Go ahead and cue the "boooo" and call me call me a grinch. But before you pass any ultimate judgement, let me explain.
I dislike what the holiday of Christmas has become. Sure, it's fun picking out gifts for people. But when your family begins growing into ridiculous numbers (marriage tends to contribute to this), it can get stressful and incredibly expensive. You feel like a jerk if you don't get every single relative a gift. But you also feel like a jerk if you do and your gift is small because you have 50 people on your list so your "per-person" amount is a bit puny. So this beef is really with the commercialization of Christmas rather than the holiday itself.
But these next thoughts on Christmas might redeem me if you're still convinced that I'm a heartless grinch.
I absolutely love the family time. My family is a strong contender in the contest of how spread across the country you can get. With family members in states on every coastline/border (yes that includes north, south, east and west) it's nice to be able to see at least part of them during the Christmas season. It can mean some intense schedule arranging and trying to allow time to breathe in between Christmases, but the memories are worth it.
And one more very random thing I love about Christmas are the cards. And I don't mean the ones you buy in boxes with a creepy picture of Santa on them. I mean the family photo cards. This year I grossly underestimated how many I should print (sorry if you got missed!), but I vow to do better next year. In the spirit of the season, here is our card for this year, furbaby included. And don't even ask how long it took to get her to sit still for the self-timer.
Merry Christmas to you and yours! Hope your Christmas is full of family and laughter.