Despite being on a great fade (July1st deemed "inactive") I find it hard. I don't feel its wrong or right, just a damned numbness that prevents me from moving on. I got a fathers day card from my daughter for the 1st time since she was 8 years old, before we dove in head first....so sweet. Guess it will take time to get the Dub out of me...
Do You ENJOY The Holidays & Birthdays Now That You Can Celebrate Them?
by minimus 21 Replies latest jw friends
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kitten whiskers
I love them!
Have to admit the pressure at times is a bit much...I feel like I have to do so much. I know that is just overcompensation for all the lost years! But I think we are getting into a good groove with it all!
I realize that mother's/father's day doesn't have to be "big". Whoever's day it is gets to be "right" all day! No argueing, no correcting. The person is "king/queen" for the day! They also get to choose what we do all day and where we eat! Hubby has his day all planned out!
I would never go back! There is so much joy in celebrating life and having celebrations to look forward to! I swear it makes the days fly by and not drag on with dread!
We really enjoy all the fun and planning and activities and passing on new traditions. It took awhile to be able to do it. Once I debunked all the lies and evil that the Society had placed on them (I mean, really...we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S. because it's a nationalistic holiday? Crazy old men in Brooklyn!) and did my own research, it has been sheer pleasure and joy.
We are really making up for all the lost years. Thankfully I had some childhood celebrations to draw upon. My poor husband had no holiday memories. I wish I could give him some of mine! But we do our best for the kids and ourselves! We adults get visits from the Easter Bunny too! Sometimes a little something from Santa too! We love the celbrations and treasure the memories we are making!
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Lozhasleft
I love them all. My adult stepkids are getting us all together for a meal for their dad tomorrow...lovely family times...so much grief that mine missed out and still do...
Loz x
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pmljohn
Honestly, I could take them or leave them. Not celebrating for the first 25 years or so of my life, kind of made the holidays a moot point in my head. But I do enjoy the family aspect, being able to gather together and just enjoy. I don't attach any spiritual or religious significance to any of the holidays, which probably makes for a more enjoyable experience. I do see the materialism associated with the holidays, which was so ingrained as a JW. But we do what we can afford, making sure to make it more about the time together than for anything material.
I am a bit saddened that my parents have to miss their grandkid's birthdays. That always will be to me, a ridiculous rule and horrible interpretation of scripture.
John
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serenitynow!
I still dont really celebrate anything. I've done cinco de mayo but that's about it.
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Ilovebirthdays
Check out my screen name and take a wild guess. The only reason I wasn't IlovebirthdaysandChristmas was because that seemed like too long a user name. I overcompensate big time when it comes to holidays.
I will say, though, my whole theory on fireworks is that once you've seen one display, you've pretty much seen them all.
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White Dove
I celebrate anything and everything I can. Egg and I bought our very first Easter baskets and called them our Ostara baskets. We were buzzing from chocolate eggs and bunnies for a week!
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serenitynow!
I think i will give out candy on halloween. I think it's unfair that all the time i was getting dressed up going d2d i never got any candy.
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Quentin
My jw upbringing was so ingrained it takes my wife and daughter to remind me , except Thanksgiving, Christmas, when holidays are coming up...We do put on a BIG Thanksgiving feed, buts that's our main yearly holiday...wife decorates for Christmas and gifts are exchanged...otherwise I don't think of birthdays, or other holidays unless I'm remined....
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Desert Rat
It was a couple of years before we celebrated anything. Our then 14 year old daughter talked us into getting a tree for Christmas. We put it in the den, I guess so we could close the door if we felt we needed to. We all exchanged gifts, kept it very simple. Fast forward to this last Christmas--- (now that we have almost a dozen Grandkids)-- There is a huge tree in front of the big window, every room in the house has a small tree in it, that each Grandkid gets to decorate as their own, and so many decorations in every room, transforming the entire house into a Christmas Wonderland. I'm almost certain that any jet airplane could use my outside lights to land with! As you can tell, Christmas has become my favorite. But I love them all!
I have wondered if I go all out for Christmas now, just to make up for what my kids didn't get while they were growing up?? What was the JW's always said, 'your conscience can either accuse you, or excuse you.'