@JustFi @joinin
I like Christmas, always have. I completely get that lots of people don't, and that's how it is and neither opinion is better or anybody else's business or requiring persuasion.
But I like Christmas more since we downshifted a bit and - whisper it quietly - since the kids got older and were more inclined to spend time in their rooms.
Yes, there'll be plenty of family interaction, but there'll also be a shit-ton of companionable isolation, where we do our own things, guilt-free. Every year I have a garden project, and even on Xmas day, I might go and do a couple of hours if the weather's kind. Dinner is the cheapest/easiest roast Aldi do, in a foil tray.
Meanwhile, all our friends are filling every second with forced (expensive) jollity, with people they feel compelled to be around because of genetics and who spawned who. I think we're less likely to see them all at Christmas than any other point in the year.
And that's just the best bit about it all.