Excited about Christmas?

[Filofanny]

I just had a message from a friend asking if i was excited about Christmas. I said no, because its only September, and she replied 'Oh, :( i thought you were a good mum'

Wtf? Is that a sign I'm a bad parent? My children are 16 and nearly 19, so its not as magical as it once was, but we do enjoy Christmas. We just dont spend a third of a year looking forward to it. I feel stupidly pissed off and judged now

AIBU to think its a bit early, not to start preparing, or budgeting or whatever, but to be excited?

DS is 3. Hell yes i'm excited

I'm totally confused by your update, op . Boxing Day sales?

I get so stressed even thinking about Xmas.

I try not to let it effect me but it does.. It's all the competitiveness that gets me every year despite me vowing not to.

I hate the massive competition on who has completed their Xmas shopping the earliest. You can guarantee on Facebook there is this.. "Xmas shopping done...check, all wrapped and under the tree....check...Xmas cards written and ready and waiting to be posted....check...fuck off. Do you want a medal?

I also hate all the social activity bragging that goes on.. People who say "oh we will have to catch up in between Xmas and New Year. But you don't hear anything from them. Or there's the "Oh we are fully booked every weekend until the New Year now" and it's only October.

It also means there is the awful dilemma on what to do on New Years Eve. Our youngest child is 15 which is a difficult age as he isn't a child anymore but not quite an adult so DH and I wouldn't feel comfortable just swanning off to the pub or something without him. So when we first moved to the area, we had a New Years Eve party at home and no one turned up apart from two neighbours we had never met. As we have moved around the world, we don't have a huge amount of friends and Xmas seems to highlight this for me (and it makes me feel like shit) so we end up feeling obliged to plan things so we don't sound or feel like Billy no mates.

I bought my first Xmas present today,
A ball for Ds's dog!
I must put in more effort

Wtf does "getting the house ready for Autumn" mean?! And why does it take weeks

The autumn blankets and pillowcases comes out, autumn wreath is out and the garden (covered patio extension of the kitchen) has its Autumn plants, hay bales and pumpkins out. Plus around October, the spring pots need planting up.

Decorative stunt hay bales?

Maryz

Hay bales... . Why would you decorate a suburban garden with hay bales just because it's autumn?

I decorate for autumn too. I lived in the US for a bit and it was wonderful. Plus I love nature and watching the seasons change. I like to bring the outside in.

Decorative stunt hay bales

No, about 3 proper hay bales off the farm.

Hay bales... confused. Why would you decorate a suburban garden with hay bales just because it's autumn

Maybe whoever lives in a suburban garden likes the look you can create?

I do our (non suburban) garden because I adore the American style of decorating and it looks all cosy with pumpkins etc.

..2 days time...

I like the Aggressive Christmassing idea. Imagining elves battering each other with turkeys.

I also enjoy its related sport - Competitive Christmassing - that's about how many pointless hours you can spend crafting shite decorations out of lollipop sticks and glitter spray and then posting on instagram.

Competitive Christmassing...