Holiday Apathy and Growing Older

[Shadowed Watcher 183]

In my case at least, as you grow older, you will come to realize that holidays are pointless, and just an annoyance. Family's break apart and don't speak, and when the holidays come around its more enraging than it is sad, thinking about how big of fuckwads your whole family really is. 

[Not_active 731]

I've noticed...I used to be hyped for christmas and counting the days of advent when I was younger, but now, it's more like any other month tbh. Kinda sad.

[Deae Rising Shine~ 52,441]

How older I get, how more excited I am. I mean, when working you barely have free days, so even one day resting more then usual is awesome!

[Draxon 214]

I think that people's values shift as they grow older, which changes the way they view the holidays.  Not everybody becomes less interested with them than when they were younger; in fact, some people go crazy with Christmas decorations or Halloween costumes when they're grown up and supporting themselves.

 

Personally, I'm still enthusiastic about most holidays, but not for the same reasons as before, and to differing extents.  When I was little, my favorite holiday was Christmas, since I always got presents on that day.  Now that I'm grown up, I'm more concerned with getting other people good gifts, and my list of desires has decreased considerably.  I'm not as eager about Christmas as I used to be, but I still enjoy it because it's a chance to get together with my family.  On that note, my favorite holiday, which I definitely do look forward to every year, is Thanksgiving.  That's the one day in the year where I'm guaranteed to be with my family and enjoy some good food and some football.  What's not to love?

[Moony the Cat 3,697]

Well i would kinda agree because as a kid you got presents and getting told that the eastern bunny and santa exist.

 

But with time you realize they dont exist and also you dont get presents anymore.That could be a reason why older people seems to care less about them because some of the magic is gone.

 

But then again we can still give other people presents to christmas and many of us like to make others happy.

So i can understand when someone just dont care anymore, but for me its still a special time, because i can give someone else presents and make them happy, which is special to me 

And some of us still get presents from friends so...yeah i still like christmas almost as much as i did as a kid. ( my god, i hope this english sentence was somehow correct, because it doesnt sound like it   )

[Dark Horse 12,799]

Christmas I think is always more magical when your a kid.. at least in my experience. It used to be a much larger family occasion for me as well, and it still is, but on a significantly smaller scale. People move on, get work abroad, or just can't make the journey out anymore. I don't get as ridiculously excited for christmas as I used to when I was younger, but I guess I understand the reasons.

[Aly 77]

Not necessarily. It's just your perspective

[IvoryDreamer 102]

Yeah I don't get excited as much as I used to. To me the tradition of getting together is what is important to me. I come from a big family and I have a strong connection with them. Even if it is just because of a strange man made event.

Edited December 2, 2014 by IvoryDreamer

[Invincible 2,090]

I generally grew more passive and less caring about special occasions. But it could be just me.

[Gernia 690]

I think I care more about holidays as I've gotten older, but probably because I get time off from school, and time to spend by myself or with people I like.

Edited December 2, 2014 by Gernia

[Pon3 76]

it depends on what holiday it is 

[Kapitan zur See Hans (Daz) 883]

For me it is kind of true, I mean I do get in a good spirit about it, but it isn't near as special as they used to be. I think a lot of it had to do with school tbh, I mean my schools when I was younger before High school kind of hyped up all of the holidays and made it feel special. I don't know, I still enjoy the holidays especially the winter ones.

[Thuja 3,658]

As I grew older, I cared less and less for holidays or birthdays.  I don't know why, I sometimes try to get excited but I just start getting frustrated for some odd reason  .

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

Not really, at least holidays connect relatives and my family and other relatives still give me gifts for Christmas.

[Venomous 18,813]

Sometimes, holidays can become less exciting to people because they have been through so many and they are now predictable.

 

For example...

When you're a young child, you get psyched about getting presentsand not having school for a week.

 

For adults, it's not so much a big deal.

Edited December 4, 2014 by Royal Blue Jay

[Overdrive 5,366]

Well, it does make sense. Think about it, as you grow older, you get married, you have kids, and you become responsible for making the holidays happy, and don't really get to enjoy them as much as you would if you were younger.

[CT-1138 3,180]

Actually, my love for holidays never waned, it just changed a bit. Now that I'm older, I can enjoy creating holiday fun for my younger cousins and see them enjoy the magic of the holidays, which makes me happy too, because I helped create that magic and happiness. I also love decorating a lot and find it a really enjoyable part of holidays.

[Rockabilly Wingtips 57]

This is true for me, over the years it just feels like a rinse and repeat process

[Hidey 2,836]

They were great, now they don't mean a thing to me. However, I hate it when people bitch about them.

[Creamy Arty 6,251]

Really, one thing that has kinda spoiled the holidays and birthdays for me has been almost constant infighting/arguments amongst my family; especially my parents. Honestly, when a day like Christmas or Mothers Day approaches, this sense of dread seems to occupy part of my consciousness. It's like I'm waiting in the trenches for something big to go off and the yelling to start. It's happened too many times and has just...soured my holiday expectations with my family.

 

Word. Everyone else in my family is decorating, making plans, listening to Christmas music, and everything else you might expect at that time of year, but somehow they always find some way to make themselves miserable and to fight incessantly. This applies to any holiday or special event that most other people might enjoy, like Easter, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, and birthdays. Over the years they significantly improved though, I must admit. Now these things don't fill me with the dread that they once did. Helps that I live alone now, but damn, I hated Christmas or any other happy occasion, and music and decorations of any kind intended to elicit joy and happiness only pissed me off wherever I encountered them because they felt like a taunt.

 

 

So as a child and through my early adult years, I hated holidays and birthdays. Might be why I tend to forget my own, because they haven't been happy occasions.

 

Now as a man, they aren't so bad. I have total control over how these things go now without having to conform to anyone's plans, and I only keep the company I wish. I find myself appreciating the decorations and music considerably, and enjoying the atmosphere that's settling everywhere leading up to the holiday, rather than anticipating Christmas or any other holiday itself. It's about the journey rather than the destination, you could say.

[Roughshod 719]

Perhaps you could explain why you think age is the determining factor in how much a person enjoys holidays? I don't see a line of reasoning here just a vague assumption.

[CuriousPony 156]

I don't know if it applies to everyone, but it seems to apply in my family. 

 

I want to get excited about holidays, but the traditions of my childhood seem to be... vanishing. It's really sad. I want them to be there, but as life changes, they've been slowly disappearing. I wish I could get them back... 

[TenorSounds 831]

For me, it was more like a bell-curve. I was super into Holidays when I was a kid because of the colors and excitement and free stuff, then as a teenager I got that sort of "ugh, why bother" mentality where I just wanted to hang out with my friends and not do all that "family stuff", and now that I'm older I'm back to being excited about the Holidays since I get to see my family, drink wine and just have a good time with people I care about but may not get to see very often.

 

So the focus is different, but I'm not finding I am getting tired of the Holidays as I get older.