Being woken at 5 am is punishment for not being German, not for having children. We get our presents on Christmas eve after it's got dark, with not a bleary eye in sight :-p.
nooo. you see.. Scandinavians (and germans I think) get the presents on christmass Eve, not christmass morning the day after :D we get them 11 hours earlier.
Well, you don't really. The Christmas tree only really gets put up on the morning of Christmas eve (which takes up a good part of the day), and the presents don't get put under it. Come dark, the kids get chivvied into the kitchen, the parents get the presents out and the tree gets lit up for the first time, so it looks all new and sparkly. Works, honest.
*snerk* I'm sure you know my thoughts on that by now, but here's the response I made to someone else who posted this:
Absolutely, especially women. As a consciously-perpetual single and childfree, I run into this a lot - and much of the pressure, I note, comes FROM women. I've been told it's "unnatural to not want to love" (disregarding the love that I feel for friends, family, etc as "that doesn't count") that I have issues, and the good ol' "having a husband ... See Moreand children is part of God's plan"!
The pressure can be conscious - such as those examples - and even unconscious - note how delighted friends and relatives and even strangers become when a person announces a pregnancy or engagement. It's hard to escape even when, like me, you've consciously divorced yourself from what you "ought to do" and decided to do "what makes me happy."
I think it does hit women more - bachelors can be happy go-lucky type (it's often assumed they're having too much sex with too many women to settle down - and, of course, being heterosexual men promiscuity is a VIRTUE) but women? WOMEN MUST BREED! IT IS KNOWN!
Oh yes when everyoen runs around yelling "YOU'RE PREGNANT! THIS IS THE BEST THING EVAH!" there's always an implication that - well, it's the best thing ever. Why aren't you doing it?
In my case, it was my extended (fortunately not immediate) family being all excited whenever I dated anyone at all. It was after the last such occasion that I broke up with the guy and realized I'd gone looking because I thought that was what I *should* do and not what I *wanted* that I finally figured out I could be happy single and didn't need anyone's validation.
But the question still comes up at EVERY SINGLE FAMILY GATHERING - Am I seeing anyone (yet)?
Of course, I made it worse by catching the bouquet at my cousin's wedding in September. I'm not superstitious, so I just thought it was funny, but oh, the whispers!
yes yes yes yes! A thousand million trillion yes's would not be enough to cover this one! when I was young and child free, it was "when are you going to have them so WE can have the neat holidays?" then it was "How are you going to handle the holidays alone with the kids?" ya knw, moving all the way across country from them was maybe one oif my wiser moments and I do truly hurt for my friends that are being hit by that pressure. Gads if people would only wake up! This time of year is NOT just about church n pressies, its about being open minded enough to care for ALL your fellow men/women no matter what the differences are. On that note, hope you and your beloved have a fantastic holiday if I dont chat w/you before hand. *smooochies*
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See, this is MY plan. I think it's working pretty well so far.
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Absolutely, especially women. As a consciously-perpetual single and childfree, I run into this a lot - and much of the pressure, I note, comes FROM women. I've been told it's "unnatural to not want to love" (disregarding the love that I feel for friends, family, etc as "that doesn't count") that I have issues, and the good ol' "having a husband ... See Moreand children is part of God's plan"!
The pressure can be conscious - such as those examples - and even unconscious - note how delighted friends and relatives and even strangers become when a person announces a pregnancy or engagement. It's hard to escape even when, like me, you've consciously divorced yourself from what you "ought to do" and decided to do "what makes me happy."
Reply
I think it does hit women more - bachelors can be happy go-lucky type (it's often assumed they're having too much sex with too many women to settle down - and, of course, being heterosexual men promiscuity is a VIRTUE) but women? WOMEN MUST BREED! IT IS KNOWN!
Oh yes when everyoen runs around yelling "YOU'RE PREGNANT! THIS IS THE BEST THING EVAH!" there's always an implication that - well, it's the best thing ever. Why aren't you doing it?
Reply
But the question still comes up at EVERY SINGLE FAMILY GATHERING - Am I seeing anyone (yet)?
Of course, I made it worse by catching the bouquet at my cousin's wedding in September. I'm not superstitious, so I just thought it was funny, but oh, the whispers!
Reply
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"when are you going to have them so WE can have the neat holidays?" then it was "How are you going to handle the holidays alone with the kids?" ya knw, moving all the way across country from them was maybe one oif my wiser moments and I do truly hurt for my friends that are being hit by that pressure. Gads if people would only wake up! This time of year is NOT just about church n pressies, its about being open minded enough to care for ALL your fellow men/women no matter what the differences are.
On that note, hope you and your beloved have a fantastic holiday if I dont chat w/you before hand. *smooochies*
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People can be so very narrow about it all
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*iz smug*
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