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!

Yule log. There, I said it. Yule log never tastes as good as it looks. I’d rather have a normal chocolate Swiss roll.

The dratted Elf on the shelf.
Wrapping presents from Santa.
Panto.
Visit to Santa.
Office shindig.

Going anywhere for Christmas. Staying put is nicer, especially with small children.
Christmas cards.
Bah humbug to a certain local radio station whose non-stop Christmas music playlist kicked off on 1 November. They rotate the same nine songs every day for two months.
Stocking stuffers. (Tat).

Elf on the shelf - no
Christmas Eve boxes - no

Christmas Eve boxes
Elf on the Shelf
Pigs in blankets

Christmas light shows/walks at NT places & the like. Expensive, cold, usually wet trudges that lack any magic. I loathe them ( can you tell 🤣). Not doing anything but panto, films, games, chocolate & turkey sandwiches this year and I can’t wait!

Switch off social media/TV ads, figure out what makes you and your family/friends happy and do that. Try not to destroy the planet or your finances in the process. It's ALL optional and I feel sad about all this commercial pressure on those who can't afford it.

Christmas lights/decorations on a house that can be seen from space. I know some people do it for charity but others just seem to stick up every light and inflatable going. It’s like living next to Blackpool illuminations from October until January round here. I dread to think of the bills!

I would genuinely get rid of Christmas ‘experiences’ and things like Christmas Eve boxes. It’s mostly an excuse for shops to sell more tat but people feel the pressure and succumb. It’s mainly just for show on social media anyway.

Pigs in blankets are staying though 😊

Well now you are going to have to find out why they walked out on the IL's, and come back and tell us, aren't you?
😉

Cards - don’t bother any more - a huge relief given how many I used to ‘have to’ send. Cooking - we get take away or M&S and just relax - less pressure, less stress! In fact going out or doing anything that detracts from relaxing with my dogs and my nearest and dearest humans has been jettisoned and it’s fuckin awesome.

DC are at uni so we don’t have to do the hideous panto/Christmas market/Christmas lights at gardens etc stuff any more thank god

DD usually goes ice skating with her mates and DD goes to the darts

Also have cut down massively on Christmas cards

Don’t bother with a turkey any more - 6 of us so we have a big chicken which is plenty as there are so many sides, and it’s much juicier and tastier.

Not bothered with a Christmas cake this year as DH and I are cutting back and are the only ones that eat it.

Never done Christmas Eve boxes - but do have seafood and sausage rolls when we get back from the pub.

I love Christmas! There are lots of things that other people do that I have never bothered with and were never really on my radar, even when the dc were younger. Elf on the shelf
Santa's grotto visits
Christmas Eve boxes
Family pyjamas
Christmas outings in general
Tubs of cheap chocolates and other Christmas snacks for weeks before Christmas

I've never been to a Christmas market in the UK, but have been to ones in Germany a few times. They're lovely!

The first year I lived in Birmingham and me and then BF just had a curry.
Bliss.

It’s me, hi, I’m the grinch

My suggestion for this thread is “giving in to expectation and obligation”. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. No one will die if you say no.

V true. I've seen those wolf fleece things on sale in many a place over the years, but I have never, ever seen anybody actually wearing one.

There is a FB page where people post pics when they spot a wolf fleece “in the wild” 😊

I have!!! A family in Grimsby! A grey one a blue on and a lilac/pinky one
It's now a core memory :)
Just remembered the lady in Huddersfield had a cat one because " the wolf ones are well common" * her words not mine

Oh gosh! You've just reminded me of the time when my friend hosted at Christmas and tried to pass off the Yule Log as her own when it so obviously came from the village bakery. She slipped up by forgetting that she'd left it on the back seat of her car, causing an awkward moment when she disappeared for several minutes into the street to retrieve it.

None of us cared that she hadn't made it herself but the subtefuge was so elaborate that somebody had to say something along the lines of, "But why was it in your car?"

Never mind that we'd all seen identical Yule logs in the bakery for weeks and the style was pretty distinctive...

She was utterly unfazed and replied quite snappily, "I put in the car for it to chill properly and the chocolate icing to set."

She had chutzpah, that girl.

The things I really like and for me are non negotiable are:

• A christmas party in December
• An amazing christmas dinner
• Baking mince pies and mulling wine
• Choosing a real christmas tree and turning on the lights

Everything else I can do without.

a lot of them must be in Great Yarmouth 🤣

We had a themed party once when we stayed at a caravan there for a big birthday (I can take the piss, I am from Norfolk myself) and my dad wore one. I dressed as a snail with a top hat (IYKYK)

thatsawhopperthatlemon

V true. I've seen those wolf fleece things on sale in many a place over the years, but I have never, ever seen anybody actually wearing one.

Actually apparently there's "designer" ones. Someone posted on.X saying "£400?! You can get them 2 for a fiver down the market!"

I have 2DC aged nearly 8 and 11
.

Stuff not worth doing:

• Elf on the shelf. Too much effort and there’s always some other parent in the playground who did something akin to a large scale west end theatre company production every night
• Christmas eve boxes. I get getting them PJs and watching a movie but the whole box thing is just another strand of an entitled overly commercial Christmas.
• Family matching PJ photos. I’m not gonna lie I always laugh at these - it looks like the family are part of a cult and you just know the bloke was absolutely strong armed into it, and that he’s hating every second. More social media “We are happier than the next people” fodder and I’m not here for it.

Matching pjs - what a waste if you can only wear them a few times a year

Would you not just wear them to bed for the rest of the winter though?

I just cut off the written-on tag and add a new one.

Christmas music. There’s so much you can take.
Fresh Xmas food in the shops past ten days or so it’s not freezable!

Those light up inflatable Santas etc. My parents live opposite to a family who have three of these in their garden. Hardly went up last year, as storm after storm.

Christmas bedding, cushions. I use the same 4 duvet covers all year round.

People that still ignore the a pet is for life, not just for Christmas. As RSPCA, Cats Protection etc get an influx of pets coming in January.