to think that Christmas brings out the control freakery in people?

[seeker]

Well, am I?
Or is it just on mumsnet?

YANBU, I see it happening with lots of people, not just on MN

in what way?

if you mean mils insisting on 3 types of potato at xmas dinner yanbu

YANBU. Months of preparation for just one day..? MAD!

YANBU.

I don't see Christmas as a big deal at all, tbh, just a break from work with some nice food and maybe a drinks party (family all hundreds of miles away).

I rarely watch tv and was struck the other night by how many Xmas ads there are already, and there's still a month to go!!

Oh, it just all these "

I can't stand all the turkey/veg cooking panic. FGS it's just a roast!

Lol YANBU - it definately brings out the control-freak in me! Heaven forbid ANYONE should jeapardise my DD's second Christmas after her first one was such a write-off! At least I can laugh at myself for it......

I am always very impressed about how well in advance the British plan for everything.

In my family we dont talk about Christmas food untill the 23th or 24th of Dec.
I see all these threads about families arguing 2 months before christmas and i feel weird.

You mean you haven't had your gourmet 4 course Christmas dinner planned out since August?!

Weirdos!

Lacquitar, we are the same here. I won't be doing much Xmas shopping until the week before, and wrapping probably on 23rd or 24th.

I'm really not one of those people that thinks of nothing but Christmas from September onwards. On another forum I go on there is a "Christmas" board that is open all year round, and some people are so mad about Christmas they talk about it all bloody year round on there. Get a life!

Oh, it totally does. The number of people who admit they don't like turkey but still "have to" have it, for example... I'll be doing a roast whatever I fancy, push the boat out to the extent of actually making roast potatoes (I think I can remember how!), possibly more than one kind of vegetable, and various sauces including gravy made from GRANULES so there! Shoot me now. Also intend to open a bottle of wine. Whichever of the DCs happen to be staying with me over the holiday will eat every scrap and enjoy it immensely. Er, isn't that the point?

Oh, and the friend who explained how she was required to cater for 12 and the women would prepare dinner while the men went to the pub and she wasn't really in the mood this year. I said what, you do this gender divide thing every year? Wouldn't you like to go to the pub while someone else cooks dinner? Oh yes, she said. Well, I said, why not tell them this year you are going to the pub and the men are going to cook dinner, and take turns doing that every other year? She looked as shocked as if I'd said "Why don't you do a striptease in church if you think the service is boring?" "But it's traditional", she said.

Don't even get me started on the stocking/present protocol...

It does seem to me that for some people Christmas is one huge stress and hassle and it's sad. It should be a fun,relaxing day and it should be just as special if there are no presents and only beans on toast for dinner. I got embroiled in another thread about a pregnant lady who doesn't have the energy or money to buy Christmas presents and the general consensus was (apart from me and a couple of others) that regardless of how tired and down she felt Christmas is a duty you should plan ahead. Forget about it being fun and relaxing, pregnancy is simply not a valid excuse to get out of giving gifts and "opting out" of Christmas (ie gift giving) is just not allowed.

That sort of attitude shows how materialistic and shallow Christmas has become IMO. The general tone of the thread is that you are absolutely required to give presents at Christmas and if you don't no one will care that you didn't give them because you have a huge life event coming up, they'll just think you're lazy and ungrateful. Nice. Very Christamssy.

It does bring out the competitive streak in some. MILs insisting on two types of cranberry sauce is code for... 'I do a much better job of this type of thing than you'. Plus you've got the classic set-up for domestic dynamite.... two or more women present, both knowing 'the right way' to make roast potatoes but only one allowed to be in charge in the kitchen. Ka-boom!!!

I haven't spent Xmas day with either my parents or dh's mum since 1984.

We see each other a week or so before, meet halfway in a restaurant, have lunch, Bob's yer uncle. Xmas day is then dedicated to snuggling by the fire watching films, eating whatever yummy stuff dh picks up from Waitrose the day before & doing a treasure hunt for ds's presents.

I like our Christmas now, after years of feeling that we must be wrong not to have the sort of Xmas that the M&S adverts would imply are normal.