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!

Except, I can't stand Amazon and avoid using them if I possibly can.

Christmas lights at RHS gardens: Kew/Wisley etc. It's a walk in the dark surrounded by other people, along roped off pathways, often cold and damp, over in under an hour and involves a half hour drive there and back.

Elf on a shelf. Thank god this shite started after my kids were older but what a load of crap! I am so looking forward (not) to the numerous daily updates on FB of this creepy little fucker doing the stupid things some parents think will get their little offspring’s excited for Christmas.

Had a very big house and kids wanted to have decorations in their rooms/have the hallway done so it was 'Christmassy' when they came in. Of course, they didn't help with the decorating and just moaned when their 'tree' fell down or they didn't have exactly the same number of baubles as their brother/sister.

I should have told them to be grateful I bothered with one room - but in those days I wanted it all to be perfect... They've just about stopped arguing about whose tree is the biggest now though.

Going to see a pantomime. Traditional or modern trendy one, don't care, no thankyou.

Some years ago, after a really hard year for our wider family, I decided to do a bit of an alternative Christmas without the hot sit down meal. It was very notable how many people who came said, individually and quietly, to me how much they'd enjoyed it and, anyway, they didn't really like the full 'all the trimmings' meal. They were worried to say it out loud with the group in case they'd upset the others!

It is amazing how many things we do and things we eat at Christmas are just because 'we always have' and how liberating it is when you stop. I think many Christmases are spoilt by trying to cling on to old family traditions that have passed their sell by date. We all grow older and evolve our views.

We aren't keen on mince pies, Xmas cake or pudding so we swerve those. Brussels sprouts and bread sauce don't feature in our dinners.
We have an upper price budget for gifts, a very relaxed plan for the big day and don't feel obliged to visit or invite folk we don't really like.

Basically, Christmas is a different thing to everyone, pick and choose the bits you want and you'll have a happy one.

I read a magazine article recently, one of those smug “how to have a lovely tasteful Christmas like me in my gracious home” things, and the woman said she likes to put lots of thought into creating wrapping paper schemes that reflect the personality and interests of the recipient. And I thought, there’s a person who should think about getting a job, or maybe getting involved in some charity work.

I scaled back my Christmas a long time ago. People get so wrapped up in what other people show online that they feel the pressure to do the same. Close the instagram!

I do enjoy Christmas, mostly, but Elf on the Shelf, Christmas Markets, Light trails, breakfast with Santa type experiences.... no thank you.

My kids are teenagers and when I've asked them about their favourite memories they've said things like staying up late (!!!) and baking with me.

When they were little we always hosted and it felt like a fucking pain in the arse, but now I'm out the other side of it (separated!) I'm glad we did it.

never done elf on the shelf
finally gave up stockings last year - kids are 18 and 24!
not sure we decorated at all last year, but we did have a lovely, uncluttered pile of nice presents and a delicious roast beef rib dinner.

then we went to my mums and made the most of all her Christmas tree/decorations/lights/open fire.

🤣

Banished from our lives:

guilt

crackers

sending lots of cards

spending Christmas or New Year's Eve with anyone else, away from home

wrapping presents for each other - we graduated to putting them in a Christmassy bag unwrapped, & now just use our presents as soon as we buy them, keeping a list for Christmas Day to remind ourselves of what we've had. I don't start my new yarn until the New Year, though, as it's a real treat when everything's gloomy to get out some multi-coloured yarn & play with it.

The only time I did that for a relative he ignored the themed wrapping & hated the present inside.😂Never again.

I don't do this, what an absolute nonsense made up thing. And so much work.

I am approaching my 8th Christmas as a mother and I have not yet been suckered into doing Elf on the Shelf. Please send me strength at this difficult time!!

Me too. I get everyone’s favourite food in then essentially spend Christmas eating our way though it and some chilled family time. Everyone gets a new book and we hang around the wood stove.

Xmas Tree.
Decorations.
Roast dinner.
Extra presents on Xmas Eve.
Lights on the outside of your house (why?).
Matching PJs.

But I'll give you Carols from King's and mince pies 🤣

Totally feel the same way!

Each to their own but there is surely enough excitement at Christmas without all of the faff of this too?

All of it, I'd say.

I absolutely love having hardly anyone to buy for. Just the dds, oh & couple of friends & my db. No early waking on Christmas Day (to be fair it was usually me up before the dds). Having to entertain people. Just the 4 of us now & we just please ourselves

Oh quite a few things. People seem to have gone completely mad since COVID.

1. Why the need to put decorations absolutely everywhere? I recently unfollowed someone on Instagram because they bought a Christmas tree for each of their three children's bedrooms. Really?
2. OTT Christmas lights/decs on houses. Giant inflatable Santas the size of your house look so tacky (yes I'm talking to you, number 15, although my DD quite likes it I'll admit).
3. Christmas Eve boxes. Watch a film, leave a mince pie on a plate, maybe read a Christmas story.
4. Elf on the Shelf.
5. All these Christmas 'experiences' and inviting people in elf costumes to your house or whatever. Yes meet Santa at the garden centre or at the Christmas fair, but nowadays it's so much bigger and more 'amazing' than that.

Yes I'm a bit miserable I know, but I do feel like everything has to be an 'event' nowadays. Everything has to be a #corememory or #familytime or #makingmemories.
With kids it's nice to throw yourself into it when you're young, that's true, but I think there's a line over which it almost takes the magic and mystery away a little bit.

Second that!

My best Christmas Day was when we had lots of family coming, set the table all matchy-matchy, then my sister called to ask if her and husband could join us (never found out why they left her IL’s house just before Christmas dinner 😂). We squashed everyone around the old oval table, got odd plates, cutlery and glasses and brought down the laundry basket and desk chair as extra seating. I breathed out and have never been worried about everything being perfect since.

I do Elf On The Shelf. It IS a lot of work, but my children LOVE it, and therefore, for me, it is worth it just to see how excited they are (well, mainly the younger one now) when they find him, and see what he's been up to. It definitely adds joy and anticipation to the build up. We don't have the ugly one with that horrid face though - I have my own one who is much nicer, and this year, he is bringing a friend, so that when the kids leave home, they can have one each for their own families, should they want.

I am perhaps compensating because we don't have extended family to cherish my children, it's just me here, and then they go to their father's for early evening, but he has no family close by either. So Elfie is our family!

My children love a Sunday roast (vegan version) so I go all out on that, with all the trimmings.