What are you going to do different next Christmas?

[MsMiaWallace]

Hopefully we'll be able to visit family/friends & socialise more.
Apart from this what else will you change for next Christmas, if anything?

For me I won't be buying:

Mulled wine, didn't really get drunk.

Baking set for the kids to make biscuits for Santa on Christmas Eve, they really weren't interested!

A tub of quality street/heroes. They tasted rank.

Less presents for the kids. Although we say this every year!

Need to buy new Christmas lights for outside too.

Throw a family party. I really liked hunkering down with my little family for Xmas day but usually we have a gathering the weekend before Xmas. Missed that.

Well, make sure teen DD is no longer being so hormonal for a start!!

I am under orders to only get a turkey crown if we are staying here. (I prefer a whole bird, we don't get totally fed up of leftovers as we have lots of different recipes and freeze plenty, and I do only buy a small one, but DH does have kittens about a whole turkey being too big).

Slow down with work earlier. So I can have some fun baking and decorating properly. (And hopefully there will be various musical entertainments going on again to go to).

Remember to buy more ready rolled all butter puff pastry - it was lovely making our own sausage rolls very easily (bought sausage meat, some grated apple and seasoning added, and an egg wash over the top of the pastry).

And finish making any crafts as presents far, FAR earlier!!

(And post transatlantic parcel at least a month before "last posting date" as Canada Post is dysfunctional.....card and presents still haven't arrived and I sent them before last posting date).

Get a better book to read for myself for my downtime - this year's one is rubbish and remains stuck on ch. 2.

Stockings were brilliant, more expensive than previous years (approx £40 each) but full of really good stuff, no tat, no one day wonders just good fun/useful stuff.

What did you put in them @PhantomErik? I found doing them hard work this year, so need inspiration please.

Saving starts so I can treat in-laws again they loved it and I loved doing it some hampers next year for them from f and m, will make up my own, luxury advent calendar, I’m going quality not quantity. Tree and advent brought this year so no expense for that next year food wise. No quality or cheap chocolates next year either.

Sorry meant to say quality street

not buy as much food mainy for boxing day as it never really got eaten this year

• buy nice tree decorations and lights for outside
• send cards - this year I decided not to then felt bad when we received lots
• not make dp a chocolate hamper - most got donated to the food bank this year as there was so much
• quality presents over quantity
• if I have a gift idea during the year just buy it! I always think I'll see something better but never do
• stop running about after db's to make sure they've got gifts for dm and df. This is not my responsibility!!
• I will likely be working right through Christmas so need to accept things will be different and just go with the flow
• be more organised. most things bought and wrapped by 1st Dec so I can enjoy a cheesy festive book and allll the christmas movies
• start making crafts earlier and enjoy it rather than rushing at the last minute

@FrancisCross

If all goes to plan this year I’ll

• Order a takeaway Christmas Eve - buffets are not worth the effort!

• Buy nowhere near as much sweet stuff - we are still overflowing and it’s not helping my diet.

• Make an effort to dress up/make-up Christmas Day (leggings and bed hair are not a good look on me).

• Buy less tat and more practical things for stockings again - got it spot on this year (much smug).

• Buy more Sainsbury’s Alcohol Free Mulled Punch - it’s so good!!

• Make a smaller Christmas Cake (not prepared to abandon it completely).

• Accept that matching jumpers and pyjamas do not a Christmas make 😉

• Lower my expectations in the gentlest of ways - my kids will be 11 this year and start high school.

• Buy are pre-made Gingerbread House, enough said.

• Don’t decorate before December - delayed gratification is all it’s cracked up to be.

What was the content of your stockings?? Help needed here!!

Will repeat - chilli dogs and fries + film Christmas Eve. Painless and great fun

• carols around the table after dinner Christmas evening (it was spontaneous and rather lovely)
• simmer n stir Christmas Cake from BBC, a big success.
• Wreath for the front door - it looked beautiful
• Given the state of the world I felt quite pensive, and wrote a "newsletter" about us and our year. I sent it by post to all the people that were on my mind (quite a few!). People were delighted by it! Nobody gets letters any more so it was very well received

Missed and will do next year

• midnight mass
• a pudding to flame
• less panic about "is it enough?" It always is.
• decent box of chocolates
• a decent liquor
• read Scrouge in the days before
• remember how bloody lucky I am and thank God/lucky stars etc.

Twobrews

DD11's stocking (£48)
Fountain pen
Lego friends tulip polybag
Fold up hairbrush
Vegan lipbalm cube
Gemstone Dig kit
Chopsticks with instant noodles
Nanoblocks grand piano
Earphones
Set of nail varnish
Nail varnish remover pads
Magnetic superhero posers
Jumping beans

DS10 (£42)
Nanoblocks Drum Kit
Chopsticks with instant noodle
Trick yoyo
Magnetic superhero posers
Dig kit
Compass
Earphones
Harry Potter cable saver
Chattering teeth
Glowstick
Jumping beans
Plectrums

DS8 (£33)
Lego Pelican polybag
Chopsticks with instant noodles
Magnetic superhero posers
Dig kit
Chilly-style bottle
Jumping beans
Magnifying glass
Dog sewing kit
Jurassic world matchbox car
How to train your Dragon egg
Dinosaur head chattering teeth
Glowstick

Each of them also had a chocolate orange, mini lindt teddy bear, malteasers reindeer & candy cane mentoes.

The chopsticks with instant noodles went down so well & they've used them a fair bit since Christmas. I bought the training ones that are joined at the top. Great fun!

Not think it will be cheaper to make my own wreath and just buy one. It wasn’t cheap and looked a bit crap

Do bigger presents for myself and DP instead of buys lots of tat. I thought stockings would be more fun but I think he struggled with ideas and I ended up with a bikini trimmer and a phone charger amongst other bits

If it’s ever just DP and I again not bother with a roast. It took up so much of the day and was too much clearing up for just the two of us

Stand firm on not having Turkey. I hate it and no one ever eats the leftovers

Buy lights for outside

@PhantomErik, I'd really appreciate if you would tell us what things you included in your stocking as that's something I really struggle with...also for what ages and sex of child. Thanks. 😊

Anyone else is welcome to comment too as I'm trying not to just buy tat and sweets, but not really sure what to replace it with.

Lol, oops, sorry...it took me so long to write that post as I got distracted and I now see you've replied.

Have quality street become gross or have they always been gross?

We bought a tin with just our preferred flavours and it was terrible! I think I must have been overly nostalgic

@PeggyMoo

Have quality street become gross or have they always been gross?

We bought a tin with just our preferred flavours and it was terrible! I think I must have been overly nostalgic

We had a tin this year, the only thing I liked was the nostalgic smell when opening the tin 😂, have to say I was disappointed in the taste but then I feel a lot of chocolates have become equally as horrible. We bought a hotel chocolate selection/hamper this year, I always used to think they were quality chocolates but I was disappointed and they were not worth what we paid for them. Some of the best chocolates I have had are the bags of chocolates (truffles) from lidl.

Don’t bother with mash - roasties are enough at Christmas dinner

Don’t buy chocolates for the house, we get lots as presents. Make rocky road for relatives as this went down well.

Take 23rd and 24th off work, there is always more to do than you expect and it always takes longer.

Hopefully we can find this thread in 10 months if so:

We need about 60 cards all in all plus school cards if they do them

We do not need any wrapping paper

Decorations- we need battery operated warm white lights for the kitchen tree and some more purple baubles for the other tree

Cook dinner earlier!
After the mixing rules were changed we had to fit in visiting both sets of parents, both live a fair distance apart.
By the time we got home and cooked dinner it was 9.30p.m. I was shattered after being up since 4.50a.m. ate a bit but didn't really enjoy it, went straight to bed after without pud and Dh stayed up to clean up.

Not get Covid on Christmas Eve

Remember it’s never too early
Write Christmas cards much earlier
Wrap as I go
Reduce plastic even more than this year
Start celebrating the season much earlier
Make the most of every little moment

@daisydalrymple

Not get Covid on Christmas Eve

Remember it’s never too early
Write Christmas cards much earlier
Wrap as I go
Reduce plastic even more than this year
Start celebrating the season much earlier
Make the most of every little moment

Oh no! poor you. Hope you're recovering now?

Next year I’m going to:

1. Have a dinner instead of buffet on Christmas Eve (home made chicken pie probably)

1. Buy much less chocolate!

1. Make my own Christmas cake.

My dp said after 3 years hosting I deserve a break and said he’s going to book us a meal out on Xmas day. Not sure how I feel....no leftovers to munch on boxing day!!! Although I appreciate the sentiment behind it.

@SuePreem

I'd get on a flight on Boxing Day I think.

I totally read this as “I’ll get in a fight on Boxing Day” 😂

Cook Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and have leftovers on Christmas Day. I missed the time with the kids and their gifts this year. Next year my Mum has offered to have a massive Christmas morning breakfast at hers so we can all be back home with the kids by lunchtime. Sounds fabulous to me.

Not buy advent calendars for the children, grandparents buy them and they ended up with four (!) each this year.

Not buying any sweet things - we were gifted so many it'll take us months to get through them and I'm already fat as butter.

Sticking to no gifts for adult siblings, works really well. We got less this year and are really glad of it.

Drink.

I'm pregnant and couldn't enjoy a glass of Bailey's.

lovely thanks, yes I’m plodding on. It was pretty horrendous, as couldn’t keep my temp down, but thankfully I slept through the worst of it. Rubbish timing! Self isolating in my bedroom right through Christmas and new year.