Thank God it's nearly over!

[MagicSummer]

I can feel the stress and pressure starting to lift - just preparing dinner which is a beef fillet with roasties and YPs followed by bought trifle. Cannot wait for next Friday when I can take all the decorations down and get back to normal life.

me too

Me too. I feel like this every Christmas, but more than ever this year. Wake me up when it's 2022!

I’ve already taken down my tree I. The bedroom, the advent calender goes away tomorrow, the tree if it last until new Eve I’ll be lucky, I find Christmas Day flat I love the run up better than Christmas Day.

I've loved Christmas day getting tree down Sunday though

This x 10000. I'm so desperate for it to be over now, I feel like I've been on the edge of a panic attack for days. Is it always like this, or is this a side effect of Corona-christmas?

I think the pressure is what you put on your self. Lets face it christmas dinner is a glorified sunday roast. The decorations are already up what difference does it make if you them up for the 12 days or 5 days? And lets face it we aren,t really getting back to normal are we.

Get Moorfields out the way on 5th January I can look forward then to the nights just getting lighter, when it’s still daylight not dusk at 4.30 I know we’re getting there.

Me too! Finally sat down, it's been a long day.

@June2007 - I suppose I didn't mean 'normal' normal, just more normal than these days of Christmas!

"Roasties and yps" I'm trying to think what yps are.

Yorkshire puddings

Just make it as easy as possible next year. Being really honest - who lays this great expectation of difficult food to cook and the bulk of the decorations and excess work on you - yourself or others? Talk to the family towards next Christmas about ways to simplify, and cheat with ready-made at every corner of you find the cooking stressful. It really isn’t meant to be like this.

Oh d'oh , I must be slightly groggy from yesterday! .

@june2007

I think the pressure is what you put on your self. Lets face it christmas dinner is a glorified sunday roast. The decorations are already up what difference does it make if you them up for the 12 days or 5 days? And lets face it we aren,t really getting back to normal are we.

The people I don't understand are the ones who are ready to take the decorations down on Boxing Day, because they've had them up for a month or more already and are sick of them. Just don't be in such a rush to put them up and keep them there over the actual Christmas holiday.

For me it’s the run to Christmas. I don’t do new year so for me after Boxing Day I feel the holiday is over. Yes I know the history of Christmas and love reading and watching about it, but that’s me I suppose.

Exactley Artie.

I enjoy the build up to Christmas but don't enjoy Christmas itself that much. There's always this pressure to make everything perfect, and this year it just can't be perfect.

I will have to make some sort of effort for NYE but I really just want it to fuck off!

The decs come down on Jan 2nd. Can't wait.

@Holothane

For me it’s the run to Christmas. I don’t do new year so for me after Boxing Day I feel the holiday is over. Yes I know the history of Christmas and love reading and watching about it, but that’s me I suppose.

Me too.

Nice to see I’m not on my own, in December I play Christmas jigsaws but Christmas Day they go and the winter wonderland ones come out, on my iPad. All Christmas socks hats, mask are put away.

Actual Christmas is great until all the presents are open and then it's just basically a load of work for the rest of the day. Such a low mood this year, today especially. And I've got nothing to complain about, I've got my 3 adult kids here with me and all is as well as it could be.

Some aspects of Christmas can be stressful and unavoidable but I do think a fair bit of it is stress which can be avoided.

My tree brings me so much joy I can't imagine taking it down even before New Year.

There's always this pressure to make everything perfect

Who is putting this pressure on you?

Aww, I feel totally the opposite. In December I'm always running around, busy writing cards, wrapping, getting the last gifts, baking to give to friends and family, and going on days out for light trails, Santa visits etc and by Christmas Day I'm exhausted. I love the days between Christmas Day and Boxing Day - it's my chance to watch the Christmas cookery shows, Christmas films, there's nothing to do I can grab a nap, we eat left overs so no wasting time cooking, I sit and watch tv which I never usually get to do. We'll take our decorations down the weekend after mew year and I'll start thinking about my DD'a 7th birthday in Feb.

I feel the opposite too. I refuse to start Christmassy stuff early, precisely because I don't want to be fed up with it all by Boxing Day!

Tree still looking great, lovely turkey curry last night, turkey hash tonight. Just normal, relaxed holiday/weekend days, but still with a Christmassy flavour.

I also love the time in between Christmas and New Year. Although we definitely start Christmas on 1st Dec - Advent calendars - start putting up decs - we don't get our tree til the middle of December so I'm definitely not fed up of it. Christmas dinner is special for us also as we don't often eat roast dinners. I don't understand people feeling flat after opening presents - don't you then enjoy your presents? I've been having a lovely time playing the keyboard with my DD, playing board games with my DS and reading my Michelle Obama auto-biography. We've been eating leftovers and Christmas treats so no cooking. Just a lovely holiday atmosphere.