Family Gatherings Over Christmas

[The Lost]

I usually enjoy the Christmas period, the hype is quite contagious, though the one thing I very much hate is the inevitable family reunion. When my extended folk call up out of the blue and decide upon a day to meet, my stomach flips a few times, and I countdown the days with dread. It takes months for me to feel comfortable around someone as it is, so spending time with a crowd of glorified strangers is unpleasant to say the least.

So I was wondering, do you look forward to family gatherings or do you loath them, and why?

 

[LazyHermitCrab]

Just by getting through it. It's good to say you have to be home by a certain time so it doesn't drag on too much. It feels good knowing a specific time you can leave. Since it's Christmas you can brag about the stuff you got and ask whoever what they got too. You can also talk about oh i put up christmas lights, saw this christmas movie... Etc.

 

[Gadfly]

Loathe, hypothetically. My parents are dead and I don't talk to my brother, who, unaccountably, became nearly orthodox Jewish in his 20's and doesn't celebrate it anymore. I have plenty of relatives in St. Louis, but I didn't grow up with them, barely know them, and can't afford to visit them regardless. One of the joys of poverty and alienation is not having to endure family.

 

[chibiXphantom]

i hate family gatherings. grandparents and some other family are over and the moment they arrived they've been saying stuff like "why dont you do this, why dont you do that, why arent you more like your brother. you're wasting your life. you need to do this. im so disappointed in you..."
its always like this when family comes around. thats why i avoid them and why im hiding in my room on my laptop crying instead of being with family.

and its also not fun being called out on forgetting to buy someone (who i didnt know was gonna be there) a present.

 

[laure15]

I dislike family gatherings just as much. I know most of my dad's relatives don't like me so I don't go gather anymore.

 

[Flanscho]

Normally, only the core of my family gathers for Christmas. Which is my mother, father, sister, brother, sister and law and I. All in all it's ok. My brother is very stressful though. Otherwise... I kind of miss the privacy I'm then lacking. But my family is (normally) very friendly, and I try to help where I can. Repair some computer here, help my mother with her garden over there, and so on. I stay for about 5 days at my family over Christmas, and then return to the city I have my own flat in.

 

[this_portrait]

My family stopped getting together for Christmas and other holidays quite a long time ago, since my cousins and I all started to get older, it seems. I never got anxious over those gatherings; in fact I looked forward to them.

Now, on the other hand, if I end up going to a rare family event, I feel awkward as all hell.