How about going back to the person's intentions and yours?
If the concept of Christmas irritates you then how about a concept of new beginnings, of hope for a good life while you are in the depths of winter (for you)?
Rigid atheists can be as much a pain in the butt as rigid religious believers. Learn to be a flexible, fun atheist/agnostic who doesn't take herself/himself too seriously. The one thing I have learned in life is that it is easy to be wrong about something, so for goodness sake don't get rigid about specifics.
And if you don't like the commerciality of it all, don't throw out the baby with the bath water - celebrations can be fun, so what do you want to marke your celebration? We don't have expensive gifts and I make many of mine.
So how about it? How can you enjoy the changing seasons and do something to lift the darkness of winter, or to celebrate the dark cosiness of winter?
