Christmas? Most Of The Time I Just Want To Scream!

Writer Jane Moore explains why the idea of another year of festivities fills her with dread...

- Jane Moore

’Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la l-aaaaaaaargh.

Sorry to be a Grinch, but when it comes to Christmas cheer, I never seem to get the memo.

Why do I dread it so much? Let me begin with a little list...

The tiresome build-up that begins in August; the skin-crawlingly irritating festive ditties played on a loop in every lift, shopping mall and workplace; the never-ending round of Christmas parties with cold pastries, warm wine, and tepid conversation with the office bore whom you have steadfastly avoided for the rest of the year; and, perhaps worst of all, the unrelenting pressure to show a Zen-like, peace-to-all-mankind calm, ‘because it’s Christmas’ when, most of the time, I want to scream.

And that’s merely outside the home. Behind closed doors, it’s far, far worse.