What would your perfect Christmas be like?

[SevenOnwardsAndUpwards]

After a pretty shitty year I want the perfect Christmas, I just need to work out what the perfect Christmas is. I mean the whole countdown to Christmas period not just the day itself. So far I've decided we need a real tree, attend the village lights switch on, mulled wine while watching Christmas movies, perfectly beautifully wrapped presents, champagne on Christmas morning , and goose rather than turkey as we've always wanted to try it.

I'm looking to steal more ideas, what would make/has made your perfect Christmas?

We have booked to take dd on the Santa express to kick off our Christmas on the 1st of December. Decs will go up the day before. We will do one Christmas related activity as a family once a week (at the weekend) until we finish work on the 21st. We have the Santa train, a trip after dark to see the festive lights ( and dds very first mcdonalds!), DDs nursery Christmas craft event etc. Friday night movie night will be Christmas themed too. On Christmas eve we are taking dd to softplay, followed by a pub lunch to which extended family are invited. Then we are going home to discover our hamper the elves have left us. We will bake Santa some cookies and watch a Christmas winne the pooh dvd. The day itself will be split into three. Early morning just us three, then round to pils for Christmas brunch, then to my parents for dinner. That is the plan. However, the key to it being 'perfect' lies in my expectations I think. Im going to try and be realistic and not focus on the little details. DD is only 2.5. She may have a tantrum. MIL may do my head in at some point. I may need to alter plans to be more accommodating to others. So above all, I intend to relax my way into Christmas this year. Fingers crossed it all goes well!

Seven, I always worry a bit when people talk about wanting the perfect Christmas. In my experience this is an unachievable dream and people are then disappointed. Mamabear is right, it is all about expectations and what you can reasonably do for your family. I appreciate that you want to try and make things nice after a bad year, but accepting that an enjoyed, happy, and loving Christmas is good and doesn't need to be perfect will remove a lot of the pressure to make it so. This doesn't mean you shouldn't put some effort in to organise nice things, just don't expect it to compensate for the bad year.

To be honest if left to me I wouldn't bother with any of it tree, decorations, gifts, food. I find it tedious tbh but because dh and dc enjoy it then I grit my teeth and put up with enforced jollity. It's somewhat ironic I was born on Christmas day and was named after a flippin' reindeer

The perfect christmas rarely happens without a slip up somewhere along the line.

I believe the best way to do it, is not panic, don't overspend on crap, as you say, enjoy the lights, nice tree, family time, nice long walks, and relaxing playing silly games. Don't put yourself under pressure to have the ideal christmas, just go with the flow and enjoy it. It has taken many years for me to achieve this, and may motto is to do what we want to do, not what is expected of us.

One where PIL, BIL, SIL and boyfriend don't descend before we've had our breakfast, eat all the good chocolates, demand tea and then bog off leaving a wake of random and unsuitable presents.
And I'm getting it, next year because we're going away to a lonely cottage with a hot tub, m'wahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahha!

Insanity - Are you a Donna then! Surely not one of the others!!

Please tell me your name is blitzen insanity!?
It would make me very happy :)
I agree sigh the poster above though...no such thing as the "perfect Xmas"
Dont set yourself up for disappointment.
Do things you think you and your dc might like.
Yes to carol service, yes to movies yes to snuggles on the sofa, but don't worry so much over the wrapping and garnish...and goose is very greasy ime.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Just me, DH, and DS. In our own home. Nice tree, presents under, start the day with a cocktail, picky breakfast of delicious nibbles while we open some presents. Presents from other people which, by the by, I have not had to think of, source, buy and wrap (this will never happen).
Big lunch. Walk up Arthur's Seat. Back for dessert, fire on, then a film and a glass of dessert wine and some chocolates. Huge lazy evening ahead.

Reasons why this can't happen: DH won't consider not going to his parents'. We have to eat a late dinner (which makes me ill), they fanny around with the presents and generally MIL requires someone to go and fetch them from the next room and then acts all surprised when she is handed the thing she just ordered that someone get her. In between all this she twitters around in her nightie talking about how mad she is to still be in her nightie and how she would have finished all the jobs (which nobody cares about but her) if she hadn't been put off by some random non-event the day before. There is no lazing about because she cannot allow anyone to relax without coming and telling them how pleased she is that they are relaxing, and would they like to perhaps do it upstairs in their room? And chocolate and trifle are out because they are too sweet and that's a moral failing.

Really wish I could boycott it but DS would suffer. So I'm stuck with it. What a bag of pure shite.

I am so sorry. That moan got the better of me

I think a really easy Christmas with excellent food, a good tree, an open fire if you've got one, and definitely a massive trifle is my ideal.

Don'tMention Put your foot down, it's taken me 13 years but Getting my way finally!

Yes I'm Donna , I think it was a joke on df's part I was teased all through school and again once dc twigged. I've never ever liked Christmas although I'm sure my name and birthday had nothing to do with it, I'm a veritable Scrooge in all honesty.

notso I do really fancy the cottage-with-hot-tub idea.
The trouble is that 'putting my foot down' will involve unravelling a lot of things that need to stay ravelled up, until ds is older. We'll see. After last year, I registered (as I think I do every year) my displeasure

I'm having my perfect christmas this year. Having my christmas dinner cooked for me at my mums christmas eve, having christmas day in with just me and the kids with all our favourite buffet/party type of foods and boxing day at my nans with a another roast.

No stress at all finally, never had a christmas at home can't wait for the kids to actually be able to play with their pressies.

Prunes, how late is a late dinner? And could you sneak some trifle in before you go? Are you the lady who's MIL gives unsuitable presents and won't take no for an answer, you poor woman, come to mine and I can guarantee an enormous trifle!

My perfect Christmas......

Getting everything I need by the 23rd (last minute supermarket shopping).
So a nice relaxed Christmas Eve , maybe the cinema? (DH was working last year so I took DD and DS)

Waking up at a respectable time (not earlier than 7am). The DC opening their stockings and delighting in the gems within.
(I'll skip by the hauling myself out of bed and getting the guinea-pigs fed and put in their run)

Maybe DH volunteering to make breakfast - would be nice

Then me having the kitchen and the back room telly to myself to faff around and watch rubbishy soaps.

I always spend Christmas at my home. New Year I'm not so bothered about.

for me? in a big house, with a seperate lounge and dining room, bay windows in both with big real tree's in them. the dining room one would be tastefully decorated as we would be eating dinner in there, around a table big enough to seat us all, the lounge tree would be more colourful for the dc's. open fires in both rooms, roaring with big logs in. snow falling outside as we eat christmas dinner at around 4pm ish so its just dusk, not too much snow of course. nice big kitchen to cook dinner in, preferably with a range for plenty of space. little lit up tree's in the garden, and lights round the windows. other than that, our christmasses are pretty much perfect, we have fun, never any family fights. plenty of champagne

girlywhirly, I'm one of them, I think there were many of us on that tulips thread whose MILs and mothers wouldn't take no for an answer
Thank you for the offer of trifle. I feel trifle is a bit of a human right at Christmas.

We have trifle on Christmas Eve (one of our Traditions)

and I forgot the Perfect Christmas Snow

My main wish is that my parents join in with the celebrations, maybe playing a game/doing a jigsaw with us or crafting with the DCs, and coming out for a walk with us... hopefully not just sitting on the sofa ignoring the DCs all day

Apart from that I'm pretty relaxed :o good food, fun presents, iPod Xmas playlist, a piano to play carols on, what's not to love :)

Singing christmas carols round a piano. Someone else putting the tree up and down. Friends dropping in for the odd glass of champagne throughout the day. Those are three things I'd like to add to my planned (pretty normal but nice) christmas but don't see how I can.

Getting slowly trolleyed during the day on good Prosecco. Having friends round. Watching Dr Who. Seeing children's faces as they open their stockings. These are my favourite bits. I like Christmas Eve, making mince pies NORAD, reindeer food and landing path etc. Expect we will watch Arthur Christmas. We meet good friends at pub Xmas Eve lunchtime as its a birthday.

Doing the family duty thing is a must do but not a favourite thing.

This Christmas is going to be amazing. It will be he first one in my adult life I've not either been working or ill in hospital. Last year I worked 12 hr shifts over Christmas and new year, this year I get 2 weeks off.

Watch me get flu.

It is inevitable, isn't it!

Perhaps I should have said my ideal Christmas, I know there's no such thing as perfect really especially as mil will come round in the morning to see DCs. We have an open fire which will be lit all day, and I'm hop

I'm hoping to prepare as much as possible on Christmas Eve so I can just go with it more on the day itself.