There’s lots of things I like about Christmas but for me it’s simple. I love the presents. Even if I don’t like the present I love the thought of somebody thinking of me and putting hours into/using there own money to get me a gift.
The atmosphere in the air. Offices get quieter and shopping malls get merrier (assuming no crying children or arguing parents)
Snow
And sarmale
The food. Tamales hit different around Christmas for me, New Year’s is menudo/pozole. I also can’t get enough of Christmas cookies.
I get to pretend for a little while that things are OK. All of the songs are really happy. I think I get wrapped up in the nostalgia and remember being a kid.
Easier to shoplift since there’s so many people distracting the employees.
(/jk I don’t shoplift, but I just noticed how vulnerable stores are when its busy)
oh yeah this definitely counts against the good things about christmas :D I live in a relatively rich part of Italy where shoplifting is very rare, and if you’re not wearing “suspicious” clothes (eg. clothes that might suggest that you’re poor), if the store is crowded and the staff is busy and you make the anti-theft sensors ring while crossing them, they likely won’t even question why they are ringing and just assume an anti-theft tag wasn’t properly removed during checkout. lol
I found out a few Christmases ago that I really love gingerbread houses. I used to build scale models in grad school and got really into it. Gingerbread houses are like that but without grades or measuring. My weekend plans are to order trash pizza, put on Home Alone, drink some weed sodas, and decorate gingerbread houses til I’m too stoned to hold a piping bag.
I also love that it is cold and I can snuggle my husband to suck up his warmth and make him yell when I touch him with my cold toes. 😈
Making gingerbread houses is so much fun… we’re still at the level of just copying from gingerbread house youtubers, but its a fun day putting on xmas music and making them.
Lots of free time due to me taking at least 2 weeks vacation at the end of the year. Visiting family and giving each other presents. Baking cookies with friends. Going to the Christmas market. Decorating. Eating gingerbread. The whole end of the year let’s have a good time vibe.
That it only comes once a year?
Die Hard.
Not really any of the aspects, but if I had to choose, the weather.
My favorite part is when it’s over and all the fake cheer dissolves.
I feel this. I have a really hard time with holidays and i hate the media portrayal that it’s a beautiful day for everyone. Abuse, neglect, illness, and everything else continues regardless of the calendar. This will be my second Christmas without my mom. I keep thinking of all the things she did over the years to make Christmas nice for me and it’s made me want to participate a little more this year.
I started to downvote you, but it’s an honest answer, so I stopped. But I can’t bring myself to upvote you either ʘ‿ʘ
I get this, after working retail as a teen/early 20’s. I hated the music, the commercial nature of everything, the fakeness of it all. As a special extra, for those in the southern hemisphere “traditional” Christmas food is so dumb here.
But you know what “cured” me of this. My kids, they are what it’s all about, they love the songs and gifts, time with us. Lake days and sun… its all wonderful to them.
The lights and giving gifts. My own christmas tree and lights up on people houses or businesses. It almost makes the early nights of winter worth it. Giving gifts is an art form for me. I alternate between hand making, scouring stores, and gift cards so I can invest as much time as I want each year.
It’s when we watch Lord Of The Rings.
I’m not cristian, so idk if this counts but I really like all the festive vegan food options that have started being sold in the supermarkets at this time of year. They’ve gotten really quite good in the last half decade or so!
I like having slightly more free time.