Community Chat

[Lucky Charm]

The one good person that FlowerBear feels close to in that gathering would be her dad.

But she has stated her father wouldn't want to hear anything negative about the situation.

She also said that her father's happiness is all that matters to her.

Pull yourself away from that feeling.  You are the important one here.  You are no less important than your father.

Please stop thinking that!  

Honestly, I wouldn't go.  It would be harder for me to show up, stand alone, feel ignored, etc. than to accept that I may have to spend the day at home alone.

I would have some yummy food planned, maybe a pamper yourself kind of day.  Wrap yourself in a luxurious robe and if you sit and watch TV all day or listen to music---how relaxing!

You don't need to sit thru one more year of it 'hopefully getting better'.

[Porcelain]

I'm shocked that anyone would recommend spending Christmas without family over attending an occasionally uncomfortable family gathering. (Which is how holidays are for many, even most, of us.) That is a recipe for isolation. Unless abuse is going on, cherish every moment you have with your family, even messed up as most of them are.

[Isobel Archer]

I may have missed this and if so, I apologize, but are you the only person not related to the others - i.e., do you have sisters/brothers involved in this too?  If so, did they get gifts from this person?

I'm wondering if the person who gave the gift to everyone else had been doing it for years and didn't want you to think you were obligated to get him/her a gift by giving you one.  Obviously, if you have siblings who were gifted by this person, that is a different story.

Did you give gifts to this person and/or the others?  

I don't know what the situation is on the cards.  Did you get cards from any of them this year that you sent to last year?