Any minor Festive Fuck-ups yet?

[lucysmam]

Someone <ahem> decided to go and buy new lights for their 6.5ft really bushy Christmas tree today...and they decided 1000, on a 10m cable, from The Range, is plenty for this tree (bear in mind, their old ones are 600 on a 22m cable).

Dear Reader...

10m of lights, no matter how many are crammed onto it, are certainly not enough for a giant tree. They just about cover it's bottom half...if they're spaced very far apart <sigh>.

And I can't even couple them together because I lose the white and blue from the new set if I do that, and they don't quite sync properly <BIG SIGH>! So now I either put old on back/new on front, slightly out of sync OR I bus back to The Range to once again browse their many and varied aisles of festive lights 🤔 (I cba to bus back tomorrow & really want to decorate by the way).

My dad offered a sensible solution - he will collect 2000 warm white lights, in the morning, when he goes for garden centre cafe breakfast. But they're white. Not coloured. And might not even be enough! I need about 3bazillion metres looking at this!

Any other minor Festive fuck-ups going on? 🎅

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHERthey are amazing!!

I get paid on the 28th of the month. For December work pays us in the 24th which is not exactly helpful as I hate going shopping. So completed all my Christmas shopping minus stocking fillers with Novembers pay. Appears I spent too much! I'm now skint until the 24th 😩. Good job my freezer and cupboards are full, we're going to have some interesting meals!!

Yes! I've been pondering it since it appeared trying to work out why it seemed familiar!

My dd has 2 of the same teddy this year, i bought one, forgot i bought it and got another one 🤦🏻‍♀️ xx

@shellyleppard that looks like it’s been plonked at ground level between a fence and some sort of metal structure - well out of sight of anyone! How exasperating- doubtless getting sodden too in all this rain 🤬

@Walkacrossthesand its soooo annoying. They left my box of bamboo toilet rolls outside....in the rain!! Grrrr

I managed to order the wrong size crocs for dd's. Was really happy as used a black Friday offer. The sizing on the bottom is American sizing, I didn't realise and I've ordered both pairs about three sizes too big despite checking the conversion chart on the website. I've had to re-order and then also return the original ones.

I’m glad it isn’t just me. I ate up to the 9th of December yesterday.

We bought some new tree lights last year. Turns out 600 wasn't quite enough and we needed more. Traipsed off to the range to find some to match what we have. We could only find sets of 100 or 2000. As we needed around 400 more I decided it was better to go for the 2000 option (clearly a moment of madness as that was the last box of those). The tree now looks AMAZING but we probably have 1000 lights too many to actually fit on the tree.....which are now trailed under the tree skirt and into a vase for some additional mood lighting.

We moved house on Friday and I was unpacking a box with my 4yo DD which was labelled for her room and she saw one of the Christmas presents she'd been asking for- which wasn't in the box labelled presents!! I had to tell her FC spoke to the moving fairies and decided she would get this one early 🙄

Last Christmas Eve I had a box of mince pies, sealed and zipped up in my bag. In the time it took to pop up to the loo my dog had got them out of the pack, out of the box, out of the packet, and snaffled the lot.

As I sat at the vet feeling like the world’s worst owner (this was not her first illegal eating rodeo) I got chatting to the person by me in the waiting room - there for exactly the same thing. And when I said to the vet I felt like a terrible owner she said “don’t worry, I had to bring my own dog here at the weekend”.

Vets must have to bulk order emetics and charcoal at Christmas!

I invited lots of family to ours for Christmas Day, and they all said yes. I expected a large number of thanks but we have other plans. I have no room to sit them, am having building work done, and have zero time to organize anything.

On the plus side they are all family so will muck in and go with the flow.

I remember moving 3 weeks before Christmas. Had all the presents under the stairs, movers helpfully put them in one box labelled "toys under stairs" or something like that. All good, I thought. Until we got into the new house and realised they had put them with the 20+ boxes from the living room and I couldn't find the bloody box. It did turn up in time, but was a bit hairy as DC were quite keen to help unpack the living room boxes as most contained their toys.

Moved house earlier this year and now have more space so for the first time ever we've been able to get a 7ft Christmas tree! Immediately headed over to B&M to get enough lights. Bought a box of 1000, had a lovely time decorating the tree, everything very twinkly, absolutely delighted.

The tree is unfortunately right next to the radiator and some branches were starting to brown and crisp up. So I merrily got out the secateurs to give the tree a haircut, and within seconds cut through the wire for the tree lights 😨

Had to undecorate the tree, remove brand new and now completely useless set of 1000 lights, run out to B&M to replace, and redecorate the whole tree before kids and DH got home. I've got away with it but I'm not proud of myself.

My minor mess up from last year was that I was very proud of myself to secure a 23rd December slot for my Christmas food delivery. However, as it emerged I had booked 23rd of November. Come 6pm 23rd November, all the Christmas food arrived! I was hosting as well so it was loads. There were three smoked salmons and it cost a fortune!

I nearly had a Christmas garroting yesterday. I was riding my bike down a very quiet country lane, turned a corner to find a couple of blokes standing with a string of Christmas lights right across the road at just about neck height. I presume they were just about to put them on an outdoor tree rather than being some kind of festive highwaymen lying in wait for unsuspecting travellers but it gave me a bit of a turn!

I am hugely encouraged by this thread, as I can now feel virtuous at owning a dog who is entirely un food motivated, and the fact that I can't eat much sugar at a time without getting a dreadful headache (which is keeping me off the Christmas chocolates).

But I do remember a friend receiving a very exciting parcel one year, putting it under the tree to save for Christmas day, only to come home and find that her Labrador had torn her way into the exclusive chocolates and eaten the entire pack. Another vet visit...

I need to wrap things. But just can't muster the oomph.

I remember that. Your post was a public service for all of us to check our dates.

Haha! I feel your pain. My neighbour has some really lovely warm white gently twinkling lights and mine just seem to have mostly variations of epilepsy inducting flashes, with one setting a just about acceptable twinkle ✨ And it never remembers the setting I want, so I have to press through the button trying to count to which one I want.

The dog eating chocolate posts reminded me of when we had our first Christmas here, dh fell asleep eating a box of after eights. He staggered up to bed much later. In the morning I found the empty box and thought greedy pig. I then found a lovely neat parcel of well, chocolate and wrappers under the dining table. Thank god our dog was ok, but we were much more careful from then onwards.

Bought DS a choc advent calendar last week, left it in the car by mistake. We'd ripped it open and eaten the lot by the time we got back from the school run.

I bought a poster for my DD and today thought I'd frame it as I'd bought a big frame especially. Managed to get the poster nicely squared in the mount, put it all back together, even got the cardboard backing on without too much fuss, snapped down the clips and turned it over - to reveal a massive long hair stuck to the glass inside the frame on top of the poster.

I have short hair and it's a puzzle where this hair came from, it was a good six inches long. So I had to take the whole thing to pieces again and clear the hair off the glass. Of course, it then wouldn't all go back into the frame nearly as neatly as it had the first time... But at least I managed it without cracking the glass which is my usual trick.

The chocolate stories reminded me of when I was about five and we were staying with my aunt - Boxing Day I think. My Mum went upstairs and a bit later my cousin (age 3) was sent upstairs to see if she wanted an After 8. She must have muttered in her sleep because he fed her the chocolate and when she came downstairs after an hour or so she was covered in chocolate and very confused.

You have to come back and let us know the outcome 😂😂

My orange flavoured chaos has already chewed through one set of fairy lights, chewed the tree, climbed the tree

He doesnt like the cat repellant spray we are now using on said tree to keep it safe. Even the dog looks at him in a wtf manner

Said cat for tax. Note how there is not a formed thought behind those eyes.

@Sideorderofchips He is a very beautiful cat though. 😀Might be better to have no fully formed thoughts in comparison to SIL's cat who only thinks "food!" and "more food!"

That’s very sweet! I did that last year with a board game I chose for DS2. He chose the same one for me.