To have completely just lost my shit and spirit of Christmas?

[Rangelife]

I'm walking across an icy, freezing northern city after rushing into Sainsbury's to buy a shifty secret santa present for work.

A bastard glass hot chocolate snowman kit for a fiver. I'm trying to simultaneously shove the thing into a shitty gift bag, whilst tying the ribbon and ripping off the stupid plastic hanger thing and screaming in my head 'I'm sick of this shit!'

I don't even know the woman I've bought for and I was ill yesterday so missed the food and secret santa swap. AIBU to think this isn't what it's meant to be like?

I want to be a child again. Please regale me with your Christmas meltdowns so I don't feels so irritated with the festive season. Please.

I have a DP with bloody divorced parents. That means two different sets of people coming to stay at different times. And charmingly, DP forgot to mention that one set are arriving a day earlier than previously planned (this friday) and the other set are coming by train and tehrefore get to stay an extra night as no trains on the 26th. Essentially, between the two of them I get to wash cook clean smile host for over a week. None of my family are able to come as very ill, and therefore in between I shall move the Christmas roadshow to their bedside and perform the same there. I am perilously low on yo ho ho.
I loathe the lot of them already. Especially DP for his duplicitousness.

Austentatious, get your DH to "host" and pamper the guests (shop, cook, clean, make 100s rounds of tea and coffee)

Whilst you go and sit in the bath with Hello Magazine and a tub of Quality Street. (say you've hurt your back)

I had a really bad chest infection last year, but still had everyone in the family coming here and fuck all help from DH and the kids. After spending the day on co-codamol, with a temperature and cooking then clearing up, I had the most monumental spectacular meltdown in the afternoon, went to bed and told them all to fuck off I was never having another Christmas in my life. I ended up in A & E on Boxing day being diagnosed with pneumonia. I was ill for 6 weeks.

But guess who's hosting Christmas again - yep, that'd be me - the one with MUG on her forehead. 14 of the bastards for lunch. I should be grateful for family and all that shit - but I'm not.

MrsKoala that made me laugh - thank you x

I already lost my shit with DH in November when he smugly announced ‘Xmas starts too early. I won’t be thinking about it until December 1st.’

I pointed out (loudly) that of course he doesn’t think about it until December, because by then I’ve spent months buying presents for both sides of the family (we are on a tight budget so it spreads the cost), staying up late to book the Christmas food delivery slot, volunteering for PTA Xmas shit, and negotiating with my family and the in laws about which days we’ll see each other before the calendars fill up.

I didn’t know his BILs number so asked him to text and ask what my nieces want for Xmas. I had to remind him three times. I’m such a moaning Xmas martyr, but if I don’t do this stuff, then we end up trudging round the shops with pissed off DS on the 20th and it’s awful.

Hosting Christmas for 14 in our half renovated house. DH has been sent away with work and it's looking like he won't be back for a few weeks. He's not contactable either so I won't actually know for sure until he turns up/doesn't turn up for the 25th.

The food is ordered but I don't know where to start with getting a tree in through the building works let alone getting beds down from the loft. Pathetic I know, but I've had enough really.

I still enjoy giving presents to people I love, and having Christmas dinner with the family. Even though it means driving 150 miles on Christmas morning to do it, and sitting round a table like sardines and fighting over crackers. This is what Christmas is about, not all the 'black fridays', endless bad Christmas jingles and tinsle.

i do not celebrate Christmas not a part of who I am but i have spent years peering into other houses and admiring their trees and the warm and loving glow.

After reading a lot of threads, I am so surprised. Of course, there are are some good happy times.
or should i stop peeping and think these are good happy people

Or maybe

Just dont do it you dont have to.
Loads of people dont bother or do the bare minimum.

I really like Christmas, but I’m Catholic so I think (for me) the religious aspect balances out the commercialised aspect.

I like advent especially, and try to do little good deeds.

I just cant get excited about Christmas. It has been building for a few years.
The tree is up but the decorations are still in the box. I have not bought a present because I can't be arsed to.

Missed out on a business deal yesterday. So feeling really pissed off.

Cant get on with anything because what I need to do will take too long to do and I need to keep the house tidy for Christmas weeks away.

It is freezing cold and so dark nothing outside is getting done.

And to top it off dp and ds said they didn't want to go away for Christmas. I was all excited that I would be flying at 30000 ft on Christmas day to a warm climate. Then that was snatched away.

Feeling really down.

We bought our tree on sunday. It was too heavy for our stand and has fallen down 4 times so far, once on DS, once on me (we're both okay). Thankfully it was only decorated one of those times so I only had to sweep up the shattered detritus of much-loved baubles once.

I very nearly lost my shit but instead I ordered a heavier stand from amazon and am cultivating a zen-like calm and ability to just not see that half of the sitting room till the new stand arrives on thursday and we can run home from work at 4pm and rescue christmas at lightspeed, before santa arrives to visit the kids at 7pm.

Stressed? Me? Not at all. The insomnia and rebelling digestive system are because I'm too calm and relaxed...

I completely annihilated a wing-mirror on my car in the staff car park this morning and I just completely lost it, tears, snot, the full works. A sympathetic woman came and gave me a big hug (thank you sympathetic woman) but it’s all getting on top of me. I am flat broke and now I have a stupid car with no wing mirror. School is shut for a second day and it’s a miracle I was even in work anyway. Too much pressure and stress and now this. And I had to drive down the duel carriageway with the window open due to all the trailly bits of wire and smashed mirror.
Aggghhhh

I've got insomnia too puffin I think that's making me

And my boss just came and dumped her secret santa present on my desk as 'the pile for those who couldn't get their act together'.

SHE couldn't get it together but this had somehow become my responsibility ...and her SS gift is suspiciously large for a fiver.

(...and mine is suspiciously small )

I do exactly what I want at christmas and it's great.
. I don't do long distance driving or see anyone I don't normally see. I'll do all that during the year.
There is far too much crap and obligation - stop doing it.

It's very tempting to ask ex-H to take care of the DS1 and 2 for Christmas next year (19 and 17 ... so not exactly take care of, if you know what I mean) and selfishly bugger off to a spa hotel by myself. Somewhere hot.

I save all year round so that I can afford Christmas, but the idea of saving for that instead is hugely appealing!

I've always just gotten on with things, allowing ex-H to come for Christmas morning, then occasionally taking the DSs with him for Christmas dinner with his parents but I've well and truly had enough and any Xmas spirit I possessed has fucked off (probably to the spa hotel).

Come back trailledanderror loads of us want the advent calendar to complete the bah humbug vibe!

It's this time of year when I remind myself of the joyousness of working in male-dominated professions (or as of right now being self employed.) No secret santa bollocks!

This year it's just me and (adult) DS, one cat, and 16 rats (8 adult, 8 babies!) Both me and DS are really looking forward to it, but knowing that we each only have one person to buy a gift for, and not worrying about trying to make everything "perfect" for an external inspector visitor is so great.

I’m trying to fire up the Christmas spirit but with me and the DC poorly (and have been for weeks) and an average of 3 hours sleep I’m feeling pretty bah humbug. Last year we all went in a board room and took turns to open our gifts - loads of really good/funny ones then I got.... a pack of plain babygrows because I was pregnant 🙄 couldn’t contain my excitement

I completely lost it one year trying to cook a roast as it was a posh beef recipe which we’d never tried before. It was getting later & later & still lunch wasn’t ready, plus I’d given up drinking & couldn’t have a glass of anything festive to “ oil the wheels”. In the end, I was hysterical & thought DH would end up having to slap me! I did feel much better when it was all eventually on the table!

This is my first Christmas with all of my children home with me. It's just us and DP so I'm just doing a roast with extra pigs in blankets. Something nice for pudding. We're hard up financially this year so I've saved and saved so that the kids are getting what they want.
I am agreeing with OP though, it's been so hard not to have a flap about it all. I have no money, I've just had a baby so am sleep deprived to the max, this year I've put my foot down about being pushed and pulled by various family members. I just want Christmas low key, in my own home, with my children. No fuss. I just want a traditional quiet Christmas.

I'm damn well going to get it too!

The more we depart from a genuine 'Christmas' feel (families with time off work, one or two longer for presents, few choices of TV so a feel that all of us were watching the same thing) the more we try to buy it back with extravagant gifts, wrapping, meals etc. As we all have less money, less free time, less community, Christmas is like a desperate attempt to go back to the fifties.

smoothieooo I would definitely do the spa thing next year! Why spend all your hard saved cash on loads of people who can't even reciprocate with a token gift. I know you don't give to receive but you also shouldn't be selfish and inconsiderate either! Here's to a better one next year!