Next year I will definately....

[callmeovercautious]

Open all of DDs pressies before hand to check them out.

DD got a toy kitchen that took DH 1.5hrs to assemble. He did it hungover at 8am as DD refused any other distractions until she could play with it

Meanwhile I got the usual "I have to do DIY grrr" from DH which put us both in a bad mood all day!

I will also check for:

1. Stupid amounts of sweets.
2. Noise making toys.

[liath]

Book the most isolated cottage I can find and hide there until the whole f*cking festive thing is over.

[PrettyCandles]

Confiscate all inkpads and felt pens that are not WASHABLE. I do this every year since dd was given a stamping set from ELC of all places, and had green alphabeticised arms for the next week!

And, yes, we construct all toys in the week before Christmas. Just the stupid metal twists that everything is fixed with are enough to drive anybody, adult or child, to distraction.

[mawbroon]

liath, it will not be that isolated because I will be in the cottage next door.

DH used to buy Landrover magazines, and there was a cottage advertised in there that is only accessible by 4x4 or boat!

Sounds good eh?

[SnowballsintheSky]

I will either turn the place into Santa's grotto in early December, or not bother at all. The last 2 years have been decidedly half arsed and that's worse than anything.

And I will ban coloured plastic of all shapes and sizes.

[kitbit]

Next year I will veto all underhand attempts by MIL to stuff ds full of sweets and chocolate and to spend the rest of Boxing Day when he becomes too hyper to speak telling me that he's a Very Good Boy and didn't mean to wallop the cat/yank down the curtains/ and making me feel like the worst mother in the world when ds finally collapses in exhausted tears onto my lap by telling me I've overstretched him but "never mind, now you've learned his limits".



GAHHHHHH

[liath]

Sounds good indeed, Mawbroon!

[Niecie]

Start wrapping presents earlier so I am not up for hours on Christmas Eve.

Take DS1 for a very very long walk on Christmas Eve so he is so tired he isn't awake until 1.10am.

[twinklytoes]

confirm plans with the inlaws - we said come for tea, they arrive for lunch. dcs weren't dressed and i was just out of shower.

[callmeovercautious]

twinklytoes, that is the sort of thing happens to us!

Next year I will post all the cards I wrote this year

PC - I have just learned the perils of metal twists and screws (who the puts screws in toy packaging!). Cue major panic looking for the phillips head screwdriver DH had chucked back in the garage in disgust having just finished the flipping Kitchen