What do you find shocking at Christmas?

[RosieGuacamosie]

Lighthearted

I have ASD so certain things utterly astound me, I’m sure others will vehemently disagree so feel free to share your own!

1. Starters for Christmas lunch! Surely you’d save room to maximise the main event!
2. Cooking the turkey the day before - are you not worried about food poisoning or it being super dry?
3. Mash on a Christmas dinner, see also sweetcorn

I’m sure I’ll think of more

That people judge other people's likes/dislikes, traditions etc. Not being goady, it just astounds me that anyone cares so much about what other people eat

The cost of it all

Every year I'm shocked at how tired I am by 3pm on Xmas day. It's the most exhausting day of the year.

@Findahouse21

That people judge other people's likes/dislikes, traditions etc. Not being goady, it just astounds me that anyone cares so much about what other people eat

There’s always one! Not sure if you missed the part where I said I have ASD oh and I’m not judging, I just struggle to comprehend what to me are significant differences.

Bread sauce. It’s awful.

Spending a fortune chasing an idea of what Christmas ought is marketed by advertisers to be like. And the resultant numbers of women who take it upon themselves to do everything perfectly as if people are judging or caring one iota!

@Fritilleries

Spending a fortune chasing an idea of what Christmas ought is marketed by advertisers to be like. And the resultant numbers of women who take it upon themselves to do everything perfectly as if people are judging or caring one iota!

This. Also people getting into debt to afford it all.

That people eat Christmas lunch/dinner so early. I used to always wonder about this when i was young, like why not just wait till dinner time because it is basically like eating dinner. As it goes, we dont eat till about 6 or 7pm because its such a hectic day that the food isnt ready till then lol.

As far as I know I don't have ASD but I'm with I'm you on all of those, except mash. My mum makes mash just for me on Christmas day

I can't be doing with Yorkshire puddings on Christmas dinner though. And what's with putting cranberry jam on your dinner?

• My in-laws cracking open a packet of croissants and eating them without toasting or heating or anything.

• not prioritising the kids but tearing them away from their new toys to make them faff about travelling all over to see adults who have done 50 odd Christmas’s already and should travel to see the little ones.

• making people be at their in-laws dead on time for 8am Xmas morning (in laws again looking at you)

I usually go to my mums for xmas but I'm hosting for my partner, his mum and brother this year. At my mums we have a big xmas dinner around 3/4ish and just snack on a few xmas chocs, pringles etc. Last week i asked partner what they usually eat for xmas and not only do they have xmas dinner around 3ish they put on a proper full on buffet in the evening? I would be too full all evening from dinner! Ive got so much buffet food no one is leaving my house until it is all eaten! 😅

People feeling pressurised into buying presents for loads of people. I mean, kids fair enough, but why do adults expect to swap gifts with all and sundry? Where do they find the money and the time to buy these items? All that work wrapping and labelling them etc.

I'm autistic too and I just don't have the energy for all this kind of stuff.

I used to have to go to the pil's every year and they'd cook the turkey in November, slice it up and freeze it ready to be reheated on Xmas day. It was disgusting and then they'd spend all Xmas lunch discussing every element of the meal. I used to feel like running away screaming.

@RosieGuacamosie

Lighthearted

I have ASD so certain things utterly astound me, I’m sure others will vehemently disagree so feel free to share your own!

1. Starters for Christmas lunch! Surely you’d save room to maximise the main event!
2. Cooking the turkey the day before - are you not worried about food poisoning or it being super dry?
3. Mash on a Christmas dinner, see also sweetcorn

I’m sure I’ll think of more

1 - having 3 courses makes it feel special. It's the only home-made meal in the year where we eat three courses.

2 - am veggie so have no opinion on this

3 - agree. You need to have roasties, and two kinds of potato at one meal is bizarre. Also cauliflower cheese doesn't belong on Christmas dinner, though it seems to be very popular on here

I have ASD as well and am too old and grumpy to bother masking these days if people don't like it they can jog on.

Starters for Christmas dinner flummox me as well. I can't imagine filling up on bloody soup or pate or whatever when the most delicious meal of the year is waiting for me.

People who are really picky, demanding and ungrateful around presents. I don't mean the poor fuckers on here who are justifiably crestfallen that their DH has bought them a sickly candle from B&M. I mean people who actually look up prices of things and compare with what they've bought, or who have something incredibly specific and obscure in mind and then throw their toys out of the pram when a hapless relative gets it wrong. I devour those threads with ghoulish fascination every year.

I know one family where they all sit together and pick their presents out of the Argos catalogue. They are then duly ordered, wrapped and everyone pretends to be surprised and thrilled when they open them.

People who don't wrap presents give me the willies. I just can't wrap my head around it

People who have appalling, selfish, megalomaniacal relatives and run themselves ragged hosting them. I don't judge - I used to be in that situation myself, before I finally said "no" - but I do feel genuinely sympathetic towards those people who are still putting up with it (it's mainly women) and angry on their behalf.

People who don't do presents at all, while celebrating Christmas in every other respect, or people who do a family Secret Santa so everybody gets one small, crap present each. It wouldn't work for me at all.

That people keep giving me candles.

I have politely pointed out that

1. I'm the sort who falls asleep on the sofa with the candle still lit so they are dangerous.
2. They're mostly palm oil which means they are the product of chopped down rain forest.
3. They are ridiculously over priced.
4. I don't like them. They smell awful.

Yet they keep coming, for me to take to the village jumble sale. Even charity shops don't want them.

@sadpapercourtesan

I have ASD as well and am too old and grumpy to bother masking these days if people don't like it they can jog on.

Starters for Christmas dinner flummox me as well. I can't imagine filling up on bloody soup or pate or whatever when the most delicious meal of the year is waiting for me.

People who are really picky, demanding and ungrateful around presents. I don't mean the poor fuckers on here who are justifiably crestfallen that their DH has bought them a sickly candle from B&M. I mean people who actually look up prices of things and compare with what they've bought, or who have something incredibly specific and obscure in mind and then throw their toys out of the pram when a hapless relative gets it wrong. I devour those threads with ghoulish fascination every year.

I know one family where they all sit together and pick their presents out of the Argos catalogue. They are then duly ordered, wrapped and everyone pretends to be surprised and thrilled when they open them.

People who don't wrap presents give me the willies. I just can't wrap my head around it

People who have appalling, selfish, megalomaniacal relatives and run themselves ragged hosting them. I don't judge - I used to be in that situation myself, before I finally said "no" - but I do feel genuinely sympathetic towards those people who are still putting up with it (it's mainly women) and angry on their behalf.

People who don't do presents at all, while celebrating Christmas in every other respect, or people who do a family Secret Santa so everybody gets one small, crap present each. It wouldn't work for me at all.

I think you’re my secret twin

@RosieGuacamosie ooh, I always wanted a twin!

I agree re bread sauce

People travelling to all and sundry on Christmas day, dragging the children away from their new toys, to spend part of the day with people they'd rather not.

The decreasing size of items in a selection box is currently what shocks me most about Christmas!!

It was disgusting and then they'd spend all Xmas lunch discussing every element of the meal. I used to feel like running away screaming.

Oh god this too! I need to be drunk so I don’t react to the inevitable “delicious roasties Simon, so soft and fluffy and luxurious how on earth did you manage them” “scrumdiddly-umptios don’t you think guys!”

That someone has the audacity to cobble together all the shite films, programmes and regular repeats and presents them to us mere morals as exciting tv entertainment over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

I cannot agree with bread sauce it is good of the gods, slapped on some turkey it’s like a lovely turkey sandwich with less chewing required!

Yes to driving across the country on Christmas Day, that’s a hard no from me, enjoying myself does not involve travel!

@TroysMammy YES what a facking liberty

The waste. We spend all year being told to be green, recycle, minimise plastic use etc etc, and then along comes Christmas which is basically a sea of plastic tat, glitter, foil and packaging, most of which must end up in landfill.
I also struggle with how commercialised the whole thing is and what we are actually celebrating.

I don't celebrate Christmas, but looking at it from the outside, I'm faintly astonished by:

• 'Ordinary' people spending £100+ on kids
• People going to extreme lengths to buy the 'must have' thing for kids... I mean, can people not say 'That's really hard to get, I'll try but I can't guarantee as I have lots of other things I need to do'?
• People making a huge fuss for Christmas for babies that are too young to know what the hell is going on - I suppose it's for social media etc, but I definitely don't get the need of a big pile of presents for a 5 month old.