What WON"T you be doing this Christmas?

[Eleusa]

I love Christmas and enjoy spending time planning the decorations, presents, what I'm going to cook etc. But after years of experience there are a few things that I definitely won't be doing-

• filling my own crackers. Did this one year- it cost an arm and a leg and no one seemed any more pleased with their carefully chosen personal gift than they would have done with the usual dead fish game and mini screwdrivers. Same goes for buying very expensive crackers.
• doing a stocking for my parents who were staying in the house. Dad came downstairs announcing it was "silly" and nearly dropped the "Santa's not real" bomb to DC on Christmas morning. Thanks, Dad!
• making some sort of elaborate Scandinavian baked pastries for Christmas breakfast. They were lush but the kids had already eaten a metric fuck-tonne of sugar after opening their stockings so not much got eaten. Elaborate Scandinavian baked pastries another day, however, are a fabulous idea.

What will you not be doing this Christmas? (Just being nosey about what other people do and don't like- definitely not suggesting that people shouldn't do things just because I don't!)

Cooking Christmas dinner, we’re going to my mums. I can’t wait to swish in from the pub all clean and not sweaty and be spoiled

@A580Hojas I know my daughter is an adult but she's split up with her boyfriend and likely spending Christmas on her own and I'm pretty sure she's no looking forward to it. So I think DH and I can miss her without being accused of being clingy.

Free you say. FREE?!

@Lansonmaid I bet Scotland is beautiful in winter though. Is that a possibility?

@courgettigreensadwater aye free, but it doesn't numb the pain enough!

Elf on the shelf - I dont even understand it.

Going on cold xmas morning hikes - honestly who does this IRL? yet it seems a mumsnet staple.

Watching xmas films on the couch with hot chocolate - theres 5 of us (not counting pets) so there no possible way to 'snuggle' up without being a dog pile of squirm and xmas films SUCK (no urge to watch love actually etc... at ANY time of year) and a 1 year old and SEN 4 year old have zero concentraition span anyway.

Hosting or attending big family anything - I'm not from a big family but even so we spend xmas happily alone, I have no urge to get dressed up and drag the children round others houses or to having to host... xmas is for relaxing.

Baking anything - Im no cook and Im happy to buy everything ready made, also baking with 'toddler' help sounds like hell not happy memories.

No xmas cards bar the ones my kid takes to school (dreading writing out 30 cards already... hand cramp just thinking about it - maybe I should just get a stamp that say 'from DS' lol).

Cutting way back on the number of gifts but going much 'bigger' (not saving money just numbers) so hopefully it will be more impressive.

Not doing the local polar express... we always meant to but it £100 for a 5 minute train ride to nowhere and back and a santa we can see for free at the shopping center, daylight robbery.

Reindeer food - enviromentally awful and stupid, praying the school dont do it again.

@emmathedilemma haha. Fair enough. I feel your pain.

We are not hosting anyone or visiting anyone on the day,.

We are meal planning - we always buy too much and struggle to eat it - cant afford to do that this year and am sick of the waste or forcing myself to eat.

Not leaving the christmas lights on during the day.

Running around to events I booked in October wishing I'd remembered that December is busy enough without being frogmarched through the month by my earlier, bossy, over-achieving self.

Answering the phone to customers. My phone will be set to do not disturb to anyone not on my friends and family contact list. Customers try to phone 24 / 7, usually with a "sorry to disturb you,". Its not an emergency; if you were sorry you wouldn't have phoned; the information you are asking is for all on the website.

My youngest child died in 2017. I said I would never celebrate Christmas again.
I had to go back on that because my daughter came to live with me with her baby.
We decorate the house for him. I have two trees and outside ornaments 0 reindeers and tree lights and the rest......
This year they moved into their own little house and she will be taking the majority of the stuff with her.
I will keep the smaller tree because of other family visitors including grandchildren who will wonder what is wrong if I don't decorate at all, but as for the rest of it - minimal.

Making Xmas turkey dinner on Xmas day. My dd loves roast dinners but Xmas day is just too much so this year we’re having it on Xmas Eve.

i won’t be spending loads of money on stuff she won’t use instead I’m getting her a few things to open and money. Saves a lot of time and energy

Reading this thread, there is a positive aspect seemingly lessening our impact on the environment and on our finances. Much less waste planned this year.

@Pugalicious

💐

Telly and presents. Just food

Our son is coming home with his girlfriend, I'm also a church chorister so a bit difficult. But Hogmanay in Scotland might be a nice possibility!

I'm not buying all the rubbish tubs of chocolates that never get eaten, and I'm not buying any chocolate oranges as they don't taste of anything these days.

I will be baking more and buying a few fancier chocs.

I won’t be cooking for a crowd - 4 million pigs in blankets, etc. Just me and dh this time, dds and families going elsewhere. Quite happy about it - didn’t mind the ‘just us’ COVID Christmas at all, though I’d thought I would.

I’ve never filled crackers. Part of the fun of Christmas dinner, in this family anyway, has been the daft tat that comes out of crackers - I’ve only ever bought the relatively cheap ones. ‘Luxury’ crackers just have more expensive tat.

I might try not to impose Christmas cards on anyone else - I do like sending some but clearly hardly anyone even wants them any more.

I'm not going to half kill myself taking my Mum from her nursing home to my house for the day - I have literally never been as tired as I was at the end of Christmas Day last year. But then she was still walking with her frame, now she can barely stand. I'll visit her in the morning instead

I'm literally now deciding I will perhaps visit her on Christmas Eve,.and then I've got Christmas Day free to visit my MIL in her nursing home with my FIL. Assuming it's the same situation as last year when neither of their children visited them and he was alone on Christmas Day.

*startuplife" Travelling miles to spend the day with family we don’t really want to see because it’s expected. Last year it was a real hassle and they gave us Covid!

I've had some shockers but Covid has got to be the worst present ever

but if you dont see your mam on xmas day to prioritise MIL/FIL whose kid didnt go see them then aren't you doing exactly the same to your own mam.

No Elf on the Shelf. DS (2yo) is now old entire understand the concept of Christmas and no way am I spending every evening causing elf mischief when I could be relaxing.

No Christmas Eve boxes. The kids get enough excitement on Christmas Eve as it is, and I'd rather they slept!

I'm not buying a turkey of any variety that takes ages to cook and last forever. Ds still wants turkey so going to buy one of those cook in foil tray tiny turkey joint snd a chicken or possibly lamb.

Not buying lots of booze as we are still drinking it! Not buying more than a few tubs of chocolate again it seemed to hang around forever.

I'm not going to buy more than three days worth of special food this year. We alway get fed up eating nibbles etc by day three so why do we do it?

Gammon for Christmas eve, chicken Christmas, sandwiches on boxing day and that's it food wise this Christmas

Dolphin Nose potatoes.

I am going to call them this forever now! 🐬

Things I've never done and never will do;
Elf on the shelf
Christmas Eve boxes
December 1st boxes
Pantomime.

Things I won't do again;
Buy "festive" chocolate. Chocolate oranges and Quality street taste like shit. Idk why I used to buy them every year.