To think there is so much to do between now and Christmas Day!

[Werkwerkwerkwerk]

I appreciate I'm very lucky to have finished work on Friday. But it still feels like there is so much to do .......
Booze to be picked up
Shopping to finish
Pantry and fridges to clean so the food will fit
Food arriving tomorrow
Butcher to get to
Inevitably there will be bits missing from the shopping so back to the shops
Gifts to wrap
Family lunches to attend
Hairdresser appointments to attend
All the food to prep
I love the festive season - but it's so hectic !!

Anyone else?

Don't you wrap gifts at Christmas then?

@DoesntLeftoverTurkeySoupDragOn Yes, but it takes no time at all to wrap a gift. Even quicker if you put it in a gift bag. I was just making the point that the OP seemed to be making a bit of a song and dance about things that are easy & quick

no one can be that stressed if they have time to waste on MN

Oh I dunno Pfeffer MIL arrives any minute!

you should be drinking, not typing!

Nope. I can't afford most of that so my time is my own.
Other than going to work tomorrow and Tuesday

It seems like you have left loads of stuff to the last minute.

Why all the haircuts this week of all weeks?
Are you a single parent? Is it just you doing all the wifework?

I am sat with my feet up eating peanuts and sipping champagne

I’m with you OP. It is so hectic but I really enjoy all the prep. I’m a foodie so I go to town on my lunch spread and we always host everyone. I make all my sauces and gravy base ahead of time, as well as all the starters and puddings and cakes. It’s enjoyable. But perhaps not for everyone.

Yes, but it takes no time at all to wrap a gift.

Great if you only have one gift to wrap.

I know someone who was boasting about wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve - in a martyr-kind of way. Why, just why. There's no rule, but some people do love to make their life as complicated as possible.

That's why you get others involved.
Dc's can wrap presents as well. One year they wrapped a couple of their own, I labelled and stashed them.
Their faces on Christmas morning was brilliant 🤣
When I was with the ex, he'd also wrap them.

All hand on deck here. As long as they are wrapped I don't care what they look like. They spend a couple of hours under the tree before it all gets ripped off anyway.

Then there was the year we ran out of paper and got very creative.

But I suppose it's this laid back attitude that I have that helps. As long as there's food, something to drink and everyone has at least one present, everything else is a bonus.

It's the only day the shops are closed so there really is no need to go mad. We have no stress about it at all!

Maybe next year do some of those jobs you can do earlier in the month do you don’t feel overwhelmed OP and it might help you enjoy the build up more. Cleaning fridges (no pantry!) I do early December and just try and do smaller food shops and eat bits and bobs meals to run them down to be filled with Christmas food. Gift wrapping I do as I buy so it’s not such a mammoth task. Do ALL food shopping on line if possible. Get family member/OH to collect any missing items/help with food prep. Family lunches and hair appt should be fun breaks from the practical side. Maybe if you’re seeing them as list ticking items make different arrangements?! Good luck and ENJOY 😊

Haha yea did the Christmas Eve wrapping when they've arrived that day.
Cheesy Christmas songs, Baileys, and job done.

Agree though, some make it a lot harder than it needs to be.
It's just a roast dinner at the end of the day.

Haven't got time to visit a bazillion shops, home delivery. They miss out stuff and? Not the end of the world.

The table doesn't have to be perfectly arranged, with everything colour coordinated to match the decorations. Something to eat from, cutlery and something to drink from are all that's needed.

Presents can look like a 2-year-old has wrapped them. Same with the decorations really.

And if guests don't like it, the rude fuckers can stay at home in future.

Being together and relaxed is what creates good memories I've found.

Booze to be picked up - at the shops
Shopping to finish - when buying booze same thing
Pantry and fridges to clean so the food will fit -how old is the stuff in your fridge!
Food arriving tomorrow - why not order booze as well?
Butcher to get to - super markets also sell and deliver meat
Inevitably there will be bits missing from the shopping so back to the shops - which you can get while shopping for the rest
Gifts to wrap - how many gifts do you have that 3 days isn't enough!
Family lunches to attend - how awful for you!
Hairdresser appointments to attend - poor planning
All the food to prep - buy ready prepped or frozen

you are moaning about things that are down to your choices! - and also nice things like family lunches

stop the drama

Fanta, depends on where you live. Shops are open here.

Another thing I have found is actually to look at what you're cooking. Of course, you don't want your guests to starve, but do you really want to be eating turkey sandwiches and leftovers for the next week? We don't. Get fed up of it after Boxing Day.

You’re sweating the small stuff

Blimey why the stress?

Its one bloody day.

The only things we need to do is collect the turkey and tidy up the house a bit.

This feels like the "life admin" threads, I don't know what you all find to do which is so time-consuming! I suppose I could spend hours cleaning the house, but I'll just do the basics.

do you really want to be eating turkey sandwiches and leftovers for the next week

Yes, actually. We get a turkey much larger than we need so we can do exactly that. Turkey sandwiches, turkey and chips, turkey curry, turkey pie. Yummy.

Gosh I wish I had to worry about all those things. Like @WhatshouldIdo123 I'm almost alone for most of the time (DC are here and I love them a lot. But I feel so lonely). I've been ill with bronchitis for the past week. Added to anxiety and depression and leaving the house is just hard.

Booze to be picked up - nope. Cant afford it.
Shopping to finish - need veg and a couple of last min presents.
Pantry and fridges to clean so the food will fit - hahahahaha. My fridge is clean anyway. And almost empty so the few bits I need to buy will defo fit.
Food arriving tomorrow - not exactly something to 'do" then. Other than putting it away
Butcher to get to - nope
Inevitably there will be bits missing from the shopping so back to the shops - might as we go to the shops in the first place
Gifts to wrap - yep. All 5 of them
Family lunches to attend - nope. They've all fucked off on holiday.
Hairdresser appointments to attend - cant remember the last time I went to the hairdresser !
All the food to prep - teens can help. If they want to eat it they can help prep it.

I realise I sound really miserable and I'm not. Not completely anyway. Just this year Christmas is nothing like I thought it would be.

Nope. I've done everything I need to do and Christmas dinner is at my parents house. I'm literally spending the time doing as little as possible

do you really want to be eating turkey sandwiches and leftovers for the next week

Yes here too. Because the beauty of cooking enough to ensure copious leftovers is that very little more cooking is required until the end of the 27th inclusive.

We just have reheated roast dinners, roast potatoes fried up with pigs in blankets, cold meat and pickles, cheese and crackers, turkey and cranberry sandwiches, etc etc.

I have the benefit of not having to cook as I am going to a family members for Christmas Day this year as DD is with her dad for Christmas and I'm working Boxing Day but otherwise everything on your list is there from lack of organisation, not lack of time.

I work in retail so all of my presents have been chosen, bought and wrapped by December 1st at the latest because I know I just wont have time in December to shop. The only exceptions were gifts for my nephew/brother/SIL as they live abroad so I ordered on their country's Amazon for it to be delivered directly to them (I just paid for Amazon to gift wrap everything and ship directly) and I left that later so that they didnt have to store it for too long.

Normally all my prep (food/shopping) would be organized by the beginning of December and then all I have to do in the last few days before Christmas is receive the food shopping and clean the house. The cleaning is super easy because I always schedule a day in late November/early December to do a deep clean of the house and clear stuff out pre-Christmas before decs go up, and then because I'm out at work/events for most of December it requires minimum effort to keep it presentable.

Haircuts and other pamper appointments are pure luxury and I fit them in if/when I have time. If not then Christmas is hardly ruined because my nails arent freshly shellac'd and my dye job is a few weeks old.

Haha OP, is life really that hectic?! I start the Christmas booze and food shopping a good three weeks before Christmas and just slowly begin to stock up! I also don't have any family lunches (I'm spending three sodding days with them and that's more than enough). I did my Christmas house work today though but everything else is done. Wrapped presents last week. I'm now in "Gin" mode and enjoying the holidays. Cheers!

Reading this thread I suddenly feel an urgent need of a hairdresser appointment. And nails done - and then go for some lovely lunches .

Sadly I think I will be in some soft play / trampoline park with three DCs who are on holiday tomorrow - before or after I tidy and clean the flat which was really nice on Friday, but the children seemed to take the opportunity of eating all my newly made Christmas cookies and make a glorious mess whilst I was shopping today (DH sick in bed, so they saw their chance).....