Anyone have a nice Christmas and want to show off with me?

[Banananananabababybel]

I feel like everywhere I look it’s people complaining about having a shit day yesterday, so don’t want to post this publicly. But I had such a lovely day yesterday! Eldest (ASD) managed really well. Youngest (tired and emotional aged) only kicked off once and then rallied. Got some nice presents, had some great food, spent some lovely time with family. So many people in my personal life and on here are say how bad their day was, so I thought it would be nice to have a show off thread? Tell me about the lovely present you got that you weren’t expecting? The nice food you ate? The funny thing that happened? The good tv show you watched and enjoyed?

We had a lovely day. Dh liked his gifts a lot and dc loved theirs. We saved one for after lunch which was a joint gift for all 3 teens. They had no expectations at all and were taken totally by surprise. They all cried of happiness and dd1 (15) gave me the biggest hug ever (before taking a minute in her room to compose herself). I feel we won at Christmas this year. Won’t be able to recreate that but it has made a wonderful memory. Just driving to Christmas number 2 and eating the sausage rolls I’m holding on my lap for breakfast.

First BIG get together since 2018 and enjoyed it.

The children had a lot of fun, made far too much noise and everyone seemed happy to be back together.

I hosted and despite an afternoon nap before everyone arrived, I was still knackered , so for Boxing Day I’m stuck on chill.

Cheers 🥂

Our plans changed last minute due to illness, so it was all a bit cobbled together but it was wonderful. The best bit of news was that ill mil has started to improve so that made DH feel able to relax. Lots of lovely food and we had a two year old with us. We weren’t expecting any real sort of awareness of what was happening, especially as he’d gotten a bit overwhelmed opening his presents at home, but he was absolutely thrilled and the joy on his little face made our day. Also, he watched The Snowman for the first time and couldn’t take his eyes off it, which made me happy as I have loved that since I was a child. Very relaxed, very casual and absolutely lovely.

My first Christmas since both my boys (in their 20s) moved out in the spring.

Had a lovely time. Eldest came over mid afternoon Christmas Eve and helped me finish the tidy/clean up. Youngest turned up late after work and drinks with his mates. Managed not to be too pissed, so that was a bonus.

Quiet Christmas morning. Presents were mostly things we'd asked for, so not many surprises, but there were a couple of thoughtful gifts as well.

The boys played computer game together while I cooked lunch. It was so nice to hear them chat companionably when they'd had their years of not getting on so well together as teens.

We all ate far too much and deemed dinner a success (first time I'd had beef instead of turkey)

Quiet couple of hours watching tv (with the usual ribbing from eldest on my choice) before I drove them back to their respective homes. Much appreciation on all sides for this opportunity to get together and share gifts. Appreciation for my sacrifice of no drinking until I was back home after dropping them off 😀

Just a lovely interlude before returning to the peace and quiet of my new life living on my own.

But the point is that it’s a chance to show off? There’s so many threads with people having a rubbish time and I wouldn’t comment on one of those saying how lovely my Christmas was? It’s a chance (for myself and others) to say that we’ve had a nice time and to tell others about it without being insensitive or sounding boastful? I’ve literally said in the title that it’s about having a nice Christmas so people can skip if they’ve had a bad day (and I’ve had a lot of those recently!). I don’t think it’s goady to talk about having a nice time, and I’ve had a lovely time reading everyone’s responses about their days too?

Exactly OP. There are enough misery threads on here that even if you had a nice day you would probably end up feeling depressed reading them

It’s lovely to celebrate the nice things in life too. Just like you don’t have to read the misery threads, people don’t have to read this one

As pp said the only way it would be goady would be if you went on to one of those threads and said woohoo I had a great time!

We had a lovely day. Up early for a run before breakfast. Relaxed for a couple of hours, then present opening with family, and someone else cooking a scrumptious dinner. Then back home for a lovely relaxing evening.

Our Christmas decorations are beautiful and make our home feel festive and welcoming. We have cupboards full of even more lovely food.

I had a little cry, missing my mum, my third Christmas since her death, then indulged in the incredibly happy memories of years spent making Christmas dinner with her.

I woke this morning with heavy period pains so my husband has brought me chocolate and tea in bed.

We are both grateful for what we have and treasure every Christmas together.

For those who feel obliged to do things a certain way, to repeat things that bring stress, I hope you find a way forward and future Christmases bring you joy.

Lovely post x ❤️

We had a lovely day filled with nice food, company and thoughtful gifts.
My children (6 and 7 yrs) were a delight. They were so happy with their presents, incredibly grateful and played beautifully all day.

We had a lovely day, I ate trifle for breakfast and had a further 2 bowls throughout the day so very happy with that! Dinner was gorgeous and I didn't do a thing for it except make the gravy and help dish up (OH always cooks)

Kids woke up at a very reasonable time (8.30), and have loved all their presents, had a couple of 'fuck sake' moments with regards to batteries and our lack of them (we hadn't expected to need them, one present was advertised as rechargeable and no batteries required, only to find it wasn't and needs 16! The other was a scalextric type set, I always remember mine being plug in and naively assumed this would be without looking!). But only minor disappointment caused not a massive issue and they've been able to play with their other presents.

Kids have been nice to each other, grateful and generally lovely. They have enjoyed having no rules on food and eating chocolate for breakfast. Discovered eldest (10) likes roast beef enough to take all the leftovers so we have a new safe food!

FIL has been pleasant and has also given lovely gifts (his gift giving has been hit and miss in the past, he does try but sometimes things are a bit wtf 😂) and brought around loads of chocolate tubs which I hadn't been able to budget for so that was awesome! He's also leaving a day early as he has to take a delivery so I get my house back a day earlier than expected!

All in all a lovely couple of days!

Best Christmas in a long time, and crowned best ever by DC3 😊. Comfy PJs all day and nice food that we all wanted to eat. No making people have stuff on their plate that they don’t like. Yes DC4 only ate 4 Yorkshire puddings and some of the gingerbread house, but he was happy and wasn’t shamed for not sitting at the table.
Everyone liked what they got, didn’t go overboard so no one was overwhelmed. Love my in-laws but they are full on and pile pressure on this time of year. They are too far away just to pop in (6hr drive). My parents are local but do a lot in the community over Christmas, so we gather in January when the hype has died down, and enjoy a leisurely roast and a few presents on a day of our choosing.
Whilst I didn’t really get any presents, my DH starts a new job in January after being made redundant in the summer. His relaxed demeanour after feeling the pressure of the last year has been a gift in itself. I also didn’t have to work Christmas Eve or today, so mini 3 day holiday for me.

It was grand. Just me, DH and our two teens yesterday.

Everyone thrilled with their presents.
DH cooked us a lovely breakfast.
Went for a walk and even the drizzle didn’t kill the festive spirit. Teens didn’t complain and weren’t glued to their phones .
Ate out for dinner and it was delicious.
Cane home for dessert and board games and Eastenders and generally had a lovely, fun and peaceful day.

Off to a big family meal at my Mum’s with 22 of us tonight, so will report back .

We went DD's place, had a lovely relaxed lunch with both adult dcs and their child, plus some other friends. Nice gifts all round. A happy day.

Had a fabulous day ! Son 23 and gf and daughter 21 and bf and mother in law and hubbi 7 in total had fun !
we went out for dinner which was bloody yummy ! Came home had drinks and laughs it was really lovely to spend the time with them because we all get on well !!

Then off they went to other places early evening and we fell asleep on sofa !
Had a beaut walk with doggy today and chill 😎 x

Mine was lovely! My two toddlers were soooo excited, loved their toys, and played really nicely together and with their cousins.

We spent it with my mum and sister which always feels especially warm and Christmassy to me. Dinner was great and all the children managed to sit to the table/play nearby so no one had to run off and entertain them. And I got some lovely thoughtful gifts from DH and my mum that I wasn’t expecting 😁

We have another full on day today then in-laws coming later in the week before a relaxed New Year’s Eve. I feel incredibly lucky this year.

I spent the day under the weather honestly but even still it was still so lovely!

Kids loved their gifts and were over the moon. We had a really lazy day at home, followed by a walk on the beach with the kids and their new monster trucks.

We watched a film cuddled on the sofa, I couldn't enjoy my dinner so much even though it looked delicious because I'm off my food with illness.

Kids were shattered and had an early night and me and DH had a snuggle on the sofa watching a film.

Was just what I needed after being unwell. Nice and chilled just us four together.

We had a lovely one. Just me and 15yo DS. We had a small turkey, watched a couple of films together. I don't see the point in forcing a 15 year old to have organised fun when he doesn't want to so I let him go in his room after dinner to play PS5. I ate chocolates, drank prosecco and snowballs. Today much of the same and I'm back to work tomorrow.

Aww what a lovely thread!! OP thank you!! 😍 I had a fab time.. a mate over, both my adult kids one with a partner. Really thoughtful generous gifts all round, (eldest got me a cashmere jumper I've been eyeing up and Victoria Beckham makeup!!) Food was cooked by DD2 was so yummy.. very different to my own food... we ate chocolate all day and played games .. i feel very lucky 🙏.

We’ve had a lovely Christmas so far . Good company , great food and lovely gifts .

We had an amazing day. My adult son, who has special needs and gets easily overwhelmed, managed the whole day. We invited the adult kids' partners and all of them managed to join us. We didn't do it on Xmas day because not all of them could make that day and we wanted a day with everyone. We ended up with 16 people.

It was so lovely. My sister came with her 4 kids and was so much help. No tears, lots of laughter and everyone went home happy.

It was very relaxed, dp did most of the cooking, I did most of the prep and organising.

I know it sounds ridiculous but when we all went to bed, I wanted to cry I was so happy. I've had such a shit year health wise and it meant so much to me that we could get all the kids and partners together, with no incidents or meltdowns, to celebrate!

There will be many on here who had a fabulous day. Yesterday on here was just depressing tbh, unfortunately the same posters will be back complaining they never got a present or their MIL looked at them funny, or their teenagers were rude, next Christmas (and the posters will still not have put their foot down or done anything to try and change these behaviours affecting them so badly). They’ll just be Christmas Martyrs again next year.

Now I get that it shouldn’t be the posters who should change the people who’ve upset them, but they’ll still be with the dodgy, lazy partner, still pander to their ungrateful, rude kids and still take offence at everything their in laws do.

I hope some if them may read this thread and realise Christmas can be good

But yes, agree some people just moan and don't do anything to change it

Yep, lovely Christmas here. Just at home with my family so no having to rush around traveling all over to see people I'm not really bothered about seeing. Christmas dinner was delicious, all cooked by DH. Kids liked all their presents. Had a lovely snuggle and Christmas film in the evening. Youngest said in a quiet moment what a good day she had and how happy she was with her presents.

We also had all the step kids and partners too, I forgot to mention :). And everyone mucked in. It was wonderful. And we'll definitely do the same next year.

Right will shut up now

I had a nice day. My adult DS cooked his first Xmas lunch and only needed a bit of guidance on timings. It was lovely. He was happy with his gifts as was DH and foster son. DH got me some lovely thoughtful gifts including an electric cushion that heats up which will help my bad back. He also spoiled me with a 9 carat yellow gold diamond and ruby necklace on a 22 inch chain and matching stud earrings. I thought I was just getting the 22 inch gold chain, so a big surprise. We watched Candy Cane Lane after lunch and enjoyed it. Early in the morning my DD rang and I did a video call with DGS's then in the evening my elder son and his gf rang I did a video call with them. They had made a hot chocolate with the Velvetiser I had bought for them and they both seemed very happy with it. All my family had a nice day. DH, foster son and I went home at about 7pm and I drank a lot of Prosecco. Our Foster Son charged up his new laptop, and DH seemed very cheerful eating chocolates and uploading software for FS. We had a late night and slept in this morning.