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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want to be ravenously hungry at Christmas?

275 replies

Bubbinsmakesthree · 26/12/2016 11:29

Staying with DH's family who are a bit weird about food.

We had a one-course Christmas lunch yesterday about 3pm, after which everyone declared themselves too stuffed to contemplate pudding.

It is now 11:30am the next morning and not a mince pie crumb, not a chocolate matchstick has been available for consumption since. There has been some vague talk about breakfast which has been on-going for hours with nothing whatsoever being done about it.

I am so hungry right now I am shaking.

To make matters worse we've just watched Bake Off like some form of torture.

Xmas Angry
OP posts:
Rioja123 · 26/12/2016 11:50

Any sign of breakfast? How long are you staying?

Christmassnake · 26/12/2016 11:52

We are exactly the same here,we ate at 2pm, no one wanted dessert.no one wanted the buffet I was planning at 6 pm...no one except me has eaten breakfast,and that's only because I'm ill and couldn't take tablets on a empty stomach..

blueskyinmarch · 26/12/2016 11:59

Blimey, that sounds miserable. We have stuffed ourselves silly. It’s Christmas - it’s the law! It also helps soak up the alcohol. Please tell me there was plenty of alcohol OP? I am guessing there was little or none?

trixymalixy · 26/12/2016 12:03

My MIL does this to us when we visit. Once it got to 4pm before we were offered any food having been there overnight. If she's not hungry then there's no food.

It was torture when I was breastfeeding.

Original poster
Bubbinsmakesthree · 26/12/2016 12:06

Update: have had 1/4 slice of toast which may have prevented me actually passing out. About to enter mobile reception dead zone on ground floor so wish me luck and calories...

OP posts:
MargaretCavendish · 26/12/2016 12:07

Ooh, I feel a bit guilty now. Again, they are lovely people and overall I did very well in the great in-law lottery. I just find it hard not to think a bit wistfully of the tins of Quality Street, fridge full of cheese and other treats that will be filling my parents' house right now... Or last year, when we hosted and so we had a huge meal with all of my favourites and then leftovers for days and days goes misty-eyed

TheSlaughterOfHerodificado · 26/12/2016 12:08

I'm with Bluesky on this topic.

We seem to start eating at daft o'clock n the morning (pre-breakfast chocolate, usually) and then continue grazing uninterruptedly throughout the day.

Meals are oases of gluttony in a desert of mere chocolate biscuits, Celebrations, liqueurs and shortbread. The most frequently heard words are "No, thanks. Honestly, I couldn't eat another thing. Well - maybe just the one . . . "

Come round to us next year . . . grin]

Oldraver · 26/12/2016 12:10

This is madness. If you know someone well enough to saty in their house then you should be able to say .."can I make us some toast ?"

OpalTree · 26/12/2016 12:11

How did it come about that you had a quarter of a slice of toast and not a whole one? Or even a gluttonous two slices of toast?

Beardsareweird · 26/12/2016 12:14

Queen - I salute you :D

kelper · 26/12/2016 12:16

Lol its the other way round here, my mum thinks she's feeding an army!! Plus everything she cooks is really rich and we can't manage it all!
Although I did say I wasn't hungry for lunch, then had a sausage roll and 3 ferrero rochers.....
DS is full too, although he prefers to graze. I may open the prosecco :)
Hope you got some food OP, set a reminder in your phone calendar to take a snack bag next year ;)

gamerchick · 26/12/2016 12:16

You had to share toast? Confused please pack a bag of goodies next year if you're going.

Crispsheets · 26/12/2016 12:18

We ate at 4 but no pudding...too full.
But I couldn't last till 1130 with no breakfast. I had sausage rolls.

MrsMozart · 26/12/2016 12:19

This is why, whenever I go a-visiting, I have some biccies and protein bar things in my bag. Have come to the conclusiong that a lot of people have their own particular ways when it comes to food...

Hope you get fed / find food soon!

IndianaJone · 26/12/2016 12:26

Ha! This sounds so familiar. I'm always about to pass out with hungar at my in-laws. Bird size portions for adults and even smaller for the children. Think two teaspoons of rice pudding for the kids and 4 tablespoons of rice with one chicken wing...for a 7 year old. Also, the Internet is only switched on when specifically needed. It's like living in one of those remote log cabins you see in films...except in West London.

calzone · 26/12/2016 12:28

Why would you share toast?

At least a slice would have been consumed whilst buttering and jamming the second slice.

FeckinCrutches · 26/12/2016 12:30

But why can't you just say "I'm hungry so I'm going to make my breakfast, does anybody want anything?
Will they cause some kind of argument becuase you are hungry? Will they kick off? refuse to feed you? Confused

babychamcherryb · 26/12/2016 12:30

This is so common! I get this at the in laws thankfully due to other reasons I'm never going. It's so strange. Do the hosts secretly eat in their room so they can proudly boast that they're not hungry?

One Christmas Day I got no lunch then Christmas dinner was at 8pm. It was rubbish. Beautiful food but everyone was so hungry they could of been served up cold oven chips and eaten with gusto. There was no chatting over a leisurely dinner just people stuffing their faces disgustingly in silence.

WorraLiberty · 26/12/2016 12:32

Last year we went out 'for a walk' on Boxing Day and went to the corner shop to scavenge something edible. Every year I mean to pack a bag of emergency rations, why don't I learn?

Did your DH have a bug last year too?

Why didn't he make you breakfast?

PickAChew · 26/12/2016 12:34

We usually make ouown breakfast when we stay with my parents. Was she perhaps expecting you to do the same?

DinosaursRoar · 26/12/2016 12:37

could this be a difference in family cultures about how food is available in the family? If a 'proper' guest was staying, I'd ask them what they wanted for breakfast and make it, but for say, my brother, i'd assume he'd just help himself in the morning. Wouldn't occur to me that he wouldn't just get on with it and make himself some toast or cereal if he wanted it first thing.

Could it be they think if you are hungry, you'll either ask for it or help yourself? Are you waiting politely to be offered breakfast, and they are assuming your lack of asking meant lack of interest? If yours is a family where if there is food available, it'll be offered, then I can see why you assume lack of offering = lack of food available. But it could just be it's more 'normal' to help youself/ask for your DH's family and they don't see you as a 'guest' anymore.

For future, you need to stop being so reserved about food round them. Early evening, say "gosh, I'm getting abit peckish again now, would it be ok if I helped myself to a sandwich?" 9am-ish, "MIL, is it ok if I make myself some breakfast?" or even "what's for breakfast?" There are few people who would refuse a direct request for food from someone stopping who was hungry!

user1477282676 · 26/12/2016 12:44

This is so weird. Why go there if they're odd about food? I wouldn;t.

Can't you just make a FULL slice of toast ffs?

Wifflewaffles · 26/12/2016 12:45

I'm hungry today too. We were supposed to be going out for a meal, but ds is ill. :( I keep thinking about the lovely food I would have been stuffing myself with today. All the Christmas food is at my mum's house. At least I've had a bowl of cereal and a cup of tea today.

pklme · 26/12/2016 12:45

This is my DPs house. DM is a bit of a secret eater, then insists we don't need food because we have already had so much. Gets a small chicken for six and expects leftovers. I never travel without nut and chocolate in my suitcase.

Gallavich · 26/12/2016 12:50

Why haven't you made your own breakfast? Sure it's awkward but they are being horribly rude.