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Original poster

Any minor Festive Fuck-ups yet?

209 replies

lucysmam · 01/12/2025 21:19

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? 🎅

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Latenightreader · 24/12/2025 10:51

Can't find my daughter's stocking. I made it for her when she was a few weeks old and she's used it ever since. My stocking was in the decorations box with everything else, but not hers. We'll manage, but it isn't the same.

Ohpleeeease · 25/12/2025 14:55

TrickyD · 24/12/2025 09:39

DH has just announced that the dishwasher has stopped heating its water. Google says probably the thermostat or the element.
Possibility of getting someone to fix it today?
NIL

11 people tor dinner tomorrow.

22 hands to wash up with!

Ours has gone well. I’m having a breather while the family tidies up the kitchen. They can play fridge Tetris with all the left overs, I’m out.

Apocketfilledwithposies · 25/12/2025 15:05

lxn889121 · 02/12/2025 02:00

I did nearly have a major one though.

I keep all of my son's santa presents in the boot of our car. it is big and completely divided from the car, and enclosed, and he is young enough that he never looks in it. We rarely use it, so its been the perfect hiding place for the past 3 years.

Getting into the car the other day, I was adding a present to the boot, and he was coming up to the car - I tried to close the boot in plenty of time, but my bag fell of my shoulder and got in the way, blocking the boot and causing me to panic.. Got it closed just before he got there, but I'd say I was about 3 seconds from him seeing a boot full of everything he wants for Christmas.

Lesson learned. I've put an blanket over the presents now, so wouldn't see, even if it happened again.

Aren't you terrified all of his presents will be stolen from your car boot?! Maybe you live in a crime free utopia compared to where I live but I leave nothing in my car as it would be a risk. 😱

MILLYmo0se · 26/12/2025 00:46

My cousin, a single mum, once woke up on the couch as her 6 Yr old DS burst through the living room door at 6am and was hysterical at 'Santa didn't come!' She d fallen asleep waiting for him to fall asleep so she could get the presents from the car boot and put under the tree. She sent him upstairs to see if 'Santa hid them as a joke' while she looked downstairs, and quickly wrote a note that Santa had seen mum asleep on the couch so had to leave the presents in the car, crisis averted

Dontlletmedownbruce · 26/12/2025 05:52

This is silly in the overall scheme of things but stressed me out. Sis offered to bring starter and I am doing every other thing including desserts from scratch and various sides turkey and ham. Dh and I were already snippy over a few things, no point in reiterating it now but i was v stressed and a bit upset. I worked my ass off to have everything cleared away so the counter was empty for serving and carving. Everything set up in the right spot. In comes sis with ingredients for the starter not fully preppd as I thought, and she needs to chop stuff, use the oven to heat stuff and needs the whole counter to prep. This takes time so we eat later than scheduled. She uses all the side plates I have reserved for dessert, and the portions are huge. I then have to clear all her prep stuff away and redo all the counter again to carve the turkey. The kitchen is now chaos and people hardly touched the dinner I cooked cos they just had a massive starter 5 mins earlier, a further delay would have involved overcooked or cold dinner. No it doesn't matter but I let it get to me and feel really stressed out since and can't sleep. I did so much work and no one gives a shit or even notices.

Ohpleeeease · 26/12/2025 13:58

Dontlletmedownbruce · 26/12/2025 05:52

This is silly in the overall scheme of things but stressed me out. Sis offered to bring starter and I am doing every other thing including desserts from scratch and various sides turkey and ham. Dh and I were already snippy over a few things, no point in reiterating it now but i was v stressed and a bit upset. I worked my ass off to have everything cleared away so the counter was empty for serving and carving. Everything set up in the right spot. In comes sis with ingredients for the starter not fully preppd as I thought, and she needs to chop stuff, use the oven to heat stuff and needs the whole counter to prep. This takes time so we eat later than scheduled. She uses all the side plates I have reserved for dessert, and the portions are huge. I then have to clear all her prep stuff away and redo all the counter again to carve the turkey. The kitchen is now chaos and people hardly touched the dinner I cooked cos they just had a massive starter 5 mins earlier, a further delay would have involved overcooked or cold dinner. No it doesn't matter but I let it get to me and feel really stressed out since and can't sleep. I did so much work and no one gives a shit or even notices.

I don’t think it’s silly at all, I think that’s absolutely awful, @Dontlletmedownbruce, really rude and inconsiderate, on everybody’s part. You must feel so unappreciated. It’s entirely to your credit that you didn’t throw a massive strop. Is there a sympathetic ear in the family you could vent to? This shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Dontlletmedownbruce · 26/12/2025 16:46

@Ohpleeeease thanks for your kind words. I probably was a bit stroppy when I wrote no one cared, I'm sure dinner was lovely and we'll have leftovers today. Everyone was thanking me later. I just find it so frustrating when you have things organised and someone plods along and undoes it all! It's well meaning when someone offers to help but it needs to coordinate when under time pressure, it would have been easier do the starters myself. Lesson learned!

Ohpleeeease · 26/12/2025 17:05

DS broke my electric knife carving the turkey. It doesn’t matter, I only use it at Christmas, but for that reason I can’t justify replacing it.

longtompot · 28/12/2025 23:57

Thankfully our only real disaster was that I left the oven that I'd switched on to high to heat up, for the whole of the cooking time! The only thing that saved it was that I brined it, otherwise I think it would have been sawdust. That, and the present opening took longer than expected so put my timings on a bit

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