Boxing Day - most stressful day of the year.

[DJA1511]

Every year Boxing Day is completely pants.

My house is a tip, there’s toys everywhere. Laundry to catch up on after missing yesterday. Dishes drying on the rack to put away. My wheely bin and recycling bags are over filling.

I’m googling storage solutions for toys my family have bought the children.

Whilst wondering if we could build an extension t a play room? 🤣🤣

Kids want to go out and spend their Christmas money just to bring more stuff into the house.

Half eaten chocolate all over the kitchen sides!!

Anyone else??

Look - it's easy. Get a coffee and some chocolates, shove some clutter out of the way to make a space, and sit down. Drink the coffee and eat the chocolates and ignore the pandemonium.

Can I just say that if you have a mental health issue as the OP has, it is NOT that easy? It can be really, really hard.

Oh no! It’s the
Most relaxing for us. We’ve stayed in pjs and are all just faffing about doing bigger all. DH and I agreed that each of us could get 2 hours to ourselves without DS. So I’m lying in bed with a cup of tea, my kindle and some chocolate.

Boxing Day is my absolute favourite day of the year. The children are happy playing with new toys and there is no cooking to do or planning what to eat as there is as a fridge full of leftovers. I have done two loads of laundry and just about to put a third load on. I could do with running the hoover round but not done it yet as just chilling.

Personally find Christmas Day more stressful due to having relatives over....boxing day i can be a slob and enjoy it

Spent 2.5 hours visiting mil whilst dh set up the Google thing he got her.Back home now and doing a chicken dinner and sobbing about in front of the telly.

Slobbing not sobbing

Why get so stressed? Mess never killed anyone!

I feel for you, I'm calmer today but by the end of yesterday the mess was making me feel genuinely anxious. We had got rid of wrapping paper as soon as presents were unwrapped and kept on top of the kitchen and pots all day but in the living room i felt like I was picking things of the floor all bloody day.
I never feel like the house looks straight when there's so many people in it either and we had 15 here yesterday.

I'm loving it
Sat in pjs still had a party buffet lunch and some prosecco, we've watched some cricket and football and now watching strictly from yesterday
Dh gone out for a walk in the rain he can keep that

I bought additional storage preempting the need, DH and I tidied before bed last night and I put a load of washing in on timer so it was done by the time we got up this morning. Spent the whole day today relaxing playing with DS , snacking and drinking more port than is possibly necessary. Lovely.

I’m with you OP. I don’t have OCD but I can’t stand mess and disorder (I can’t relax). We hosted yesterday and yes tidied as we went along, did the dishes and cleared the kitchen yesterday, recycling was outside last night. I even went through old toys to make space for the new stuff before it exploded on to the scene. It had to be done because I knew I would not be able to cope with a mess this morning.

BUT ITS STILL A MESS!! I don’t have a huge house so the new bits and pieces don’t have homes. I have a 2 year old who keeps tipping blocks, play doh etc out of their boxes as soon as it’s put away and a 5 year old who does help me put things away but he can be just as bad. DH and I have just had a row about god knows what and I’ve been pretending I don’t have gastritis since the day before Christmas Eve and now I’m exhausted, still clutching my tummy. And no one gives a shit. I can’t sit and eat any chocolate or drink coffee because it hurts so comfort eating and drinking is also out!

I just want someone to whisk me away to a tropical island for a day or so (and come back to a clean and tidy house).

Sorry for rant, just had to get this out there!

Merry Christmas!

I’m enjoying today but totally get you.

I’m on load 3 of washing with one in the basket still (I normally do 1-2 loads a day, didn’t wash yesterday and we had extra with guests and table cloths ect) littlest wore 5 pairs of pjs yesterday 🤦‍♀️
We’re going away tomorrow, setting off at 2am so need to finish packing (which I did most of pre-Christmas but there was some stuff we needed).
House is a tip!
I’d recommend a Kallax unit from Ikea - as big as you can fit in the house. We have a 4x4 in the dining room in place of a smart sideboard and it holds so much. I’ve organised each box for each toy type so everything has a spot. I do a toy rotation so kids don’t use it (much) as we put toys out in another 4x1 kallax in the living room. Which means it stays organised! Best toy storage I’ve ever bought (and I do have a rule that no toys that won’t fit in a Kallax box are allowed in the house!). In the ‘figures’ box I’ve got reusable bags from Sainsbury’s fruit and veg bit and sort figures by type (dinosaurs, wooden dolls & furniture, farm animals ect).

We have a 4x4 in the dining room in place of a smart sideboard and it holds so much

Novel. Do you bother to tax and insure it?

I'm another who loves today. I cooked for 16 yesterday, which I don't mind, but I do get 'people overload' where I just don't actually want to talk to anyone else. Adult DC and partners all home for Christmas and we had parents and siblings over too.

Today I'm not dressed. DH took dog for walk on beach this morning and I had a lie in. I've made turkey soup and we've had left overs for lunch. Watched a film, eaten chocolate, played a board game. I've now shut myself in another room alone to Mumsnet and get some peace. A couple of folks have gone for a nap. A couple are snoozing on sofa. DH and boys are drinking cider and were watching Top Gear last time I looked. Girls have gone out with old school friends. Youngest DC is playing FIFA20 I think upstairs. Dogs are asleep.

This is my day off and I'm not doing anything I don't feel like. House isn't too bad; dishwasher needs unloading and loading again but I can't be bothered. There's cold turkey, cold ham and salad for tea which needs nothing other than dumping on a table and letting people help themselves.

You need a robot vacuum cleaner. A bag of rubbish and another of recycling went out last night, then the robot did his thing whilst I took an elderly relative home. I came home to tidyness and peace (but it's way easier for me as my kids are of an age that they will help and DH does as much as/ more than me). Hope you feel more relaxed soon OP.

I've done fuck all today except reheat leftovers, make cups of tea and watch Carry On films. Not what I call stressful.

If this is your most stressful day you are one lucky person. Perhaps take a minute to give thanks for your luck. Alternatively you could give your head a fucking big wobble.

Neither helpful nor constructive doodleygirl.

reasonable comment though. A bit of mess round the house, vacuuming etc is not a stressful experience.

It's the end of the year and if that is the most stressful day then it's been a damn good year.

I feel you. I've been tidying up today and I feel much better.

I know this is a light hearted thread but many seemed to have missed the memo.

I live Boxing Day , it’s like Xmas with out the pressure. My house was a tip stuff and people everywhere. We had 6 extra guests so everyone was displaced .
We had 5 happy kids who haven’t seen each other for a year reconnecting . We took a trip out in the afternoon . Then opened the wine around 4 pm ! Lots of fun , lots of laughs no pressure to be perfect.
Today it took 2 hours to reinstall kids in their rooms with their presents, bag up the rubbish , hoover and put on a couple of loads of washing . Since then we have been chilling . The house still needs sorting but the important bits are clean !
Now is a time for memories and no kid I know has memories of a tidy house !

I love Boxing Day, it is like another Christmas day for us in our family. We also do it all again on New Years Day!

YABU. I (like many others) spent it alone, as my DC are grown up with their own families. Yes, I saw them on Christmas Day, which was of course wonderful! But yesterdaythey were doing their own thing with their own DC or visiting others.

So, enjoy the mess, the wrappers, the toys...because one day Boxing Day might be just you and the cat! And you’ll remember writing this thread and long for the days of messy Christmasses 🥰 😂

I'd quite like to be at home with my own mess.. instead I'm staying with relatives, one of which clearly doesn't want me here 🙄. Talk about bloody awkward! No, I didn't invite myself... have nowhere else to go until Sunday 😔