God, I hate the holidays

[wbtravis]

So much pressure and expectation and money spent. I also cannot support being with family just because we’re related. Some people are toxic and entitled. Sadly, I have to go along with Thanksgiving for the sake of others.

 

If you read this, don’t pity me. Be grateful if you are lucky enough to value those you’ll be with and they value you. Being grateful is it’s own reward. Do it for both of us. I can be happy for those who get fuel from this, even if I don’t.

[+ Pensant]

Sorry to hear of your angst. Such a sentiment is not that uncommon. I’ll be with family whom I love and enjoy. But first I have to endure a Turkey Trot in freezing weather!

[paulsf]

Then there is the other side of the story. I’ll be sitting home alone watching tv all day. It is my choice mostly.

I need to travel to get to family or friends, and feeling a little under the weather this year. Rather be more comfortable in my own home.

[EastbayMike]

Sadly, I have to go along with Thanksgiving for the sake of others.

Actually, you don't. All you have to do is say no.

[cany10011]

I have 3 “dinners” to go to. My family is in Canada, but I am fortunate to have friends that I like here and am happy to see them. My friend who lives on CPW overlooks the parade route and i usually go up there for coffee and to watch some of the Macy’s parade floats. Afterwards, it is on to an uncle’s house in NJ and then another friend from Boston is in town so i will spent time with his family this evening.

[+ Charlie]

It has been years since we have "celebrated" the traditional family holidays, because what family we have lives far away from us. I can't say that I miss it much. The most we do is go out to a restaurant for dinner.

[Moe]

I don't celebrate the holidays so it doesn't bother me much except for the increased traffic on the roads and in shopping areas. I do like the seasonal treats that the holidays usher in like sugar cookies or the Cheesecake Factories Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake. Unfortunately for me, I started my diet on the first of the month so no sugar or carbs for me, unless its steel cut oatmeal.

[+ PapaTony]

I avoid family angst by inadvertently shaming them. Today, as in 24 past years, spent the day feeding the homeless. I just got home following 6 hours of organizing donations, dishing out food and distributing to the hungry. Now I get to take a shower followed by a nap and no one can or better not dare to judge me for not sitting down with them.

[Nvr2Thick]

 

Thanksgiving

Loudon Wainwright III

from the album Therapy (1989)

 

Lord every year we gather here

To eat around this table

Give us the strength to stomach as much

As fast as we are able

Bless this food to our use

Though communication's useless

Don't let me drink too much wine

Lord you know how I get ruthless

 

Let us somehow get through this meal

Without that bad old feeling

With history and memory

And home cooking we're dealing

Remind us that we are all grown up

Adults, no longer children

Now it's our kids that spill the milk

And our turn to want to kill them

 

I look around and recognize

A sister and a brother

We rarely see our parents now

We hardly see each other

On this auspicious occasion

This special family dinner

If I argue with a loved one, Lord

Please make me... the winner

 

All this food looks and smells so good

But I can hardly taste it

The sense of something has been lost

There's no way to replace it

After the meal, switch on the game

There's just a few more seconds

But I'm so tired, I need a nap

The guest bedroom bed beckons

 

I fall asleep, I have a dream

In it is the family

Nothing bad has happened yet

And everyone is happy

Mother and Father, both still young

And naturally they love us

We're all lying on a lawn at night

Watching the stars above us

 

Lord every year we gather here

To eat around this table

Give us the strength to stomach as much

As fast as we are able

[+ Pensant]

Fortunately, for many, Thanksgiving is in the rear-view mirror.

[+ poolboy48220]

I've skipped family Thanksgiving a few times in favor of a quiet day at home. But I still get a smile about Thanksgiving about 10 years ago. My father had just had surgery & wasn't able to attend at my sister's, so I offered to go over there, hang out with the sister & her in-laws for a bit, then put together plates for Mom & Dad and I'd bring them over. After an hour and a half with the sister's in-laws, I headed over to my parents and my mother asked if she should open a bottle of wine; I said I thought I was going to need a martini. :-)

[marylander1940]

So much pressure and expectation and money spent. I also cannot support being with family just because we’re related. Some people are toxic and entitled. Sadly, I have to go along with Thanksgiving for the sake of others.

 

If you read this, don’t pity me. Be grateful if you are lucky enough to value those you’ll be with and they value you. Being grateful is it’s own reward. Do it for both of us. I can be happy for those who get fuel from this, even if I don’t.

 

Come up with an excuse, tell them you're sick and you'll be able to stay home.

[MikeBiDude]

Tough love statement here....look into some co-dependency literature and meditation. You don’t have to feel this way...

 

Edit: oldest of six brothers and sisters here, parents still alive. Love my family we do a lot together. I’m 100% alone this thanksgiving weekend by choice...could have easily done the family thing but passed this time. Yes I was missed, but still loved.

Edited November 23, 2018 by MikeBiDude

[+ sync]

Being reclusive by nature I enjoy the quiet of the holidays. I politely decline dinner invitations and relax with the holiday television presentations. I don't feel I'm depriving myself because the holiday gatherings over time became very different from the ones I used to enjoy. There are far fewer attendees who are of my generation with whom I can share memories, the young people today speak a different vernacular of English, and, with all due respect and admiration for their hosting efforts, the food just doesn't have the flavor appeal of my mother's.

[marylander1940]

Being reclusive by nature I enjoy the quiet of the holidays. I politely decline dinner invitations and relax with the holiday television presentations. I don't feel I'm depriving myself because the holiday gatherings over time became very different from the ones I used to enjoy. There are far fewer attendees who are of my generation with whom I can share memories, the young people today speak a different vernacular of English, and, with all due respect and admiration for their hosting efforts, the food just doesn't have the flavor appeal of my mother's.

 

D0n't you forget about younger folks (and sometimes even middle age guys with a teenager's brain) having their faces buried on the phones...

 

Please don't post pictures with minors in them

 

 

 

(I still love the holidays and in my family we have a rule about no iPhone on the dinner table)

Edited November 24, 2018 by Guy Fawkes

[RM]

D0n't you forget about younger folks (and sometimes even middle age guys with a teenager's brain) having their faces buried on the phones...

 

 

 

 

(I still love the holidays and in my family we have a rule about no iPhone on the dinner table)

Oh good I can use my Samsung Edited November 24, 2018 by Guy Fawkes

[KeepItReal]

D0n't you forget about younger folks (and sometimes even middle age guys with a teenager's brain) having their faces buried on the phones...

 

(I still love the holidays and in my family we have a rule about no iPhone on the dinner table)