To ask about your worst Christmas day ever

[sparklybluesky]

Mine was 2010 heading towards divorce. Day spent at In Laws where I had to drive as ex couldn't. Not as though much alcohol was served.
MIL served up a tiny meal, gifts to me were freebies from Avon. Weirdo ex was obsessed with his video camera which he set up to film the day. His Sister arrived with her badly behaved children and the whole thing was recorded on this bloody camera set up in the corner. Ex bought me some yankee candles off of ebay! We divorced shortly after.

I barely remember it but my dad died a couple of days before Christmas when I was a young child.

Genuinely don’t remember the day much, but I think often about what it was like for my mum now I have children of my own.

I try my best to make it special for her every year. I’ve never spent a Christmas away from her.

Sorry MIL.

There was a fairly grim Christmas where I was pregnant with DS2 & DS1 had a bad ear infection. DH had an upset stomach, we had sandwiches for lunch as no one could stomach anything else.

The Christmas DH was unemployed wasn't great either. We couldn’t afford much-just got a couple of toys for DS & nothing else for anyone. I usually did Christmas lunch for the family, but couldn’t that year so went to my DB’s girlfriends for lunch. Hadn’t met her before. It all felt a bit weird as all my traditions weren’t possible. A friend from work heard how bad things were & bought us a bottle of wine & a toy for DS. I cried when she gave them to me.

My terminally ill sister hovered between life and death at Christmas and we honestly thought we would lose her on Christmas Day, it was terrible trying to do a Christmas lunch holding it together for my dd and waiting for my phone to ring with the awful news. We lost her on 30th December.

Christmas 2017. I'd never celebrated Christmas much before but my now husbands, then boyfriends, family did a big thing about it so went to his aunts for Christmas lunch. I'd never met most of the family before so was a bit overwhelming with about 30 people there.

I'd had a horrible chest infection for about a month and coughed and coughed and coughed. Ten minutes into the day I reached for something and felt a snap in my back. I couldn't move at all. My oh was out playing football and didn't want to appear a hypercondriac to his grandmother's and aunt who id met less than half an hour before. So just just stood there in agonising pain until the intitial wave wore off and I could move again albeit painfully. The next 12 hours were agony until I got home and to bed.

The next day I couldn't move so called my dad who called the gp. After several doctors thoughts of kidney stones and embolisms I was sent for ct where they discovered my rib was broken.

It took a year and major surgery for it to get fixed. The year after Christmas I was two weeks post surgery but much better though I couldn't talk as my throat had swollen from the tube during the surgery.

All is healed now but I have a lovely scar to remember it by

I found out my exh had been having an affair and the early Christmas present/trip he had sent me on was so he could have the OW in our house. The worse part was it was the 1st time I had ever left our then 9 month the old twins overnight (they were in the house when he had her over) and I didn’t want to but he’s booked it with my sister as it was her birthday and she was so excited. I had suspected something wasn’t right for a while but I couldn’t get hold of him the whole time I was away and when I got back he’d put the bedding through the wash. I checked his phone that night and it all came out. The worst part for me is that we’d spent 4 years of infertility, pregnancy loss and ivf to have them. He made me feel like it was all my fault and took them for Xmas day to his parents as that was his “only” day off and it wasn’t fair he didn’t get them over Christmas. I was distraught. I found MN and toughened up after that!! However, some of these stories have been utterly heartbreaking and I’m truly sorry for you all xx

@Tittyfilarious81

2010 I'd had a miscarriage at the end of November and was devastated anyway but when I told my little boy that the baby wasn't well so had gone away he said he would wish really hard for Santa to bring the baby back Christmas day all better and put it back in my tummy to keep growing and on Christmas day he asked was it back and I had to say no but hopefully the baby will be here next Christmas

There are some really awful stories here, this made me cry Titty. Your little boy sounds like an absolute darling though. Bless his wee heart x

This doesn't compare in any way to some of the stories on here, but the year DH and I both had flu was horrendous. As in couldn't get off the sofa to lift my head horrendous.

Kids had beans on toast for dinner and we eventually had Christmas dinner 2 weeks later.

I have a few to choose from unfortunately.

When I was 15 the whole family had flu. We tried to open presents, opened 1 each and agreed we all felt crap and went back to bed.
Did our actually Christmas Day a week later.

When I was 23 I'd spent a month in hospital and was sent home on 23rd Dec. I was so weak, in pain and just generally miserable - then on Christmas Eve FIL got hammered and tried to fight my DH with me sat in the way. In the kick off I ended up being pushed to the floor and stood on.
Christmas Day was spent on the motorway driving 5 hours to my parents house because FIL wouldn't stop calling / coming around.

And when I was 25 I worked Christmas Day (I was a home carer). At 1pm I arrived at a house for a 4 hour 'shift' with a lovely woman who had been telling me about her family for weeks.
Absolutely no one in her family had made the effort to visit her at all even though she was in her final days.
She died during my shift. It was so sad and awful and made worse by the really shitty way my boss dealt with it when I called her because I didn't know what to do.

The year I was 16. After about 6 months sober my mother decided to take a big bottle of vodka in her handbag when we went for Christmas dinner with extended family. Her alcoholism was known to everyone. She got drunk and was horrendously embarrassing, but when I got annoyed at her for it, I was the one accused of ruining Christmas, because apparently it's necessary to play happy families no matter what kind of disaster is unfolding.

I think it was the first time I reacted to her drinking that way rather than feeling horribly guilty, blaming myself and wondering what I should have done differently to keep her sober, though - so, in hindsight, a step forward.

I had a couple of bad ones. When we lost our grandfather the week before but we carried on his tradition of toasting the Queen. Everyone sobbed.
The year as I was having chemo and had horrendous mouth ulcers meaning I couldnt eat or drink anything and I was so sick no pain meds would stay down.
The very worst xmas was the year we lost our first son who was premature and only lived a few hours. My mum invited a close relative around with their three month old baby and I absolutely lost it. My family told me I had to just get over it. Spent the entire day in bed wishing I was dead.
Had a few crappy ones with exdh but after another terrible year Im determined this will be a good xmas for kids and myself.

@RuinedReindeer

I barely remember it but my dad died a couple of days before Christmas when I was a young child.

Genuinely don’t remember the day much, but I think often about what it was like for my mum now I have children of my own.

I try my best to make it special for her every year. I’ve never spent a Christmas away from her.

Sorry MIL.

bless you for your thoughtfulness.

My DH died on 15th Dec 2016 and we held his funeral on 22nd. Somehow I’d done end of life care for him and chosen and wrapped all the presents for DCs, 5 and 7. Somehow DH had chosen presents too, a few weeks before he died. He’d given them to my DB to give us on Christmas Day, which was the point at which I totally fell apart. But only for ten minutes, as DC needed as good a day as possible.

Five years tomorrow since he died. I miss him to my heart’s core.

Some of the stories on here just have me in tears.

My worst one was probably 2019. My sister spent her last Christmas in hospital with our parents. I ended up hosting everyone else and it was all just a bit shit.

Hats off to my DH, he just ran out to the shops at 6pm on Xmas Eve to buy extra food. He ended up having an argument with the check out lady in Asda who complained that he'd left it a bit late to buy dinner too.

I have to admit some of my childhood Christmases were pretty shit thanks to my mum and her behaviour. I remember one year she absolutely bollocking me and my brother for no reason. The next year she totally lost her shit because of something else random. We spent the entire day walking on egg shells around her.

My worst Christmas was 1999, most of the day was spent at the hospital, holding my dads hand, waiting for my wonderful amazing dad to die. He died on Boxing Day. This year is going to be hard too, My wonderful amazing mum is in late stages of Alzheimer’s.

Second Christmas after divorce. Went and worked at a homeless shelter as ex had kids. Then had food with my sister who's vegan. Also worked three hours 1 year.

@ThesecondLEM

Two days come to mind.

One year when I was horribly constipated and was so stressed cooking and serving up dinner.

Last year was the worst though. My mum died on 18th December and we all had Covid. We cooked dinner, ate it and went back to bed. Grim.

I am so sorry for your loss. That sounds absolutely horrendous to have had to deal with. I hope your christmas is at least a bit better this year

Not as bad as most, but I'm a recovering alcoholic and spent Christmas in 1993 alone. I had lost all hope of ever quitting drinking. I felt like I had fallen into a pit that I could never climb out of. I hit bottom that day.

I knew that drinking would eventually kill me, so on that Christmas day I promised myself that I would get help and try again. I did an inpatient detox three months later and haven't touched a drop since. I met my DH a year later. We've been happily married for 24 years and have two great kids in uni.

Some sad ones on here tonight

to all

I once had to spend it in halls of residence as my job didnt give me enough time off to get home and back again.
I bought a ton of junk food and ate it on the cheapo chairs in the living area watching films.

Oh, such awful stories here. I am so very sorry for those who have had terrible losses, or abusive parents or partners.

Last Christmas was pretty grim for me and DP, I was having chemo, a few days post a treatment, feeling awful, could barely eat or drink, and DP had a broken leg which IIRC was still in plaster. But our wonderful NDNs brought her a share of their Christmas dinner, all laid out nicely on a tray with a napkin and a flower in a vase. I had a couple of mouthfuls of it.

This year we're both doing fine, and so grateful to be well and have each other.

I was six, my dad decided to walk out and be with the woman he was having an affair with - my babysitter. I had to look after my mum as she cried for the rest of the day. I doubt he would have been a good dad if he'd stayed so he probably did me a favour.

In my late 20s I had a boyfriend who was really controlling. He was staying at mine over Christmas (I stayed with my mum and my stepdad). On Christmas day when I got home from work at the pub I was working in, he was throwing around all sorts of accusations about me, I told him to get out of my room as he was being really awful. He started saying things that implied he was going to rape me (just wait, you're going to have to fight me off, I'll get in that bed with you and you won't have any choice, etc), so he wouldn't leave and we got him arrested. THEN on boxing Day my mum took pity on him and let him back in so I had to stay with my grandparents until he could get the bus back to where he lived in January (we were very rural so no buses).

A few years before that my mum got drunk as she does and told me she hates me and wishes she'd aborted me. This was after I confessed to her that my ex (different ex) beat me up and she thought I was trying to compete with her by 'having a worse life'.

I fucking hate Christmas

With respect to those who've lost loved ones - What a horrible thread. Can we start talking about our best Christmases please???

@GrannytoaUnicorn

With respect to those who've lost loved ones - What a horrible thread. Can we start talking about our best Christmases please???

I mean, can't you start a thread like that? Didn't you see the title? Maybe it's cathartic for people. Not everyone enjoys Christmas or has nice stories to tell.

@GrannytoaUnicorn

With respect to those who've lost loved ones - What a horrible thread. Can we start talking about our best Christmases please???

My best christmasses are now my kids have grown up a little bit. Still have a couple who believe in santa which is lovely, and my older ones rally round and help me with the magic.

One of my dds is amazing at art and has started drawing me characters from my guilty pleasure programme (hollyoaks, don't judge) every birthday and Christmas and I love them.

My older ds works now and he gets me lovely thoughtful gifts, last year it was a little music box that plays 'you are my sunshine' which I used to sing to him all the time. The little ones smother me in kisses and cuddles and the others usually make me something too, last year it was a lovely photo compilation and they stuck Christmas hats on it.

We do a crossover of a roast dinner and a BBQ as well, which is amazing.

Its a really happy time for me now

My mum hospitalised from a haemorrhage. Christmas Eve diagnosed with uterine cancer.

I then cooked Christmas lunch for 12 family members Christmas Day before making a plate and spending the afternoon/evening in hospital with my mum watching Christmas movies.

Sorry - the thread is ‘worst Christmas ever’.
So here we go …. I found my eldest son (24) dead on his bedroom floor on Christmas morning 2019.
He’d basically gone out on Christmas Eve and never woke up (S.A.D.s).
His younger sister (14) was present and my other son (22) attempted CPR.