Ever feel let down after Christmas?

[Elmorton]

I think the joy of Christmas is that there''s a little sadness mixed in - you can''t truly go home once you''ve left, don''t see relatives enough, everyone is getting older, etc - and that''s why it''s emotional even when it''s wonderful.

Oobie, I will say this - if you look at Christmas as a 1 day holiday, that''s a lot of build-up for a single day. I was raised to not decorate until right before Christmas (which I no longer do...I caved to the pressure of consumerism and decorate with the beginning of Advent) because you keep the decorations and the parties etc going until Epiphany (Jan 6). We also do special things that day - the 3 kings finally "arrive" at the nativity set, and sometimes DH and I exchange a small gift (a tradition my mom used to do - 3 small, meaningful gifts, often with a religious theme, to celebrate Epiphany). I also want to start hosting a 12th Night party - this year, we''re doing something like that because an organization I''m a part of decided to hold off on our Xmas party until all of us had free time on Jan 9 - I volunteered because I said our decorations would still be up So anyway, in my household, everything stays put for a week into January. By the time we start taking down decorations, I am SO ready to embrace the new year. I''m pretty much never sad to put everything away and put the season behind me, because by Jan 6, you''re pretty close to being the only house on the block with lights on, and I feel like I''ve enjoyed the season as much as humanly possible.

 

[partgypsy]

elmorton, are you orthodox Christian? The reason I ask that is my greek orthodox relatives are similar in the way they celebrate Epiphany. When I was growing up I was confused whether Christmas was on Dec 25 or Jan 6 because of that! I celebrate the typical American Christmas, putting up the decorations early so I am ready to take them down before new years.

 

[Elmorton]

LOL about not knowing when Xmas is! No, I''m Episcopalian, but raised "high church." Sometimes I think that my parents were trying to provide a very thoughtful and devout background, and other times I just think they were avoiding decorating/tearing it all down.

 

[musey]

I remember feeling disappointed a few times as a kid, when the holidays were over. Not anymore. They''re not so big a deal now

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 12/28/2009 2:17:41 PM
Author: decodelighted

Date: 12/28/2009 2:10:19 PM

Author: kenny

Just don''t go. Just say no.

This is my takeaway for sure. I''m sorry we didn''t leave the first night we we realized after a 10 hr drive & 2 1/2 feet of snow that we were assigned a room with BUNKBEDS. The middle-aged married chunksters got BUNK BEDS. Because, you know, the families should have the luxurious master suites with jacuzzi tubs and walk-in multi head showers.

ETA: If I''d *known* it was going to be as it was I *wouldn''t* have gone. Two years ago and four years ago, and six years ago the trips were GREAT fun. But I''m afraid those times are over -- for a decade or so.

Yeah the arrival of nieces and nephews pretty much takes all the fun out of family vacations. Our family''s beach vacation used to be fun until the kids started popping out. Nope, I don''t want to play in the sand in the sweltering heat-I want to lay on my ass in the AC and quietly read books, thanks! So yeah...I don''t go to the beach house anymore! It''s definitely a bummer though.

And as the youngest in the family (along with my twin sis) with no kids of my own, I''ve resigned myself to getting screwed on room assignments, so I feel your pain. On the last beach vacation we went on, my husband, twin sister and I got assigned to a room with bunk beds and another twin bed. Neat!

Luckily for Christmas my older siblings don''t go to my parents'' house until the afternoon of Christmas day, so we go to my parents'' house on Christmas Eve and then leave Christmas day night. And I don''t usually get let down after Christmas anymore, actually. It''s just in the last few years that I''ve stopped having that letdown, though. I think I just realized that any big day is never as good as you want it to be.