HO, HO, HO!

I am from a ski resort/tourism community. And other than the early years of our daughter's childhood, I chose to work every Christmas. Just another day for me, for the most part. But the kids ... People were so grateful I was willing to take their shift so they could be with family and it was no skin off our noses!

I do Christmas just because I love all the festivities! And I take solace in knowing that Christmas is merely a holiday stolen by the Christians from the Pagans. The tree, the lighting of lights, the gifting, even the praying, which in pagan times was hopes that the sun would return again. I don't go to church, I internally vomit when I read, "Jesus is the reason for the season," and I'm willing to smile at others' little comments about their religion. If that makes them happy, who am I to interfere with their fantasies?

I've been celebrating it as a mismash of holidays forever.... Originally the Christian one - than we added some Hanukkah for an inlaw.... than I had friends who were into Solstice...

Now for me it's just about seeing family and enjoying their company - a great excuse for us all to get together - which we seldom do as we get older and everyone lives in different States.

What's to deal with? Ijust live through it.

I just ignore the religious aspect of the holiday and focus on the good stuff: food, presents, money, liquor and spiked eggnog, friends & family whether they are religious or not. When I'm forced to deal with the religious aspect of the season, I do say "happy holidays" to everyone whether they like it or not. Most Christians try to forcibly correct me and insist that I say to them Merry Christmas, but I just continue to say Happy Holidays to them and they go away.

I partake in the festival of Saturnalia

Vodka

ask for money. lol i look at it if its a pagan holiday about good will and peace ignore the so called christian holiday that stole it from the pagans.

I prefer not to, actually. I was married to a Baptist raised Jewish woman, and she celebrated both. So now I'm bah humbugish

I like all the bright, shiny things.

No shopping, maybe a string of lights because I like 'em.

I see it as any other month.....have to buy presents to all my family because they believe in Christmas and i respect them. But what i do love is the joy in children specially in this month.

Being in a warm climate helps. Since I seldom go to malls I just ignore the maniacal commercialism.

Eat too much, drink too much, spend too much on the grandkids, hug my family a lot and just have a great time. You say there's some religious component? God bless the cook!

The end of December was celebrated long before Chritianity reared its ugly head. It was the winter solstice and the renewal of all things. We in our family celebrate and give gifts at xmas time because "it pleases us".

I enjoy christmas. Of course I do not believe in the christ part but I enjoy being with family. I do not lower my head when prayers are said because god I am not going to respect some imaginary being. I usually avoid debate because I want to keep the peace.

I celebrate Saturnalia..simple.

I mostly ignore the whole show to varying degrees, depending on my mood in a given year. Looking way beyond the usual carols and such, there is, admittedly, some fine holiday related Renaissance music that I love - but I can listen to that any time of year !

I abhor going into the riotous stores after Thanksgiving - for any purpose. Not much of a shopper anyway. And I've convinced my Sister and her gang up north, to cease with presents.

I do however sometimes send out secular cards, mostly because I miss letters, and handwriting, and it's fun to hear from folks. And there are some homes in the neighborhood, that go ape-shit with lights , so doing a drive-by is sometimes amusing. Other than that - "baa, humbug !"

My biggest pet peeve on Christmas? The music. It's so repetitive.

It's like listening to pop radio back in the day where they'd play the same hackneyed hits over and over and over. Like in 2001, that radio in the office playing "Your Body Is A Wonderland" every half hour until I wanted to defenestrate the damn thing.

Pleeeease, come up with new Christmas songs!

I deal with it with by listening to the Transiberian Orchestra, mint fudge, repeat viewings of Nightmare Before Christmas & The Grinch, & lots of eggnog!

Alot of people nowadays realize that Christmas does have anything to do with sky daddy's son. I just see it like a celebratory season, which I love, btw.

I love Christmas! I like pointing out that it is a pagan holiday and many are surprised by this. So I don't feel apprehensive about the holidays at all.

I will celebtate the winter solstice and look forward to the longer days.
xmas holiday to new year I will work looking after 40 dogs and cats - give or take a few
26th december lunch will, as always, be sausage egg and Yorkshire chips (similar to french fries, but far better) - venison sausage this year. ...... and from 2nd January - relax ... breathe deeply ... and take a holiday

I was raised Jewish, so I'd always feel kind of left out this time of year. Ever since I've learned it's mainly co-opted Solstice rituals, I've felt much better... But still, it's the the energy and the stress I pick up from others that bothers me the most, and that people seem to feel a lot more lonely this time of year.

I don't deal with it at all.

Time is precious and that's easily observable by anyone with enough brains.

Being forced to deal with Christmas is the adoption of being punished for making a reasonable deduction on what to do in the Christmas epoch. I won't pretend like it's sensible to get into the business of being instinctive and generally just primitive by doing what other people are doing because of the need to affirm society's pre-concieved, solipsistic notion of what is right for me to do.

Things like Christmas are taken with skepticism by me because they're a way to create informational conformity, which is usually the start of despotism, fascism, and other very authoritarian systems.