I think I'm starting to hate christmas time
 

Let me qualify I by no means mean christmas itself. I love christmas, all the family time, gifts, good food. My issue though is I have no money, there is literally two dollars in my wallet. Thus I couldn't afford to get my family members packs of gum. So I don't christmas shop. Everyone else on the other hand, does. My family is very busy so I dont see them much. While not all my friends do alot of christmas shopping thats often because they spend more time with their families. Meaning they are no less busy.

The result is me being alone, bored, and guilty over soon getting gifts with no ability to return the favor. Heck my entire motivation for posting this was "hey atleast it killed ten minutes".

The only thing that kind of grates me about Christmas is how my family, because they hate all things nerdy, utterly refuse to even acknowledge, let alone purchase, anything that I actually want for Christmas for me and instead purchase things they think I "need," which I guess only upsets me because I have no similar inhibitions about buying my sisters and parents things I think they enjoy (because, for example, my sisters' favorite TV shows and movies are "socially acceptable" to enjoy), so the net effect of Christmas is generally that I go several hundred dollars into debt purchasing them things I know they'll like, while generally receiving things I'd never actually buy for myself.

Which, I know, is rather stupid and selfish of me. I think the real effect is more psychological than anything else: every Christmas I feel like the "real me" is being rejected because my parents categorically refuse to acknowledge who I really am and persist in purchasing things for me that, like, a preppy version of me in a J-Crew catalog would want.

And besides, this year I skillfully averted that by asking for a new desktop computer that I've already received and that, admittingly, is everything that I wanted.

It'd just be great if like, one Christmas my family surprised me by actually buying me a videogame or an anime or a dorky Homestuck T-shirt or a Game of Thrones DVD or whatever the fuck it is I'm enjoying these days, and actually unironically wanted me to enjoy it. And let's not even get started on how my family would disown me if I asked them for anything whatsoever related to Friendship is Magic.

I actually had to physically hide my Kanaya doll and the Pinkie Pie trinket Bobbey made for me (thanks again Bobbey! You're amazing) the last time my family visited my apartment lest they discover my painful secrets.

Hey, now!

Game of Thrones isn't out yet.

Really, it is the age-old "parents buy you socks for Christmas" conundrum all adults face. It's probably why my dad sends us a hundred dollars in cash each year--he has no idea what we want.

Pfft, as a poor broke college student I'll probably be asking for socks this year 'cause I sorta need some new ones.

I keep telling my parents that I'd just love it if they gave me cash instead, but my family categorically refuses to do so, viewing cash as a cop-out.

So yeah maybe my problem is basically that I should be buying my family dorky things that I want them to have as "revengeance" (hah Metal Gear reference) but instead I try to be all considerate when they won't be.

I mean it'd be fun if I just decided to buy my younger sisters a Friendship is Magic DVD or a Homestuck book or a Nintendo DS this year and see what happens.

Bollocks to christmas I say. I haven't actually wanted anything for christmas for at least 7 years now (ever since I got my first job and finally had the money to buy the things I wanted), so my philosophy is "if I don't want anything from anyone, why should I bother buying anything for others?" I mean christmas is a stupid, overhyped compulsery holiday based on a bullshit religious event I don't even believe in anyway, so why should I be forced to go out and buy stupid shit for people "just because" it's the thing that everyone does?

It's like some worldwide peer pressure forced on us by society and I've had enough. People go out and spend stupid amounts of money on trees and decorations and shit tons of food and presents and fucking cards, whilst all the while we're bombarded by constant adverts and shit music and for what? To fuel a money making machine that corporations insist we all must partake in for no reason other than to make them rich. Fuck off!

Fortunately these days it's just me and my mum at home and even she can't be arsed with the decorations and the food and all that crap (though she's still sent a few cards and bought more than a few presents for about 10 different people). I've bought her a book and a single card. That's it, christmas shopping done, bollocks to the rest.

/Rant.

Then do the same.
Get them the dullest, most practical gift everybody despises to get.

Socks. Bundles of socks.
So many socks it'll come out of their ears.

"Mom, dad. I thought about getting you what you've always wanted. However, since you can never have enough, I bought you this instead. Merry Christmas!"

If they don't get the hint then...

EDIT: As for me... we're not doing much beyond dinner together (which isn't really that difficult, since I'm still living at home with my parents). Haven't for a while, beyond a new pair of slippers under the Christmas tree. XD
This year (rather next, technically. Doubt I can get a reservation in anywhere for this year...), I'm going to treat my parents to dinner, however. Mostly to celebrate my dad's improving health.
He's already off chemo for his leukemia.

So, yeah... completely opposite to the theme of this thread. Whatevs.

They don't get me dull or practical gifts, though.
They get me gifts that would be incredibly thoughtful and creative and appreciated, if I was a preppy J-Crew model in one of those catalogs and not a dork.

I hope this doesn't seem too insulting, as that's not really my intent.
 

You basically just said what I said in the other thread with more words and more easily understandable to the average human being, and it still is safe for work. Man. I really should stop doing that. But that metaphor I used was so absolutely... well. It was there.

As for gifts. I rarely buy them. I don't expect them from people but I usually get something from my parents and close relatives. I myself only buy or make something very very rarely. Not because I'm a cheap bastard, but because I want it to have some kind of meaning and be personal. I bought something and altered it a little for a friend and that's about it this year. When I gave it to her because we wouldn't see each other till after christmas I had to tell her that yes, it's really okay that she does not have anything for me and I'd be personally insulted if she bought me something just for the sake of having something to give me. It's not a gift if I expect something in return, I always say.

I like Christmas fine but I'm convinced that anyone who works for, e.g., Starbucks would be more or less entitled to stab any dozen or so innocent bystanders they'd care to.

Nobody can reasonably be expected to listen to that many fucking Christmas carols and stay sane.

Yes, actually do this.

other families seem to be alot more material than mine. The frenzy isn't about obligation or anything, but that Christmas is an excuse to give. Heck for a time my brother would be upset at the family for giving him gifts instead of giving his kids even more stuff. We make Christmas lists because other members of the family insist on giving gifts and would rather not guess.

Personally, I think I'd rather have people to talk to then say, a new video game.

As far as the present thing goes, I'm not sure what your family is like but you should look around for some crafty ideas to make gifts. One Christmas my friends and I all pretty much agreed that we're all poor as hell so we agreed that we would always just make gifts for each other. One year I didn't have hardly any money so I went to Goodwill and got some cheap, thick, hardcover booked and then glued all the pages together and carved out the center to make a neat little hiding place. It cost, like, $4 in total and just the time it took to make it (which solves the boredom thing too).

Look around the house for things you can transform, or go to the kitchen and see if you can make some cookies or something. Everyone loves cookies! It sounds cheap but I, personally, really love getting handmade things from my friends.

EDIT: Right after writing this I realized that my brother is a Brony and I have a ton of My Little Pony dolls in the basement from when I was a kid. Crap, is there still enough time to customize one to give to him?