‘Nice’ Things That Aren’t Actually

[WheelieBinPrincess]

Just a random musing.

Breakfast in bed- lovely idea, reality is you need to get up for a wee and then a tray is plonked on your lap, and groggy from sleep you are supposed to exclaim in delight over bits of pastry flaking into your sheets and slopping coffee down yourself and trying to subtly get the sluggy bits of fat off the bacon because you usually just get medallions.

Relaxing massage- I went the other day and I kept thinking ‘I’ll switch off and enjoy it in a minute’ but just kept thinking about whether to get the tube or the bus home and if there are oven chips in the freezer or not or if I watered my peace lily last week and if not it’s probably died. Then it was finished and it cost me £80.

Anyone got anything they can add to things that sound so nice as an idea but in reality are just not really?

@choc1cheese1

Wow, lighten up girls, thinking a bit of relaxing, chilling, taking things as they come & taking “me” time is needed here!

Spa/massage - being pampered & enjoying spa facilities, what’s not to love!

Camping/picnic/bbq/eating outside - only a hassle if you make it a hassle!! Just enjoy the moment!!

Small kids outings - chill & enjoy, they’re only young once! Loved all our trips with our daughter and when I was pregnant I took my 4 childminding children on a day trip to Glasgow from Edinburgh on the train, one of the best days of my life!!

Family walks - don’t happen often enough, love when they do! Such fond memories of childhood family walks!!

Guests - just enjoy their company & the fact they want to stay with you! Ditto the other way for being a house guest!!

Cheerleader types like the one who posted this.

Fancy dress ! Brings me out in hives

@ThumbWitchesAbroad 😂

So true

@WheelieBinPrincess

Thanks for all the good wishes!

On the back of no sleep I’ll say breastfeeding 😅 imagined dreamily gazing into my newborn’s eyes as he suckled away peacefully at two-hour intervals, not rootling around for my battered nipple constantly like a truffle pig and looking furiously at me if i take more than thirty seconds to produce the goods

It did cross my mind that breast feeding belongs on both the threads, this one AND the things that are actually lovely thread.

Olives, baths, spas, facials

@emmathedilemma

yoga - i just don't see how it's relaxing, i'm too stressed trying to work out how to get into the positions, or get out of the positions, or not fall over and wipe out the person next to me, and don't even make me think about whether or not I should be breathing in or out at a given time!! And then that relaxation bit at the end......my mind is usually thinking "this floor is really hard and I must remember to take the chicken out of the freezer when i get home". urgh

I agree, then you combine all that with the stress of hoping you don't fart. Not the slightest bit relaxing

I totally agree about the flowers. DH sent me flowers almost weekly for twenty years 🤦🏼‍♀️ I didn’t have the heart to tell him I didn’t like them especially as it had been going on so long. I finally did last year. It’s been such a relief! The florist knew I couldn’t stand them and I was just too tired of faking happy!

@Noluthando

Spa Days Holidays with kids Anything with Kids

Yes to this.

As a leaving gift, I was once given a voucher for a Spa day at somewhere very exclusive- and expensive.

It was many, many miles from where I live, and needed a car to get there (I don't drive), would have meant a very early start to get there for the few hours of the gift, and would have meant me paying for a B&B close by as overnight accommodation was not included...

Not my idea of an appropriate gift... 🌹

Radio listener shout outs.

I’m really not interested to hear that it’s some random’s 30th birthday or 5th wedding anniversary, or that little Tarquin has passed his grade 2 violin exam.

I agree with so many of these and it's reassuring to learn that I'm not alone in disliking some of the things that are supposed to be "nice".

I haven't read every post, so I'm not sure if this one has already been mentioned, but I'd like to add "surprise" birthday parties.

Seriously, unless the birthday boy/girl has dropped some strong hints that they want a party and you are 100% certain you know exactly what they want, don't do it.

Why deny them the pleasure of deciding if/where/when/with whom they want to party? What's nice about that?

I think the organiser's motive is often to impose the celebration THEY want while denying the birthday boy/girl any say about what they want.

If you are so sure they want a party, let them plan and look forward to it.

@WheelieBinPrincess

Thanks for all the good wishes!

On the back of no sleep I’ll say breastfeeding 😅 imagined dreamily gazing into my newborn’s eyes as he suckled away peacefully at two-hour intervals, not rootling around for my battered nipple constantly like a truffle pig and looking furiously at me if i take more than thirty seconds to produce the goods

Yeah, it's not much fun to start with, is it!! Hopefully it gets better. But if it doesn't, do get baby checked for tongue tie (and pray that you have someone who takes this seriously) and also thrush if you get deep boob pain, even if no white patches. I had the deep stabbing pain, no obvious thrush on either nipple or in baby's mouth but the thrush meds cleared it up in a day or 2! Thanks to my ace GP for knowing that one!

Love:
baths, fish and chips, roast dinners, dogs, cocktails, massages (complete with "sounds of nature" CD), facials, holidays, short breaks .....

Don't like:

showers (not relaxing and cold) birthday cake, Christmas cake/pudding, shop cakes (even from supposedly posh patisseries - and I agree the description "Artisan" is too often, and inappropriately, used these days), orchids, lilies, New Year's Eve, breakfast in bed, perfumes (always smell sickly and artificial - perhaps very expensive ones are better, though I don't suppose I'll ever find out) .........

The flowers thing surprises me. I get people not liking them dying, but not people who think they are a faff. I am extremely lazy, but shoving a bunch of flowers in a vase surely only takes 2 minutes?

I would much rather have flowers (as long as grown locally, not air-lifted from Kenya) than most other presents. I have all the stuff I need.

@pinkmoomin

Radio listener shout outs.

I’m really not interested to hear that it’s some random’s 30th birthday or 5th wedding anniversary, or that little Tarquin has passed his grade 2 violin exam.

And that bit at the end of Popmaster when the contestants "say a few hellos" and finish up with "and anybody else who knows me".

Yes to hating breakfast in bed
BBQs
Weddings- boredom central
Camping- horrible in every way
Building work 😠
Work Xmas 'parties'

Going for walks especially 'a Christmas Day walk' 🙄

Oh. And English rumbabas. The ones in Belgium were made with actual rum and were to die for (I wasn't coeliac then) but coming back to the UK I realised that British ones are sweet and artificial tasting and totally gross but everyone else seems to like them. Ditto custard tarts which I also found disappointing and don't miss in the slightest.

Re radio shout outs I HATE the 90 years "young" bit. They ain't young they are very old, 3 cheers for making it this far etc

@ThumbWitchesAbroad thanks for the advice! After a lot of reading today I’m pretty sure he has a shallow latch. They never mentioned that in the 3 hour breastfeeding NCT class. They did show us lots of videos of various women serenely feeding their babies without issue though and told us that ‘hardly anyone’ truly has issues with tongue or lip tie bloody NCT.

A pile of x small, cheap presents for x birthday.

And that bit at the end of Popmaster when the contestants "say a few hellos" and finish up with "and anybody else who knows me".

That annoys me as well ! (Especially when theyve already name-checked about 25 people!) But I do like popmaster.

@JesusInTheCabbageVan

Martinis. I suspect that only about 3% of people who order them actually like them.

They are vile

[quote WheelieBinPrincess]@ThumbWitchesAbroad thanks for the advice! After a lot of reading today I’m pretty sure he has a shallow latch. They never mentioned that in the 3 hour breastfeeding NCT class. They did show us lots of videos of various women serenely feeding their babies without issue though and told us that ‘hardly anyone’ truly has issues with tongue or lip tie bloody NCT.[/quote]
Not wanting to derail your thread here, but tongue and upper lip tie are not uncommon at all, and can cause problems with latching.
There is a facebook group (if you do that) where you can get advice www.facebook.com/groups/tonguetie - I would talk to a lactation expert or try and find a MW who actually knows about tongue tie. It's terribly "unfashionable" to do anything about it these days - I was bloody lucky in both the UK and Australia that I found professionals able and willing to both identify and rectify the TT in both my boys!

You drink a Martini for the effect. A proper Martini is mostly vodka.

@IrisLilyRose

Being a houseguest.

Awful!