Everything's 'for children'

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I hate being an adult. I can't look forward to Christmas because everybody says it's "for children", even though I love giving and receiving presents. Apparently being an adult means 25th December has to be another day - even though most people are off work and most places are closed, and you're all stuck at home with Christmas shows, commercials and music on the TV, so you might as well ENJOY the holidays. Am I the only one who doesn't want to have the sh***y "Christmas is for children" attitude and want to keep the Christmas spirit?

Also apparently Halloween and Easter are "for children" too. Why do you have to be a child to enjoy tradition?

Yep it seems that way, about so many things. And it's not that I want to deny children anything, but this kind of thing does feel weird for an adult who likes to enjoy the same things but other adults think it's "the stuff of childhood".

At first I thought your topic was about care and assistance in ASD matters, as much more focus is put on helping children on the spectrum than adults, who are often considered a lost cause. Not that I would deny them that either, but again it's tough to be an adult getting nothing.

But yes, regular stuff like Christmas too, I agree. The only thing I would say is, go ahead and enjoy it your way anyway. I still do kid-like things, like for Easter I get out my toy bunnies and chicks to put around the place as my Easter decorations, same for Christmas.

They say going to the lake to feed the ducks is for childhood only, but I still go on a regular basis and take quality feed to "feed the ducks" for hours in my free time, and I don't care when other adults might look at me funny.

Halloween can still be fun for grownups - I used to live in a city that had a particular street downtown that got completely taken over by grownups parading in full costume every year at Halloween! They created their own grownup "dress up for Halloween" tradition.

I thought feeding the ducks was enjoyed by old people too.

Adults do celebrate Halloween and Christmas in a party/social gathering sort of way, but if you're not doing either, you have to be dull and treat these traditions as another day. But it's just so hard to ignore it all and not be excited by it all if you was brought up celebrating these things every year, because you see all the Christmas lights, hear the Christmas carols, watch Christmas programmes on TV, and see every shop and supermarket decorated with tinsel and Christmas trees, and there are lovely Christmas gifts everywhere....I mean how can you be expected to shut all that off? It's so distracting and stimulating, and it's just the Christmas spirit that stays with you.

Yes Christmas is fun for children, I remember how exciting and magical it was when I was a child, but Christmas wasn't just dedicated for children only. Christmas should be seen as cultural tradition. It's just miserable waking up on Christmas morning and it being no different to any other day of the year, just because you're adults.

Hey, who are you calling an "old person?!" Just kidding with ya!

Joking aside, I think you should go ahead and fully feel your enjoyment and excitement about Christmas; all of those feelings about the lights and the TV shows and the carols, I don't think you should let anyone make you feel like you're not supposed to get excited. Lots of grownups still like all that stuff too.

Is there someone in your life who is making you feel self conscious about getting excited about things like Christmas? If so, they're wrong; you should enjoy these things and try not to worry that it's only for kids. I get what you mean about that, but at the same time lots of grownups openly enjoy it too.

What? Nobody gave me that memo. I'm nutty about Christmas too, pleased to meet a fellow enthusiast!

In fact, I just came home from the summer holidays and dug out the Christmas magazines. I have a small collection that I put away after New Year every year. By autumn, I've forgotten what I read last year, so I get to enjoy them all over again Then I sit and plan all the stuff I'm going to be preparing for Christmas, and then I'm usually bowled over by some virus sometime during December, and then I just do the very necessary; get a tree up, some tablecloths and various crafty stuff I have no memory of ever making, and then pig out until New Year's Day.

You know, Joe, your enthusiasm is one of the really nice things about you. I don't know why you get ideas like you shouldn't enjoy this stuff. It's what life's made of.

Well, Christmas isn't my favourite time of the year, I'm more of a summer person. But being on these meds makes me feel more upbeat, so when Christmas arrives I like to celebrate.

To be honest, I think the "Christmas is for children" thing is common in the UK. I don't think I've heard any adult utter "Christmas is for the kids". The USA seems to be more open-minded about Christmas.

What gets my goat is that Christmas, as well as Easter and Hallowe'en have gotten too crassly commercial. It's gotten so bad in the past 36 years, I can hardly watch TV or listen to the radio. (Then again,I'm a sour, four Missouri Synod Lutheran with Puritan tendencies.)

Yes, in America there is a lot of expensive gift giving between adults.

We used to cook big meals for the holidays. Now that I am single again I still do that as there are often great deals to be had at the grocery store. But, I now buy expensive stuff to cook anytime I feel like it.

I agree on that one. Which is why I do most of my Christmas shopping by internet. There is no hell like a shopping centre in December.

Couples usually come to some agreement on the significance of holidays. There are even mixed religion couples that celebrate two sets of holidays! Could it be that there is some disagreement on how you celebrate those holidays?