Christmas things not worth doing

Don't do family pyjamas as DH won't wear them and my son is too big for them.
I've only ever done one Christmas eve box and that was for my grandson who was living at his great grandmother's house ( she had dementia and he was so good with her that I wanted to spoil him) it was a total bargain and had lots of baking stuff plus a mug and mug cakes and colouring stuff.

I'm fairly into Christmas and don't go out of my way for Christmas markets, hot chocolate everywhere.

I'm giving up sheet wrap and going to put things in bags that can be reused ,apart from the children.

Yet still get idiots who still think this is a good idea to spend a day.

Christmas winter wonderland.

Every year there is some sort of "outrage as" story where people turn up to a muddy field with a tent in it and a few donkeys dressed as reindeers and end up paying £50 for the privilige.

It's like there is no shortage of fools out there willing to stump up cash for nonsense like this.

I love the thought of Christmas more than the actual day, it's just stress to me 😂
I do have 2 boys with Christmas birthdays though so that probably adds to the stress levels 😅

I think you need the contrast of all the Christmas shite to be able to enjoy the rest of the year free of all this nonsense.

Christmas cushions. Use the same ones all year round..

The roast. On a day when there's so much going on why have a main courrse that requires so much last minute attention. On Hogmanay I stick a casserole in the slow cooker hours before the guests srrive, it's much more civilised.

And a rather specific one. BIL has never once had Christmas in his own house and he's in his 50s with adult children. MIL would always host him and his family when she was younger, now SIL (his sister) and I alternate hosting MIL. But BIL and his family always come as well and constantly complain about how I do things (e.g. serving lunch before 2 pm is parochial). Drives me mad. Guess who I'm refusing to host after lovely MIL dies.

Decorating the banisters as if it were a feature in a house magazine.

It invariably looks crap unless you live in a mansion where you can deck your literal halls with boughs of holly.

Presents for teachers
Cards
Christmas Dinner on Christmas day
Matching pyjamas
Mulled wine

Yes, we have ‘ Tio De Nadal’ beside our fire, over Christmas.

Bought in a (very beautiful) Christmas Market in Barcelona.

Real Xmas trees, scented candles (and other smelly things) of pine or spice berries.

All set my asthma off.

When I do visit people with real trees, I have to sit the furthest away from tree

In defence of Christmas cards, I have elderly relatives who love getting these and who are really proud of how many they get.

Yes. I've just been looking it up. Caga Tio translates as 'poo log'. The traditions is for the DCs to gather round the log on Christmas eve and sing a song threatening to hit it even harder if it poos herrings (because they are too salty) instead of nougat.
It mainly poos sweets because the main presents arrive on 7/1.

Mulled wine. Yeugh. I can't even stand the smell of it.

And cinnamon can bog off.

Bread sauce. Had it on a few Xmas dinners (not out on Xmas Day) and I rather have baby's puke on my food thank you.

@Pliudev that sounds...... interesting 😂

All this talk about Yule logs reminds me of the traditional Catalan Yule log, Caga Tio. My DGSs grew up in Barcelona where, early in December, children bring home a small log and feed it every day. It gets bigger and for some reason (maybe someone on here can explain) they beat it with sticks until, finally, it poops their presents. Luckily they now live near the Black Forest where there is a good supply of logs of different sizes.

Outdoor light shows - ridiculously overpriced, times clash with dinner / bath / bedtime so someone is always grumpy, you're at the mercy of the weatherbecause you have to book half a year in the advance and the kids said the best bit was jumping in the puddles!!

Flashing Christmas lights - they should all default to constant. I hate pressing them multiple times to get them on the right setting, especially when one of my DC distracts me.

This is the first year that I am not sending out lots of cards. The stamps just cost too much and writing out the cards has always felt like a chore.

Some of my family plans would traumatise some people on this thread, e.g. I have matching pjs for me and DC (they are tartan though so could be worn any time) for 1 December and my DM has bought matching Christmas pjs for herself, her children, children in law and grandchildren (17 of us) and we're all going to wear them when we're together on NYE. I can't wait!

Have never done Elf on the Shelf though.

But big fans of all Christmas food especially mince pies and bread sauce at Christmas Dinner.

Hope that you all enjoy the festive period however you choose to celebrate or not to

@StormingNorman I confess I like to zap swiss roll in the microwave to warm it up and then have it with cream or custard.
I do the same with Colin the Caterpillar 😂😂

That is essentially the difference, which you know so assume the question is rhetorical.

The sponge is harder and dryer than a normal Swiss roll which has softer sponge. Presumably they tweak their recipes so the sponge holds up to the weight of the icing.

I mean, that would do it.

@Fairislesweater I think my mum just decorated a basic chocolate swiss roll......

It’s more like a roulade I think. Although the only difference I know of between the two is one is rolled warm and the other isn’t 🫤

The christmas special of call the midwife. It is guaranteed to send me to sleep within 2 minutes.