Alternative Holidays

I don't know if I'm the only person but I feel overwhelmed by the holidays.  There are always such high expectations.  Between the extreme decorating, party hosting, extended family feeding, etc., I get to the point where I don't even enjoy the day.  Christmas is the worst!  Having to add thoughtful presents to the mix and a month's worth of activities wipes me out.  So, I rebelled.  Oh, we still celebrate the major holidays but I've given up competing with Martha Stewart.  I try do the minimum that keeps me in the "good parent club".

(We don't celebrate Festivus but this was too funny to pass up.  I was looking up pictures of alternate holidays and ran into this classic Seinfeld reference.  The picture's website lists their yearly grievances on comics and TV.)

Instead, we celebrate Alternate Holidays.  Nobody has expectations or a predetermined vision of these.  Since I'm a food person, most of them center around food.  My daughter and I normally make some type of decoration but not always.  We keep it "in the immediate family" and drop/add holidays at will.  It's great!