Anyone else find this time of year a bit stressful?

[FletchFan]

I always feel a bit stressed October to January. Is it just me? I just feel like there's a never ending to-do list. Once we've got over the back to school madness and start approaching October, there's:

• My daughter's birthday mid October so sorting her party out and presents (even though she has far too much shit and we've also got Christmas shortly after)
• Halloween and parties so costumes to sort and the guilt of really not wanting to go pumpkin picking or decorating our house all over even though we live in the middle of nowhere and get nobody knocking.
• Various family and friends birthdays
• Christmas, and the fact it's forced down our throats late September and is a harsh reminder I've got to spend yet another few weeks wondering what the hell to get everyone and my husband having his birthday three days before Christmas, and he is the man with everything.

Is it just me?

Yes, it's always hectic. October flies by, we have a few birthdays end of October and Dp's November then it's basically Christmas. DC always seem to have a lot going on too, when in primary school it was Christmas plays and parties. Now they are older there is no Christmas play but still lots of 'stuff' going on with school, and also sports clubs. Dd1 has one that runs Sept-April and Sept-Dec also seems extra busy. My cars MOT is due just after half term so I have to try and fit that around any days out/sports fixtures etc.

Dp and I both work in jobs that are busier around Christmas too, which I guess doesn't help.

I’m with you OP. We have my DDs, DH and my birthdays from end of October to Christmas. Combine that with Halloween, Bonfire Night and then Christmas as well as the birthdays and we’re always manic. I am the weirdo that loves the quiet time after Christmas when it starts getting light again. Going into the dark plus the bugs always feels hard.

It gets easier once your children have left school.
No Halloween
No build up to Christmas with school events
Bonfire night is optional

Obviously, there isn't much you can do about birthdays.

Im always stressed this time of year, the to do list feels never ending!
I do enjoy halloween so I don't mind that much but I really dislike Xmas although im starting to enjoy it more as the children have got older (still teens though) I put really good boundaries in with family and make sure i do the things I actually enjoy - panto and a light walk. The rest of it i don't care about.
I just feel like every email or text is someone asking for money in some way.

Seasonal affected disorder hits hard for a lot of people around now. Am not having an easy time at the moment and I think many others too struggle with the change in daylight and the early nights.

I hate this time of the year as soon as the clocks changed it's dark and miserable until about March or so.

Loads of mumsnetters hate summer and prefer to fester under a "cosy" blanket for several months feeling "snug", while enjoying their candles and fairy lights.

I can't think of anything I'd like to do less.

I could have written this!

I love Halloween and have a love hate relationship with Christmas - too much expectation ruins it for me. And my friendship group are wanting to go a tacky Christmas night out and I am cringing at the thought of it but I wasn’t there when they decided on it. It looks like a work Christmas do.

@RampantIvy you missed the hot chocolate!!

Indeed I have ☕

@RampantIvy personally I like a sunny terrace and a chilled good white - When we lived in Copenhagen I did quite like the hygge - but that was because cafes and bars were warm, candlelit ( as was my house too at half the price with geothermal heating ) and big outside braziers and furry throws! It was in a different league .

No not just you at all. I could have written your post. Then there is all the additional requests for stuff from school too. Ours has already started asking for things for the Christmas Fair. It's all too intense and too much consumerism.

Sounds heavenly

Not just you OP. We have 4 birthdays in October and then thinking what to get everyone for Christmas, what to cook, when to decorate for Christmas while making my money last till the end of January makes me want to cancel Christmas and hide with a book somewhere. :(

I saw a post on insta the other day which said 'I am ready to throw some sweets outside the front door, chuck a turkey in the oven, wrap a few presents and call it a year!' 😂
Sums up how I feel totally.
I always think once we get to October it might as well be Christmas because this time of year goes at warp speed!

@Pr1mr0se yep , they did autumn and winter incredibly well - they keep the Xmas /winter lights up till mid Feb too - lots of our neighbours had their outside lights in trees and on balconies there till mid Feb too -

Maybe that's where I've got the idea from as I keep some of the lights up until February (not the tree though as that wouldn't last that long) and every year I hope that other people will too. It seems awfully dark again once everyone takes their Christmas lights down. Plus I definitely am living with someone who is SAD during the winter.

I almost started this very same thread last week!

I am completely with you, OP. I am stressed and overwhelmed to the max with it all. I feel like I am haemorrhaging money left, right and centre and there's just no enjoyment in any of it. I My kid has everything he needs but, here I am, buying more shite he doesn't need ...because "Santa". It's also his birthday this week, so even more presents. Don't even get me started on Halloween and our "big" anniversary right after.

I haven't started on shopping for my partner yet because we have everything we need/want and whatever I buy will be frivolous crap. I went to buy a £500 coffee machine this week and stopped myself - we already have a bloody coffee machine that's sufficient! Then I looked at an almost £300 ice cream maker - that's when I knew I had lost the plot. I am done. This is the last year I'm feeling like this. In January I'm telling my kid Santa is about as real as his trust fund, and I am booking a holiday to Florida for next year. Fuck it all!

You don't have to do it, Christmas.

Christmas is worst, the whole NYE drama and both kids have their birthday over the holidays

I think it's better being busy than just not having anything to do during the darker months.

I don't even mind the cold, it's the dark.

Work out what you do like about the autumn winter season and just do more of that.

We love a board game, we know what games we enjoy now, and we have this amazing games shop/cafe with, I think, everyboard game known to humankind for sale. So instead of going online I pop in there and ask one of the board game geeks what they suggest and have a lovely half hour or so talking board games and get something that I wouldn't have found myself, or at least it would've taken much longer and have been less fun.