To think people are just plain INSANIO about Christmas?

[HullyEastergully]

In many different ways.

So much upset and pain and worry and strategising.

It's not good.

It makes you hate each other. It looks like an innocent dice-throwing board game. But involves cheating, betting on and nobbling other people, and tantrums. None of which are thrown by me, obviously.

I love Christmas but I do not understand all the "is this enough?" or "I've bought ds1 a private jet but ds2 has only asked for a football, what else can I buy him so it's fair?" stuff. As long as everyone has a present they will enjoy who cares what it is or how much it cost?

I couldn't be bothered with stuff like elf on a shelf or advent activities.

We do do new pjs at Christmas, only really because dd once got given some at Christmas and by the next year she needed new ones anyway. It's the only time of year we get new ones though so isn't an extra as much as something that is needed ( and they are not Christmas themed). The dc feel like they are opening a present early and it also means none of us are in holey too small pjs for any early morning stocking opening photos

Ok.

No.

There would be bloodshed and A&E

Charades is bad enough.

The horse racing game! Christ that's brought back my yoof like a Madeleine

I can't enjoy Christmas this year as am pigging pg so no booze and no cheese

I love Christmas. I never find it stressful, and with dd it is just even better. Mind you, I do not have to cook a roast dinner - we still go to my in laws in the morning and my parents in the afternoon so we are waited on hand and foot. I think, in a few years time when dd will want to stay at home, I may share the 'insanio' opinion!

Oh sorry. Thread has moved on

So yeah
Tea
Champagne
Coffee
chocolate
Lunch and wine
More wine
More chocolate
Cheese and port
Baileys or amaretto
Hangover

Oh no - just when I'd got my head round the creepy Elf-on-a-Shelf business, and the Christmas-Eve-Hamper-chock-full-o-crap, fatsatsuma mentions a fresh hell - the Dec-1st-parcel-of-Christmas-tat. What, pray, could this possibly contain? 25 pairs of knickers, each one emblazoned with "squeeeee! only (insert number here) more sleeps until Crimbletide!"

Black Russian: 3/4 oz coffee liquer + 1 1/2 oz vodka + ice in a glass. Scrummy.

We're doing our first Christmas alone this year with 1 yo DS, don't have any specific plans yet as he's only little, but in his future we'll be doing: advent calendar, little present on the end of his bed to open before he's allowed to wake us up (always worked with me and my sister, loved having something to play with before we were called downstairs), a big scrabble to open stockings in bed all together, then downstairs for the main shindig.

Not doing Elf on the Shelf (leaves me cold, I'm afraid) or special jimjams. Here in Catalunya DS will have a 'shitting log' suitelife.com/2010/12/15/caga-tio-and-caganer/ at the GP's house.

My DM is making us a Knitivity, I'll have to ask her to make a special shitting man, too. Lots of shit goes on this time of the year

If they start that bloody daily 'squeee 13 sleeps' thread mullarkey this year I am going to sue mumsnet for the mental distress.

'Squeee' makes me want to hurt people.

In 20 years some people's children will be posting on MN that their best memory of childhood Christmas's was the year Mother actually smiled on
Christmas Day. Though it might have been a sneer (as dear old mum was MNetting at the time and the words fucking Christmas duvets was heard) but they're choosing to think of it as a smile.

I think a lot of the madness and stress is a bit self induced. Just get some aunt bessie's frozen roasts and be done with it

Christmas fucking duvets? Well, stuff a clementine up my chuff and call me Heston Bummenthal, if that doesn't take the fucking cake.

Iit's just Sunday dinner with a cracker, and I hate Sunday dinners too.....

I have a friend who has been counting down since fucking SEPTEMBER!

We have one advent calendar (reusable velcro thing bought when DS1 was a baby), Mom brings Christmas PJs for the boys, saves me a job.

I don't even know what Elf on a shelf shite is.

I do do stockings and the boys get lovely presents. Not always what they want (but as they were going through the Firebox catalogue and asked for a beardwarmer and a huge inflatable air swimming Angry Bird for £50 that is no bad thing.

I just like the break from routine in all honesty.

Yanbu.

I do Christmas parties/drinks/end of term get togethers .

Advent calendars (although the gps buy them and send them).

Christmas cards (love em and am old fashioned like that).

Presents for close family.

Tree up and some extra fairy lights in the bay window around 15th December-ish.

Make mince pies with the dc on Christmas Eve.

Stockings for the dc.

Nice food and more drink than usual on Christmas day (so quite a lot then).

Get together with family on Boxing Day (it was my dad's birthday but he died in 2011 rip) - will prob remain a tradition for a few years even though ddad not there.

Tree down on 6th January.

I quite like Christmas. Don't like the relentless advertising, pressure to buy stuff, mad crowds in shops from November onwards, endless endless endless threads on Mumsnet about not wanting to go to the inlaws for Christmas, endless endless endless threads on Mumsnet on how much are you spending on your dc.

Imo Elf on the shelf, christmas eve hamper, christmas eve pyjamas, reindeer footprints in the snow etc are just preposterous and I would have happily remained oblivious were it not for this pesky site.

Right from the outset, DP and I decided that Christmas would be absolutely stress free. Other people could go insanio if they wished but we'd cook an excellent (very late) lunch, invest in lots of good drink and tell everyone they were welcome at any point in the day. With 5 dcs between us and an ex husband and wife (now remarried) we were not going to get into emotional competitions. It has worked well.

Better still, now that everyone is grown-up and ds2 and ddil have a dd of their own, they now host a big, cheery family gathering on Christmas Day afternoon. On Boxing Day we have open house and it's always easy and convivial. If it were otherwise I'd avoid Christmas altogether.

We don't make too many precise plans either. Just get on with it.

PS. We are ridiculously traditional though. Decorations up on Christmas Eve at ours and down on Twelfth Night at ours. Decorations are not designed to bring down the National Grid either. ds2 and ddil put theirs up a little earlier because dd loves 'em and that's good enough reason for me. None of us do Christmas pyjamas, Santa Sodding Sacks or reindeer footprints in the drizzle snow either.

As long as my tree is straight - I don't care whether everything else goes pear shaped.

My day goes:

Cup of coffee & paracetamol (Xmas eve hangover)
DC open pressies
Cup of tea
Cup of tea
get dressed
visit PILs
open more pressies
drink baileys
drink wine
cook dinner
drink wine
eat dinner
drink wine
games
eat chocolates
drink baileys
watch some t.v.
sleep

Did I miss anything out?

Christmas fucking duvets? Well, stuff a clementine up my chuff and call me Heston Bummenthal, if that doesn't take the fucking cake.

Bluestocking gets quote of the festive season!

Sparkling, I have had a big MN argument for suggesting the very same thing! But it is, isn't it?

what are elf shelves?

and xmas duvets?

No way am I going "insanio". Going to the gps. Our lovely family all together. The greatest gift of all this year is my father being sober and enjoying xmas with his grandchildren.

I'm fussy about my Christmas tree, but generally laid back about the day itself.

Christmas shopping - online (good old Amazon)
Food shop - Sainsbury's delivers Christmas eve. If I can't get a slot DH or I go out about 1am and get it all done in as short a time as possible and buy everything ready made if possible (pigs in blankets, mince pies, Christmas cake, etc) - if they don't have it or we've forgotten it, it's tough
Christmas tree goes up as late as I can get away with and comes down as soon as I can sneak it out the house

Christmas Eve
Kids bath while the elves deliver new PJs
Do the whole sherry/mince pie/carrot for Santa thing
Throw reindeer landing dust (glitter) in the front garden
Kids to bed
DH & I peel all the veg on Christmas Eve with a bottle of Baileys while we're waiting for the kids to STFU and go to sleep
Drunkenly tiptoe around delivering stockings

Christmas Day
I get up about 7, take paracetamol, put turkey in oven
Bugger off back to bed
Lazy arse kids get up about 9
Carnage hits!
Eat around 3ish
Kids play with new stuff, go out on their new bikes, etc
Consume alcohol, eat industrial quantities of Quality Street, watch crap TV, play board games

The end

Oh god,Totopoloy.
I hated having to play it as a kid,it had a bit called burst a blood vessel. [vomit]
Made me ill.

CHRISTMAS!
LOVE IT!

And I've already started 'picking up my cheese'. That's right, when I'm shopping, I'm 'picking up' blocks of cheese, for the Xmas day cheeseboard.

I also 'pick up a few Xmas bits', why only today I 'picked up' some liquorice allsorts and a box of biscuits.