With winter on the horizon, many of us will be getting decorations down from the loft or out from the back of the cupboard to bring a little Christmas magic to our homes.
However, one mum is insisting that there will be no star on top of her tree - or any other festive touches for that matter.
Explaining her decision in a Mumsnet post, the woman said she is sick of being told to "make an effort for her kids", adding that her children aren't "bothered".
Instead, she will be avoiding the "worry and stress" she usually feels by having a decoration-free Christmas, the Mirror reports.
She wrote: “I've always said if it was up to me, I wouldn't celebrate Christmas, and over the past few years I've realised that it is up to me, so I slowly started slipping away from it all.
“No more decorations, no more panic buying and getting myself into debt for the kids. It has been so much easier and to be honest, much more enjoyable.
“But I am sick of people telling me that I need to make an effort for the kids. The kids are happy with no decorations. They still get presents and they're happy with what they get, I just don’t get myself into debt and stress anymore.”
The mum said other family members think she’s “cruel” and she’s convinced they just want her to be as stressed as they are before Christmas.
She added: “Not only do these people expect me to decorate my home for my children who are not bothered, they also think I should buy a ridiculous amount of chocolate and sweets for Christmas. Along with filling my freezer. Why?
“When I say no, I'm not buying the kids loads of chocolate and s**t for Christmas, I am given the sad voice as if I'm really cruel and told that I should make more of an effort for the kids.
“I'm constantly pestered about what I am getting them and what I should be getting them. It’s almost as if my family members cannot cope with the fact that I am not worried or stressed about Christmas so that is the mission - to make me stress out and be worried.”
The woman also said she still cooks a Christmas dinner for her family every year and she celebrates the day with food and presents – just without decorations.
And commenters were split over her decision, as some agreed that Christmas isn’t about how much money you spend, but others weren’t convinced that her children are really okay with their mum’s plan.
One person said: “Celebrate it the way you want and just smile and say how relaxed you feel and how much better it is to not worry about debt or stress.”
But another disagreed, stating: “I bet your children would love decorations, they've probably just been conditioned into not being bothered because you're not.
“There's nothing wrong with it if everyone is happy but it sounds a bit joyless to me.”
And a third said: “Sounds like a miserable joyless way to live. Don't do that to your kids. They will care and will know they're different.”
While someone else wrote: “My Christmas with my parents was very low key and it didn't do me any harm at all! Do what you want to do and ignore the haters!”
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