A ‘what will you do differently next year’ thread

[OMGitsnotgood]

I’ve been hosting Christmas for almost 40 years so generally have it pretty well sorted, but there is always something to imporove on.
This year I had a pretty hectic December for a combination of reasons, some of it unexpected. I did still manage most things but ended up doing a lot of cleaning on Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve, when I’d much rather have just had food prep to focus on them put my feet up enjoying a Baileys.

Next year I am going so make sure I do a deep clean early in December and keep on top of it.

We are not having any family arrive before Christmas Eve or stay longer than 27 th.

we were both exhausted from everything that was required of having guests for 10 days.

Im not making everything and the world won’t end if we have less sides or a Christmas cake for my step daughter and her family after they never even thanked me or acknowledged it.

marks and Spencer’s all the way next year

no need for so many picky bits

MUCH LESS CHEESE

dh and I will go to London again and see a matinee and have a walk along the river with drinks and street food before everyone arrives as we had a fantastic time.

I snapped my beautiful tree taking it down, so I will need a good replacement. Gutted as it was only 2yrs old and had thick branches and was pretty perfect. I cannot find a 7ft tree with 1600 tips anywhere, I have all year to look at least.

I have no notes for next Xmas other than keep it exactly the same as this year. Fewer but better quality gifts were a winner. All wrapped under the tree at least a week before. Visit family and friends around this time but predominately relax at home with absolutely no rushing around, lots of nice food and drink. We all chose what we wanted on Xmas day, 2 of us had indian takeaway and 2 had sirloin steak cooked at home.

I'll remember that I don't like festive mint hot chocolate. Somehow I forget every year, think that I've got myself a treat, and then am surprised and disappointed that it tastes like toothpaste, just like last year.

My note to myself :
Don't bother making a Christmas Cake .

Do buy more Limoncello Panettone , the Sainsbury one was SO delicious . I have one in the pantry waiting , calling my name .

Breakfast 70 ...... Much nicer than cake

This is how we feel, that we haven't had a Christmas, DH is now on antibiotics (he started feeling unwell on the 23rd) and there is talk that he may need a different antibiotic to clear it up.

I'm not buying so many mince pies next year or bothering with Turkish Delight. We didn't get a Christmas cake and to be honest I haven't missed it

Here's to a germ free Christmas in 2026

Yes to less cheeses - we overdid it too

Wales lol

That’s got to be you being funny then right? Lol 😄 picnic in wales in December!

We got a couple of truckles ( really small ones) which DH ate . I'm not a fan of flavoured cheese .
Some Somerset Brie which was ok, not as strong as I remember but my tastebuds were wrecked by Covid anyway .

Same with less cheeses. I was panic buying a lot of stuff, cheese included, as I was worried there won't be enough for all the cooking and also I didn't want to go shopping right after Christmas. Turned out getting as much as I got wasn't necessary at all.

Another thing won't do this year is a Christmas photo shoot. We booked a professional one and it was all lovely, the pictures were amazing and we made a really cute slideshow with them and even printed and framed a few, but I think we won't repeat it again soon as these are clearly staged photos. Maybe in 5-6 years we'll do it again but before then a DIY shoot will be enough.

Buy less: less food, fewer presents (for adult DC, I always get sucked in to buying quirky little stocking filler type things that they don't need or want).

We seriously overcatered, and whilst I have frozen loads of turkey which I will use up, there's no point in freezing things like stuffing which will just sit there using up space in my freezer. Also I don't need 3 different kinds of cabbage or any brussel sprouts. We don't need 5 different varieties of cheese, one or two will do fine. We ended up throwing away too much.
We all enjoyed the escape game in an envelope which we did for the 3rd year running, and that is becoming part of our Christmas tradition. However I will drop the crackers, there is nothing in them that anyone wants except the rubbish jokes, and i will get DH to source a few of those separately.
Some of our family live a long way away, and we will make a Christmas Zoom quiz that we can all play together.
For those at home, going to the theatre between N ew Year and going back to work has been something we've all enjoyed - this year it was Othello, booked last minute in the New Year theatre flash sale. Will keep an eye open for that again.