Working Xmas night, how would you do it?

[Moaningturtle]

I’m working the night shift starting Xmas day at 21:30.

How would you manage the day? I have kids young enough to be up early and on the go all day!

What time would you eat each meal? What would you pre prep in order to make the most of the day? DH is generally very helpful but I think the timings of an Xmas dinner would be a bit too much for him if I want the day to remain stress free!!

Then how would you reward yourself on Boxing Day (from 2pm onwards) for having worked all night and laid off the booze on Christmas Day?!

Any other shift workers want to join me?!

Have you thought about eating Christmas Eve, European style? Or Boxing Day?

If the dc are likely to be up early then I would go for lunch at 1230 and aim to be in bed for 2pm while they watch a Christmas movie with dad and play quietly with their toys. Up at 7pm to get them all snuggly and settled in pjs and spend a little time with dh before you go?

Boxing Day - nice bubble bath when you get home with a cup of coffee then up for Boxing Day tea (leftovers) and a few glasses of wine that evening.

I think we would be at a loose end on Christmas Day if we did Christmas Eve instead!

Luckily I don’t sleep in the day before a shift, bar a possible nap on the sofa. So I’ll be up all day, it’s more about making Xmas dinner as easy as possible so I am not completely knackered by 8pm like previous years I’m going to miss my Christmas early night!!

Loving the idea of a Boxing Day bubble bath before bed. I will only sleep until just after lunch and plan to have DH pamper me with wine and food all evening!

I’d buy every single bit of it pre-made.

Just write your OH a timed list of what would need doing and let him get on with it. He's a grown up, I'm sure he will manage.

I would get all the side dishes from m and s or Waitrose. Tbh I am anyway as they are nice and easier

DH is generally very helpful but I think the timings of an Xmas dinner would be a bit too much for him if I want the day to remain stress free!!

Helpful. 🙄 Husbands don’t ‘help’, they should be doing their fair share. He’s an adult, it’s not ‘a bit much for him’, no doubt that’s just always worked to his advantage as it seems like a bonus when he ‘helps’.

Is he as pathetic as you make him out to be? I wonder how you manage to work out how to cook dinner but he can’t.

We're having a similar problem at the moment but working Christmas eve night as well, absolutely no confirmation yet on if we're indeed working as usually everyone is given Christmas eve and day off but unconfirmed this year, finishing time could be anywhere from midnight to 6am so trying to plan anything is a nightmare

My exdh worked shifts over Christmas and this is how we did it.

All veg cooked night before and put in the fridge. We "just" cooked it so that a few mins in the microwave didn't turn it to mush, apart from the mash we just cooked it mashed it then added a knob shit ton of butter before microwaving .
Heat each dish for a good 3 to 4 mins so they stay warm while you are heating the rest.
Gravy made night before also and the pudding if it's a pie or crumble.
The only thing we had to cook on the day was the meat, roasties and Yorkshire puddings.
We also set the table the night before.

I dont think your DH is pathetic either.
My exdh was great in many family areas I wasnt so we worked to our strengths. He isn't great at cooking timings either but will happily peel, wash up, entertain the DC, family admin all things which I hate or are not particularly good at.

@DanceInTheKitchen

DH is generally very helpful but I think the timings of an Xmas dinner would be a bit too much for him if I want the day to remain stress free!!

Helpful. 🙄 Husbands don’t ‘help’, they should be doing their fair share. He’s an adult, it’s not ‘a bit much for him’, no doubt that’s just always worked to his advantage as it seems like a bonus when he ‘helps’.

Is he as pathetic as you make him out to be? I wonder how you manage to work out how to cook dinner but he can’t.

There's always one! The only thing unhelpful is your reply! Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. It does not make him or anyone else "pathetic". And who said he does anything less than his "fair share" AND who gave you the role to decide what defines "fair share" in someone else's marriage?

Are you as bitter and single as you make yourself out to be? 🙄

Honestly just get pre-prepared stuff in. It’s not worth the stress. I do however say this as a woman who is incapable of cooking a roast that would be ready all at the same time. M&S do lovely stuff.

I agree with buying pre prepped, also eat fairly early in the day- I don't do shifts anymore but when I did I worked christmas night and it wasn't fun with a full stomach! Easy buffet food for boxing day.

I'm working 0600-1800 on Christmas Day and Boxing Day so we're having presents and Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve at my parent's house then hosting a buffet on the 28th.

I didn't want to work two 12 hour shifts then straight into a day of hosting. Plus I could only get a supermarket delivery on the 27th.

Hang on, you are planning to get some sleep, right)? Not just go 36h with none at all? Cause that's insane! Get home, see kids open pressies, go to bed till 2pm, eat Christmas dinner at 3pm, go to bed again at 9pm?

I’d just aim to have Christmas dinner at lunchtime so then the afternoon can be relaxing and just a light tea/buffet style in the evening before work. That’s what I normally do if I’m working that shift. We shove the turkey in as soon as we get up early and then we both work together to get the other stuff prepped. Dh is great at cooking tho so it’s easy for us to do a team effort.

My DH is nightshift from 23rd to 26th, when he gets home on Xmas day we will open presents, do breakfast then he will go for a sleep while I try to keep the kids quiet. Hoping it will be easy enough as they will be occupied by their new toys!

We are going round to my sisters house for dinner though and DH will join us for a bit after he wakes up. I'd second a pp and maybe prep as much as you can on Xmas eve?

@LeroyJenkinssss are you a WOW fan by any chance??

I won’t be up 36 hours, I’m not working Xmas Eve night I always stay up 26 hours when I’m working nights though, up at 6am back in bed 8am the following morning. I do all my hours in 3 nights though .

My DH is “pathetic” at all, he just struggles with timings on big meals. He often cooks normal meals like lasagna and shepherds pie etc. I couldn’t fix the WiFi like he does or replace the extractor fan in the bathroom. He never berates me for my failings!

@LeroyJenkinssss also a WoW player, currently enjoying TBC Classic

*isn’t pathetic (dammit!)

Ah sorry, I didn't read the OP properly. In which case, try for an early-ish Christmas Dinner then have a snooze afterwards if you can.

I'm working Xmas Eve this year so not the same but I also want an easy Xmas day dinner. I just plan to make sure all veggies are pre-cooked as with potatoes peeled etc. Leaving a list of timings for DH to put meat in and roast potatoes but everything else I'll do when I get up. We don't really eat pudding after a massive dinner so we have it later on with cheese and biscuits.

You could pre-cut and cook most things or just use ready made just this year?

I think I will grab some pre made chuck in the oven type dishes. Is M&S the go to place?

Is M&S the go to place?

Asda and morrisons do just as well in my opinion.

I'd think about dong the main meal Xmas Eve or early lunchtime Xmas Day, giving yourself some time to relax/have a couple of hours sleep if you need before work. DH can sort tea. I'll be out of action mid evening myself as want an early night due to 6am start Boxing Day - no way am I doing Xmas Day tea (which we only do as my Mum wants it - we don't).

Perhaps, DH could cook something simple/prepare cold buffet for Boxing Day tea, while you relax over a glass of wine/whatever you fancy? If not, buy something easy to put in the oven.

I think I'd probably do the presents but have an otherwise quite low key festive day with a 'posh' brunch (and an early small breakfast if the children needed it) and cold plates of festive food (substantial though, such as quiche, meat, cheese, salad, perhaps some chips or potato salad) at a relatively early teatime, perhaps with a hot Christmas pudding or mince pies with custard/cream or Christmas cake or a pavlova. And then on Boxing Day, or maybe even another day, have the Christmas roast dinner and whatever pudding we didn't have the previous day. (If that's what I and the rest of the family wanted, I don't mind skipping the roast dinner completely from time to time.) Or I might do that at New Year depending on my work schedule. Or I might do Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve (daytime or early evening).

Getting away from set things is very liberating and I prefer to spread out festive food and activities rather than have that high-pressure on one day. My children are grown up now but we've always been flexible and low-pressure around Christmas.

I’ve worked every Christmas Day for the last 14 years and mostly nights! We tend to get woken early , 6ish , let the kids open stockings and things and then snooze till about 8 , then get up , have a breakfast , and put turkey in at 10ish for a 1.30pm lunch . We then open presents , which takes till about 11.30 , then DH and kids do animals while I prep veg and faff in the kitchen . Lunch is usually 1.30 till about 2.15 , then DH and kids clear kitchen before settling down to playing their games or setting up whatever they’ve been given while I go to bed for a nap. Wake back up at about 4.30 , put the horses to bed , and then tea is usually sandwiches and a cheese board / party food .

I then get ready for work, and everyone else settles down for the night . It’s always worked for us .