I must say that after at least twenty years of hating with the venom of a large poisonous spider, Christmas, and everything having to do with it, I might be done. Done with the hate. You know why? Because it is no longer my job to hate a day of the year. Apparently it was for a long time, but it no longer is. I have enough to do.
Everyone around me seems to be in a thither because of the holiday, but I do not care anymore. It is more important for me to watch my daughters grow up without the huge piles of baggage I carried around for so long. So I’m not buying into it. Don’t try to get me involved. You will be wasting your time.
This year I am enjoying everything. I attribute this change in attitude, again, to Beenie and Mimi, who presently are battling the hugest snots I have ever seen to exit a small child’s nose. They aren’t worried about money or not getting what they picked out of a catalog, or if they got the right present for me or their dad or each other or anyone else. They are nibbling, peeing, pooping, drawing, reading, watching The Cat in the Hat (obsessively, over and over again, once almost every day), and generally plugging along, not giving a rat’s ass about any holiday, even the big “C”. They are excited about eating and drinking, each other, me and their dad, and the two extremely obnoxious cats who live here, too, Olive and Slinky. I am not going to give them any reasons to have stress about this holiday. We will enjoy the people we love, the super cool lights that are all over our neighborhood (especially here), delicious snacks, a few presents and after the girls are asleep tonight or tomorrow night, I will watch Badder Santa, one of my favorite movies. Maybe I’ll drink some scotch. It’ll be the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!
20 Fingers, 20 Toes 
hope everything went well. i survived family xmas 08 and had a surprisingly nice time. little nephew is too freaking cute and you’re right…it’s hard to hate christmas when there are very small people around.
Awesome approach. I used to roll my eyes and grind my teeth about holidays and expectations, too. And since Peanut I’m in awe of the lights and the cold and the excitement. Not the stuff. We’re cultivating a give to others like Santa does thing, and a lots of lights a la Channukah thing. But the disdain, for me, is gone. So’s the fear.
Merry un-Christmas to you!
And Happy Un-Birthday, too.