| A good few years ago now I
found myself wanting to avoid Christmas. From what I can
remember I felt like it was all a faff and materialistic
nonsense; I didn't care for receiving presents and didn't
want the chore and expectation of having to buy presents for
others. Eventually though I started
to focus more on the aspects of Christmas I did like, or
perhaps more accurately, those of the whole 'festive period'
and looking forward to a fresh new year.
I'm starting to feel the burden of this
year's Christmas Day though. The main gripe I have is of so
many family members coming together to try and eat a meal
around a table that is too small for their number, in a room
and house that isn't big enough. It has crossed the line
into the ridiculous. A further annoyance is with those that
don't chip in with the food and/or are incapable of
providing their own transport to get there.
Birthdays are the same; there are now too
many of us with my siblings each having kids of their own
(and sometimes partners). For me, there is just me, and I'm
used to living quietly on my own (with my cat).
I've repeatedly suggested that we draw up
some kind of roster whereby this year so-and-so get together
at so-and-so's house, then next year it rotates with
different people getting together somewhere else, and so on,
so we all get chance to have Christmas (or a birthday) with
everyone, and actually converse without being shoved in a
corner with a plate of food. But it doesn't happen.
How do other families manage it?
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