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

The overflowing bins after Christmas 😢 Mostly wrapping paper and boxes. It’s depressing.

What fresh hell is having to book the recycling centre? 😱. Assuming it's the council tip rather than a private one don't you just fill your car and go?

@DrCoconut

What fresh hell is having to book the recycling centre? 😱. Assuming it's the council tip rather than a private one don't you just fill your car and go?

Our council tip has to be booked.

As PP have pointed out there are many people who feel compelled to buy presents for everyone. Neighbours, teachers, postman, family members they have had no contact with for the rest of the year. Their hairdressers daughters mother in law. 🤣
That to me is absolutely ridiculous.

As to me are parents who shower their DC with 50+ presents, plus stocking, plus Christmas Eve Box, December 1st Box. I think it devalues the presents.
And then the people who clean out Poundland for rubbish that probably won’t last til the New Year. I can only assume they have been living under a rock and don’t know anything about climate change and the destruction of the planet.

The greed, the absolute greed whether it be food or gifts.

Closely followed by the waste.Unwanted gifts, wrapping, decor thrown away and food waste etc.

Me too. I'll be wearing a bronze, glittery shift dress, velvet heeled boots and a vintage, leopard print fur coat from Whistles - with the brightest red lipstick I own. We go glam' or we go home in my family.

The waste.
The expense.
The buying shit plastic toys/experiences/afternoon tea for the sake of it for a child/friend/aunty in that order
The lighting up the outside of your house when your inside the fucking house what is the point?! - and I don't mean some fairy lights around a window, I mean the full-on-Blackpool-isn't-bright-enough, and can't be seen by fucking NASA.
Crap chocolate, dates that taste of a camels nethers, panetonne that is stale before it's baked, glitter, this-years-bauble for the tree, fake trees made of wire with tinsel branches, LED lights, crisps that are supposed to taste of sprouts...WHAT TAF?!?
I really want to hibernate until March.
I used to love Christmas, but all of the joy has been sucked out of it.
<bah fucking humbug>

People who claim not to like bread sauce. I make it every year and since my DM died I’ve had the whole lot to myself. My family, my in laws, my friends, and some of the posters here are all clearly animals!

Traditional Xmas dinner.

Especially turkey.

I can't get over the fact no one eats turkey for 364 days every year, then for one day, only turkey will do.

After consistently miserable Xmas' as a child, I feel sorry for those who don't get to enjoy it (for whatever reason).

I really enjoy the peace and love - no arguments, no shouting and everyone getting to spend the day how they wish.

Pure, unadulterated joy!

I'd forgotten watching my uncle saw a frozen turkey in half, so he and my aunty could have half and my parents and I could have the other half...
Why not just let my mum cremate cook it and all 5 of us eat together? 🤷‍♀️

Weird thing, family.

@Echobelly ..it's a shame in a sense. There used to be a real "hunkering down it's Xmas" feeling when I was growing up. .

What I find shocking is that growing up I always had a sense of Xmas. The house felt xmassys and the feeling the build up...

Presents were the icing on the cake.

However DH family have utterly drained everything ounce of joy from Xmas because it's so tightly controlled.

Presents feel so under budget it's weird it doesn't feel like Xmas. I'm not explaining myself well.

We do this. Sort of.
We'd have a smoked salmon / eggs / pastries type brekkie at 10ish.
Then the main course at about 2.
Then pudding at about 4/5.
Then a bit of cheese / cake if anyone wants it about 8/9pm.

@ImNotDancing , just the other day on another forum someone recommended cooking your entire Christmas dinner weeks in advance, plating it all up, wrapping each plate in cling film etc. with each person’s name on - and freezing them! 😱😱😱

People hosting or going to other people's homes on Christmas day.
Going for a walk on Christmas day.
Christmas themed tableware and bedding etc.

I appreciate this is a light hearted thread but I can't imagine not going for a walk on Christmas Day ... not a full blown hike but I need to get out on my own for fresh air and to walk off some of the food .

Telling kids that they have to ‘be good’ for Santa etc. Its horrible. I always correct people who say shite like that to them.

Not sure I understand what's wrong with incentivising kids to be good, personally...

Unnecessary gift giving and the stress/grabbiness that goes with it.
Giving Christmas-themed items as a gift on the actual day. What is the point?

Agree re the Christmas-themed items. A relative of mine sometimes does this and it always feels a bit pointless.

Agree with you about mash with Christmas dinner,and having a starter. But as for cooking the turkey the day before,I always used to do this back in the days when I was cooking for a crowd. Oven space was limited without a humongous turkey taking up the entire oven for several hours!

That what is essentially one day (or three if you include Christmas Eve and Boxing Day) seems to overshadow the entire Autumn starting even before Halloween - so much long drawn out build up, so by the time it actually arrives it seems an anti climax. Don't get me started on people who put their tree up in November.

ive been cooking Christmas dinners for over 25 years and happy to report that no one has died eating turkey i cooked on the 24th.

Turkey.

It's dry, even when my mother doesn't cook it 🤣, and like a pp said, you don't really eat it at any other time but Christmas when it's the only acceptable meat.
We help ourselves on Christmas Day and I have more of everything else and a token amount of turkey because it's horrible!