I actually work with people who want to "cancel" Christmas!!

[abentley]

To each their own how they celebrate, but it makes me soo sad to work with people who think it is "too much" to do. I work in an elementary school, and those little kids are the funniest, happiest things singing in the halls every morning. My coworkers think Christmas should be cancelled or done every 5 years!! No they don't want exchange gifts or cards, or try to be happy during the month of December. I am trying soo hard to not get the fun sucked out again this year!!! Suggestions to help "keep my spirit"?

[teebee]

Sing with those little children!!! Spread the spirit and by any means.....DON"T let the "grumps" bring you down!!!

[siczlo]

Maybe be a "secret santa" for your co-workers. Stick candy canes, hershey kisses, little pins, etc, in their mailboxes. They'll be dying to know who it is!

[mcapel4444]

That sucks that they have lost their Holiday spirit. I like the idea of spreading your own cheer to them. And if they still complain, then celebrate with the kids. I'm excited this year for my 2nd grader- his teacher is hosting a book exchange for the kids.

[conj]

work at work - play outside the office... at the playground, the club, church, with your family. It'll be wasted breath trying to convince them

[kboyts]

arson......LOL

[MeliesMom]

I can't believe anyone who works in an elementary school would want to cancel christmas! Even if you have no one to share it with, being at an elementary school should be enough. Just think about all those beautiful, smiling, singing, happy faces! Why would anyone want to cancel it or do it every 5 years!?

 

I agree about putting things in their mailboxes!

[tokanm]

Schools around here have all but banned Christmas. They can however have Winter Celebration or Winter Solstice. No Christmas carols, no Christmas specific foods etc, etc

They have to be politically correct to people who are not Christian and be respectful and

not shove the holiday down their throats.

This of course does not apply to private and parochial schools

 

Sometimes all this being PC just sucks I think we all should be respectful of others

beliefs however

[conj]

Schools around here have all but banned Christmas. They can however have Winter Celebration or Winter Solstice. No Christmas carols, no Christmas specific foods etc, etc

They have to be politically correct to people who are not Christian and be respectful and

not shove the holiday down their throats.

This of course does not apply to private and parochial schools

 

Sometimes all this being PC just sucks I think we all should be respectful of others

beliefs however

I agree being PC sux. it is taken too far.

 

the problem with this is I can sing you plenty of christmas carols, even though I am Jewish... they were taught in school, they are on the radio, they are in the mall... But the only Chanukah song I ever heard (before Adam Sandler) was Dreidle dreidle dreidle. As a bigger kid, and as an adult, I could hear the whining of both kids and adult who didn't know why they were being forced to sing this. It is a lousy way to react, but it is the way it is.

 

Unfortunately left to their own devices people (in large groups, anyway) forget to be open minded.

 

Holidays are meant to be together with family and friends. for kids, their friends are at school. they should not be forbidden their holiday, but should not be forced into another. (peer pressure is force too)

 

OP, your co-workers are talking about the commercialization ( I suspect) and the responsibilities, instead of the joy. Joy can be found every day. if you can not share it with them, share it with the kids.

[abentley]

I just want people to feel joy in the season no matter how they choose to celebrate it. I feel bad that some people don't for what ever reason.

[3 boys]

The holidays are not a happy time for those who lost a family member or friend around christmas: just a reminder.

My best friend in high school: her dad was killed by a drunk driver on Christmas eve so the holidays are always hard on her family and a constant reminder of what happened.

Even though it is joyus for most of us not everyone may feel the same: for whatever reason.

[ToastyOasty]

Some people are just Scrooges. My cousin is. She always pouts at Christmas gatherings and says she hates the holidays. I just dont get it. But...sing along, listen to your Christmas songs, keep cheery thoughts. Dont let them get you down!

 

I like what someone else said about being a secret santa. maybe that will give them a poke.

[BabyBear24kGold]

we lost my nephew on dec 19 , 1997 and for along time my sis didnt want nothing to do with chrstmas but no matter how hard it got she never let it show for her daugther and son that survived it is a gift and we have to thank the lord for another year and little ones need it i seen for myself

[love a deal]

Maybe be a "secret santa" for your co-workers. Stick candy canes, hershey kisses, little pins, etc, in their mailboxes. They'll be dying to know who it is!

I think that's a wonderful idea!

 

arson......LOL

:lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao:

 

 

This is my 1000th post:gdsign1:I'm excited:woot2:

[SuperMommy]

As far as banning Christmas for it being a "religious holiday" as well as prayer, etc. This is just as wrong!!

 

I could have swore that the Constitution said that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof....

 

but then again, maybe I read it wrong?

[conj]

As far as banning Christmas for it being a "religious holiday" as well as prayer, etc. This is just as wrong!!

 

I could have swore that the Constitution said that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof....

 

but then again, maybe I read it wrong?

the problem is by celebrating Christmas as a religious holiday (and it is a *legal* holiday as well) it is interfering with others pursuit (or lack there of) of other religions... hence the issue.

 

OPs concern is not the ban of the holiday, so much as her co-workers not embracing the season.

[emptynest-2]

Don't let your coworkers get you down. Whatever their reason for their opinions, KEEP THE SPIRIT. Little kids love Christmas, commericalized or not. Why not do the story of the candy cane. Here's a link for it http://www.reasonfortheseason.com/candycanestory.html

take candy canes for your class and coworkers or if time allows let the kids watch "A Chrlie Brown Christmas".

[Turtle Mommy]

i love it for the fact my daughter is young and still believes in santa.

the joy it brings her is enough for me.

 

some people need to figure out the little joys in life.

Change daughter to son and this is exactly how I feel! Ds#1 is 14 and he loves to help being Santa. There have been years in the past dh and I have not exchanged gifts and you know what it was okay because IMO Christmas is about the kids.

 

Dont let those grumps get you down!!!!

[miller205]

I agree Christmas is about the kids and it really sickens me that people that work with children can have such a pessimistic attitude.

 

I, however, have pretty much given up on the holidays at my office. Last year I really wanted to make Christmas special for my co-workers. I organized office parties 3 weeks in a row (breakfast one week, lunch the next, desserts only on Christmas Eve for those that had to be there). I also did a "6 Days of Christmas" w/ games every day (that did not disrupt work ofc) and gave a prize every day, for 2 days. My boss, who had moaned and complained about the parties (although he approved them) put the kibosh on the games after 2 days, took us all in the conference room and screamed at us to quit the Christmas crap bc we were too busy (oh I get warm and fuzzy just thinking about it). Other people complained every step of the way about the parties too, even though I had it set up so each employee only had to commit to bringing something to one of the parties instead of something to each. No one would do the Secret Santa. It is really hard to have Christmas spirit when people act like this. Anyway, I have already told people at work that I will not be participating in any holiday festivities at work this year. It is too much of a letdown when I have tried so hard in the past to make people happy.

 

Every year I try to think up a small holiday "project" that I can do in the spirit of Christmas. Last year my goal was to make the office a happy relaxed place for the Holidays, the year before my goal was to be nice to my Scroogey boss no matter how miserable he was to me. I failed miserably at both apparently. I think I need to go back to the closer to home projects, like the year I quit smoking or the year I started to wear my seat belt regularly as gifts to my kids.

[rachealb]

Okay, so our family isnt actually skipping Christmas this year, but we are going to do a much smaller Christmas than usual this year because we are going on a small trip to Florida mid-January (less than a week). Anyone else doing anything like this?

 

Oh yeah, my hubby (who pretends to be a Christmas scrooge) told me I am only getting one gift and maybe a couple small things, but my main gift is huge- what happened to small Christmas! Argh..... it is so hard to not get out of control, especially because I love Christmas. And, my 13yo son almost didnt want to go on the trip because he wanted Christmas! I think our family needs this smaller Christmas to learn a lesson!

[SuperMommy]

Sorry, can't help you there. I love Christmas. We do it big, but keep it within reason. I had a big Christmas till my parents got divorced when I was 10, after that it just wasn't that big of a deal. As a kid I loved the big Xmas so that's what I always want my girls to have. Plus it's just something about the season, not just the presents. Maybe if you want to cut back on the presents you could do other holiday events like going riding looking at lights, carroling, Friday night Christmas movies, visiting at a nursing home, or other things. You can find lots of ways to have Christmas cheer without spending lots of money.

[AndreaInNC]

Not long after I separated from my husband, money was so tight and then my fridge broke down. So one year my girls got a fridge for Christmas - they were 9 and 12 at the time.

 

Maybe you could look at it from a different point of view and take it back to celebrating what the holiday is all about - giving and goodwill.

 

You can volunteer to work in soup kitchen Christmas Day .. that sure will help your 13 year old appreciate what he has.

[jbdinos]

I think commercialization has made Christmas to some seem to be all about money and greed.... we go out of our way to be sure our children don't see it that way. For instance unless someone asks, they are not allowed to announce a Christmas wish list. They don't even do one for us unless we ask. This is because we don't like to get caught up in the "fad" of getting the latest gadgets, etc for Christmas for them to just be discarded as unwanted a month later. Instead we pay close attention to their likes/dislikes and buy gifts accordingly. This keeps them in the true spirit of being grateful for anything/everything and also takes the "you have to get what you ask for" part of it out.

 

Then we do the church, look at lights, make Christmas dinner, have gatherings with several friends/families, listen to the Christmas story.... we keep the joy of doing for others in our celebration so they know their gifts are all gifts of love and that we may or may not be able to afford that much each year. We try to donate to others, or pick an angel from the Salvation Army, etc.... to show them that others don't have what they have.

 

Then the joy of seeing others' faces when they open the gifts/candy/etc that we give them makes it all worthwhile.

 

To the OP.... let them complain.... but don't talk about "buying this or that" in front of them. Instead talk about how you went caroling, how you volunteered somewhere, or about how much fun your kids had decorating cookies.... all the stuff that is not commercialized... and then on the last day bring them a plate of cookies, brownies, candy and tell them "we had so much fun doing these we overdid it and would like to share it as a gift of love, we hope you'll accept" ...

 

That takes the pressure of returning a gift off of them and they see it for what it is... just a gift... no need to be returned... and people are better about accepting without feeling they have to return a gift when it's a homemade goodie...

 

Other than that... all you can do is continue to wish them well and don't try to include them in name draws, gift exchanges, parties, etc.... and find your joy in the kids and your family :) Just smile cause you know that you got it right and you'll keep your spirits up.... :)

[cassgurlie04]

Its a terrible thing that someone would want to "skip" christmas, i mean i know some people don't celebrate it due to their religious beliefs and what not, but just to skip it because its too much to do seems petty and absurd. My sons school also is not allowed to have "Christmas" parties and have to have a Holiday Celebration. It has extended further than that at his school though, i asked the teacher on Monday if i could send in little goodie bags for Halloween with pencils, stickers, etc. He was okay with the idea but i couldn't call them "Halloween" goodie bags, they would have to be "Fall Fest Celebration" bags, because the school does not promote or encourage Halloween. No costumes, no nothing.

[elena_398]

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I don't really need or want anything for myself... I just love giving gifts to family and friends and seeing my kids get so excited.