Christmas is my least favorite. It’s just too much. I’m getting stressed out just thinking about it. I do love a few distinct parts of it, but the overall effect of it is a net negative.

Love Halloween. No extended family. No traveling. No gift giving. Just sweet fun.

Most favorite is Thanksgiving. No gifts! We don't dress up. There's no churchy expectations from religious family members. It's gathering over food and watching football. Hooray!

Least favorite is Valentine's Day. Watching my kids write out 25+ Valentine's cards is so painful. I hate the expectation that it's going to be romantic in some way. It's just not.

My favorite is Christmas, especially with kids. I also love Halloween and Easter. It just makes them so happy and I love our traditions. And our neighborhood goes all out for July 4th--it's really fun.

My least is Thanksgiving. It just seems like so much stress just to eat food that I can make any other day. Its fine but my family is all local so its not a reunion event for me like it is for others. I'm mostly thankful that my sibling hosts it.

Least favorite is NYE.

Most favorite is 4th of July. I love summer. I love cookouts. I love long days. It's not high pressure so if you end up with no plans, it's not depressing.

I like them all. Life is too short not to celebrate every possible holiday.

Anonymous wrote:Least favorite is 4th of July. Just seems wrong to celebrate independence as a nation when it was really only independence for white people. Black peoples were still kept as slaves. I struggle with this every year. My favorite is Christmas, the joy of Santa for my kid, Christmas Eve church service, seeing the lights, all of it.

we already celebrate juneteenth

Least favorite: valentines and easter

Most favorite: thanksgiving, 4th of july, memorial day, labor day

Least favorite is 4th of July. Just seems wrong to celebrate independence as a nation when it was really only independence for white people. Black peoples were still kept as slaves. I struggle with this every year. My favorite is Christmas, the joy of Santa for my kid, Christmas Eve church service, seeing the lights, all of it.

Anonymous wrote:Least favorite -- Valentines Day -- is that even a holiday? I mean do we really need a holiday celebrating couples? I suppose your kids/friends can be your valentines too - but I don't think that's how most people view it.

OP here and I agree with this except that since I had kids I've come around on it a little bit because it is absolutely my DD's favorite holiday. It started because she loooooves pink so a holiday with a lot of pink was appealing. But over time she just became obsessed. She's into crafting so she got me into making these elaborate victorian valentines that are actually pretty fun to create and neat to look at. And instead of sending in candy for her class each year, she and I come up with something we can bake and individually package and have fun making decorated sugar cookings or decadent brownies in the past.

My DH and I have never been much into the holiday though he does generally bring home some flowers and some kind of treat from work, and I'll make a nice dinner or arrange for nice takeout. So I don't hate it. Unlike Halloween, which seems to go on and on, Valentine's Day really is just one day and it feels like expectations are really low all around, which helps.

Agree Thanksgiving is my favorite following off of OP's reasons. I like NYE as a second favorite. We don't do anything crazy, but we do have a tradition with my SIL and her family. It's a low key, but fun home celebration

Easter if that's considered a holiday, is my least favorite. I just don't celebrate even though growing up it was a very important holiday in my very Catholic family.

Opened this to say Thanksgiving is my favorite for all the reasons OP and PP said.

Hadn’t thought about least favorite. Probably either Valentines Day or New Years Eve— feel like both have lots of external pressure but NYE also makes you stay up late and think about time passing.

Most favorite holiday: also Thanksgiving. Love coming together for a good meal, sides that I make once a year, and not stressful like the whole Christmas season. Least favorite: New Year’s Eve. Can’t stay up that late, tv broadcasts are lame, and it marks the end of vacation and the beginning of blah January.

Least favorite: Valentine's Day. Chocolate, red roses, and teddy bears are not what I need to feel loved by my husband. Actually, we don't need any outside entity telling us to take time to cherish each other--we do, every day.

Favorite: Thanksgiving, because we don't travel or see family, it's just us. We control the menu, and despite all the cooking, it's just so relaxed and cozy. Will be a little odd this year, with the World Cup taking place simultaneously, but that's ok.

Least favorite -- Valentines Day -- is that even a holiday? I mean do we really need a holiday celebrating couples? I suppose your kids/friends can be your valentines too - but I don't think that's how most people view it.

For me:

Halloween is my least favorite even though admitting that makes me feel like a killjoy because I know a lot of people love it. My issue with Halloween is that the actual heart of the celebration itself -- kids trick or treating -- is sort of insufficient to base a holiday around, especially when it happens on a weekday so it winds up feeling mildly rushed, trying to get it done after everyone gets home from school/work but also early enough that everyone can be functional the next day. I find that costuming kids can be very challenging, as at least with my kids they sometimes struggle to decide what they want, change their minds last minute, or just wind up with costumes that are sort of a PITA to put together or wear (this year's drama involved a rapunzel wig that, while sort of amazing looking, also would not stay on the child's head for more than two minutes). People stretch Halloween out with events over the weekend and other costume opportunities, but I find these lead to Halloween fatigue for me because, again, the core of the day (wear a costume, get candy) is kind of insufficient to sustain this. How many costumes do I need to see? And I get tired of candy real quick.

Favorite holiday despite the fact that I know it's origins are BS is Thanksgiving. If you can ignore the history of colonization and exploitation though (which I personally can), Thanksgiving is such an amazing day. The whole point is to sit down at a table with people you love and eat food and give thanks. I find that deeply meaningful. I'm not even a big fan of turkey, but can get behind stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and pumpkin pie. In our family we all pitch in so no one is stuck in the kitchen all day, and instead we are all just helping each other out and enjoying the day off (love a short work week). I also find the idea of a holiday based around gratitude, especially before the frenzy of the winter holidays, to be pretty wonderful, and I have enjoyed building gratitude practice into our family's life via Thanksgiving traditions. I give my DH and kids thanksgiving cards each year telling them why I'm grateful to have them in my life, and I love writing them. Also, we like watching football, staying up late catching up with cousins, and just generally relaxing and indulging.

How about yours?