Its Over Thank God - Who else feels like this

Nanato3, sorry to read that, I’d be hurt too. I know it’s not all about presents but just a little something to show you’ve been thought of. Save your money next year

Absolutely glad it’s all over. My first husband died on Nov 28th and second one on Dec 28th. I loathe this time of year.

I'm not a big christmas fan but we do it for the grandchildren. We rented a house abroad for all of us, but son and DaughterIL and grandson had to stay home because her dad had a heartattack - his life still hanging on a thread. So it was just me and DH, daugter and SonIL and their two children. We had a good time but it fellt a bit off because the other half of our family wasn't there. Not our best christmas ever.

Having just bought a house for my only GD I did think that, as I am nearly 90 and live alone, I may have had an invite but I didn't, neither did I get a C.present! Still enjoyed my solo day with dog and cats always appreciative!!
Happy New Year all GNs.

Nanato3 - you give, for the pleasure of giving, not to receive something back !

Nothing wrong with wanting to be be acknowledged by your family at Christmas.

TanaMa

Having just bought a house for my only GD I did think that, as I am nearly 90 and live alone, I may have had an invite but I didn't, neither did I get a C.present! Still enjoyed my solo day with dog and cats always appreciative!!
Happy New Year all GNs.

Crikey! This surely takes some beating! 😮

That is dreadful that you did not get anything in return. Definitely spend the money on yourself next year. Same with birthday money.

I did enjoy seeing the GC open their presents but it does seem like a huge amount of work for relatively little pleasure at this time of our lives.
I like to cook, but the Christmas meal is such a performance - and we still have quite a lot to get through! I'm planning to freeze some meat for curries later.
We had a prepared turkey crown this year for the turkey lovers in the family and it was a great success, I may just have that next year. However I think that my daughter wants to do Christmas lunch next time so I may not cook at all.
I'm torn between wanting to give up the exhaustion of cooking on the day and wanting to hand the job on to others, but at the moment my youngest GC take up a lot of attention and I'm not sure my daughter will have the time to do it.
I'm a bit past worrying about what presents I get, my husband and I don't give each other very much and my children give me something simple: this year a Microplane box grater and lovely orchid plant. My other son usually cooks a meal for us or takes us out in January.
We've also had a tough year with some illnesses which are potentially serious. However I think that most problems can be tackled so will try not to think myself into worrying about it.

ReadyMeals

I had the decorations down and packed away within an hour of the last guest leaving on boxing day! :D

My DD normally packs them away on Boxing Day too.

TanaMa

Having just bought a house for my only GD I did think that, as I am nearly 90 and live alone, I may have had an invite but I didn't, neither did I get a C.present! Still enjoyed my solo day with dog and cats always appreciative!!
Happy New Year all GNs.

What is the matter with some young people? as FGT says that takes some beating.. I feel for you TanaMa it's unbelievably uncaring behaviour..

I’m utterly exhausted. Yesterday was our family day with 16 here for the day. However, all went really well, gifts well received by all, and we had some nice stuff back. A few minor niggles but they won’t be remembered really. I utterly dread Christmas, and get myself in a right ‘tis was’ often unnecessarily! Come November 2025, I hope I remember that it’s usually alright in the end.

Also glad it's over I've just the greater hype of New Year to endure now Looking forward to this time next week!

I don’t feel like that about Christmas, I love it. After three days of family activity though, today is a quiet one, and I’m enjoying that too before hosting another get together tomorrow. Nothing is going to move me from the sofa this afternoon.

MissAdventure

It's OK, you're not miserable
Your feelings are just as valid as anyone else's.

Absolutely.

GrauntyHelen

Also glad it's over I've just the greater hype of New Year to endure now Looking forward to this time next week!

I'm afraid that we tend to more or less ignore New Year now, just have a nice meal by ourselves at home. We don't stay up and simply send a "Happy New Year" message to our children before we go to bed.

It’s not just ‘one day’ though is it? It’s always been a season, ‘12 days of Christmas’ and all that. Speaking personally, I arrange things all through December right through till about the first weekend in January, when we go to our final panto! I love the ebb & flow of the Christmas period and am glad to have people to put in the effort for.

I feel exactly the same. Every year I feel like I hold my breath from a week before Thanksgiving until the day after Christmas and then breathe again. It is analogous to going under water.

I am glad it’s over as it was my first Xmas on my own, dealing with a chronic illness that restricts my time seeing people. It was a very different Xmas from previous years. I felt very sad yesterday as my whole family 19 of them went for a Boxing Day walk. I was unable to join them due to my health and it was hard seeing them all together. The plus side was my daughter sent videos of my grandchildren opening their presents. They were all gratefully received, and my daughter sent me a lovely message saying how much she appreciated the thought that had gone into her gifts. I am hoping to be well enough on Sunday to see her and my granddaughters for an hour. It’s such a lot of effort and thought for the one day isn’t it? This time next week we will be in. 2025. I am glad to read of so many happy family times.

I came out of hospital on Christmas Eve. Husband not too well either. I am on a soft food diet so had cancelled all the christmas food I had ordered. Didn't bother with anything, apart from opening Christmas cards on Christmas Day. I dread it more and more each year. Nobody got any presents because I hadn't got around to buying any. A distinct lack of interest in Christmas. Waste of money.

I haven't enjoyed Christmas since losing my DH over 2 yrs ago. The sadness of choosing and buying gifts on my own, writing cards with just my name and the whole enforced jollity followed by much of the same for New Year just makes me want to hide under the duvet. Family do their best and I put on a brave face but there's no pleasure or excitement anymore just, as they say, an empty chair.

Fairlandia

It’s not just ‘one day’ though is it? It’s always been a season, ‘12 days of Christmas’ and all that. Speaking personally, I arrange things all through December right through till about the first weekend in January, when we go to our final panto! I love the ebb & flow of the Christmas period and am glad to have people to put in the effort for.

I think people have forgotten what Christmas is.

It's about the people you love and value in your life, and celebrating the family despite the problems we all face.

We had a family death too on Christmas Eve but we celebrated for the kids and for each other.

Don't let the darkness win.

I think perhaps as we get older some of us don’t like what they see as disruption and faff.
Fair enough.
They’ve done it all over the years and just feel jaded by it nowadays.
We are all different. Good job really or life would be pretty boring.

We were invited to our sons about 1.5 hours away, we stay with his in laws and they are lovely , but this year our elderly dog is on her last legs and we weren’t keen on going as she cough day and night like an Old man! However they made us feel so welcome and it was easy we had a lovely time , some time the imagination is worse than the reality

How wonderful that your whole family went for a Boxing Day walk - a very close family indeed 👌