To think christmas with small dcs actually isn't that great?

[NapQueen]

Yes their little faces at the gifts and the magic of "has he beeeen?" Is lovely but

They get overwhelmed at getting extended family gathering
They get bought craft kits which are too old for them and they want open now even if there's no space to do any
They need to nap more because it's all so exhausting
They don't want the food
They need care and attention so gone are the days of getting quietly squiffy and playing charades or articulate
They generally eat a lot more shit so have these random sugar highs and lows

I'm fucking exhausted!

"Christmas is for the kids" - only because they steal it!

Yes! It's a different beast with kids. I think next year we won't bother with the big turkey dinner. Just easy quick (nice!) food.

My three year old has been very trying today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

I yearn for her first Christmas where she slept through Christmas dinner!

And my three year old had a chocolate binge just before bed and is now still awake and we are failing to watch a film.

Yep. Same shit plus more shit - with a few nice moments

You are not wrong OP. I have 7 teenagers. Now THAT is fun. !!

Can't think of anything worse than toddlers at Christmas, then again I've not a maternal bone left in my body. !

I am ready for bed now but my kids are still up... I am on your level 100%

Also the mention of wrongly aged games? My 2YO received a Lego kit for 7-12YO? It mainly annoyed me as it came from a friend with a child the same age as mine!

I agree somewhat. My sons first two christmases were awful, he was teething and miserable. It's been easier since and it's nice to see the surprise on his face but, he gets overwhelmed by it all and is shy around visiting relatives. It definitely has a detrimental effect on his behaviour.

The just turned 5yo was actually quite good but it just made me wish we had stopped at one! My poor just turned 2yo ds did not handle the day well. Or rather he went from screaming snotty tantrums to an-fucking-gelic like play. I didn't know what to do!

But overall I feel like I've been robbed if a day of restfulness and drunkenness.

My child free sister was clearly disappointed that I couldn't throw myself into any boardgames as I knew I'd not be able to concentrate with an eye on dcs.

It all comes together in the end, though. 13 year old DS has been so thankful this year - he loves our tree, our lunch, our pre Christmas traditions. He spent all day telling me how lovely it was, then disappeared with his phone, and left DH and I with the TV remote, chocolates and fizz.

Stick with it!

My 4yo surprised me and has been wonderful and lovely all day apart from 30 mins before bedtime when she through the mother of all tantrums, but I'm not instagramming that!

My 2 yo has been as good as a 2yo can be... but still.stroppy and miserable and overtired. He is now awake with tummy ache.

I remember just getting pissed with mates on Christmas, hardly anyone ever needed their bum wiped. Now that was magical 😂

Marylin I yearn for the day they can just be without parental involvement. Seriously I adore them but I am very excited about the future!

Dammit, *threw!! Hitting the fizz hard to make up for a day of driving

I agree. DH and I bloody love Christmas. We've been so excited about it, but OMG today has been a killer. DD1 (3 yo) up at 4.30 for the day. Never naps, so just powered through. DD2 (8 months) relatively easy in comparison but will only nap on one of us, and is shattered because of aforementioned 4.30 start. DD1 is pretty good as small kids go, but justthe general snatching and tantrumming and demanding another bloody hot milk with marshmallows and a different spoon oh oops I've spilt it oh now I need a tissue please the second I sit down has pushed me over the edge. And the constant shrieking, waking the baby up, lack of spacial awareness clumsiness, and refusal to eat food or let us just eat ours is so, so fucking annoying.

I felt so jealous seeing people on FB/relatives on skype with older kids and teens having a lie in and a leisurely day. But I know that they are looking at us a d feeling jealous that we get all the magic of Santa.

I've been a bit of an impatient grumpy mum today and feel bad about it. I apologised each time but I've been beating myself up about it since she went to bed 😞 i wish I could learn to be more patient and just not let the niggly annoying toddler shit bother me.

I'm at work at 7am tomorrow so last year I had the thought of relaxing with dh Wibsey wine and movies to get me through the day but I'm currently in bed with the alarm set for 6am having just ironed my uniform.

Fa la la la la la la la laaaaa

We've got a 2 year old and a 6 week old. Baby has actually been pretty good (even napped during dinner which I wasn't expecting). But toddler has been increasingly trying as the day went on due to disturbed routine and not getting a proper nap. Plus we've had a meltdown (that has gone on intermittently throughout the day) about the advent calendar running out of chocolate.... Was a relief when we hit bedtime!

Totally agree. We have a 5week old and a two year old and today the in laws with their 8 month old. It's been tears and no relaxing. You can't even finish a drink as you are constantly trying to sort them out. Took me 4hours to get the baby to sleep as there was too much going on!

Thank fuck I'm not alone. Poor DS is only two but has been over excited, over whelmed and over tired. It hasn't all been sweetness and light!

Yep much better with older DC! Mine are 12 and nearly 10 and today has been great - up at 8.30 for presents then they stayed out of my way while I cooked, sat at the table politely and ate then played some fun games without whinging. So much easier but I remember those years so you have my sympathy!

Why the fuck do we do it to ourselves!!

We should just ship all 4yo and unders off to either enthusiastic graparents (think my mum has been snorting powdered candy canes!) or offer them out to the rueful parents of teenagers who are remembering the "Christmas magic" through rose tinted spectacles

To be honest my 3 yo DS has completely made Xmas for me this year. Yep, it's been trying; yes I am literally knackered (5 months pregnant and it's been non stop all day). But what would my Xmas have been otherwise? Crap TV, getting tipsy, aging family. So what? I can do that any Sunday of the year. It's been amazing planning his presents, seeing him open them and generally have loved every bone aching, tired moment of it.

So glad I'm not alone. 16 month old DD has been exhausting today - she has a cold and is teething, poor thing, and I think she was discombobulated by the change to her routine. I miss the days when Christmas was relaxing!

Gawd yes - DS is 4 and wanted to play with everything he unwrapped, of course requiring someone to play with him, waited for me to build his fucking bastard misbegotten marble run then received a remote control car from my uncle and crashed it into the marble run, spent the day living on chocolate coins or crisps... Given how excited he was he wasn't misbehaving, just full on and hard work! No chance of opening the bubbly, putting the bird in the oven and watching a film or settling into a new book. I just tried not to think about it

I had a two hour nap this pm with my 3yo 😀. It has all been a bit much for him though. Far too many presents to actually appreciate (or want to open) , and the

The 18 no has struggled having so many presents to open, literally open one, want to play, give it two minutes, try and get the next one opened. We still havnt finished opening them. Slept through lunch but is Peg fed so less of an issue just a bit sad, he's been good but walked in the living room, completely ignored presents and dug put an old toot toot pig to play with!!

7yo & 4yo have been lovely today BUT we are very lucky as we have six adults in the house, one of whom is child free BIL who only sees the children once or twice a year & loves building things like marble runs, Lego & k'nex and sees building these things as a way of getting out of family chat and the other three are grandparents who live hours away so only see the children every couple of months and are willing to play endless games & generally distract or entertain the children whilst we cook or whatever and are fit & healthy so not tied to a particular routine but adapt themselves around the DC's needs.