I'm not sure what else to say. This is really getting me down.

Everyone is being so miserable and grumpy as of late and it's destroying Christmas for me. There is a part of me that just wants to say to heck with it and cancel it for this year .

Every time I recover from the latest miserable induced depressed mood and start to get happy again, people put me in yet another miserable mood.

As for the nature of these miserable things:

* Super sensistitvity to everything. I can't say anything or do anything without people making offhanded remarks and acting as if I'm the bad guy every time.

* Nitpicking everything I do or say. Suddenly, I have to be super carefull about what I say or do or even the look on my face.
(ie, things they'd never make a comment on, suddenly their having a fit about it)

* Showing no interest in things I'm interested in, to the point of making little comments and blowing me off while talking about stuff their interested in as if it's a revelation.

I know that I'm probably making a mountain out of a mole hill (or however that saying goes)but it's really getting me down.

It's bad enough that 'it just isn't the same anymore' and it's starting to feel more like going through the motions then anything (although at least it's still enjoyable) but people being miserable and grumpy are making it almost a chore. It used to be that I looked forward to Christmas every year. Now it seems to come so fast and goes so fast that I want to enjoy it but it just isn't the same anymore, although I try to make the best of it. But with the way people are getting, I'm going to end up a scrooge and I don't want that to happen.

I want to go back to the days of Christmas being a magicall time of the year of time of joy and something looked forward to. Maybe that's not entirley possible but I'd like to think it can be salveged and still be special.

A possible explantion I can think of why people are miserable is because it's not the same for them either and it's getting them down as well. It could be that their taking it out others and their sensitivity is based on that. But that doesen't help. I want Christmas to be a time looked forward to, for putting up the decoration and the tree to be an anual event that we all love and look forward to. I want it to be like back then taking down the tree and stuff after new years was always kind of depressing, not 'finally, things are back to normal'. I want it to be magical again, I don't want to end up a scrooge.

Any advice?

· Super sensistitvity to everything. I can't say anything or do anything without people making offhanded remarks and acting as if I'm the bad guy every time. - that long named person above

I have noticed this in non-Christmas settings.

I have no advice beside buy a dog, they make more sense than people. *Actually the emoticon may not belong there.)

Re-reading the post, I probably should have watied until I felt better before posting.

I am making it sound a lot worse then it is. There have been a couple of incidents, and I've been thinking about why they happened.

I think what's happening is that I'm being a little too sensitive because the fact that I've been feeling a bit down latley because of the 'it isn't the same' issue. I'm sure if I felt better then these incidents would bother me and I woudlen't even think of them as incidents, as in retrospect they really wern't so bad.

So, basically what I'll do is try to calm down and not be so sensitive and I'll be carefull about what I say and do.

The thing that bugs me is the "Christmas Whine"

The one you get when you spend a lot of money on what you think will be the "special gift" for someone, and after the recipient opens it, they let out a nasally, gut-wretching moan: "I didn't want this!"

This year, I bought everyone gift certificates from their favorite stores. That way, they can buy their OWN gifts and if they don't like what they bought...it's THEIR fault!

John Lang,

Sorry, you lose. (Have you noticed yet you can't win? That's one reason why Super Sunday is a better holiday than Christmas.)

You have proven you don't care about the fools you bought gifts for. Yes, I read your post. Yes, I agree with you. Yes it is extremely logical.

Ever see the Seinfeld episode where Jerry, then dating Elaine, got her cash for her birthday. It is not the thought that counts, but the hours of your life you waste looking for the perfect gift.

Don't bother to try and understand it. Just eat the meal and be quietly ashamed that you are such an insensitive lout.

Oh if you have a girl friend or wife (or if you are a masochist a fiancée) there is still time to get something. Anything. What counts is the time you spent getting it perfect. If you walk into and out of Wal-Mart with a sweater in under five minutes, lie. You spent days on this quest.

I'm serious. This is good advice. Respect your elders.

I DO care...It's just everyone is WAY,WAY too picky. Christmas list exchange in my family has become a big waste of time (and a joke) because someone else will no doubt buy the gift you had in mind of buying. Not to mention some of the items they want is WAY too expensive. The art of appeciation is totally LOST in my family. Me on the other hand, I am thankful that people even remember me at all. (Sad but true!) BTW...This is the first year I began my "gift certificate" idea...I tried gift in the past, I had very little (or any) appreciation for my effort. That's why I gave up & went with gift certificates this year.

BTW...Thanx Blue Berry for your advice. Perhaps next year I'll try it.

I think that sometimes people don't appreciate the work that goes into making Christmas cards at home. I've made my own cards for the last few years, always from a personal picture, designing the front, back, and inside.

It always takes at least a couple hours to select the pic, perhaps enhancing it in Photoshop, laying it out, figuring out what to put on the inside, and how to display my own picture and "byline" on the back. Not to mention the time it takes to print and create the envelopes (ever tried doing a Mail Merge in Word with an envelope template?). I always inscribe a hand-written note.

Sometimes I get the impression they think making my own cards is "cheaper and easier". Same goes for very personalized birthday cards --I put a lot of effort into those, too.

Influx,

Yeah, people, in general, are insesitive morons. (No emoticon. I'm serious.)

Everybody has proof.

I think you need to understand there are people who don't celebrate Christmas - Jewish, Hindu, atheists etc - and they wish their beliefs to be respected.

Well, one could always get a nasty bout of the non-fatal variety of flu and miss Christmas (or whatever holiday occurs around this time of year) altogether.
My advice is to enjoy what you can and try to be with people you care about who are like-minded. Family obligations shouldn't be so required that no one can enjoy themselves. Sincerity is a big factor here. Frankly, I'd rather be alone (but not sick) than with people who only pretend to be having a good time. And yes, that attitude's gotten me "black-sheeped" at family gatherings. (The worst part is that I can still sincerely maintain civility since I don't want to rub people the wrong way, even though others seem unwilling to do so.)
Oh, well. Better luck next year!