but I some of my immediate family just don't count.
I did learn something this year, Our society says that you only get gifts for Immediate family, everyone else gets cards.
- First annoying Christmas. My Sister in Law, because i'm good with wood, Thought I should build her a 500 CD Rack. That would only take a good Week of my free time. But what does it mater to her, Right? My answer to this was that All Christmas lists needed to be submitted by E-Mail(she didn't have e-mail) I want to point out that. Every Christmas I generally didn't give gifts Just my brother and his wife, I picked up things for each of them, and all of my brothers STEP KIDS!... but that and a CD Rack.
- One year, I purchased my sister parts for a new computer. The deal was, that she spent a day with me, Putting it together. My sister Unemployed, couldn't manage to find a job. Had Limited skills. So... She complains "I don't want to do that", I said "Ok, I'll just take it all back." *pout Moan* Can't you do it for me. We put it together and I took her through it step by step. Except for some reason she didn't have her modem drivers. I explained how to install them and sent her on her way. 2 days later she calls me in a Hissy fit... "THIS DOESN'T WORK"!!! I told her to bring it to me and I'd fix it. "NO! YOU COME HERE!" Do you see what drives me up the wall. There are tons of these people! They think it's a negotiation. Some how I owe it to her now! I told her she was going to come here or I wasn't going to do it. I again mentioned that I was happy to take it back.
- Then there was the year that, I'm at the parents home, and we want to have that nice sit around and talk time. On Christmas Eve. My niece pulls a fit, Basically she wanted to just grab her presents and run off. I told her that the next year we would put the presents on the street and they could just pick them up as they passed.
- Then there was the Christmas my brother got me the newest book of Sean Hanity Lies. It was second edition, so the things that he had Lied about, had retractions after the chapters. Basically it was Chapter-Retraction which effectively nullified the whole book.
- My sisters husband, who's birthday is Christmas EVE, Because he was forgotten every year. I got him Golf Clubs, one year.
- after all of this About October a few years back, my sister came over with my niece and they both decided to just be a couple awful Bitches. At that point I turned to my sister and my niece, and said "No more Christmas", and it's been over ever since.
- With my family, I don't even try and play nice anymore. I never bite my tongue, always tell them when they say something stupid, use a word out of context, spurious logic. I live to Correct them, about anything. They can't stand to be around me. Once or Twice a year, they Try and either make up or see if they can stand to be around me, and it doesn't work.
- This year every time one of them said Christmas to me, I said "Christmas is for Kids, and People with Kids"
After 2 or 3 years of No Christmas, It's official... Finally the Grinch Got no Christmas Gifts. Why? as it was Clear to me, after going through this bullshit, being single and still spending $200-$500 per year on Christmas over 35 years of my life.
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE PRESENTS. ALL THE REST IS BULLSHIT!
Christmas to me, is a Very Quiet day, I get and extra Weekend day to read and watch movies. BTW, I managed to not watch a Single Christmas movie, The closest I came to Christmas was going shopping in department stores Twice in the past month, Any time anything Christmas like came on TV in the past month, the channel was changed.
and if I'm Lucky nobody stops by.
My favorite uncle, who's kids hated him, and when they turned 18 he didn't get to spend time with them. He and I used to go skiing on Christmas, that wasn't a bad way to spend Christmas.
I had an old boss, who had one daughter and an Ex-Wife. He used to buy himself a bottle of scotch big enough that he would get up... start drinking and not remember the 25th at all.
Now lets talk about New years.... There was the Knife Fight, the time when my Ex used to work the day before, the Day of New years Eve and the day After.
To me these have always been, just days off... that nothing is open.
Trying to make these days anything else is just a mistake waiting to happen.