Crappy Christmas one and all

[lior]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one apprehensive about xmas. I'm sick myself and that's not going to change for xmas. I'm sorry about your partner passing blood Buster, that's unpleasant and a bit scary.

I'm trying to stop seeing it as one day and start seeing it as a whole season. Maybe it's ok if I don't eat turkey on xmas day if I eat a turkey sandwich in December. I love traditions but I can be a bit inflexible with them and it's sometimes impossible to make it all happen. I want to scale back and make it simpler for myself. I don't want to spend an age trying to get xmas food on my online grocery order where the turkey keeps selling out last minute and I have to work out what else to get. I want to have fun and relax... while leaving room to allow myself to rest, to look after this sick body.

[Buster70]

Wow I didn’t expect this many replies we are a bunch of Christmas grinches, even though I probably paint a bit of a bleak picture of Christmas I do have genuine fond memories of past Christmas’s , going to my grandmas as a kid when all of my family were alive and well , we’d have a big dinner round the table then I’d be allowed into the “ the best room “ to open my presents , front room at nan’s was never used so all the furniture was brand new , I think she was hoping one day the queen might pop in unexpected, like wearing clean underwear just in case you get run over ,the reality was probably different for the grown ups grandad had been in prison for beating the crap out of nan and his kids but as a kid you don’t see this side , I also had some good Christmas’s with my kids when the were young and unlike my grandad and dad I think I’ve done a better job being a dad .
Catkins it can be awkward when family members don’t get on at this time , if my partners sisters came round I’d have to hide all the sharp implements which would make carving the turkey pretty hard with a spoon , you can’t choose your family so just enjoy the time with the ones that matter most .
Carnation that saddens me that moving around has meant less cards in the post but I think that’s the way things are going ,more digital for future, post your new address on the net and I’ll send you a card , you may also get a few from Nigeria offering gifts of money but you might need to send them cash first to free up a fortune they’ve inherited, don’t think it’s a scam as scammers take Christmas off work .
Terry you are welcome to come for dinner but I’ll warn you I threw all the chairs away last year so unless I find some soon you’ll be standing in the corner where the tree should be with baubles and tinsel hanging on you .
Right now for the positive side , how many of you will wake up on Christmas Day in a cardboard box on the street to the smell of p**s after a night of fear of being kicked around by a drunk reveller ? Or the fear of a partner getting drunk and knocking the stuffing out of you ? Excuse the pun , hopefully none , it’s shite but not that shite , putting up with a cheesy advert or annoying song we can all do standing on our heads and putting up with anxiety is what we do every day so nothing new there .
Ill find something positive to add to this thread , maybe just a small act of kindness to someone to make their day less bleak , I’ll more than likely have a moan as well so you guys are more than welcome to post about how crap your day has been , good or bad it still better to be upright above ground at Christmas eh ?
Christmas favourites ,
song ,Fairytale of New York
Film , Elf
dinner item ,pigs in blankets ( no it’s Yorkshire pudding , no it’s Turkey or good mash or roast potatoes)
quality street ,the orange one
drink ,John smiths bitter , used to be spiced rum but can’t do spirits anymore
Present ,brand new BMX bike 1983 the only new bike I ever had
It’s not all bad .

[pulisa]

Are you going to do your random tree in woods decoration service this year, Buster?

[Lencoboy]

Wow I didn’t expect this many replies we are a bunch of Christmas grinches, even though I probably paint a bit of a bleak picture of Christmas I do have genuine fond memories of past Christmas’s , going to my grandmas as a kid when all of my family were alive and well , we’d have a big dinner round the table then I’d be allowed into the “ the best room “ to open my presents , front room at nan’s was never used so all the furniture was brand new , I think she was hoping one day the queen might pop in unexpected, like wearing clean underwear just in case you get run over ,the reality was probably different for the grown ups grandad had been in prison for beating the crap out of nan and his kids but as a kid you don’t see this side , I also had some good Christmas’s with my kids when the were young and unlike my grandad and dad I think I’ve done a better job being a dad .
Catkins it can be awkward when family members don’t get on at this time , if my partners sisters came round I’d have to hide all the sharp implements which would make carving the turkey pretty hard with a spoon , you can’t choose your family so just enjoy the time with the ones that matter most .
Carnation that saddens me that moving around has meant less cards in the post but I think that’s the way things are going ,more digital for future, post your new address on the net and I’ll send you a card , you may also get a few from Nigeria offering gifts of money but you might need to send them cash first to free up a fortune they’ve inherited, don’t think it’s a scam as scammers take Christmas off work .
Terry you are welcome to come for dinner but I’ll warn you I threw all the chairs away last year so unless I find some soon you’ll be standing in the corner where the tree should be with baubles and tinsel hanging on you .
Right now for the positive side , how many of you will wake up on Christmas Day in a cardboard box on the street to the smell of p**s after a night of fear of being kicked around by a drunk reveller ? Or the fear of a partner getting drunk and knocking the stuffing out of you ? Excuse the pun , hopefully none , it’s shite but not that shite , putting up with a cheesy advert or annoying song we can all do standing on our heads and putting up with anxiety is what we do every day so nothing new there .
Ill find something positive to add to this thread , maybe just a small act of kindness to someone to make their day less bleak , I’ll more than likely have a moan as well so you guys are more than welcome to post about how crap your day has been , good or bad it still better to be upright above ground at Christmas eh ?
Christmas favourites ,
song ,Fairytale of New York
Film , Elf
dinner item ,pigs in blankets ( no it’s Yorkshire pudding , no it’s Turkey or good mash or roast potatoes)
quality street ,the orange one
drink ,John smiths bitter , used to be spiced rum but can’t do spirits anymore
Present ,brand new BMX bike 1983 the only new bike I ever had
It’s not all bad .

Nice that you're also reminiscing about better past Christmases, Buster.

I've lived through a mixed bag of festive seasons personally, some good, others not so good.

I think what's at the root of your concerns is the 'fear of failure', and feeling compelled to 'keep up with the Joneses', which is typical of many in contemporary society.

A lot of people probably also feel the same prior to going away on their holidays, fearing the potential of untoward happenings (such as bad weather, being stuck at airports when travelling abroad, terror-related scares, becoming ill or having accidents during the holiday), letdowns, and general disappointments (e.g, poor service in hotels/accommodation), ASB from other holidaymakers, etc.

I've recently browsed old Argos catalogues online dating from the 70s and 80s, and you see photographic images of families in them all looking as happy as Larry, without a care in the world and totally oblivious to a lot of the much-talked about turmoil that typically characterised both of those decades, so just demonstrates how nothing is always what it seems at face value, and that many of us can be fooled by such imagery, even from the past.

But it also demonstrates how the concept of 'keeping up with the Joneses' and bandwagon jumping is far from being an exclusively 21st Century phenomenon.

[Buster70]

Are you going to do your random tree in woods decoration service this year, Buster?

It did cross my mind this morning on the dog walk and I have got a few spare baubles , a picked up a bargain tree from a charity shop today so winner winner turkey dinner , did my bit for charity and got a bigger better tree for a fraction of the price , we have two trees now one real one fake .
Ive realised I’m putting too much pressure on myself to be okay by Christmas, I haven’t been doing well for some time , I can function when my anxiety feels like it’s killing me but I think that’s down to stubbornness, trouble is it wears me out and eventually something has to give , there will always be worries and problems so putting a time limit on sorting myself out isn’t helpful.
Got my booster jab tomorrow and some kind soul gave me a run down on how ill it makes you even though I said I don’t want to know ignorance is bliss , still it’s happening so just have to suck it and see , got too much work on and not enough energy or enthusiasm and next week my daughter has her chemotherapy again , so one thing at a time hopefully get through and make a little time to start decorating a random tree in the woods to check the Christmas spirit is still alive .
Oh and I stepped on a drawing pin yesterday which must have been waiting since last year in the box of decorations to fall out for me , probably like the unexploded bomb that’s lay silently in wait in the woods since the war waiting for me to step on it while hanging a bauble on a tree .
Opened my advent calendar today , yay a Malteaser , all going well , fingers crossed hopefully going down the coast between Christmas and new year

[Richard1960]

Yes I tend to eco what has already been said ,lots of happy faces on adverts none of which I can relate real life to.

Giving the message open your Wallets\Purses its Consumerfest time.

Not all of us celebrate Christmas but are surrounded by seemingly perfect people, with not a care in the world singing its praises on TV.

My happiest time was in early to late teens ,as far as Christmas festivities are concerned today it just leaves me cold ,possibly to do with the horrendous over commercialisation of it .

When I was young Christmas did not seem to start mid November as I recall Bah Humbug.

[dorabella]

There is far too much emphasis on Christmas - mostly driven by media and advertising on a money agenda - by the time we have gone through October and November let alone December the Christmas spirit has long since dissipated. Such a lot of effort for one day which a lot of people will secretly admit they have had enough of by post-Christmas dinner!!

Christmas is for children, innocents and adults who get off on making false merry ... not for me I'm afraid. Prefer a quiet day myself which the government has obligingly enabled by locking the county down last year and most likely again this year.

[Buster70]

So this is Christmas ,,, warning this isn’t happy Christmas, last week my daughter dropped it on us she and the grandkids are not coming for Christmas dinner now which is something she’s done before leaving us with loads food spare , I did my decorating a tree in the woods and when I returned some kind soul had taken it all , today I thought I’d wrap up work which has been too busy for me to keep up and my partner came round with the perfect Christmas news , a text from the hairdresser she when to earlier this week saying she’s tested positive for covid so my partner while not legally obliged to self isolate should , my younger daughter was still coming tomorrow but she’s recently had chemotherapy so is vulnerable.
In all crappy Christmas, I’ve felt so low lately and been trying to fight off the dark thoughts but life really kicks you when you are down .
I still hope others have a nice Christmas.

[glassgirlw]

Buster it’s really piling on for you. I’m so sorry you’re going through such a rough time. I don’t really have many words of comfort or platitudes to offer up but just wanted to say I’m thinking of you, and as unhappy as it seems right now, I hope you can at least have a peaceful and low anxiety day

[Catkins]

I've always thought that the sayings that 'everything happens for a reason' or 'we are only sent what we can cope with' are a load of b***ocks. Sometimes life just sucks, and Christmas tends to magnify it.

Can you delay the Christmas dinner until your partner is out of isolation? Have a slightly delayed Christmas? Or a bigger New Year celebration?

As for your tree being disrobed of its decorations, some poor soul who didn't have any decorations for their tree might have taken them? You might have inadvertently made someones Christmas?