Share your Christmas expectations vs reality with NOW TV - chance to win £300 NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

We all know the biscuit tin or movie version of the ‘perfect’ Christmas is not quite what actually happens at Christmas, and the team at NOW TV would love to know how different your expectations for the most wonderful time of the year were with how it actually went down.

Has snow or bad weather at Christmas stopped visitors from coming? Was your turkey still defrosting when the Queen was making her speech or did the dog ruin your lovingly decorated tree while you were out at the panto?

NOW TV say “if your Christmas plans go a bit wrong or you need something to distract the in laws then at NOW TV we’re all about making things extra easy: sign up and start watching instantly on one of our clever apps - including on iPad, iPhone, games consoles and selected Android devices - you’ll get access to loads of great content for families, including over 1,000 movies on demand plus a new premiere every day - including Christmas classics like Love Actually and big movies like Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.”

Share your tale where the reality didn’t quite match up to what you envisaged at Christmas time you will be entered into a prize draw where one person will win a £300 voucher for the store of choice - from a list (which might make you feel a bit better! ).

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Standard Insight T and Cs Apply

A while back, my mother in law came all the way from Spain to spend Christmas with us. However on arrival, my son had come down by bad flu and we all started dropping like flies catching this virus. It's quite a small house, containing 7 of us at various stages of illness!! Having not felt too well myself, I also totally miscalculated cooking times and ruined the Christmas lunch. On top of this, my mother in law got ill and ended up being sick for several weeks as she had low immunity! Just awful.

This year hasn't been the best. I was looking forward to a nice relaxing christmas just the three of us then I got poorly. Didn't eat all day & I still don't feel great now :-(

MIL supposed to pop round at 10am but didn't make it until after baby's bedtime in the evening then woke him by tapping his head with cold hands!

Huge family christmas all under one roof

Expectation - lots of love and laughter and everyone happy

Reality - nieces screaming at 4 am and me been left with all babysitting duties, no one talking to anyone as they are too tired and a meal that was cold and rank.

Expectation - stress free, perfect food, happiness, no arguments, champagne flowing...

Reality - total stress cooking the food and ensuring everything is done at the same time, the oven isn't big enough, everything needs to be cooked at different temperatures, lots of arguments and squabbling, after two glasses of champagne, I was doomed!

Last year we brought a lobster thermidor form Aldi for our xmas dinner starter thinking it'd be lovely. It was was rank! and has put me off lobster for life!

A sense of too much, enforced joviality, presents that disappoint, too much tat and a guilty awareness that most of the world have nothing so the amount spent (we are modest compared to most) is obscene. Too much time on top of one another. What fun!

Expectation: Watching the cooking Christmas dinner shows and seeing it nice, calm and perfect!

Reality: Timings out, too many people in the kitchen and utter chaos! TV programs eh! :)

expectation: singing carols in our local town, hugging and smiling at each other, that warm fuzzy feeling , and memories to last a life time

Reality: My youngest son screaming We wish you a merry POOmas and Jingle BALLS!! We left quite sharpish

my expectation this year was same as every year that we would go to family for Christmas and it would be chaotic, too many gifts and spillages and someone would be dressed in pjs at the table for dinner.

However reality was actually ok! we all had a nice Christmas together as a family. But all Christmas's are good and whatever happens it is nice to celebrate together.

This year - Babies first Christmas - Ultra special as ALL FAMILY together for the first time EVER - parents, grandparents and great grandparents - All carefully planned right down to the last fine detail........Magical .....

Reality - Baby had a severe allergic reaction (source as yet unknown) - airways closed, face swollen, 999 ambulance delayed as " a queue " Great grandmother went into state of shock and panic and half the family ended up in hospital with baby the other half went home waiting news ....... Meanwhile at 22.10 great niece was born ......what a Christmas!!!!

Expectation - everyone to get to be happy and get on well
Reality - a lot of boring conversations

Expectation - I buy lots of lovely stocking fillers for my elderly mum, including lovely toiletries, hand creams etc, little luxuries I know she won't buy herself.

Reality - she sends most of them to the local church for their jumble sales!

I buy presents throughout the whole year to be well prepared for Christmas. Unfortunately some time in the summer my 8 year old had a peek at one of his little brother's presents, I was hoping he would forget about it. Well, Christmas came and and he hadn't. He shouted out that he saw mummy getting it delivered a long time ago and this wasn't from Santa Ouch!

Expectation: My daughter getting hugging me opening her stocking and then curling up to open her presents. Reality: My daughter getting up at midnight coming in my room coughing all over me really I'll. Staying up till 6am sweating with fever and runny nose and then sleeping most of Christmas.

No white Christmas - just torrential rain and flooded roads.

Forgetting the batteries for the kids toys

The grand carving and TADAA moment of carving the turkey
Realising I have left the giblets in which spill out :-o

The first time I ever cooked a full Christmas roast was an eye-opener! I slightly burnt the carrots and it didn't look anything like my mum's Xmas dinners, but everyone laughed and ate it with good grace anyway!

I get drawn into the hype, potential magical / buzz feeling.

Anticlimax is the reality!

(think Christmas is more for kiddies)

I tried to make Santa footprints using flour....just ended up with a mess in the carpet that took weeks to hoover up!

Expecting lunch with mother and sister. Reality - mother with viral infection, no longer doing lunch and spending day with partners parents

Expectations : Waking up Christmas morning and taking the kids for a lovely walk, then back to open the presents whilst sipping eggnog glowing in the joyful gratefulness of said kids.
Reality : No walk its raining, no eggnog forgot to get it, both kids stuck on PS4 all day, never mind the eggnog where is the wine. lol

Expectation: When I was 8 I thought I could hide behind the sofa and catch Santa delivering presents.

Reality: Got busted by my parents when they went to say good night and I wasn't in bed!

Santa brought me and my two brothers a PC when we were 13, 11, 9 years of age. Santa was unable to bring much else other than the one computer to share. Unfortunately the electricity went off (power cut affecting the whole village) from Christmas Eve and didn't return until New Year's Eve. We had absolutely nothing we could use on Christmas Day nor did we have a Christmas Dinner. Funny looking back at it now.