I don't care for Christmas. But now that all my nieces and nephews are teens/young adults, I just give them money. It's easier and it's what they want anyway. 

I love Christmas and I'm struggling with the gift portion this year.  We're scheduled to be in court for the skids (again) on 12/17, so it's tough to get festive.

But you bring up a good point, Stressing, which is the number of Christmases these kids get--and the sheer volume of gifts.  The prevailing wisdom seems to be that it shouldn't matter that skids/CODs get multiple Christmases, but I think it does and that it should.  My bio gets 1 Christmas and that's it.  No one is competing for her love through gifts or trying to show someone up--which skids/CODs recognize and exploit, as I've seen it. 

Were I in your shoes, I would forgoe the gifts this year and donate/volunteer instead.

But I would be resentful if a sibling lobbied for others to get involved in charity.  If you want to do it, fine.  But dont tell me what to do. 

What I did one year, was suggested that we all donate the money that we would have spent on presents, to charities, instead (excluding children, they would still get gifts).

If they didn't want to do it, that was their choice but I made it clear that I was not buying gifts for adults and preferred that they not buy for me.

At some point in my life, Christmas just became overwhelming. So, I am a somewhat of a Grinch, now.

I wave my Grinch flag loud and proud!  I am NOT a big fan of the holiday.  Me, my DH and YSD are going to Bimini for a week over Christmas.  

With the exception of the religious aspect of the holiday, I really feel that the whole "santy clause" and trees and presents are really things that should be for the kids.  I tend to buy few presents.. save for the ones for my DH's grandson, my nephew.. and we get his parents and my dad a little something.  other than that.. nope.

Teens suck in so many ways, and gifts are just another way! Lol Buy them something to wear and something to read and spend the rest on experiences. 

I'm not feeling the Christmas vibe this year at all either, but then nobody in our town really is. We are still having earthquakes regularly so it's hard to decorate knowing all that stuff could fall and all those memories lost.

Plus my BS is going to be gone for all of Christmas, his first time and so I'm bummed about that. I'm on the outs with my mother with no end in site for that, and BD is 13 so she's hard to shop for because she want's expensive stuff and that means only one present under the tree.

I'm pretty much just making it through this month until I can roll into the new year and forget this year happened.

The GIMME attitude of Christmas annoys the crap out of me. Especially after SD23's antics last year. I used to NOT be a Grinch...

I have ALWAYS struggled with that attitude. Growing up, we received a few small, thoughtful gifts (including underwear!). It was not a big moneygrab. Hey, I SO looked forward to that orange in the toe of my stocking every year! It was about Christ and the SPIRIT of Christmas. We went to church on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day was a time for being a family.

For a lot of years, I didn't have much. Psycho exh who rarely worked and a somewhat low-end job. I finally reached a time when I could afford to go to the local store and select an ornament from the tree to buy a gift for the child on that ornament. Then it was 2 ornaments, Then 4. I encouraged my coworkers to adopt a family. We did this every year that I worked there and, in the end, were adopting 4 families each Christmas. I no longer work there, but I continue to adopt a family in need. 

The greediness and gimme attitude of the skids awakened the Grinch in me and I didn't like it. Before DH and I got together, I had been struggling and one Christmas witnessing the skids' greed was enough to jolt me back to where I want to be: remembering the true meaning of Christmas and making sure I feed that part of my soul so the Grinch doesn't consume me.

Everyone is tired of stuff in our family, so I'm giving my kids cash, and I really don't want anything in return.  Instead of xmas we are having a game day with delicious snacks and a big dinner.

In the past we have all gone skiing.

My BS won’t be able to come home this year and I’m down about it.  I would love to go see him but I don’t want to leave my mom alone in Christmas and taking her with us NOt an option.   YSS comes over for about 15 minutes for the gift grab and then leaves.   My brother lives near mom but spends thanksgiving and Christmas with his in-laws, leaving me to travel each holiday to take up the slack. 

Face it...I’m a grinch.   

Ah, ribbon candy. Aniki, thanks for that great memory.

Growing up and being raised by parents who had survived WWII and the Great Depression respectively, Christmas was a smaller, more intimate, and religious holiday. Each child got a few gifts, and we were thrilled with them. The tree was a jacked up, bedraggled pine we selected from our own property, but it always seemed magical to me. I remember being happy with very little.

I also remember my older brother getting a new coat for Chistmas one year. Don't know if her got anything else, but he loved that coat. We were at the grocery store one day (little mom n pop place where you paid your tab once a month) when an elderly man was hit by a car. My brother didn't hesitate - he took off his coat and covered the man with it until help came. It was cold out, and when he got it back, it had blood all over it. Mom worked and worked to get the stains out. I can't imagine a skid doing that.

My first Christmas with DH was very different. The excess shocked me, but I now understand that the typical post divorce guilt fueled overcompensation never really ended in his family. Instead, it became their norm and family culture to go overboard and have the older members shower the younger ones with gifts. The debt we used to incur was ridic (my FIL died nearly broke from years of subsidizing and splurging on his daughters and granddaughters), no effort was put into teaching skids/niece/nephew to give as well as receive, and there are now a number of very selfish younger adults in the family. It all set them up for disappointment and unrealistic expectations, and none of them practice charity. 

The last few Christmases before I disengaged, the SILs and I suggested the adults make charitable donations instead of buying meaningless carp for each other. OSD32, who already was resentful that she didn't get enough worship on her birthday and Mother's Day, hated this idea. 

I guess I am a grinch. Years of steplife sapped my joy for Christmas. Scrimping to buy gifts for children who didn't even say thank you sucked. Having a skid steal all her presents from under the tree when she ran off three days before Christmas left a mark. Getting stiffed by a skid and her H in the adult gift exchange hurt. So, DH and I will give each other small gifts, and our pets will get their stockings filled with treats and toys. We'll donate to our favorite charities, drop off bags of pet food at our local animal shelter, and take food to the food pantry. The givers will give, and the takers will take, but DH and I will keep to ourselves.

Usually I get the Clark Griswold real tree and trim it for hours with strands and strands of lights.  Probably because i never had Christmas or any holiday as a kid.  This year, time is of the essense so the tree is not up yet.  Just the house and garden flags along with some internal decor, the Eiffel Tower and some wreaths.