No, I felt great! I knew I was keeping my children from taints of the world. I was grateful to Jehovah and the FDS for protecting me and them from it all.
Dave of the "hook, line, sinker, and pole" class
When you were an active witness..........
by gringojj 16 Replies latest jw friends
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undercover
I also still don't celebrate...technically speaking. No trees, no presents under the tree at Xmas. No big deal at B-days.
But even though we say we don't celebrate, if we are invited to a xmas or b-day party, we go, we have fun. We go to Thanksgiving dinners, we entered a car into the Easter parade one year.
As a kid, we couldn't do anything. No parties, no cake, no nothing. We hid deep in our basement on Halloween night with the lights offs so no one would knock. We stayed home and did yard work on other holidays. At least now, you enjoy whatever parts you want to enjoy even though we still may not feel like we have to fall into the heavy burden of it all.
It's our choice now, where before we had no choice. That's where the biggist difference is.
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Doubtfully Yours
I feel really bad for my nieces and nephews. It's just so sad for them around holiday time. They miss school days just to avoid the pressure. The little ones don't understand why they get sent to the library or to the principal's office whenever there's a little birthday celebration for one of the other kids in the classroom.
No extra-curricular activities or sports, or contact with any other classmates that aren't JWs.
They're missing so much and their little minds already thinking that everyone that's not a JW is an evil person and will be destroyed very soon.
So very sad.
DY
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lonelysheep
Yes.
This year has been the first of everything for them, at home w/mommy anyways.
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AK - Jeff
Well, speaking as the kid that was deprived...it wasn't the actual holiday fun that I miss, it's the family traditions that were lost.
I've got a buddy who grew up in a "normal" family. They celebrated all the holidays and stuff and now he has a little girl and he is making sure that she enjoys the traditions that he grew up with. It isn't the toys, the candy or anything, it's the family, the fun, the love, the memories he wants her to cherish when she's an adult, the same as he cherishes from his childhood. When he talks about it, I become envious. We had none of that. We missed it all.
Agree 100% with UC here. I know how hard it was for me as a kid - then I made it just as hard on my own child. Now we are raising our g-kids. I am not sure where I come down on some of the holidays yet, but wifey does them with the kids and I go along some. I don't want them to feel that sort of isolation. And I want them to have memories of good times with family. We even had a 50th b-day party for me this summer. Of course with no friends left any longer, there weren't many there. But we had a few family over and took some pics at least. This year has seen the first time we ever sent or recieved cards for any holidays. I feel no guilt. I think maybe I will decorate the Kingdom hall this year - no charge. Get 'em in the spirit of things. Jeff
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AlmostAtheist
This year has been the first of everything for them, at home w/mommy anyways.
Doesn't it feel great to give them these things? Gina and I talk about this all the time. To know your kids will grow up outside of the Watchtower is a wonderful feeling!
Dave
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GoingGoingGone
I grew up in a witness home, and felt so isolated not celebrating the holidays, but I truly believed that I was serving Jehovah by not doing it, and I would give my entire little presentation of why it was wrong if anyone asked. I felt like a real loser, though... very alone.
By the time I had kids myself, we were the 'perfect' JW family, and of course we didn't celebrate holidays, but I felt so bad for my kids. I absolutely hated knowing that they had to feel different and strange and know that all their school friends thought they were weird. I really started reading up on the holidays then, and became more and more convinced that the WTS got this one wrong, too....
I sent my first birthday card a few months ago... ... and my daughter and I bought a gift for her friend who had a birthday last month... . It feels so good to do something nice for someone on their special day!
GGG