To think the magic of small children at Christmas is a load of old bollocks

I was a child obvs. I have DC. Christmas was never better than when I was in my 20s.
Christmases in your 20s is 100% where it's at!

For me it was....

• My only responsibility was to buy people presents
• Wherever I turned up I was treated like royalty....e.g back from Uni, turning up at families house - no expectation that I'd pitch in anywhere, just sheer joy 'I was home' 😂 I did used to help with washing up but then it was just everyone piling in the kitchen to ask me about my love life - which was actually interesting back then
• Nights out and literally never feeling the cold even without a coat. My skin was armour!
• Being hungover (mildly - in my 20s a hangover was cleared by lunch) and watching marathon sessions of Harry Potter, eating junk food and never getting fat
• Still getting amazing presents
• Experiencing all the adult side of Christmas for the first time
• oh and the energy......urgh how I miss the energy for it all

Christmas in your 20s - 1000% the best.

Now all attention is on DC (naturally and I don't resent that - I love they get all the fuss) but there's me in the background just slaving away, ignored, flustered, and taking myself off to the fridge to cool down from my 20th hot flush. Taken for granted by literally everyone. Joyless but useful presents (this year I got a gravy boat - a very nice one and I'm delighted with it but 25yr old would have looked at 45yrs old me and gone WTAF?) and a mind full of to do lists.

I hope my DC grow up to have the best memories of Christmases, I really really do but I work bloody hard for it, on top of a full time job, on top of doing 85% of the usual domestic labour, so I don't really have anything left in the tank to feel joy.

I'm tired. I am so frigging exhausted I don't have the energy to cry about how tired I am.

This is my 'me time' - reading mumsnet - 20yr old me would have been onto my 3rd bottle of prosecco now, rolling around on the floor (because I could sit on the floor without my knees hurting) laughing at my brother winding my Mum up, and my whole family looking at me like I was adorable.

Not if you actually want to enjoy any of it 🤣

Peace and a chilled day.

I never really did the Santa stuff with my children and it never spoiled Christmas for them. But now they are all grown up my Christmas shopping consists of 2 or 3 smallish gifts to open that are personal to them and a money transfer into their bank accounts. Simples!

It's amazing. I love it.

Exactly!

Golly you are nice aren’t you lol.

@FletchFan and @Cat1504 lol.
They really did not miss out “big time”. In no way at all. Christmas in our house has always been a glorious wonderful time of joy and happiness. They are both adults now, both look back with fond memories of their childhood Christmas’s.
With the added bonus that never having lied to them about a man in a red suit and held onto that lie for years I also never had to unpick it for them when they got older and had things figured out. You meanwhile can enjoy exploring the logic to your kids of why you lie to them but they must not tell lies to you or others. I had that experience as a kid, I didn’t want it with my own (and they are both glad I didn’t too)
This year I stood at the front door for quite a while with my youngest (21yo) both of us excited with glee that the rotary Santa was going to come down our street any minute now, music blaring ho ho ho! And so much excitement today wondering and then finding out what Santa had brought us. :)

I voted YANBU because it depends on the children. We were lucky in that both of our DC rose to the occasion at Christmas. It was magical for them. Both sets of grandparents and our own traditions.

DC are now in their 20s, and sadly both PIL died in the last couple of years. This Christmas was still fun - but not like years gone by.

However, next door have two boys about 7 and 4 and we could hear it kicking off this afternoon. Reminded me of the downside of Christmas with young DC!

Everyone does what suits them and their family to be fair.. what works for you might not for others. But that’s just common sense

Exactly this.

We’ve had a lovely day but haven’t got to the teens years yet to compare. 3yo kept randomly shouting ‘thank you Father Christmas!’ throughout the day, 10yo lined up all his Lynx canisters all proud, 8yo spent the day doing lego and crafts.

Same. My parents did keep up the pretence of Father Christmas but I never actually believed it was real. I loved playing along with it all and hanging up my stocking and I loved my childhood Christmases. So many happy memories and it definitely felt magical.

I really enjoyed it but gosh, those Christmasses were tiring. Though we seemed to have more energy to get everything organised and happening for DD’s sake! Now, we have a more relaxed Christmas (she’s 13), but the whole thing and the house doesn’t get sorted to quite the standard it used to and maybe it’s made us a bit lazy.

However, not being woken up until 9-ish, and then having a lazy coffee and cinnamon buns whilst DD chats with her friends about her presents, then an afternoon watching nice (and not kiddy) Christmas films, is far more relaxing than being woken up at 6am and being constantly on the go sorting out kid food and toys all day!

Thinking back, actually my favourite Christmasses with DD were actually when she was pre-school — say younger than 4, and was far less interested in presents and Santa than just in the lights and the spectacle of it all. She’d get a stocking with maybe a light up bath duck and a couple of small toys, plus maybe something like a wheelybug or a wooden train set as a main present, but there were no expectations, and she just loved to be taken out for a walk around the estate to see the lit-up houses.

The huge build-up that primary schools get them into before Christmas is lovely in many ways, but it does generate a huge amount of expectation and overstimulation. Those first Christmasses when DD was a toddler and was happy with anything were actually amazingly lovely in comparison.

Whatever you want it to. That’s the whole point - you don’t have to fit round kids or do/eat/watch/play ‘family-friendly’ things.

For me, an adult Christmas entails a lie-in, ideally with a morning shag, light breakfast around 10am if we fancy it, accompanied by champagne, then we’ll open presents, then more drinks and nibbles/canapes while I make dinner. If I do a starter it’s usually something like ceviche or shellfish and we usually have a very boozy dessert.

After dinner we chill for a bit, maybe Facetime family, pout our feet up and watch something grown-up, then in the evening we graze ok leftovers, drink cocktails, play the sort of board game or quiz that probably wouldn’t work for a mixed age group. No set meal times, no chaos, no having to tidy up toys etc, no tantrums or kids getting over tired or anything like that. Nobody has to behave responsibly or keep an eye on anyone, nobody has to move candles or glasses to a safe height, Last thing at night after we’ve played games while grazing and knocking back Bailey’s and single malts, we’ll probably watch or listen to a really scary ghost story before we go to bed.

I have had all very different types of Christmas Days all just as good, if you are not enjoying it either you or the people around you must be very boring

I never believed in Farther Christmas ever. My mum is totally against lying so we never done it. My childhood Christmas’s were amazing, I can’t believe they could be better. I am now a huge Christmas fan as an adult. So not believing in Santa definitely does not ruin Christmas or make it less magical.

You don't have to take away presents under the tree.

It is magical but is even more magical when you look back on those years. It was hard work and tiring but worth it.

I loved seeing my very nearly 3yo DD so excited this morning, and when we went for a walk with her new scooter she looked up to the sky and called: "THANK YOU FOR MY SCOOTER, SANTA! I LOVE IT!" which was very cute. I'd been on the fence about whether to go with the Santa thing, but nursery have been very big on it so we've gone with talk of 'the legend of Santa is...' as a sort of middle ground.
It's been fabulous today really. We've had so much fun.
But there has also been a lot of chaos! 😂
Adult Christmas is great too!

YABU sorry, children make it so much more joyful because they find everything SO exciting. Taking a walk to see the Christmas lights, doing (terrible) Christmas baking, sprinkling food for the reindeer, making awful decorations. Not looking forward to mine becoming grumpy teens because they're currently at such a nice age and it's lovely to experience it all alongside them.

My DP never bothered with Father Christmas, or stockings, or anything really child related other than presents. Christmas was always a fairly joyless affair. I always remember feeling so sad and confused when my Uncle asked me what I had written in my letter to Santa, and wondering why he visited other children and not me. Distinctly remember laying in bed when I was about 8 and listening out for the sleigh bells, and wondering if he would come!

I didn't really enjoy Christmas at all before the DC came along.

I loved Christmas before having children but it's 100% better with them!

It's definitely less relaxing but it's so magical watching them get excited.

MY kids are now 16 and 18 and Christmasses are so much more enjoyable that when they were small.

I don't know how you see that, what are the other posts?

I thought it was, and after checking out some of OPs other posts, I wasn’t wrong.

I think it's magical with little ones.
Take away the santa and the presents under the tree and it leaves things you could do on any holiday, or even just at the weekend.

YANBU, though I'm not the person to ask as I think everything is better without children lol.