Worst Christmas meal ever? Can be because of hideous food, dreadful company, unbearable tension...or all of the above!

[sprigatito]

We had some terrible Christmases when I was a child - divorced parents, nobody got along, my mother was a crap cook and had a violent temper and my stepfather had Victorian tendencies (no talking at the table) so Christmas dinner was generally horrendous on a number of levels. This wasn't improved during the years when my dad was around for Christmas, because we'd get dropped off at his (freezing, uninhabitable) house straight after dinner, where he'd have bought enough meat and cheese to feed an army and expect us to eat it all. Christmases at home tended to end with a blazing row and someone storming out in the middle of dinner/charades/the night.

I love Christmas now (and am NC with my mother) but at around this time of year I do get the slight collywobbles remembering how awful it used to be. I have this horrible but funny image of my mother's face under a gaily coloured paper hat snarling "you've ruined Christmas for everyone, now shut your mouth or I'll knock your block off"

So what's your "worst Christmas dinner ever" story?

My worst was when the dses were about 5, 7 and 9. On Christmas morning, ds1 woke us up to tell us he’d been sick three times already - he’d picked up a nasty stomach bug, and spent the whole of the day sleeping, opening some of his presents, or throwing up.

By the afternoon, dh was coming down with the bug too - just feeling sick, at that point, so while I was cooking Christmas dinner, ds1 was alternately vomiting and sleeping, and dh was just trying not to throw up, we both took our eyes off the younger two, who basically ate every chocolate thing from their stockings.

By the time I dished up roast goose with all the trimmings ds1 was sleeping again, dh didn’t feel like eating anything, and the other two were too full of chocolate to eat, so I was the only one eating! As I said at the time, I should have just done a goose McNugget for myself!

I'm really sorry that others have had horrible Christmases but it feels better to not be alone in having a Christmas that scarred me for life. I honestly had "worst" ones after it but they have faded from memory because they couldn't measure up to the first feeling of pure misery at the drunk chef Christmas.

The year I agreed to go to BIL with DH side of family as previously always traveled yo NY parents. DS was 2 , DD 6 months. Told dinner at 2pm . DS was sick with tonsillitis on antibiotics so tried to let him sleep as long as possible. Meantime a phone call came from my family to say my father was in hospital with heart attack. Rushed to get there exactly at 2pm. Apparently, SIL who could not really cook , timed it wrong. When we arrived they were finished and clearing up , because the roast potatoes were ready early .Dirty looks all round and dinner plates put in microwave while we ate in silence. Then SIL asked DH to go home to get our hoover as hers had broken and there were crumbs on the floor. Finally she began taking all the Xmas cards off the mantelpiece as Xmas was over.

First and last time I ever spent Xmas in UK with them.

They are extremely unsuitable to be responsible for anything with any sentience. Happily, they were unable to have their own biological children between the two of them so the damage they were able to do was a little limited. DF had to have heart surgery recently I understand. I was amazed they were able to find one.

It is my first one this year without my beautiful Dad who died in April. Although DM tries so hard to put a brave face on she naturally misses him desperately and I know she is dreading it. We are all going to my Dbros house and m hoping his 3 boys will give us some welcome distraction from our sadness x

My dad has a booze problem and my mum liked to use me as a pawn in a passive aggressive attempt to sort my dad out. She encouraged me to do a little Christmas Eve buffet for us three. I came home early from being out with friends to duly do this but of course Dad stayed out, got drunk, so mum sadly picked at the food I'd made, moaning about dad and getting me to ring the landlord of the pub. Next day we sat in silence around the table while dad pushed his dinner around and not eating as he was hungover. Their house is tiny and the table is directly underneath the toilet, so we sat in silence while dad excused himself and noisily used the loo above us due to his boozing. My mum has the cheek to think we had happy jolly fun christmases, and doesn't understand why I've never accepted the invite to go to them on Christmas Eve or Day.

I actually bloody love Christmas now as I basically do everything they didn't!

There was the time I had the brass neck to serve up salmon instead of turkey, and my mother, who likes salmon perfectly well every other day of the year, registered a protest by repeatedly leaving the table, dashing out of the room with her hand over her mouth, and making loud sick noises in the bathroom. The year we had goose and the year I let my vegan daughter take charge of the meal she brought M&S turkey dinners for herself and Dad.

My MIL spent the meal talking about all the amazing Christmas meals they'd had with his ex, despite her not being able to cook and the meal in front of them was 100% cooked from scratch and I'm a good cook... then their dog pissed under the table as we were eating, and I only realised when I lifted my foot and realised it was in a puddle.

That's exactly why I started the thread. The annual collywobbles had begun and I wanted the solidarity of others who had shit Christmas memories. Makes it easier to laugh at it all.

Oh, @honeyandfizz I feel for you. Little ones will be a huge distraction and over time it will be less painful, but the first Christmas without a beloved parent is hard.

Staying at a villa in Spain, we'd been invited by ex-pat friends for the full English Xmas lunch.
At about 20.00 on Xmas Eve, they arrived - on the way to the airport - to say sorry but their pregnant daughter had gone into premature labour & they were going back to UK.
All shops were shut.
We had some stale bread, a bit of cheese, & several bottles of wine for lunch

@Butteredtoast55 your mums “quiet bravery” at Christmas has really touched my heart. 💐

Luckily my Christmas as a child were pretty good, but two spring to mind.

Dad kicked me out aged 21, so I moved in with a man I’d just met, he turned out to be an absolute psychopath, and Christmas Eve whilst I was asleep he stole my purse and spent all my money on drugs and smashed up my car. he later put me in hospital so it was only one Christmas.

Then 2021 Christmas my DM was in intensive care for six weeks, and due to covid only I could visit, but I also had to care my my DF who was terminally Ill at home as DM had been his carer until this point. My in laws still came for Christmas, and I managed to cook a dinnner which I didn’t get to eat somewhere in that day too. DM died in January and DF died in September.

After 2021 I am no longer a fan of Christmas and find it quite traumatic.

Hugs to everyone that has had some terrible ones.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/relationships/4435462-Did-I-do-the-right-thing-And-WTF-do-I-do-now-I-am-so-scared?page=1

That's my thread from xmas 2021. Although as time passed, I was very proud of my standing up to him-so not all in all a negative time. Still very grateful for MN that day!

Otherwise, nothing as bad as most of these but the year I got so so ill.

Me and my Mum went to my Sister's for xmas dinner. I was 11-My Sister is 17 years older, and amazing in general but she CANNOT cook. It's a running joke in our family as she's the only one who can't-we're all pretty good. She's excellent at lots of other things and is quite proud of her lack of cookery skills, she thinks cooking is a total waste of time, which is fair enough.

I had JUST turned vegetarian a few weeks before and sister thought mistakedly, that I still ate fish. I didn't but I didn't want to be impolite so I sort of picked at the microwaved salmon quiche she'd made me.

I don't know what she'd done to it but later on that day I was so so poorly, vomiting (from both ends) so badly that my mouth and, er, other 'areas' were burnt from bile. Dizzy as hell, not at all lucid. It was HORRENDOUS and totally ruined the xmas period for me. I don't think I've had anything as bad since and I am so glad I didn't eat all of it-lord knows what would have happened to me!

I remember travelling to my Grandmother's the following morning and having to take her xmas present out of the lovely gold and green bag it was in-so I could throw up in it!

A couple of days later, we went to my other grandmother's and I was feeling a bit better, but she had absolutely nothing for me to eat. Unless I was to just eat bread, she had loads of cuts of (apparently) the finest different meats but nothing else. My Dad drove to the local 24/7 shop to get me a pot noodle!

We went to a Boxing day lunch not too many years ago. The hosts were a family of four (two teenagers and Mum and Dad) and they had invited us (family of four with two similar aged teenagers) and one set of parents. So 10 in total.

They were generous with the food, which they had bought in Asda. It was basically a cold buffet with some cooked potatoes. There was a lot of sliced meat and cheese, pasta salad, green salad, jars of pickles, tuna pasta and sweetcorn. But ALL of the cheese and cold meat was put on the table still in the packets, so if you wanted anything you literally had to open the packet. Same with jars of pickles, nothing on serving plates at all. I whispered to DH "open every single packet". Also, there was so much food on the table there was no room for any drinks whatsoever, not even a glass of water.

Also their two teenage boys snarfed chocolates and snacks like Pringles and Twiglets all day long without once offering them around to the guests or even being asked to.

I sound ungrateful and I'm not. But would you do it like that? really?

The last Christmas before I said 'fuck it'and went nc

My mother is a narc,my father her enabler,im the scapegoat and my 3 brothers are the golden children-two are now married so the wives are gc too

She told me that myself and my dc where not welcome on the day as she was only hosting for family (god knows what that made me-chopped liver)

So there was herself,my father,3 brothers,2 fsils and a random girlfriend at hers on the day

We spent it at home but where summoned for boxing day for cheese and biscuits

We get there and you could just feel that everyone was looking at me-they where walting for me to do something 'wrong'

Id been there all of ten minutes and I went to pick up a knife to cut some cheese and everything just blew up

Everyones screaming,my mother is screaming and winding up everyone else while throwing punches,my father is screeching at me while throwing things,2 brothers where swinging for me (one with a fist the other with a sharp knife),the other brother is sat in the middle if all this,stoned out of his brain while eating this massive block of cheese,straight from the packet,the sils and random girlfriend are screaming and lashing out at the kids,who are crying while trying to rip my clothes and hair out and I'm trying so hard to get us out of the house

Turns out they'd locked us in so we couldn't get out-i ended up breaking a window in sheer fear which alerted a random passer-by who rang the police

Police show up-im being blamed by them-the kids are screaming that I didn't do anything and the police break it up and give us a lift home

Nothing happened,even though i gave a statement as it was my word against theirs

I went nc straight away,so they tried to call ss and have the kids taken away from me (failed badly) so have settled for bad mouthing me and either attacking me if I'm seen (we moved away but do go back to see driends) or abusing me via sm (15 years and counting)

They tell everyone that I ruined their Christmas that year

I'm very lucky that I met someone and his family have become my family and I now have nice Christmases with them

Xmas and my birthday were the only days in the year that my stepfather wasn't violent and cruel to me. Which made the day even worse because I'd be clock watching all day waiting for it to be over and wondering what mood he would be in the next day because of all the expense of Xmas.
He'd normally be in a foul mood and either "accidentally" break my new toys or give them away to relatives kids. If there was anything I really loved I couldn't show it and I learned to hide it really well.
One year my beloved grandfather abroad arranged for me to fly over and spend xmas with him. I was overjoyed. I suspected he was not going to send me back and apply for custody but then a few days later he died. I cried all over Xmas and was told not to be so pathetic, no hugs, no kiss; no comfort whatsoever from either parent.
I put on nice xmases for my DS but when he grew up I decided not to celebrate any more and haven't done so for many years.

So sorry for all of the terrible stories.

Mine is my uncle came over. My Mother worships him he bought his panty dog.

We had to have the whole of the Christma meal which my Uncle didn't wait for my Mother or Father to sit down, had started before anyone else to the back drop of a dog gasping for breath. Poor thing absolutely panting. All put off meal.

Dog survived another 2 years.

Nothing like as bad as some of the previous posts but I have two that spring to mind.

one year I gave my whole family norovirus for Christmas. I was sick for a few days before hand but fine by Xmas day. Everyone else spent Xmas day and Boxing Day in bed.

when DD was 2 she puked on me after one bite of her dinner and we spent Boxing Day in a&e because we thought she had meningitis. Turned out to be a nasty dose of scarlet fever, but that is up there as one of the worst nights of my life.

I'm Jewish so don't celebrate Christmas but I did have a rubbish work Christmas meal years aho. I'd just moved in with (now) DH and was exhausted, and we'd just had our first ever big row, also my dad had had his foot run over that day just as he was supposed to travel for a job and so my parents were super stressed. And the meal was rubbish - the most flavourless soup ever; it was supposed to be carrot and coriander but it tasted like lumpy warm water, followed by totally dry turkey! The company was nice at least but I really wasn't in the mood and made my excuses early.

Spending Christmas day in hospital with my lovely mum who'd received a terminal diagnosis just a few weeks before. I made a cottage pie for Christmas dinner once we'd come home from the hospital but didn't cook it for long enough and it was still cold in the middle. Miserable.

That day has absolutely killed Christmas day for me. I still really enjoy advent, as a PP said, and all the twinkling lights, mulled wine and tasty food, but the day itself can jog on. Probably also because my immediate family make zero effort with it but are happy for me to organise it all for them. So this year I'm having a year off and pleasing myself, buying food I like and doing what I want.

One year we invited my DB and my DMum for Christmas Day but she went up to stay with him on Christmas Eve. Guess what he gave her for Christmas Eve dinner? A roast chicken with all the trimmings.

@Gettingbysomehow I am sorry you went through all of that I hope you found some means of realising you didn't deserve any of that.

@Bandolina I can't get the image of that poor rabbit out of my head

The one where DH and I had a screaming row on Christmas Eve (over something silly I think). What we hadn’t realised was that I had pocket dialled MIL who stayed on the phone and listened to the argument (nothing to do with her). She then called us to say she wouldn’t come for Xmas day. We insisted and told her it was a silly row and we were fine. Her and FIL came but then have complained since that we spoilt Christmas 🤷🏻‍♀️

My worst one as a child was when I was about 10 and my out of control 15yr old sister called the police and told them my mum had tried to stab her with the turkey carving knife (not true!) and I had to sit upstairs for most of the afternoon on my own while the police were in the house.

I don't really enjoy Christmas Day now tbh as my parents and MIL come over every year but don't particularly get on. They don't argue or anything like that, but they say hello to each other and then pretty much don't speak directly to each other again for the rest of the day! It's painful. Plus they sit on their backsides and don't even offer to make a cuppa, tidy up...nothing.
I much prefer the run up to Christmas!