10 Things I Hate and Love About Christmas – as an Introvert
10 Things I Hate and Love About Christmas - As An Introvert
Hi All!
Today I want to discuss Christmas as an introvert with you. I don’t know if you know but Christmas is a relatively extroverted time. It’s a time when families and friends get together and celebrate. It’s seen as a time to go to parties, play games, go to events, and eat in a social setting. This means it can be particularly tough when you are an introvert, especially with the added pressure to not turn down events.
So today I wanted to share 10 Things I Hate about Christmas and 10 Things I Love about Christmas.
10 Things I Hate About Christmas
1. Christmas Shopping
There is nothing worse than the shops at Christmas. They’re loud, busy and I swear, everyone becomes incredibly rude around this time as well. Fortunately I have managed to avoid most of this awfulness this year by shopping for presents online. Otherwise, I end up having to do it over multiple days as I can really only stand the shops for half an hour at most!
2. Chistmas Light Switch On Events
Fortunately I have avoided this quite easily this year because I wasn’t working in the town centre during our light switch on but I honestly really struggle with this event. Aside from not really understanding it, I also just really struggle with the crowds. The events are usually busy, loud and just far too chaotic for me.
3. Drinking
This might not be an introverted problem so much as just a personal issue to me but Christmas seems to be one of those events where not only is it socially acceptable to drink in the day but to also really pressurise other people to drink. Mulled wine, eggnog, alcohol in puddings… at this time of year, it just appears to be everywhere and people really don’t like it when you try to nicely decline. Of course, the introvert side of this is that being surrounded by people drinking is hard because people become loud, boisterous and irritating.
4. Work Christmas Parties
Don’t get me wrong, I really get on with my colleagues and would love to see them outside of the workplace but most of the Work Christmas Parties I have been too have been loud and busy. It’s often a dinner but there is usually so many people that you can’t really hear people properly or you get stuck talking to someone that you don’t really like. It’s just not an ideal situation when all you really want to do is be on your own.
5. All the Family
Once again, I feel it is important to reiterate that I love my family but as our families get bigger, the logistics of seeing everyone over the holidays is getting incredibly difficult. Due to that, instead of it just being one day, Christmas is now spread out over several days which means that there is more social time needed, more guilt over not having the energy to be on top the whole time, and just consistently wanting to crawl back into a blanket.
6. Mistletoe
So this one isn’t quite as prevalent in the UK but I felt it was quite important to be said. As an introvert, I’m not big on being touched so with the theory behind mistletoe being that if you stand under it, the person with you gets to kiss you… well, all I can say is no… thank you.
7. Unwarranted Hugs From Family
Along with the theme of mistletoe is the idea that at Christmas, because it is the one time a year you might see certain family members, then you must be up for giving them a hug or kiss. Honestly though, if I only see you once a year than no, I don’t particularly want you to hug or kiss me. We may be family but we certainly do not know each other enough for this level of affection. But saying no comes with a whole other bowl full of issues.
8. Public Transport
Fortunately I don’t have to use public transport as much as I used to but honestly, there is no worst time to be reliant on it than at Christmas time. It becomes busier than usual, there are often delays due to the traffic and with all of people and irritation, it really makes you wish you never had to leave the house in the first place.
9. Decorations
Now this is not against ALL decorations because I do like the prettiness of decorations, especially on the cold winter nights but some people can definitely go a little bit overboard and when that happens, decorations themselves become too loud and distracting. They make rooms and windows feel full and busy and makes me want to walk faster past them.
10. All the Social Events
Every year, December is the time when all of your friends want to see you. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t seen them for a year. Christmas means trying to fit time in to see them. While this isn’t essentially a problem because you do love your friends and you love seeing them – it becomes a problem when you suddenly realise that the next available date on your calender is actually on 2nd January and you have to get through an entire month without a single day to yourself.
10 Things I Love About Christmas
1. Food
Honestly, as a foodie, Christmas is one of the best times of the year. It’s been a little harder since I’ve had to go on a bit of a stricter, gluten and dairy free diet but honestly, you just can’t beat Christmas food. Roasts, gingerbread, mince pies, chocolate, biscuits, etc. As an introvert, it is perfectly acceptable to not talk while eating so we can happily munch away and ignore everyone.
2. Blankets
Is there anything better than snuggling up in a good blanket in the cold? One of the things we do at my mum’s is to stick on a movie, get comfy under blankets and just spend the evening in each other’s company without really doing much at all – it is perfect.
3. Reading
You didn’t expect this to not be on this list right? I am running a book blog after all! There are two things about reading at Christmas that I love. The first is being able to get a little bit of solitude during the day and the second is Christmas-themed books! I am definitely a sucker for a good Christmas romance during this time of year.
4. Easy Family Time
Don’t get me wrong, I do love all of my family time but as an introvert it can definitely get to a point where it is just too much. So what I love is when we peel all of that back and just spend some time in each others’ company without forcing social interaction. So, for example, when we allow each other to read or watch movies together!
5. Advent Calendars
I actually don’t have one this year as I didn’t want to spend a fortune on a non-dairy version and I completely forgot to try and get one while it was on offer. But this fits in a little bit with the food aspect. It’s just something small to look forward to every day for twenty-four or twenty-five days – what’s not to love?
6. Gift Giving
I am not very good at receiving gifts. I find that in doing so, the attention shifts to me a bit too much for my liking but what I absolutely love is being able to give gifts. I love finding that one present that I think x would absolutely love and being able to watch them open their present with happiness.
7. Music
I love music in general but when it comes to Christmas, there is something just a little bit special about putting the classics on while you play games or put up decorations or cook. It kind of makes everything a little bit more magical. In my opinion anyway. Plus, as pretty much everyone knows the lyrics, it’s easy to sing along without everyone turning their attention to you!
8. Friends
Now above I mentioned that one of the things I hate about Christmas is all the social events but on the flip side to this, I do love spending time with friends. Especially, in my opinion, the ones who are introverts too. For example, just last week my friends and I spent the day just sitting and working on our bullet journals together. That was it. We spoke a little but mostly we just got to work on our journals and just enjoyed some silent company – utter perfecting.
9. Relaxing
One thing I try to make sure I do over the holidays is relax. This is easier said than done due to all the plans and socialising but I always try to at least carve out one day in the month to spend with myself. And it is on this day that I fully enjoy being able to officially relax. It is what I need to charge my batteries enough to deal with the rest of the month!
10. Movies
Last, but certainly not least, I cannot tell you how much I love a good movie fest at Christmas. For me, it’s almost a tradition that on Christmas Eve we sit down and watch at least one movie before bed. Be it a Christmas themed one or something else entirely. This is our time to relax, zone out, and truly let my introversion fly.
What do you love and hate about Christmas?
Do you agree or disagree with my choices?
