So what will you do differently or keep next xmas

[Cupcakeicecream]

I will buy less for extended family stresses thinking I havent given them enough gifts.
Wine cho late for the adults
Give cash to nieces and nephews
Stop sending xmas cards
Wrap in brown parcel paper wrapping paper was rubbish and kept ripping.

Buy something that isn’t Turkey. It’s dry & horrible. I don’t know if there’s a trick to it I haven’t got, I stuffed the breasts & basted like anything. DH says that’s just what turkey is like & why you need all the bread sauce & gravy.

More activity type stuff in stockings to keep DC occupied during the morning part 🌲

Make my own stuffing, DH said to me after lunch that until he met me he didn’t know it was possible to have Christmas dinner without having stomach cramps for two days after

Let the dcs cook Christmas dinner again. They did a cracking job.

I would wrap presents in advance. We don’t have many people to buy for however it kept DH and I up until 1 am.

I’m going to take two weeks off , having been an accountant for 25 years I’m now in a position where I don’t need to be around for month end and I’m going to make the most of it ! DH has two weeks off and I’m always so stressed , apparently 7 days holiday gives you 16 ? Days off

We had Christmas Eve boxes yesterday, matching pj’s and a simple game each for me and my 2 dd’s. We stayed up late playing them in our new pj’s.
We all slept in until 9 (thank goodness), watched DD’s open presents. For once they got 3 gifts each from me and Santa brought 3 gifts each too, instead of the mountains of expensive toot. They have spent all day playing with their gifts.
We had brunch if whatever they wanted (pancakes for one and waffles with bacon and poached egg for the other)
I cooked meat and trimmings early, we took the dog for a long walk, back to do pots and veg then eat and been relaxing for 2 hours.
No stress, no plans to go visiting dnd no visitors to us. Youngest wanted to spend the day in her pj’s so I let her, why not, even when we took the dog out.
Great day

Let everyone else cook dinner and let them decide when it will be served because I might as well served up a bacon sandwich for all the thanks I got! Oh and a cheque instead of gifts would be easier too - the whole thing is something I could do without.

Keep some presents back to be given throughout the day. Also prep some food the night before so less time is spent in the kitchen :)

Scale it back. I spent every night of December on my phone looking for and ordering presents because I didn’t want to be sat on my phone while looking after my toddler (who doesn’t nap) and I couldn’t do it at work because it was really busy. That feels so antithetical to what this time of year should be about- it should be taking stock of the year, snuggling in with my DH, making it feel cosy.

DH went mental getting presents for DS and I kept saying it was too much. Today he’s not even opened most of them, he was too excited by the contents of his wee stocking. I wish we’d spent more time making things and doing wee festive activities.

I bought gifts throughout the year and wrapped them before I stored them.
I bought everything for Xmas dinner from M&S, all pre prepared and it was delicious.
I kept all wine and fizz in a bucket in the garden so it didn't take up fridge space.
It's been a lovely chilled day

To only eat mince pies made by DH. Had a many ship bought one when I was out there other day. Never again!

I really focussed on getting the DC to help this year and it made it much more relaxing for me. My DS peeled the potatoes and my DD made the stuffing balls on CE - they then made a gingerbread house while I finished the rest of the prep.

Then my DS emptied the dishwasher and my DD laid the table in the morning. After dinner my DP and the DC did all the cleaning up while I put my feet up. My DS even made me a Baileys coffee. It really felt like a team effort this year.

Definitely will repeat next year. I don't know why I've not done it before. They were very willing to help and enjoyed being involved. During dinner my DD (7) proudly announced she'd made the stuffing balls!

Keep- not sending Christmas cards
Keep- homemade turkey and cranberry burgers for the 4 of us in Xmas eve, lovely relaxed food
Keep- kids' presents in hessian sacks or unwrapped in stockings. Others wrapped in brown paper and ribbon. Easy and low waste.
Keep- following the bargain thread on here. Great bargains way in advance = no stress.

Change- forgot to sprinkle oats for reindeer
Change-

Change- forgot to tell DH what people were buying for DCs so we had 2 duplicates.

Overall a great Xmas though

this year we had our favourite foods for dinner - pizza for me and DH, lasagne for dd1 and super noodles for dd2. less stressful all round! Will be doing in future.

we cleared up as we unwrapped bin liner and box for recycling ready. girls took it in turns to open gifts which was better too.

won't be buying so many stocking gifts and will make sure everything is wrapped before Christmas eve in future. going to bed at 2am then up at 730 is a bit of a killer 😂

I wouldn't change a thing! This year I put the turkey giblets plus veggies in the slow cooker on Christmas Eve after hubby stuffed the turkey-woke up to the most amazing gravy (and the house smelled delicious!) put Yorkshire puds in the oven, so oven was preheated,then breakfast in the oven and it was ready for eating after we opened the first round of pressies. We also went with a buffet type meal this year, so there was more room on the table as we all sat down to eat-got timings down to a tee so all veg was cooked perfectly and on the table at the same time as everything else, and gravy was not forgotten-everything truly went like clockwork! We have loads of leftovers,so won't cook tomorrow at all-win,win!!

I didn't bother getting dressed. An excellent decision

Not doing Christmas dinner, just brought loads of party food and cooked it at various stages so people ate as we went through the day. No stress and everyone could nap when they wanted snack when they wanted and it was so chilled.

I just kept the oven on 200 all day and so things cooked quickly and it was amazing, also meant my family who were fussy could have what they wanted and no one was hangry

Was just more chilled this year, invited less people. Didn’t care of the children didn’t want to go for a walk and just wanted to play With toys and watch TV.

@mrsbyers I absolutely know where you’re coming from! DH is in financial management and used to do a more traditional accountancy job so Year End was his busiest time of year. We lived far from both families and so we’d have to leave on Boxing Day every year to get home so he could be back in work on 27th, and he always had to book 24th off to travel too so we were literally travelling 600miles each way for less than 48hrs. I’m so glad he’s now in a job where he can take the full 2 weeks every year!

My family prefer to eat early (1245-1300) I prefer to eat later--3pm onwards. I'm hoping to negotiate this.
Fewer gifts--it's just stuff and it clutters up my small flat more. Hate it!

We nailed it this year. So low pressure and relaxed. It was perfect.

I'll be doing turkey crown in the slow cooker again, won't do cards for the foreseeable and Santa will bring Nerf guns and board games again next year I imagine.