Anybody else had their pre Christmas freak out(complete with tears) yet?Come make me feel better about mine.

[MrsHeffley]

I know their are many far worse off which makes me feel even guiltier.

So along side work(part time),I've bought/planned/written/wrapped every present,card and item of food.Sorted the house out(dec/tree wise), the manic end of term school schedule X3.Packed and been on 2 weekends away. Survived my mother in law etc.,etc.You know the drill.

Managed to wash my contact lens down the sink so stuck with my very old glasses all over the festive season.Dp and I don't give to each other and most of our Xmas money gets swallowed up as we're too busy to spend it on ourselves by which point come the new year we reckon it's probably not a good idea anyway.

Just trudged round Sainsburys for hours in said hideous glasses,forgot 3 items.Kids being a freakin nightmare with excitement and tiredness.House mingin and absolutely no idea when it'll be done(Xmas eve prob) .Loads to wrap,no idea where to start.

Just feel overwhelmed.Burst into tears,shouted at dp and the kids for taking me for granted.Dp shouted back and the kids sent in notes on their remote control cars asking how they could help.

Dp now out on a works do,I curled up on sofa watching The Snowman with the kids then popped them in bed.Now feel shit they'll associate Xmas with stress-sob!!!!!

yes kendodds christmas sends my anxiety levels through the roof thats probably whats wrong my my stomach although after me posting a few minutes ago dd2 said to me after she finsihed watching her programme she would help me clean the kitchen , i got choked up and nearly cried AGAIN !

your all mad

Spent most of Wednesday shouting. Mostly at DH.

I think he may have made the mistake of suggesting I 'chill out and relax, it's Xmas'.

I feel like throwing a heavy object across the room as dp is now snoring like a pig, still he'll be alright when he's up all hours watching sport tonight, while i am stressing about what still needs to be done.

thanks so much for making me feel less alone and an odd ball. i've spent the last week working at my job and cleaning the house. i've also done all the food shopping, writing cards and wrapping presents. I asked husband to take one card to a neighbour which he complained about (and then delegated to a DS who took 2 days) and he then had a fit as there was no bread for dinner (we had bread rolls). This was after him saying for the kids to start eating the christmas food and me saying there will be nothing left and him saying well chill out.

How can i chill, when i do all the work and they do nothing but moan? why are they surprised I'm no christmas fan?

I think I have everything done so can relax (which was the plan) but I feel all twitchy as if I have missed something! Gah.

I'm just simmering down a bit, now. Have been pleasantly busy rather than maniacally busy, since I tend to organiseChristmas pretty tightly, anyhow (and keep it low key). That said, got woken up early by a grumpy child, this morning and then DH got to work and texted me to say his DPF light had come on, which put me in a foul mood since we're going away for a few days, next week.

Panic averted when it turned out it was flashing in a way to say he was due his service oil change.

Had a pleasant afternoon pottering in the kitchen while DH put the tree up with the boys. Got some nice christmassy spiced fruit break in the bread maker. All very happy families.

DS2 has been gettign very obsessive since the tree went up, though and DS1 is madly hyper (both boys ASD). That gets a bit stressful on its own, specially when DS1 is bouncing around and asking rapid fire questions.

Someone has lost the zapper.

Then DH unplugged the break maker before it had finished cooking. Then had the nerve to say we could buy some fruit bread in the supermarket, this morning.

KABOOMMMM

I had mine yesterday. First day off work and whilst tidying DS2's bedroom I managed to drop a wooden Monopoly set on my head, cut my forehead open and ended up at A&E which threw out my careful timetable.

Then today I took the boys to the cinema and 20 minutes into Arthur Christmas there was a power cut

Going to tackle Sainsburys at 5am tomorrow so hopefully it won't be our 3rd unlucky thing (last year I went at the same time and left the car lights on so I came out to a flat battery!!)

Wow,I'm not alone then.You've all made me feel more normal now and less of The Grinch iykwim.

Redhot it was the "chill out it's Christmas" comment that pushed me over the edge too.Oh that and the fact that I was runnin around like a blue arsed fly so much yesterday I didn't have time for lunch.Dp took the kids to McDs while I shopped.

Just had tea at mums. Just don't know how she did it then and don't know how she does it now. Immaculate(clean) house looking like a colour co-ordinated grotto,fab food etc.Even the table confetti matched the crackers.How???????

Got to fly and reHedrin dd,wrap etc but this is soooo the last Xmas stressfest for me ever.Sadly I don't think going away for weekends seeing people just before Xmas is doable for us(although isn't that what Xmas is supposed to be about)?I'm also going to be delegating big time in August(any later with dp and I might as well do it myself).

MrsH

Yes I had mine yesterday, the charity that made me redundant this year by closing my lovely project sent (completely by accident) a fundraising booklet addressed to me with my name inserted all over it, celebrating all the wonderful work that is being done in my area and asking me would I help out a bit more. It took me by surprise and I saw red mist about the lost project and how much the redundancy has changed our lives - had to relocate, pare Christmas right back, new schools for kids etc etc.

Was just about holding it together, when there was a knock at the door and it was a bunch of flowers from my best mate and I cried my eyes out.

Yy to what sleepyspaniel said. My mum is superwoman, but did have the odd Xmas meltdown when we were kids. An explanation would have taken the anxiety out of it for us all.

I had mine yesterday, Xxx

I didn't have a melt-down as such but did yell at 2 of my 3 kids yesterday for doing NONE of the things they said they would do (cleaning rooms, emptying dishwasher, walking dog etc) while I was slogging my guts out at work. I especially gave my 14 year old daughter a hard time. About 30 mins later, I told her I was sorry I had shouted but I was so mad. She said "you're not mad mum, you're just tired and I still love you"

I have nice kids

Ouryve love your KABOOM,pretty much described me yesterday.

To be frank what gets me is the assumption Xmas will just happen,dp scratches his head Xmas Eve round about 9pm as he's in the mood and says "best crack on with the wrapping".

Wrapping what exactly?

Oh yes that would be your entire families,kids gifts which were bought,wrapped,sent and dealt with ages ago.

Blimey, maybe I need an unchill pill. Our house is a tip and all presents unwrapped but I feel totally relaxed and Christmassy. I sort of intend to clean and wrap tomorrow. Love wrapping at midnight on Christmas Eve with a glass of Champagne. (I'll regret saying that at midnight tomorrow.)

Spent all day in the woods building dens with kids who then trailed very muddy clothes into the house, left soggy bath towels everywhere and got filthy again immediately making chocolates for their dad and some friends. Was so knackered I left them all watching Cat in The Hat while I napped for an hour.

But we don't have any visitors this year. It makes such a difference. This time most years I'd be run ragged by now, polishing the cat's whiskers for the in-laws.

Right, everybody round to racingheart's place! Well done that woman.

We are not entertaining at home this year either, and I am very relaxed about Christmas! I have the use of a place which is perfect for get-togethers (a lovely little local hall) so I am sort of joint hosting a little party there tomorrow, but not very stressed about it. Atm our house is about 6/10 tidy, but it varies by the hour and I'm sure that figure will fluctuate over Christmas! I think I'd feel v. differently if I were hosting at home.

However I realised today that I have forgotten to buy a different coloured wrapping paper for Santa's presents. They cannot be wrapped in the same paper as the one I've used for everyone else's! I'm also thinking that we should get the dc more stocking fillers. So I'm heading into town tomorrow morning for a Christmas Eve cafe / reading the papers time, then church for the crib service, then the party. Then maybe Midnight Mass, if I can stay awake!

I'm sure those of you who are being generous enough to open up your homes to others will be appreciated - the stress will be worth it on Christmas Day!

DP has gone out for the evening. Thank goodness. We have spent most of the day nipping at eachother. And at one point he even said "do what you like, it's YOUR family who are coming over". This is true, but I didn't expect him to react like that.

Last time we had people to stay (his parents) he went nuts cleaning the house. He even went so far as to clean the legs of the dining table (who does this?!) and he suggested that if it was my family who were coming I'd be the one who was cleaning obsessively. I think he's a little pissed off that I'm proving him wrong. I might hoover tomorrow, and I'll probably put some bleach in the toilets but that's about as far as I'm going to go. The house is certainly habitable anyway. The most important thing IMO is that everyone has a nice time, particularly the wee one. Nobody is going to notice if we haven't polished the skirting boards since we moved in.

next year I really am not having anyone around. And I plan on having a VERY laid back, cheap meal and I don't give a fig if the house is a tip (as if the kids would notice). I don't think kids will ever remember how clean a house was or how nice a meal was. All they'll remember is if they got to spend time hanging out with a happy, unstressed mummy and daddy. And that's where I've been getting it wrong for years.

I've had a minor tantrum over the fact that I went to Tesco's last night and the shelves were empty (it looked like a riot and looting had occured) I only went at 9pm so expected at least something left, had to take my mum to hospital this morning so then did Tesco's take 2, ARGH!! I got some of the missing items, but not all! I have now given up, it is shut for one day, I will survive not having Garlic and Herb Boursin. I have done all the Xmas cards and wrapping but have the delivery bits to do, and still general running around. DH this year as usual has avoided card writing and wrapping (besides mine) but he has done the housework and cooking, I will zip around with the hoover tomorrow, and chuck some bleach down the loo and that's it. I've got lots of cards hiding the dust! IL's will be fab and so will my mum if I give them lots of wine they will never notice any dust anyway

I'm at the just holding it together point right now. I am used to having some time to myself, even if it's just listening to R4 on the way to and from work and haven't been on my own for a week - just me and the 4 dcs. As 3 are teenagers it's a bit like living on a Young Ones set sometimes. Also had dd1's 18th, dh been working away (as always) and will be home around midnight.

The last couple of weeks of term I had the horrible bug which hits my asthma - managed work but nothing else so all my plans went a bit wrong.

Everything will be great I know, and I'm very lucky. Drinks here tomorrow. I just set myself ridiculously high standards. I know other people like the madness and chaos of our family, and I love it too after a lonely time as a child. I'd just like a bit of head space.

Ah yes I had mine yesterday over a sodding mixer.

And everyone's kids are tonto at the minute so don't sweat it :)

You're all welcome. Just step over piles of muddy children and come for a glass of champagne!

Reading this thread did make me get my act together a bit though, so I've made tomorrow night's meal and the chocolate log for the DC.

Off now to have a long bath. Hope everyone is feeling a bit more chilled now. Better a bit of clutter and a smiling mum than an immaculate house and a woman on the verge.

Haha I've been ranting a bit and feeling like I must be the grumpiest mummy there is but it's nice to know I'm not alone! Must remind myself to 'apologise' to the kids tomorrow and explain that I was really busy and worried about getting it all done. I tried to get everything done today so I could spend tomorrow enjoying being with DH and the kids before we have to be with other relatives as well on xmas day and after.