Christmas is coming and for the last several years I’ve held a question in the back of my mind, will this always be considered a “religious” holiday?

What about those of us that don’t practice or believe in religion? We like to spend time with our families too and this is the only time of the year that’s widely recognized as a holiday season, what happens when religion no longer prevails? Do we lose the season?

What would there be if there wasn’t Christmas?

It’s the holiday season, the time of year when everyone is supposed to be on their best behavior and put up with the most crap from people. Drunk relatives at dinner on the holiday, relatives in jail on the holiday, gossipers, mean spirited people, they all need love during the holidays.

Regardless of the dysfunction in your own family, it’s good form to swallow your pride, show up and smile and make like you like these people. They are after all the reason you are the way that you are, and we’re proud of that aren’t we?

So go ahead and use this post as your personal purge place of all that is your holiday irritation. Something happen every holiday that you’re not looking forward too? We’ll comfort you, share here, we all have that one thing that we know will happen that really gets under our skin.

I’ll start. Growing up, my Mom didn’t express a lot of care, affection or any of that sort of gushiness you expect from mothers that love their kids to death. However, the grandkids are a different story, they get love, gushiness, the whole ball of wax. It grosses me out. I’m glad for the kids, they need it and should have it, so it’s great that she does it for them, I just can’t help but wonder if it’s an act to be accepted.

It just grosses me out. Your turn.