Do the holidays make you want to run for cover?

-- Shae (addict@antilove.com), December 18, 1999

Answers

YES. They make me want to run for my life to the nearest indestructable anti-bullet anti-bomb anti-missile anti-family shelter and hide there until February.

-- Adrienne (dissolve@deconstructive.net), December 18, 1999.

Errrr. Yes. I get so anxious at the holidays. I don't deserve presents, I say, or I didn't get that person as good a gift. It just makes me feel so confused! Arggggggh.

-- Amanda K. (thatgirl@n2.com), December 18, 1999.

to some extent. my family isn't very...Brady-family oriented. So christmas is basically reduced to watching the parade on NBC, sitting at home in your pajamas and eating the edible christmas gifts. we exchange gifts, a process that takes about 10 minutes considering there are only 4 of us, and then christmas is over. my mother says i just don't appreciate 'family moments'. i like family moments. but BIG family moments. which are so rare and far between that it makes me seem like the Grinch.

doesn't matter. the grinch has a nice skin tone.

-- Kim (twit@violated.nu), December 18, 1999.

Yes!!!!!!

I had to buy presents for so many people after I said I wouldn't because i would be wasting all of my money and a card and handmade candle would be enough, but then everyone was all friendly, and my best buds asked if we were exchanging. There goes my two hunderd something dollars I had saved for my exchange trip to Germany. And now with all my guy-friends, what the heck am I supposed to get them? SO then a buy, then worry if they will like it or not, convincing myself finally that they will hate it. holiday, gotta love em. sigh.

-- Caitlin (malibu155@hotmail.com), December 18, 1999.

sheesh, yes, they do.

it's funny to live in a house with two little girls, because @10 they still believe in santa claus, or believe that we believe they do. there's so much manufactured joy and cheer, it's sort of frightening.

>>hugs.shae<<

-- maggie (maggie@cakedemons.com), December 18, 1999.

shae, i've come to equate this years holidays with you coming down here. i'm PSYCHOTICALLY looking forward to you getting down here!!@#

-- louise (fever@boiled.net), December 18, 1999.

Nope. I actually convinced my parents to let me buy some shit at the craft store in the village and I spent all day today painting little angels figurines and making dry flower wreaths.

-- nik (pariah@gerl.org), December 18, 1999.

This year they do. It doesn't feel like Christmas, with my grandma in the hospital, and I don't feel like being upbeat and cheerful. It's almost like to us, Christmas was put on hold, so seeing others so excited for it almost annoys me. Plus Christmas stopped being so magical.

-- Kathleen (bleached@hour-glass.net), December 18, 1999.

EVENT seventh grade christmas IMPACT destruction of the elusive "christmas spirit" DETAILS manic-depressive mother acts crazy until admitted to pyschiatric hospital on christmas eve SHORT-TERM EFFECTS mommyless existence LONG-TERM EFFECTS fear of "the big m-d" , fear of abandonment , big loss of "christmas spirit" CURRENT OUTLOOK relax relax breathe no one is going crazy this year I am okay I will smile I will be okay . Our Christmas rituals include: decorations & tree (end of Nov / beginning of Dec) , shopping (day after Thanksgiving to Christmas week) , cookies / fruitcake (generally, though not this year that I know of -- I plan to make some cookies this week, though) , eggnog (store-bought) , pecan rolls (Christmas morning) , insomnia on Christmas Eve (my sister only & even now -- & she's 14) , Christmas Eve service @ church (though I try to avoid it so I can be alone at home with the tree & music & sweets) , stuffed stockings (chocolates, toothbrushes, seasonal-themed things like notepads & pens, lip balm, socks or hosiery, trinkets [ex. this year I'm getting a Pikachu ornament & my sister's getting a Charmander one], hair things, etc.), BIG presents (the more expensive things we want -- my sister asked for a guitar this year & I asked for Pokemon Game Boy Color Game Pak, though EVERY DAMN KID IN AMERICA WANTED ONE so I'm not getting one, grr, so I might receive Sony Playstation or Sega Dreamcast [mmm... I can dream, can't I?!] after the holidays) , pickle prizes (German tradition -- Santa hides a pickle ornament on the tree & the person that finds it gets a prize ; we have two, one large & one small, & OHMYGOD I just realized I don't think anyone bought the pickles prizes yet! eep! I must remedy this!) , putting jingle bells on the dog (I don't condone this cos they're heavy bells & I don't know that she likes it all that much) . Christmas morning my sister tries to get us up as early as possible & I try to sleep in as much as possible , we go downstairs & get into our stockings & see if Santa left anything (generally Santa leaves things on Christmas Eve or a little earlier now that we're older, wrapped up & marked "do not open until Christmas") , get coffee & whatnot & eat some breakfast , open presents . we get presents from aunts & uncles & my grandparents, so everybody generally has plenty to open. this takes at least an hour. it seems like FOREVER. we take turns, youngest to oldest : my sister opens a present, then me, then my mother, then my father. pet presents are opened first, generally, & the pets each have their own stocking (though when we had goldfish we never had stockings for them). we don't buy a lot of toys or special treats for the cats & dog throughout the year, so they get special food & new toys & extra goodies at their birthdays & on Christmas. more stuff at Christmas than at birthdays, though.

-- amy louise (stonebender@prodigy.net), December 19, 1999.

oh. & my mom sends out TONS of Christmas cards, & we each get to open ONE present on Christmas Eve. (we were impatient little kids, okay? especially my sister, who loves Christmas WAY too much.)

-- amy louise (stonebender@prodigy.net), December 19, 1999.

yes.. too much freedom and little direction, too much time with the family and...ugh. too much time to think.

but not may 2000.... >>tighthugs<<

-- rachie. (broken@violated.nu), December 19, 1999.

well, it seems like we're running to Laurie's, but at least some of the other people who feel like running may be running with us. So that's fine.

-- pantera (kip@antilove.com), December 19, 1999.

yes...seems like more of a chore than a joy.

-- lesley (cupid@sparkles.net), December 20, 1999.

awww yeah. my family seems to fight more when we're in one house (with only one shower!) and there's the presence of material goods to bolster the mood.

-- Re (palejasmine@netscape.net), December 20, 1999.

i actually like the holidays. it's the only time of the year when my family generally gets together and has some sort of purpose. i love getting christmas cards & i love buying presents for people...and i love how most people get really into the christmas spirit. it brings a sense of unity. also, i feel like i need a time once a year when i can take time off from being angsty and basically have a good time.

i never thought i would feel weird saying this.

-- amber (gypsy@cakedemons.com), December 20, 1999.

i usually love the holidays, actually. not this year. i'm tired of all the millenium hype. i like watching christmas movies and drinking merlot. cold weather leaves lots of opportunity for cuddling (too bad it's only gotten down to 50 something here). but shopping...now THERE's something i despise. i get so claustrophobic around all those people in the malls, and they're all so mean. what a way to kill the christmas spirit.

-- nycole (nycole@plastique.org), December 21, 1999.

YES"THE HOLIDAYS MAKE ME SICK,AND I KNOW ALOT OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO FEEL THE SAME WAY...THE WAY I THINK OF IT IS ITS JUST ANOTHER TIME OF YEAR {PROVEN TO BE THE MOST DEPRESSING TIME OF YEAR MIGHT I ADD}WHERE PEOPLE HAVE ANOTHER EXUSE TO SPEND MONEY AND,GAIN WEIGHT,AND BE DEPRESSED. THE WORST PART OF IT IS THEY TRY TO BLAME IT ON SOMETHING OR SOMEONE ELSE WHEN ITS ALL THEIR FAULT...SO I JUST USUALLY HAVE SEX AND PARTY THE HOLIDAYS AWAY..I MEAN THAT IS SEX ALLWAYS MAKES ME HAPPY....

SEX SLAVE, CRYSTAL METH P.S. IF U HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW MY LIFE STAYS PERFECT FOR ME EMAIL ME AT MY YAHOO@poisonblack24@yahoo.com......

-- CRYSTAL METH (poisonblack24@yahoo.com), December 25, 1999.