Christmas things not worth doing

[charlieinthehaystack]

you know the things you think you have to do then after you think why on earth did i bother?
many a time i have spent hours carefully putting the stickers on toys bikes etc to complete it then two minutes after kids open it all the stickers are ripped off!
you risk life and limb not to mention driving miles to get that toy that your youngster has begged for along with most of the kids in the UK but on Christmas day its played with for 2 minutes then discarded never to be seen again
similar to above you have that one guest you want to impress/who is awkward so you spend ages finding food you know they like at great expense then find out when they visit they no longer like it!

We had a Christmas Eve roast dinner one year, then spent Xmas day eating lovely leftovers and smoked salmon sandwiches, worked very well!

Visiting Santa, both mine always went shy and didn't want to sit on his knee or talk to him really!

• Christmas Eve boxes (I feel like they would be enjoyed so much more if you made them a December box and gave them to kids on 1st December instead of the night before they get presents).
• In the same vein, brr baskets
• Elf on the Shelf
• Buying token presents for all and sundry
• Christmas cards (who can be bothered when you just end up throwing them in the recycling anyway!)
• Christmas cards for the whole school class that my 6 year old is definitely not going to write and it will be left to me!
• Places that do reindeer food and let kids put in things like beads or sequins when it'll get thrown across the grass and be bad for unsuspecting wildlife (fine if it's oats, biodegrable glitter etc)
• Matching family Christmas pyjamas (the worst!)
• People taking photos of the piles and piles of presents wrapped up for their kids and saying "he's been"
• Christmas pudding or cake
• Overpriced work Christmas meals or parties

i’m going to do a little ‘advent bag’ on the 1st- it will just have the advert calendar in, a pair of lovely Christmas pjs I picked up for a fiver at Aldi, and a set of the Raymond Briggs Father Christmas books that I had as a child. Doesn’t make sense to me to save pjs and Christmas books to give on Christmas Eve! What’s been quite nice from this thread is reading about how lots of us are taking different traditions and bending them to suit us!

Personalised plates with DC's name(s) for Santa's mince pie. I used one of my parents' standard plates.

I didn't want to do the bloody elf, we were happy without it. My MIL posted 2 individually to my kids because, and I quote " I was being miserable". And obviously they think they are brilliant so now I'm stuck for a few years while the kids are little doing this rubbish while my MIL comments how lovely it is "I've found my Christmas spirit" - good job she's lovely in other ways.

A former colleague (she don't work there like me) shared this on FB https://www.facebook.com/reel/175933802257880

I buy a normal chocolate Swiss roll and tart it up a bit with a sprinkling of icing sugar and some plastic holly. Job done. We have it at Yule, not Christmas.

@StormingNorman I thought Yule Log WAS just a chocolate swiss roll with a bit of chocolate icing with a dusting of icing sugar (and a plastic robin on top).
What's the difference if it's not that?

The christmas special of call the midwife. It is guaranteed to send me to sleep within 2 minutes.

It’s more like a roulade I think. Although the only difference I know of between the two is one is rolled warm and the other isn’t 🫤

@Fairislesweater I think my mum just decorated a basic chocolate swiss roll......

I mean, that would do it.

That is essentially the difference, which you know so assume the question is rhetorical.

The sponge is harder and dryer than a normal Swiss roll which has softer sponge. Presumably they tweak their recipes so the sponge holds up to the weight of the icing.

@StormingNorman I confess I like to zap swiss roll in the microwave to warm it up and then have it with cream or custard.
I do the same with Colin the Caterpillar 😂😂

Flashing Christmas lights - they should all default to constant. I hate pressing them multiple times to get them on the right setting, especially when one of my DC distracts me.

This is the first year that I am not sending out lots of cards. The stamps just cost too much and writing out the cards has always felt like a chore.

Some of my family plans would traumatise some people on this thread, e.g. I have matching pjs for me and DC (they are tartan though so could be worn any time) for 1 December and my DM has bought matching Christmas pjs for herself, her children, children in law and grandchildren (17 of us) and we're all going to wear them when we're together on NYE. I can't wait!

Have never done Elf on the Shelf though.

But big fans of all Christmas food especially mince pies and bread sauce at Christmas Dinner.

Hope that you all enjoy the festive period however you choose to celebrate or not to

Outdoor light shows - ridiculously overpriced, times clash with dinner / bath / bedtime so someone is always grumpy, you're at the mercy of the weatherbecause you have to book half a year in the advance and the kids said the best bit was jumping in the puddles!!

All this talk about Yule logs reminds me of the traditional Catalan Yule log, Caga Tio. My DGSs grew up in Barcelona where, early in December, children bring home a small log and feed it every day. It gets bigger and for some reason (maybe someone on here can explain) they beat it with sticks until, finally, it poops their presents. Luckily they now live near the Black Forest where there is a good supply of logs of different sizes.

@Pliudev that sounds...... interesting 😂

Bread sauce. Had it on a few Xmas dinners (not out on Xmas Day) and I rather have baby's puke on my food thank you.

Mulled wine. Yeugh. I can't even stand the smell of it.

And cinnamon can bog off.

Yes. I've just been looking it up. Caga Tio translates as 'poo log'. The traditions is for the DCs to gather round the log on Christmas eve and sing a song threatening to hit it even harder if it poos herrings (because they are too salty) instead of nougat.
It mainly poos sweets because the main presents arrive on 7/1.

In defence of Christmas cards, I have elderly relatives who love getting these and who are really proud of how many they get.

Real Xmas trees, scented candles (and other smelly things) of pine or spice berries.

All set my asthma off.

When I do visit people with real trees, I have to sit the furthest away from tree

Yes, we have ‘ Tio De Nadal’ beside our fire, over Christmas.

Bought in a (very beautiful) Christmas Market in Barcelona.