how to get ready for christmas when feeling like shit

[ROUNDandROUNDINCIRCILESMORETHA]

Hi i don't know if there are any RA sufferers out there. I am struggling to even keep on top of washing this week due to ra and fighting of infection. I am slightly concerned as have people here for christmas and no where near ready.
how do others cope for example today i have slept all day and so a wasted day of doing nothing. Its really getting me down. I need tips on household chores when ill!! Ahhh

Hi Round I have RA and know how hard it is to get anything done when you feel bad. Slowly I am learning to be easier on myself and realise that it doesn't matter if things aren't perfect. In the past I have been stressed if things at home aren't in order but now I'm doing the best I can and if some days I just flop in front of cbeebies with dc then I think so what, at least they're getting cuddles at the same time.
If you're poorly with a bug too you really need to rest to get over it.
Things can wait. Have you anyone to help you share the load?

Hi thanks for your reply.i feel like i contantly nag my dh. He let me down today was supposed to take dd to school so then tells me at 7.45 he couldn't because he had promised to be at work at 8.45. I don't ask mil as she is very bossy and i don't like her negative attitude towards me lately so keep my distance. I have a friend occassionally helps clean. I think if it comes to it i might have to book people into a hotel. Ra is a disease i feel even those closest do not understand. What medication do you take?

That sounds really hard. I don't have RA but my children both have christmas birthdays and I had several years on the trot of being properly ill over christmas hols with pneumonia and tonsillitis.

Don't worry too much about the house. You and your guests can have a lovely christmas irrespective of whether there are piles of papers in odd corners. If it comes to it, you can run the vacuum over & stash the clutter in your bedroom at the last minute.

Instead, get the christmassy bits sorted. From your sofa, get the present shopping done online, get food delivery booked, consider getting a veg box to simplify the list making. Send cards. Buy supermarket wrapping paper, sellotape etc. If you can, get a couple of foody bits stashed in the freezer. I like to have a lasagne in there, some mince pies (though of course you can just buy them) and some fairy cakes towards DCs' birthday teas. Draft DH in to sort the tree this weekend. Get all the christmassy bits under control, and of you have some rotten days so be it. You or DH will manage to wipe over the bathroom at some point.

Thank you. Only thing is my dh refuses to have a freezer makes life even harder cooking from fresh everyday. What is it about men and their odd ways.? Will keep other ideas in mind :)

If your DH refuses to get a freezer then let him cook all meals fresh from scratch. Can you just order the freezer and let him sulk about it? He is supposed to be making your life easier rather than harder. Your visitors, if they have any manners, should also be willing to help under the circumstances. It is very nice of you to host Christmas for them, but not to the point of exhausting yourself and making yourself worse. Not sure what your budget is but would ordering food ready to cook help? Like prepared turkey, veg in trays ready to go in oven etc. Even if your budget is tight I can vouch for the stuff in Aldi - frozen roast potatoes, frozen mash (which, buy the way we had yesterday and it much better than I expected).

Everyone needs to wade in and lend a hand. What ages are the kids? Old enough to put toys into boxes / pick up shoes / gather up their washing?

Yes. He is a bugger when it come to a freezer. I have been talking to him this morning saying that we will need onr because then i can make a batch of lasanges and things for the days i have to sleep rather than walking round lidl like a bloody zombie twice a week. He seems to have it in his head i will waste things but if honest i waste more buying fresh.
I have felt able to clean kitchen today and fold washing. Dd junior school age so she picks up her washing. I am sure my mum and sister will help clear up and keep on top of kitchen. He has offered to cook at christmas which is good.

Go on strike for a few weeks. Hunger will make him buy a freezer.

How can a freezer help waste stuff? Frozen veg is often cheaper, not least because it basically doesn't go off and you can just use what you need. Similarly, freezing half loaves of bread means less waste. Plus a basic freezer is pretty cheap. But I'm preaching to the converted. Virtually all the food we throw out is stuff like salad and tomatoes - specifically stuff that you can't freeze.

A freezer is not going to solve everything, because you still need to be well enough to do the pre-prep or buying ahead, but it could help take the pressure off the pinch points.

Another thing I find useful is to get the family used to eating the same thing for a couple of days in a row. Instead of making bolognese and artfully converting it to chilli or shepherd's pie the next day, just serve bolognese twice. I think it really cuts down food shopping costs, and it makes food planning a lot simpler. He may not like that idea either but he is welcome to do his share!

Lol about the strike.
yes my friend with ra does two day in a row thing. It's a good idea esp with leftover bolognese. He's been helping a bit this afternoon. And actually offered to do dinner. So i did not refuse to that ;-)

MIL has entered her final weeks after a long battle with the big C. Don't know how much of DH I will see over the next week or so.

DD's birthday on the 23rd. Sorting party for her for next weekend (big group of 3 and 4 year olds). Nativity costumes etc to sort and then go and warch. Xmas tree waiting to go up. Xmas fetes and parties to attend.

Busiest time of the year at work. No let up. I also have an underlying health condition.

All I can do is list write and take it one day at a time. Internet shopping is my saviour.

The tree will go up today. And life is too short to live without a flipping freezer.

Yes taking one day a step at a time i have learnt to do. I don't know how people cope working and having health conditions. Doing school run and dog walk is enough for me i admire those for also going to work.
I think i will definately do online shopping.i might even look at tesco diect to see if they have any fridge freezers and get points on my clubcard. God i sound like a pensioner ;)

I have too many bad days to manage without a freezer, and started filling it for Christmas last month. No more last-minute gravy-making etc.
Equally worthwhile is paying for help for a few hours a week, otherwise life is chores-only and permanently exhausting as I try to catch-up.
Hope you have an enjoyable Christmas and an easier New Year.

Thanks. At the moment we are in a bad place finacially so it will have to wait tilll new year as i don't work and i have been a bit bad with money lately.so i am trying to go through with
him what i need to give up to have money to pay for these big things. He has a good wage but just struggled since we had to get a new car.