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.

@Tana433

We had a cheese and meat board with baguettes and wine for xmas eve last year so we will do that again. Remember to start watching xmas films earlier because only got around to watching 3 or 4. Dont buy cheap chocolate but also dont buy too much chocolate (is there such a thing?!) Buy more alcohol and snacky bits to pick at over the in-between week.

We do the cheese meats and wine thing Xmas eve! Usually a baked Camembert with crusty rolls for dipping! Yummy!!

Ohhhh I love this... Thoughts so far...and helped by people on here thank you...

A cheese and meats board I wasn't prepared enough last year

Order matching Pyjamas for Xmas (Kids) and for all of us (New Year Break) early so we get sizes needed...

I've started buying for DC and apart from clothing and trainers have finished for toddler

Oldest DS will want money, PS Gift Cards, clothes, trainers and football stuff...
So have started on clothing as he alternates between the same few brands and sticks to blacks and greys so is predictable. He's into Lacoste and Ea7 at the moment so JD Sports Sales will be my friend.

I've made a food list

Have started my Asda Savings Card so by December will have £200 on... We won't shop until 22nd due to having a break booked beforehand and we go away with family over New Year so will be more then enough...

I need some new baubles...

Cards only for immediate family and close friends.

We have a few trips booked in (panto and forest of light)

Plan to be wrapped by December so I can enjoy the run up instead of buying and wrapping

I would like very much do have a spa day in December preferably alone ha ha

Like someone said above we need to to start Christmas movies sooner as I never get to see them all.

@BakewellGin1 good shout on the spa day…ALONE!!! Sounds blissful. And the wrapping everything by 30th November 👏

I’m also going to try to get everything for extended family/friends wrapped by the end of November, and wrap earlier for DD’s presents too. This past year I wrapped all of DD’s stocking presents a few days before Christmas Eve, and oh my it made such a difference to my Christmas Eve - I was actually able to go to sleep before 3am!

I’ve channeled my displacement activity Christmas organisation already this year, into having bought and wrapped up some stuff already for the siblings and niblings from the Christmas bargains thread. It’s also been stored at my mum and dad’s in case of any further lockdowns! Also have got and planned presents for DD’s friends and a few other little cousins already. Doing things so early is actually making me feel a bit better about Christmas - I really want it to be focused on DD (8) this year as she has had a miserable time this year during lockdown (only child and not much fun, we were working from home with massive workloads all the way through so she’s been lonely and bored).

Other things I’m planning:
To get presents for DD as early as possible so I can enjoy the Christmas season with her;
Minimal extended family get-togethers (always lots of stress); but more time seeing friends and doing fun activities in the lead-up to Christmas. DD has really got into Harry Potter this year, so ideally I’d like to do a trip to the Harry Potter studios, as well as a ballet and ice-skating, and a winter lights trip. Sounds a lot, but she missed out on her favourite Christmas things last year, and she doesn’t complain but I know she was miserable about it;
More baking, relaxing, church stuff and just enjoying the season in December.

There’s always some kind of family drama in my extended family close to Christmas, so I’ve decided that this year I’m going to stay well clear, maybe just visit the parents after Christmas for a few days.

Do not:

Order M&S sides. 2 Christmases ago, being 9 months pregnant with twins, they seemed like a godsend, so ordered again this year, and in the light of day, once you take out the convenience factor, they were a bit crap.

Feel obliged to have turkey because it's Christmas. Definitely have a family turkey dinner (perhaps local pub) in the run up. But on the day, goose is much nicer and more special. Perhaps a chateaubriand.

Do:

Get fewer, but better presents for all DC again. Much less waste this year, and the house doesn't feel rammed to the rafters. Still room to cut down.

More events and activities in relation to Christmas. Poor DTwins birthday is NYE, so they get nothing all year, and everything in the space of 6 days. Less on Christmas makes their birthday a little more special.

Make our own crackers again and choose the novelty gift for each other. This was lovely.

More lights, and get the decorations up on Dec 1st as usual. Left it until the 14th for the first time, and they seemed up and down in no time.

Get more trays of prepped pastramis and a big cheeseboard, as this is all we fancied between Christmas and NY.

Wrap earlier. Very good at the buying. Less good at the wrapping

@TwinsAndTrifle your notes sound great! My DD has her birthday in January, so we have a similar problem - deluge of toys and gifts in a short period in the winter, then nothing the rest of the year.

I agree about the buying less - I am usually quite restrained and moderate, and then just before Christmas I panic, and add some extra purchases that in the end aren’t really needed. DD didn’t even notice a couple of those things last year! And there’s lots of stuff from last Christmas and birthday that hasn’t even got played with yet. So this year I’n going to try to keep it a little less and focus more on activities and time with her.

Yes too to putting the lights (and tree) up earlier. I tend to be too busy in early Dec and they don’t go up until around the 12th/14th, and I always miss them when they go. So I’d like to put them up earlier this year and try to relax and enjoy them a bit more in December.

Yes too to the cheeses and meats! I want to do less of the big roasts and overcooking, and more nibbly things (and doing and baking and making food stuff with DD).

I’m also going to wrap earlier too - I’m in the process of getting and wrapping up all my extended family presents now, so that I can just enjoy the build up closer to actual Christmas, and not have to worry about wrapping. I’m going to do DD’s as I go, too, so there isn’t the usual madness on Christmas Eve!

Unusually this coming year I’m going to be less busy at work in November and December than I usually am, so I really want to have a more relaxed and fun time than I usually do! I’m looking forward to it!

We're working on the assumption that we're having another lockdown Christmas.

So it'll be a case of making sure we have all the food in well in advance in case of shortages, and scheduling in all the Zoom calls to prevent the chaos of everyone trying to call us at once!

@NannyAndJohn

We're working on the assumption that we're having another lockdown Christmas.

So it'll be a case of making sure we have all the food in well in advance in case of shortages, and scheduling in all the Zoom calls to prevent the chaos of everyone trying to call us at once!

I think we may do the same and prepare for a lockdown one or one heavily restricted and ensure food and gifts are bought well in advance. Not looking good currently with the new strain.

Yeah, sadly one of the reasons I’m planning to do all extended family presents early is in case of the risk of another set of restrictions. I’ve already done and wrapped some things which are now stored at my mum’s, so that siblings and niblings can get hold of them more easily!

Well, it would be nice not to get a positive covid test on Christmas eve, this ruining all our plans and leaving my dm on her own for Christmas!

Food and gifts-wise I was pretty happy with last Christmas. We did pizza on Christmas eve which was much more popular than the buffets I've done before, so we'll stick with that. I did all the wrapping hugely in advance which was a good plan. That said, we've lost our spare room to the dds having seperate bedrooms now so I will have to think about storage.

I'm already on the look out for an interesting advent calendar for the dds age 8 and 10. They are less interested in lego now. We have done the smiggle one and the harry potter funko pop one which we're both popular and I'm not sure what else I could get to meet their high standard!

Do you really think we'll have another Christmas of restrictions? After all the vaccines? (Don't want to detail thread, but this hadn't even crossed my mind and you've got me worried now)

@TwinsAndTrifle I think there will definitely still be some restrictions in place but i dont think there will be a complete lockdown situation. I just enjoyed having a more relaxed day and in between week without having to make up excuses not to travel or see people when we really just wanted to do our own little family thing so i am putting steps in place so we can do that again this year. By that i mean making sure we see family earlier on to make sure presents are delivered etc and we have all the food and drink we need beforehand so we dont have to do the usual supermarket scrabble for the last pack of veg!

We’ve decided we’re not going to do turkey. I might do a roast chicken on Boxing Day purely to have cold in sandwiches but I think we might do lamb shanks instead.
Starting to buy presents now-ish instead of leaving it until November/December
I also hope to be able to do more activities in the lead up to Christmas - panto, Christmas markets, taking ds to meet Father Christmas etc but I’m not getting my hopes up!

We’ve moved a long away away since last Christmas so it will be all new in this house. Things I’m going to do differently though.

Keep a note of where I hide presents, especially as my usual hiding spots are gone. Even with my usual go to places I loose stuff every year.

Christmas mass, I’ve not been able to go for years as my in-laws always arrived at the same time the service.

Probably far less decorations as currently living in a smaller house that is rented so can’t put all my decks up ☹️. Also no outside sockets for outside decs.

I will however get creative to see what I can do outside this year.

Serve Buddies maple syrup spaghetti breakfast as a breakfast choice because I promised my kids last year they could have it this year, and they regularly remind me I promised 🤢

Try and have the house and everything clean and organised by the end of the 22nd so we can focus on enjoying the run up to Christmas and hopefully start some new Christmas traditions with our DCs. Maybe Buddies spaghetti can be a Christmas Eve thing 🤔

I'm recently separated so I will be able to do Christmas how I want this year. I cannot wait until December. This year covid dependant I will have my parents over. I will do party food on Christmas eve as my ex hated party food and wouldn't let me. I'll eat left over party food for days. I'll have a lovely Christmas Dinner without having to cook a vegetarian option for exh. I'll be able to watch as many Christmas movies as possible and I will have a happy Christmas. I will have to share ds with ex but I will make sure ds is with me this year.