* Driving Home for Christmas * - It's the 2021 Christmas Chatter Thread!

C_J

Your 2yo dog sounds just like our 5 stone clumsy womble - he can correctly identify a wrapped doggie gift at 100 paces too!  I wonder if the dog toys have a scent which humans can't detect?

Despite saying I have finished my Christmas gift shopping, I am thinking about including something small and inexpensive with Christmas cards I send to a few good friends and some family members who live too far away to see in person this year. Just a little token thing to show I'm thinking of them - and it will have to be flat/light enough to fit in a normal envelope with a 2nd class stamp.  I'll put a packet of nice chili seeds in for those who like gardening, and have thought about those flat Yankee Candle Car Jar scented cardboard air fresheners (maybe) or a flat fused glass Christmas decoration - sort of like a mini sun catcher -  (but that might break en route).

Does anyone have any other suggestions please?

kerri_gt

@C_J wracking my brain for things that are small, flat and light (except for my purse after overspending on BF 🙈).
Personally I'm not a fan of car air fresheners as the smell makes me feel queasy (I've finally remembered to say no to them at the car wash) but then I am the type of person who can get motion sick even when I'm the one driving 🤣
How about those face mask sheets for the ladies? 

Got 2 Terry's choc oranges in Morries in the week, 75p each.

Also did a couple of orders on BF to clear most remaining things off my gift list. I did buy a pair of capris myself in a sale too. Bit indulgent and unplanned but I have the leggings to twin with my friend, but I'm more of a capri wearer and every time i wear the leggings I wish I'd got capris instead. So now I have and now I'll get more wear out of the design.

A comedian OH mentioned the other week has just announced a tour for 2022, but I might try and get tickets for OH birthday which is less than a month after xmas. That said I'm never sure what he thinks of tickets as a gift as I'm basically buying something for myself too. 

princesskitty29

Thank you so much for the well wishes for my mum, she is starting her radiotherapy this week and also having a bit of chemo so we’ll see how she gets on. My dad has been in hospital most of the week after having a reaction to some medication, they’ve run lots of tests and done scans and he was finally allowed home yesterday so hopefully nothing further will come of that. The hardest thing for me is my dad is quite frail and needs looking after and my mum is starting her treatment this week so not sure how much she is going to be able to do and I live 100 miles away! My brother is there but works and can only do so much. It’s frustrating as I don’t work at the moment so could do so much to help if I lived near them. I was planning to go back for a couple of nights each week but covid is rife in my children’s school at the moment so I feel like we could get it at any moment. I have had the worst cold this week, I was thinking I had some sort of super cold but I’ve been quite stressed lately so I think I may just have a bit of a weak immune system at the moment as no one in my house got like me, so I’m going to take the advice of you good ladies and try to take care of myself a bit better!

The boys are mostly done, I just need to order DS2’s Father Christmas present. I’m almost there now with my Christmas shopping. I’d like to have written some cards by now but I ordered some from the school with the boys designs on so I’m just waiting for them to come. I don’t usually put the decorations up until the first weekend in December but I am wondering whether to do it today to bring a bit of festive cheer to the place! The lights are being switched on in our town later so it might be a nice day to do it.

GTQ I am so sorry to hear your mum is in the same boat, sending you lots of good wishes and hugs and I hope you are taking care of yourself too.

Spendless oh how annoying about the reindeer! I think it’s a good idea to give your DD the suitcase, as you say she doesn’t have to know what it was originally intended for. Gosh that is really generous of HM2, what a lovely gesture.

Treasurequeen I love the idea that your tree has had a few gins! Our tree always looks like it’s had a few gins as it leans.

CJ I quite often put a scratchcard into the Christmas cards for close family.

kerri I’ve quite often bought tickets to something as a gift for my DH, me going along to keep him company is the bonus present!

Spendless

That's a challenge to think of small, light and flat items to fit in an envelope. Have you had a look in Whittards? They've given me a freebie pack before for either buying something or signing up to their emails (can't remember) and they have good individual tea-bags that I reckon would fit. I pass them on as dislike herbal/fruit tea (adore smell and then am disappointed as taste isn't same!). They might also do different hot chocolate sachets, worth a look. A coaster if you could find one light enough?  Dito fridge magnet? 

DD has been asked about going on hol next summer with a friend with the idea they'll book in Feb. That's made a decision about the suitcase and some other travel related gifts I bought. I will keep them till DD's 19th birthday in March, plus whatever our financial situation is then, I know we have got her some items.

I had a chat to her about how I buy early and how that's become more difficult now she's older. Anyway I have come to the following decisions. Of the people I still buy for most have their birthdays between Jan and beginning of April, the remaining 4 which includes myself have early Autumn birthdays. So I am going to stick to buying in the New Year in sales for birthdays and *possibly* still DD's stocking (depending on what I see). Then I will start the rest of the family's Christmas shopping from around September time when more stock appears in shops after the summer lull, with the exception of DD, who is the only one doing a xmas list and I have asked her to ensure it's done in October and I will look to finalise what she's asked for in the black Friday sales. She thought what I said was a good idea, as it ticks the boxes for my need to be prepared along with still not having to pay full price if I can help it and avoiding the shops in December! 

Our Xmas tree is up!  It has never been up so early before and certainly not in November. However both myself and DH are hopeless at decorating them (or anything artistic tbh!) so for the past few years DD has taken over doing it (I think her exact  words were she was too embarrassed to put it on Instagram otherwise - gotta love teenagers. ). Anyway with her in Scotland she wasn't available to help, so instead we invited DS and gf for the weekend. GF has an art degree so thought she'd be more than capable. and she is. Said she loves decorating trees, always did it at her parents but never got free reign over the decorations, which she got here. Treated them to a Chinese too. Picked up on they have very little money to socialise which is as I suspected, Gf needs a job really and also a comment from DS about how he was looking forward to having a bath here, which is something DD also says as student accommodation tends to have showers. All this gives me some scope for presents for him as he was the only one still not bought for. So looking for some mini bubble baths just so they all have some products to use during their stay here next month. Also has anyone seen bars of orange aero anyway. My new line manager wants some and no one can find it. I'm up for the challenge -lol 

WinterWarrior

Green & blacks mini chocolate bars or the flat chocolate tree ornaments might work well in a card? You could buy a multipack and split it up. 

Or scented drawer sachets? I bought a lovely big pack of very small ones from amzn that I split up to put in with my home made sewing gifts when I pack them. They are called Scentorini and have different scents. 

C_J

Thank you, those are some great suggestions for things to add to the Christmas cards!

@princesskitty29 It must be such a worry being so far away from your parents (and not travelling there while Covid is rife in your area is definitely the right thing to do - the last thing either of your parents need is to catch that on top of everything else).  Could your brother get any compassionate leave from his job (or negotiate different hours, or work from home) to allow him the flexibility to offer more care to your parents for a short while?  Or might it be worth speaking to the nurses at your Mum’s cancer centre to ask their advice? There may be community care which she might be able to access. Or is there a community network of helpers where she lives who could do errands or shopping for them?

I can only base my experience on caring for Mister CJ through his six sessions of chemo - it absolutely knocked him for six. I’m not sure how many sessions are planned for your Mum, or how strong the doses will be but be prepared for her being nauseous, weak and tired for quite a while. Any help you can set up in advance will be good. Is there anything on the Age Concern or Macmillan websites to advise about care availability?  I’m just rambling now, sorry.

Gettingtherequickly

What a kind, thoughtful young man Spendless. Thankfully, I think if most young people were in a similar situation, they would probably do the same thing, shame it is the minority which give the majority a bad name, people in general are more good than bad.

Sorted my Christmas cakes this afternoon, now ready to distribute, but can anyone tell me why I made 18 cakes, but only bought 15 bags? So annoyed at myself, they are red jute ones which I ordered from Spain earlier in the year as they were the cheapest😳

Beshki

C_J said:

Your 2yo dog sounds just like our 5 stone clumsy womble - he can correctly identify a wrapped doggie gift at 100 paces too!  I wonder if the dog toys have a scent which humans can't detect?

Despite saying I have finished my Christmas gift shopping, I am thinking about including something small and inexpensive with Christmas cards I send to a few good friends and some family members who live too far away to see in person this year. Just a little token thing to show I'm thinking of them - and it will have to be flat/light enough to fit in a normal envelope with a 2nd class stamp.  I'll put a packet of nice chili seeds in for those who like gardening, and have thought about those flat Yankee Candle Car Jar scented cardboard air fresheners (maybe) or a flat fused glass Christmas decoration - sort of like a mini sun catcher -  (but that might break en route).

Does anyone have any other suggestions please?

H0bbycraft do cross stitch Christmas kits for £1.50 & they fit into a card. And are very cute!

Beshki

Well, this year is a revelation. In being so organised and so focussed on my Christmas buying, I am saving so much time, money and stress. Instead of endlessly scrolling finding more and more things to buy for people, I’m pleased with what I have bought and simply delete all the emails telling me I ‘must’ buy all of the things! Same with food, have planned our Christmas eating sensibly and have no panic about not being able to get specific things, as keeping it very simple. It’s great  

Gettingtherequickly

Know what you mean Beshki, I have all of my gifts sorted and wrapped, just need to put together for each house.  Christmas cakes ready to despatch, writing out a list of food shopping, so like you keeping things simple, it's great!