Just Curious: Tell Me, What’s Your Least Favorite Holiday?

/ Ally Bean

This is a question I’ve pondered lately.  Everyone I know is quick to tell me about holidays they like, but rarely do I find myself in a conversation about a holiday someone does not like.

So I made this poll, basing my answers on my Judeo-Christian Middle Class American experiences.  I know that around the world there are lots of other holidays than the ones I listed here, so if your least favorite holiday is not on my list you may add it to the poll using the “other” category.

If you, my gentle readers, want to tell me why a particular holiday is your least favorite, the comments below are the place to do it.  Certainly everyone has one holiday that bugs them while everyone else around them is enjoying it.

Tell me about it!

117 thoughts on “Just Curious: Tell Me, What’s Your Least Favorite Holiday?”

  1. I dislike April Fool’s Day. It’s passive aggressive and a waste of time during our spring when you should be outside enjoying nature, not inside plotting to make someone else look [& feel?] foolish. *meh*

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  2. This might sound shocking coming from someone who writes romance, but my least favorite holiday is Valentine’s Day. It’s overly commercialized and unnecessary to have one day where we’re supposed to show someone how much we love them by being pressured to buy gifts. In our house, every day is Valentine’s Day. 🙂

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    • Jill, I agree with you about Valentine’s Day. I used to work in a card & gift shop and customers were nutso about buying crap for that holiday. I never got it, but I got paid for selling them the stuff, so… 🤷‍♀️

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  3. Valentine’s Day. Unnecessary stress from having to distribute cards to every kid in 1st grade to having to make just the right meaningful gesture to that special someone. Cards, expensive flowers that were forced to bloom and meals that were rapidly prepared and served by a waitstaff that hopes to usher you out so the next couple can be seated.

    My wife and I ignore this “holiday” every year.

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  4. hmmm – tough call. There are so many on this list that aren’t relevant here – like Columbus Day and Cinco de Mayo. I can toss in Canada Day for 4th of July, but not sure where Columbus Day fits in without looking it up.

    If I approach it from the back end, I liked any reason that gave me a day off work so there are still so many possible ‘dislikes’ like St Patrick’s and April Fools.

    So that now leaves me with the option of considering those days that have always made me question ‘why?’ – specifically Hallowe’en and Valentine’s. My instinct is to give the nod to Valentine’s because I think there are many personally significant days that a couple can celebrate their relationship without having a contrived day on the calendar that is a landmine for potentially hurt feelings.

    Whew! It hurt my brain to think this through but in the end I think I landed on a good spot 🙂

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    • Joann, I enjoyed a glimpse into your reasoning. And I think your conclusion is a sound one. I knew when I made this poll that not all the holidays I celebrate, or are celebrated around me, would fit the bill for everyone.

      I’m seeing a trend here in a general dislike directed toward Valentine’s Day. I agree with you that any couple who is really a couple will have more personal romance-inspired days to celebrate, than one foisted upon you by your calendar. 🙄

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  5. Columbus Day.
    When the dummy landed here, he thought he’d found India. He also brought smallpox, the measles and influenza which wiped out a huge portion of the native population. For this he gets a holiday? That’s just wrong!

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    • rivergirl1211, yes, I’m with you on this, too. I’m not a fan of that holiday, and frankly, never was one. Even when we were little kids learning about the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Nice ship names, but the rest of the story about CC is awful.

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  6. April fools day. I admit some pranks are funny, but why do we need a day to make fun of someone else? Isn’t that what parenting is every day….your kid making fun of you?

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  7. Valentine’s Day. Seems like a day where many feel such pressure to show the ones they love just that. Isn’t this something we should be working on each & every day through simple little ways to remind those we love how grateful we are to have them in our life?

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    • Lynn, yes, yes, yes! I agree with you. Simple daily acts of kindness and love mean so much more to me than one big ole day of flowers & candy & gifts & dinner. I don’t enjoy anything that is too forced.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. I clicked New Year’s Eve, not because it’s my least favorite, but because I’m too tired from Christmas to celebrate. Once (or twice) I opened one eye to see the ball drop at Times Square on TV, but other than that I don’t celebrate.

    Sometimes I have invited friends over on New Year’s Day for the German/Swiss tradition of pork and sauerkraut, but lately I’ve even gotten lazy about that.

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    • marian, that’s an excellent point about how exhaustion can be a contributing factor to not liking a certain holiday. I hadn’t thought of that variable.

      I’m not crazy about New Year’s Eve because it seems so forced & boozy to me. Plus around here the weather is wintry and going out anywhere involves driving home late, late, late at night. So we stay in and snooze our way into the new year. 💤

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  9. Thanksgiving. Everyone wants a big family dinner, but as the mom, I am the one that must plan for it, shop for it, and cook it. I may get a little help, but not near enough. It is a huge attention hog and requires a lot of work. I can’t wait until my kids are old enough to contribute dishes of their own. So it’s just a lot of work and then I have to deal with the left overs. Thank goodness my husband washes the dishes!

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  10. Oh, Halloween, hands down! Not even close! Back when it used to be A Kid’s Holiday, it was fine. But now, it’s been co-opted by retail and adults, and it’s turned into a huge deal. And homes are draped and tchotchkied up with ugly decorations celebrating…DEATH. I don’t get it. It’s so overblown.

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    • nance, you’re right about how Halloween has morphed from a holiday for kids into another decorating opportunity for adults. And around here adults, as well as the kids, dress up for trick or treat night. It’s kooky, I’ll give you that. But it’s big business now so I don’t expect it to go away any time soon.

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  11. I agree with the comments on April Fools Day. It’s an opportunity for idiots to be mean, especially when I worked. Many of the others are meh. If I got the day off from work, I was for it. Do we need a holiday to celebrate and be happy? I have a cat that thinks Valentine’s Day is celebrated because it’s her Gotcha Day when she came here to adopt us.

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  12. Oh that’s easy: Sweetest Day. It seems to be an Ohio thing? I think it’s in October. It’s like Valentine’s Day only worse because it doesn’t even pretend to have a saintly story to go with it. Just purely commercial. I told my husband to never get me anything for Sweetest Day lol. I actually like Valentine’s Day though! But I keep it pretty low-key.

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    • Mei-Mei, I forgot about Sweetest Day… which I suppose tells you something about how I feel about it. You’re right that it is totally commercial, contrived– and just kind of shows up one day in October for no reason. Good choice for a holiday to not like.

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  13. I’m going my own way again Ally Bean and just going to say that most of those listed are inconsequential in my life. If you make me pick one then let’s say Christmas. I have some good memories of this one, and some not so good, and of course we have lost all reason when it comes to gifts and meaning and all that, however I like the lights and the smell of pine and the ability to justify drinking large amounts of eggnog 🙂

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    • Deb, I’m not a big fan of what Christmas has become. You are right that “we have lost all reason when it comes to gifts and meaning.” Once upon a time it seemed special and filled me with hope, but now all that is obscured by our materialistic society and the noise it creates around Christmas. So excessive…

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  14. So far, of the top four answers (2/14, 4/1, 10/31 and 12/31), they’re all celebrations and not really holidays, as in some people would get off work for them. The first one I thought of to answer your question was New Years Day, because for the life of me I’ve never understood why the first day of the year is an official, legal, federal holiday. As someone for whom holidays have zilch to do with my actual work schedule, I’ve found the shut everything down mode of January 1st to be inconvenient on numerous occasions. It’s a nonsense holiday if there ever was one…

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    • evilsquirrel13, I’ve never made a distinction between a holiday and a celebration so thank you for that bit of clarity. I’m somewhat baffled by New Year’s Day celebrations because most people are talking about resolutions that revolve around good health, then they gorge themselves on one last big meal… on the day that is supposed to be the beginning of a new lifestyle.

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        • Dunno how you could have missed it :). When I was little I told everyone that the holiday was made for me. Of course, I’ve never had a birthday party on my birthday other than family celebrations but as an adult I no longer care.

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          • Clearly I’m slipping in my commitment to know everything about everyone who leaves a comment on this blog! [I’M SAYING THAT IN JEST, of course.] I can imagine that as a child you’d have won the prize for least celebrated birthday. And yet you’ve thrived. 😜

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  15. Although I voted for V-day, I’m also not thrilled with Columbus Day, April Fools Day or 4th of July. Some of the others are inconsequential to me, but I don’t dislike them. Decades in the high school classroom gave me a hearty dislike for Valentine’s Day.

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    • Margaret, I can only imagine how Valentine’s Day plays out in high schools these days. The opportunities for drama, the need for attention, the hurt feelings… it’s a recipe for teenage angst. No wonder you don’t like it. 😒

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    • susie, you bring up a good issue about disliking any holiday. If it brings you stress, then you can dislike it while at the same time appreciating it. We used to do big Christmas parties, but no mas. I feel for you from afar.

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  17. You’ve really got us thinking this morning, Ally. Good thing today it’s National Cookie Day so that we can restore some glucose to the brain! 🙄

    When I worked, I enjoyed any holiday that offered up a day off, especially a long weekend. Now that every day is a day off, I see how silly most of our holiday traditions have become . . . due to gross over-commercialization and rampant materialism.

    Instead of using them as opportunities to relax and spend time together, many (Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, New Year’s Eve, etc.) have become huge money sucks and time wasters. As you can see, this year I’ll be celebrating Grinch-mas! 😆

    So . . . do I have a least favorite?
    Hmm . . . so many great choices to choose from.

    I’ll get back to you AFTER baking (and eating!) some cookies!

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    • nancy, YES! I agree with you and how you said it: “due to gross over-commercialization and rampant materialism.”

      You’re right… if you can’t relax on a holiday, or if you can’t experience joy about it, then something is off with the holiday or you. In either case the meaning is lost.

      Which is a shame.

      And now that I know today is National Cookie Day I shall adjust my diet to include one or two today. Thanks for the heads up.

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  18. I have an intense dislike for New Year’s Eve. Pressure to have fun and/or a date and drunk calls waking me up (now drunk texts). Driving on the roads is Ill advised due to drunk or drugged drivers who think they are having fun. When midnight rolls around Danny and I are sound asleep. Though I have to say that I do enjoy our traditional good luck meal on New Year’s Day of corned beef, cabbage and black eyed peas with all but the peas cooked in one pot with potatoes and carrots New England Style. Throw in Mexican cornbread and our eyes glaze over.

    I can’t dislike Valentine’s Day because it is a sacred day for us. It is our anniversary making it extra special. It is one time that we set aside all else and usually do something or go someplace we haven’t done or been before just the two of us. We still take our wedding flutes and Unity candle along. This and date nights keep us reminded of why we did this thing.

    However, I agree that the VD part is a bit overblown and again there’s the pressure of appearances when you are young. I used to get caught up in buying VD gifts for our grandchildren ( as well as Easter) until I woke up and smelled the coffee. Just more junk for their parent’s to dispose of and that held no meaning for them but $$$ for retailers. When I think of the money I have spent buying dumb gifts, I weep.😂

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    • Patricia, I’m with you on the dangers of New Year’s Eve driving. Even going out earlier in the afternoon for a late lunch/early dinner can be tricky because so many people seem to start drinking at noon… or so it would seem to me.

      Your traditional New Year’s good luck meal sounds delicious to me. I like everything you’ve mentioned so I know it must bring you good luck. And lots of yumminess.

      If Valentine’s Day is personal to you for some reason like your anniversary, then I totally get why you like it. Carry on, have fun, show love. But for the rest of us I think a nice card, or a fast extra smooch, or favorite candy bar is all that you need to celebrate. No need to get carried away.

      I wonder, too, about how much money I’ve spent on gifts that no one wanted past the moment of opening them. We’ve all been duped to some degree by the idea that we must celebrate holidays in a certain way. Just being together with, or thinking about, people you like should be enough…

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  19. I no longer get excited about many holidays – viewing all of them as over-commercialized. I’m all for simplicity and enjoying those holidays when family and friends get together, because for me, that’s what it’s all about. Most of the rest, I just ignore.

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    • Carol, I understand what you mean. I’m not big on decorating for holidays and I don’t like to feel locked into any socially dictated menu, so I end up being even more of a free spirit about holidays than my normally free-spirited self. Good people, good food, good times– that makes a holiday great.

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  20. I’d say most of these are just not a big deal. There are some annoyances related to all the big ones but you can choose not to give in to the commercialism of Christmas or to keep Thanksgiving a simple day to reflect on things you are grateful for if that’s what you want.

    I enjoy some of the silly things of April Fools, like whatever Google has come up with. I have no experience with the mean spirited tricks others have had to deal with. It must not be a thing around here.

    But I loathe the 4th of July. Oh, I’m not opposed to celebrating our country’s independence and I like the big, well produced firework’s displays, but i hate the noise of the constant bang pop bang during the day and the drunken folks playing with explosives at night for a week or more. Around here that’s all the 4th is about – an excuse to get drunk and to play with explosives.

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    • Zazzy, I agree with you that you can keep Thanksgiving/Christmas commercialism at bay by being conscious of how you celebrate and why. Focus on the why.

      In my life April Fool’s Day has been an interactive affair. People who might not have your best interests at heart find ways to do you wrong, and then laugh at you. It’s not fun when there’s a meanness underscoring it.

      Your 4th of July sounds [no pun intended] lousy. I cannot abide loud noises so neighbors playing with explosives would drive me batty. Around here there’s some bangs, fireworks or guns, on 4th of July itself, but not all week. And as for excessive drinking on the 4th, I don’t think of that as a thing. Maybe it is, but I don’t see it around me.

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  21. I didn’t like Hallowe’en as a kid. I still don’t like it. I could care less about Valentine’s Day; I usually wish everyone a happy Cyril and Methodius day instead, because the Church dropped Valentine and reassigned the day. Thanksgiving is okay, as long as I don’t have to get dressed up and pretend I like turkey. Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday. Here, it’s just another excuse to go out drinkin’, and we already have St. Patrick’s Day (“it’s a great day for the annoyingly Irish”) for that. And while New Year’s Eve is okay in my book (we stay home and wait until the fireworks in the neighborhood stop), New Year’s Day is really depressing, because it’s the end of the Christmas holidays and there ain’t another real holiday until Memorial Day.

    April Fool’s Day is the start of the A to Z Challenge, so I like that one…

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    • John, Halloween is a weird holiday, I’ll give you that. You’re not the only one here to not like it. So far Valentine’s Day hasn’t been well received, but no one has mentioned Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick’s Day. Both of those days are big deals around here– and everywhere I’ve lived for that matter. We don’t end Christmas until the Feast of the Epiphany [Jan 6] so I think of New Year’s Day as a stepping stone to the end of Christmas, not the end of Christmas. It’s interesting to learn about how everyone thinks about holidays, and which ones resonate with people and which ones don’t!

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  22. There are quite a few of those on your list that I could do without like St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo and Columbus Day. I’m ashamed to say that I don’t mind Valentine’s Day because I make cards so I’m always hoping people will buy some, but I agree that it puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on people and if you are really someone’s valentine, they show it all year long. My absolutely, positively worst is April Fool’s Day. I really don’t see the point in trying to make fun of someone and I hate even more being the one getting fooled. Interesting topic today, Ally!

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    • Janet, I don’t hate Valentine’s Day itself, I dislike how it’s become commercialized and seemingly less sincere. We don’t go in big for it and never have, but I’m getting the feeling that some commenters have felt the pressure to go big and have been sorry that they did. I can understand why you like it and that makes sense to me, cents to you. 😉

      I don’t like April Fool’s Day at all, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to go away. You ask the question I wonder about too: what’s the point of it? No answer.

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    • Jan, I’m not a fan of New Year’s Eve either. It’s too much ado over nothing much. And that feeling of defeat that comes at the end of the year is real. Sleep is better than partying. Wake up refreshed. Try again.

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  24. Pingback: Least Favorite? | sparksfromacombustiblemind

  25. Valentines Day. Which, according to your poll there, is the top one that people dislike. I don’t like it because all the sugary romance and hearts and flowers and people skipping around being ‘in love’ kinda sickens me.

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    • Melanie, I never could have predicted that Valentine’s Day would be the most least liked holiday. [Now there’s a sentence.] I agree the it is kind of a fabricated holiday now. Once upon a time it might have been more sincere, but in our modern society it’s all lovey dovey, that’s for sure.

      And now I’ve got to go see what you’re up to linking to this post. 👀

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  26. I haven’t liked St. Patrick’s Day ever since I encountered a drunk driver (at 1 in the afternoon!) I called 911 and the cops came and arrested him. He was weaving all over the place, crossing the center line, and even opened his car door and threw up onto the road. Ugh! I like to have a beer or a glass of wine now and then, but St. Patrick’s Day seems to give people an excuse to drink to excess.

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    • Laurie, well, that sucks. Drunk and driving isn’t a good thing at any time of day. I’m glad you called the cops, but it was lousy that you had to do that. I can understand why St. Paddy’s Day has lost its appeal for you.

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  27. You’ve really got a live one here, Ally. But it has put me in quite the quandary. It was easy for me to choose Halloween as I’ve long literally hated it; something for a therapist to help me sort through I imagine. But then, in looking over the results of your survey, I saw Valentine’s Day, which I’ve never celebrated as it’s the day my father died when I was seven (no therapist needed there). it gets worse. I then noticed Columbus Day, which I’d forgotten about and hate — for all the negatives already listed in comments above — though I like the new Indigenous Peoples Day that more and more communities are adopting. But which one I dislike more? Its a quandary. 🙂

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    • Janet, I like how you’ve analyzed your quandary and I can see your problem/process. Many commenters don’t like Halloween for any number of reasons. In fact when last I looked at the poll it was winning the contest to be the least liked.

      Valentine’s Day isn’t popular either, which surprised me– although for you it doesn’t. And as for Columbus Day I agree that it’s a lousy holiday with CC’s name attached to it, but as Indigenous Peoples Day it changes the whole vibe of it to something I could celebrate.

      Thanks for taking the time to comment here. I’m finding it illuminating to learn which holidays don’t resonate and why that is. For an idle thought, this post has become quite intriguing.

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  28. Halloween annoys me. I’ve been over it since 1985. It was super fun when I was small and then it wasn’t fun for me anymore, or I outgrew it, I dunno. Very meh. I like jack o’lanterns, and I can always find Tootsie Pops, but the rest of it, meh. Also, did adults love Halloween when we were kids? I seem to have a lot of friends who are more excited about Halloween than anything in the whole world. I am happy for them briefly, but then annoyed. I don’t harsh their buzz because I don’t get it, but I really don’t get it. To me, it’s a child’s holiday. A small child’s holiday. Oh Em Gee, I’m ageist. Sigh.

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    • joey, in answer to your question about modern adults and their adoration of Halloween: NO! When we were kids Halloween was for little kids and adults were the grown-ups who gave out the candy whilst wearing their everyday clothes. Adults didn’t get into costumes, nor did they go trick or treating with their kids in said costumes.

      HOWEVER, around where I live Halloween is one big ole block party in which adults and kids go door-to-door and have loud parties and decorate their homes with spiders | lights | jack-o-lanterns.

      Halloween is now an EVENT, so if you don’t like the holiday to begin with it’s even more obnoxious. I can understand your annoyance, my bloggy friend.

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  29. What an interesting topic! I never thought about holidays I didn’t like. Because of one of my jobs, I was overwhelmed at Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I’m liking them again now that I’m retired.

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  30. There are several holidays that I think were created by Hallmark so we could spend money and cause us stress. But, the #1 holiday I can’t stand is Halloween. In today’s society why do we send children out in the dark to go house to house begging for candy which we have no idea if it has been tampered with. It seems ridiculous. I also find no humor in the decorations. I passed by one house and there was an effigy made out of a large black plastic bag hanging from a tree. This is a holiday? I ignore it.

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    • Judy, I think the same thing about Hallmark. They create holidays then tell us how to celebrate them; it’s more than a little hinky.

      Many, many commenters have mentioned Halloween is their least favorite holiday. Considering how much Halloween stuff is now available for sale and how it’s morphed into a holiday for kids + adults, I don’t think Halloween’s going to get to be less of a thing.

      Your neighbors with the plastic bag effigy is macabre. Their point, I suppose. But *meh* I say.

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  31. Oh goodness! I’m a bit of a Pollyanna! I love Halloween. I didn’t get to celebrate as a kid for religious reasons, so handing out candy and seeing all the kids and talking to my neighbors? Awesome. On Thanksgiving I get to spend time with the people I love. Eat good food. Play games. Christmas is basically Thanksgiving with presents so I love that one too. I’ve only celebrated NYE out and about once but I love a good snuggle and opportunity to talk with my family about what we liked and didn’t like about the past year, and what we want to see in the upcoming one. Valentines and April Fools are pretty much non-holidays around here so it seems disingenuous to say they’re my least favorite. So instead of my least favorite holiday, I’ll just say my least favorite THING about any holiday is when it becomes all about hustle, bustle and STUFF.

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    • katie, you’re right about the ” hustle, bustle and STUFF.” That’s really what I dislike about Thanksgiving and Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Not the conceptual basis [gratitude, peace, love] but the ways in which those concepts/holidays are celebrated.

      I don’t hate on Halloween in the ways that many of the commenters here do. In our neighborhood it’s a big deal, and the one day of the year when people are friendly. Well, friendly-ish. So I like it from that point of view. And the kids at the door are adorable + memorable.

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  32. I wish I had time to read all the comments! Glancing through, I agree with the Valentines & NYE ones I saw. If I were young I might have put Vday as a source of sadness & stress, or NYE for the drinking & expectation of glitterfun.

    But I put Thanksgiving because it’s been consistently bad. I’m going to rant here in safety, since I can’t on my own blog. I never enjoyed Tday as a kid. Family relationships were stressful. As a young wife this was exactly the same & we even avoided family by taking our kids to the zoo that day for some years. As far as doing my own, I hate the gluttony & I’m not much into cooking. I dislike the idea of slaving in a kitchen only to be faced with a mountain of cleanup. Skip ahead to post-divorce and my grown kids. Big pain to try to visit them that day ~ if I want to fly to one I need to buy tix 6mo in advance so I don’t get majorly ripped off. Last few years I’ve been spending it with friends & that’s okay to meh. One of my friends has just turned from a normal neurotic to a giant asshole, so I’ll be avoiding him as much as I can from now on. Just saw him on Tday though. My last romance ended two days before Tday when the man I was seeing dumped me abruptly, canceled our Tday plans & the plans for a trip afterward, leaving me on my own. (My daughter came down.) I was devastated. I haven’t dated anyone since – that was 2016.

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    • Paula, Thanksgiving is my second least favorite holiday so you’re talking to the right person about it. I agree with you about the stressful family relationships that are supposed to just magically disappear on Thanksgiving Day? As if. And all that planning and buying and cooking and cleaning up is just plain WORK. Don’t try to kid me, world!

      We gave up flying anywhere over Thanksgiving for the very reason you mentioned. The price is astronomical and the hotel rooms are over-priced for that week.

      I can only imagine how awful you must have felt to be dumped right before a holiday you don’t like to begin with. Bad feelings all around, eh? So sorry that happened to you. I can understand why you haven’t dated since then. Men.

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  33. I was torn between Columbus Day and April Fool’s Day but ultimately went with the one that literally shuts down the government to celebrate a terrible, terrible human being.

    I don’t like pranks, but I really don’t like celebrating a colonizer more, so.

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  34. Cancel Mother’s Day – it’s gotten to be such a competition and far from what it was intended. And besides, not everyone had a nice mom, there’s more non-traditional families now and all the commercial hype emphasizes the dysfunction or differences.
    Columbus was an adventurer (like astronauts) who wanted a bit of glory and money. Guessing here (which is honestly all we can do about the past – remembering, too, events are viewed with modern criteria) he may have had no planned intention of killing so many with disease or culture. Realistically, politics and governments, and religions did that. In context, he may have been trying to “save” people according to the religious thought of the times as well as gain a secure position with a salary from a government. So, maybe we should celebrate him on April Fool’s Day?
    I have cousins on reservations and at funerals there’s eagle feathers with chants to the Great Spirit. My perspective maybe be from a different vantage point than some.
    Holidays and trying to get along with others seems to have gotten so complicated and stressful.

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    • philmouse, I don’t pay much attention to Mother’s Day anymore so I’m not up-to-date on how it’s gone big. The original concept was sweet, but if the hype only serves big companies and alienates people in the process then what’s the point?

      Columbus was trying to make a living with his adventures and you’re right that within the context of his times he might have been a better man than we believe him to be. Still, I’m not keen on him and anything I’ve ever read about him. Celebrating him on April Fool’s Day sounds like a good idea!

      I agree that holidays– all holidays– have gotten complicated and ever so stressful. Too stressful, if you ask me.

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  35. I know this is a very unpopular opinion, but, I hate Christmas. I’m very, very easily overstimulated and all the lights and noise are extremely overwhelming to me. I likethe idea that Christmas isn’t about gift giving and obtrusive joy. Unfortunately I’m only privileged enough to have read about this phenomena, I started wrapping presents when I was 5(yes, my own as well) and pretty much been not a fan since. I’m also very introverted, so I don’t really care for holidays that require you to interact with people who don’t really like. It’s not just the day either, it’s Thanksgiving and New Years too! It’s the entire season. Honestly! Can we not just chill on the gift giving and madness and just hang out with people we like and Idk maybe drink cocoa and read to each other? Can’t we all just relax?
    Easter follows that up as far as crap holidays.
    I dressed up, that is all I’m saying about it

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    • Ms. Kinney, I understand your point of view about Christmas. It’s all about forced frivolity and overly decorated trees. At least that’s my take on it. I’m like you in that I’m an introvert who dislikes too much social interaction, especially when you know everyone is just doing it because they think they have to.

      I’m with you and would prefer it if people would get together and chill. Play a board game, drink some wine, enjoy some music– and forget the gifts and ugly sweaters. Just hanging out would be great, but it never happens.

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    • L. Marie, yea, another anti-April Fool’s Day voice has been heard. To me it’s about the dumbest excuse for a holiday that I’ve seen, passive aggressive behavior glorified. Why?

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  37. I voted for–or what that be against?–April Fools Day. Oh, it looks like the commenter up above did, too. Not a fan of jokes that embarrass people. Halloween is not a fave (nor Columbus Day) but I don’t mind Day of the Dead. Always hated dressing up in costumes. You know, we’re all going to end up feeling like Scrooges after typing out our true feelings. P.S. I love Christmas!

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    • Kathy, I’m not a fan of April Fool’s Day either. I prefer to be kind to people not make them feel silly or mocked. No idea how the holiday started, but it could go away and I’d not miss it.

      I had no idea this post would be as popular as it is! Nor did I anticipate the vehemence with which some people don’t like a particular holiday. Sometimes it’s good to have a place to let out your frustrations, I guess. Thanks for stopping by to comment.

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  38. So many choices! It was hard to choose as I think my deep introvertedness means I don’t like many (read: any) holidays really because most involve congregating and I don’t really enjoy that. However, I did choose and, though April Fool’s Day was close to being my choice (what a stupid idea that day is, methinks), I selected St. Patrick’s Day. As if we need another day as an excuse to drink too much, and also I’m still pissed at all the Irish folks who don’t like my gay-bies (what I call my gays… I heart my gays). AND since my mother insists that I’m Irish, and several situations in which I stood up for myself whole-heartedly and with hand gestures seems to indicate such (at least to her), then I feel comfy in complaining about “my people” in this unscientific poll you’ve proffered.

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  39. Tara, let me first say that I adore your comments. I proffer that comment as praise.

    Secondly I wonder how it is that St. Patrick’s Day has come to be such a drinking holiday. I remember as a girl it was a fun day of silly stories and wearing green and eating corned beef + cabbage. Now everyone’s mind immediately turns to ugly drunks. Sad about that, I am.

    And finally I agree about introverts being by nature less enthusiastic about any holiday than our extroverted brethren. For some reason all holidays are based on the premise that getting together with people is a good idea. I dunno about that. Maybe…

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  41. I chose Valentine’s Day because I’ve always sort of resented being the forced commercialization of expressing to someone your love and affection. I know one doesn’t have to partake, but sometimes — especially in a new relationship (or perhaps a vulnerable one) — there is pressure to partake. I’m always relieved when the day is over. – Marty

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    • Marty, your take on Valentine’s Day seems to be the general sentiment among commenters who dislike Valentine’s Day. I think that what you say is valid and wonder if the pressure to express love will ultimately be the demise of the holiday because no one will love it anymore. 🤨

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  42. Funny, I thought Halloween was my least favorite holiday until I read April Fool’s Day and then I was all THAT! THAT’S THE ONE! APRIL FOOL’S DAY IS THE DEVIL!!
    An entire day built around pranking people, or embarrassing them, or convincing them their favorite aunt died, or glueing stuff to their desk…I think hell might look a little bit like April Fool’s Day on repeat.
    I really don’t like April Fool’s Day. Did it show? 😆

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    • Laura, I don’t like April Fool’s Day at all. It’s just plain stupid to encourage mean-spirited people to go out of their way to prank other people. Like life isn’t difficult enough– and then you have to be on guard all day because someone might make a fool of you. Bad idea all around. I think you’re right, it might be a glimpse into hell.

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  43. That was a good point on the comments about how we can ignore April’s fools day.
    —
    And interesting topic here
    –
    Sometimes holidays become choking – other times they can be fun and part of enrichment

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    • Prior, I ignore April Fool’s Day but if other people are into it and play me for the fool, then what? No answer, just would prefer that the holiday would disappear off the calendar. Could you make that happen, please? 😊

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      • If i could do that for ya – i would! And it does not really seem to be celebrated in my neck of the woods – so I have not too much of opinion in it- but as a little girl my mom had her purse stolen at a grocery store – it happened to be in April’s fools day and I recall it so much because my siblings thought I was joking when I told them – anyhow – it was a sad event and had helped be more careful at a young age

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  44. It’s hard to choose a least favorite day. Even those that don’t mean much to me now were great at sometime in my life. For example, since my husband died, I just skip Valentine’s Day. But I remember how much fun it was when I was a kid. I loved making lacy valentines. If I had to choose, I guess I’d say Father’s Day since both my dad and my husband are gone.

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    • Behind the Story, I thought about putting Father’s Day on the poll. Another commenter said it was her least favorite holiday, too. I can understand why it’s your choice. You make a good point about how at some point in everyone’s life most of these holidays meant something to you. But we all change and so do the times…

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  45. It used to be Christmas because of the added stresses, but now that my kids are a tad older this time of year is more enjoyable. Now I’d have to say Valentine’s Day. I’m okay with others getting into it. But I’m married, and our anniversary kinda acts like Valentine’s Day I think.

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    • Lacey, I agree. I used to do so much at Christmas with parties and gifts and baking. But now I do what I want [much less] and feel comfortable around the holiday doing it my way. I think of our anniversary like Valentine’s Day, too. Good point. Once you’re married you don’t need both of those days!

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