Christmas unpopular opinions.

[malificent7]

I love my Bayliss and Harding gift sets and if you dont like yours send them to meeee!
Any other different festive unpopular opinions?

I love a traditional Christmas lunch but I do find it stressful to cook. No one individual item is difficult, it's getting everything ready at the same time and keeping things warm that is the trouble.

I'm sorry to say it but I find having vegetarians to cater for adds to the effort, because there are more things to worry about and to juggle in the oven. It's not just the main vegetarian dish: I did a vegetarian version of pigs in blankets as well as the meaty ones because otherwise I think the vegetarians are very short changed.

I did make life easier this year by only cooking one lot of roast potatoes. Last year I did one lot in goose fat and another lot for the vegetarians.

@Fizbosshoes

Making children wait and spread present opening throughout the day is just weird

One year (I think DS was about 3 or 4) he opened his "main" present from Father Christmas about 7am. He was absolutely besotted with it and played with it continuously all day. He even tried to take it in the bath when getting ready for bed and we had to rescue it as it had batteries. To me it would have seemed weird to interrupt his playing to give him lots of other presents. Iirc we didn't give him anything else all day and he got the rest on boxing day. That didn't happen every year of course, but it wasn't to deprive him of presents or teach patience or any other reason.

That is lovely he enjoyed his gift so much, but you didnt make him wait for the others so totally irrelevant to the point.

It is one day that is supposed to be fun for kids and relaxing for adults. People who turn it into a military operation stress everyone out and can often ruin it in the pursuit of the ‘perfect Xmas’.

My MIL sent far too many presents for the DC. I think she's overcompensating because she lives in another country, and I think it's very sweet and wouldn't dream of being offended by it or telling her she must stop.

I really don’t mind kitchen implements as gifts as long as I’ve asked for them. My kitchen aid is still one of my favourites.

I like being given money, then I can buy what I want. Or I can buy expensive make up or bits of jewellery or clothes as I’ve got Christmas or birthday money. Win win as far as I’m concerned.

A lot of people are too rigid about what happens, what they eat, when they open gifts, who HAS to be there etc. Then when anything goes out of the ordinary it becomes a drama. The kids get annoyed by rigid rules and have meltdowns too.
Just relax. There's no need for perfection or being so particular (there are some exceptions) and the whole feel of the day changes when you realise this.

@EishetChayil

Posting big piles of presents on social media is the height of chavdom.

And tone deaf for the many that are struggling to keep their businesses going, feed their kids and heat their homes right now.

@5128gap

Hating FONY isn't that much of an unpopular opinion these days as its very much gone out of favour. I think the more unpopular opinion is to still like it. Particularly the uncensored version.

oh I still like it but not at christmas.

@GuyFawkesDay

I must be a total let down as prosecco is grim, I agree. Cremant at the very least. Ditto Christmas pud and cake. Bleurgh.

I made sticky toffee pudding for us yesterday. Really easy and everyone likes it. We don't bother with cake or mince pies really (buy a few in case any guests want them).

And I have a FAKE tree so I must be a MN pariah.

If its not champagne I don't want it. very happy to drink an NZ or aussie still white or soft drink, cider but no to prosecco, mega no to cava. I used to like asti but it gives me headaches now. I make my own light fruitcake with MASSIVE chunks of fruit in and no nuts or vine fruit oh and sorry but loathe STP too

oh and fake tree here too

Not sure if it's unpopular, but I don't like Christmas pudding, brandy sauce/cream or stuffing

@Sprogonthetyne

I also like them and would happily munch my way through a box of Thorntons.

For my unpopular opinion: I think pretty much every Christmas condiment is overrated. If anyone actually like bread sauce or cranberry then we'd eat them all year round.

I do! Cranberry sauce is a feature of a chicken roast all year round. Bread sauce I like, but can't be arsed making my own and the readymade stuff is only a available at Christmas.

Iove cranberry sauce too. But then again I am a heathen and I like Ikea's meatballs and lingonberry which is very similar. Yum.

I'd rather not have sticky toffee pudding either but the rest of the family loves it and I will eat it with plenty of ice-cream on and it makes sense not it have about 4 puddings on the go

That said I haven't had trifle yet this year. I really want some lovely home made trifle now

Mine is if you do the "Santa is literally real" thing with your kids, then managing that is your job, not anyone else's.

There are many, many reasons why other children might not literally believe in Santa, and they are not automatically "little shits" if they happen to mention to your child that Santa is not real. Other cultures, beliefs etc exist, and your child does as not live in a homogenous bubble where every family is exactly the same as yours.

There is no other belief where the expectation is that everyone else will affirm it for you. You need to be ready with the explanations for your kids when they hear different "truths". It is not for everyone else to do.

I got an electric toothbrush for Christmas and I'm very pleased with it

@SheWolfOFFrancee . I'm with you on that . I got a eufy AND a Ring doorbell and I'm very happy with them

‘ My kids don't believe in santa and never have done because I didn't want to lie to them and it works fine for us. The magic of Christmas is definitely still there and they still enjoy talking about santa as a fictional character.’

I wish I did this.
They’re nearly 7 and 5 and I’m tempted to reveal the truth next year in line with number 3 coming along- don’t want to lie to them about it either.

“Father Christmas is real “ is for very young children only. Mine wouldn’t deliberately ruin it for others because they are nice people but they would be amazed to learn that there are children of junior primary age who still believe in any of it. It’s just never been a major part of Christmas for us and they’ve naturally grown out of it as they’ve become older. No trauma , there’s enough magic at Christmas (what I would call the real magic of having loving , interested parents and extended family who love you and want you to have a brilliant day and all the presents you wanted )

@Theremoresefulday. I got a full set of Circulon pans from Costco . Best pans I've had .

Santa still gets a mince pie and a Sherry left out for him of course

I’d be quite happy to receive kitchen/general household goods for Christmas as I love making the house look pretty.

I think Christmas PJs, Christmas jumpers etc are a waste of money.

You do not need 10 different side dishes for Christmas dinner.

Why people have turkey for Christmas when they do not like it is beyond me.

Why people get into major debt for Christmas is beyond me? You do not have to buy a present for everyone you know. (Dear New Boss's Mom, your present is beautiful but beyond unnecessary.)

Spending Christmas alone rather than with people you dislike is not a crime.

Must be a cultural thing, because the vast majority of children where I live totally believe in Santa.

I don’t think I know of anyone that tells them that Santa isn’t real and doesn’t go along with it.

And junior age children can be as young as 7 so that’s that’s still very young. Most 7 year olds do believe in Santa. Most people I know are gutted if they find out the truth before 10….

Wine, chocolate and biscuits are shit presents compared to a set of wooden spoons, a nice, thick chopping board or some bedlinen. Throwing in a dishwasher, new oven or carpet would be amazing, too.

It isn't 'festive' to eat stuff you don't particularly like or even actively detest/makes you feel crappy.

It's not funny to go on about how disgusting sprouts/parsnips/turkey/whatever is. Eat them, don't eat them, no need to subconsciously or deliberately seek to influence others.

Bayliss and Harding may very well be 'a poor woman's Molton Brown'. Well, some of us are poor and will never have the chance to try Molton Brown and say 'not any better than Bayliss and Harding, really'.

But, most of all - that it doesn't have to be perfect or all is lost.

@ApplePippa

Mine is if you do the "Santa is literally real" thing with your kids, then managing that is your job, not anyone else's.

There are many, many reasons why other children might not literally believe in Santa, and they are not automatically "little shits" if they happen to mention to your child that Santa is not real. Other cultures, beliefs etc exist, and your child does as not live in a homogenous bubble where every family is exactly the same as yours.

There is no other belief where the expectation is that everyone else will affirm it for you. You need to be ready with the explanations for your kids when they hear different "truths". It is not for everyone else to do.

Yes, exactly. As I said up the thread, I assume that the people who take hard line about Santa being real and children who don’t believe being a direct threat to their own children’s ‘magic’ must live in entirely mono cultural places. Even when we lived in a village and DS went to the littleC of E primary, he had Hindu, Muslim and Sikh classmates many of whom didn’t believe in Santa, and in some cases didn’t celebrate Christmas at all, or were from countries with different traditions. No one was throwing a strop because little Mohammed or Prabhreet told their child SC wasn’t real.