A Jolly Holly Christmas - It's the 2022 Christmas Chatter Thread!

CazD2008

Happy New Year one and all!

As with all previous years, I have been lurking away reading your comments but just haven’t posted.

I’m not going to lie, I felt so flat at Christmas. I just think it’s hard to get out of the mindset of another “c*vid” year. Really hoping things start to pick up.

I didn’t do cards and the adults agreed not to buy gifts for each other (wouldn’t be my choice!) so I think that added to it. Im
going to suggest that we revert back to gift buying this year, even if it’s just something small!

Treasurequeen

Welcome Caz, I think a few of us on here thought the same about Christmas.
 You could always suggest a secret Santa each of your family puts their names into a hat and you each pick one. Whoever you pick is who you buy for,  You can set a budget and or a theme. 

littlegreenparrot

I'm one of 5 siblings and we have been doing secret santa for a few years now, it works really well. There is always lots of santa related chat on the whatsapp which is good fun. More fun than it was before when we were struggling to buy for everyone and it was just a massive chore. 

There are a couple of websites that will draw the names for you so people get emailed the name. No-one gets to see the list, including the administrator    Much easier than trying to get everyone in the same place. 

We always set a budget and do wish lists, so that you get something you want and/or need. 

theoldmansmrs

For the last few years, we have been treating Christmas as potentially the "last one" for both of our parents. Sadly, last year it was for our lovely mom. One of the things it has made us realise is that it is family that is really important so one of last year's Christmas presents, was a monthly "meet up" voucher. Everybody (kids, sister, nieces etc) had the same:

January; it was a meal at my house
February; we are meeting up for a walk in the park with a hot chocolate and home made cakes
March; meeting up at a pub by a canal so we can have a meal then walk down the canal
April; a day down our caravan
May; a cookery lesson at my house (I am the only person able to cook in the family )
June; family quiz night inc curry
July; night out as it is our 25th wedding anniversary this month too
August; day at the caravan as it is my birthday which will no doubt include time at the beach and a barbecue
September; medieval banquet at my house as it is sons 21st birthday too
October; barge trip
November; day trip to Bath christmas market. We are doing this on the day that will be 1 year since the passing of our lovely mom as she adored Christmas
December; trip on the Polar Express and 23rd making Christingle candles it will be a year since we laid mom to rest and celebrated her life.

Looking at that, there is a lot of family time but there is also a lot of food It was a bit of a risky present but, fortunately, everybody is looking forward to it especially as kids of all ages have been included.

slm6002

I have looked at this type of thing for the children as they get so much stuff each year.  Now they are older they don't know what they would like so this would be great.  Must get around to sorting it for this year.

Skibunny40

What a lovely idea theoldmansmrs! Getting the whole family together on a regular basis will create so many amazing memories

C_J

@theoldmansmrs - what a lovely idea! I am pinching it right now.

We have a new granddaughter due any day now, so I was delighted to find a brand new Christmas stocking in a sale on eBay to match the ones I bought as few years back for her cousins - it is one of those red velvet ones embroidered with a gold initial they they sell in B&M. I suppose I could wait until December to see if they have them back in the shop again this year, but I am too impatient!

I also picked up a couple of bargains in a charity shop yesterday, where there were lots of still-shrink-wrapped brand new items for sale (presumably unwanted Christmas presents), including a new Usborne's baby 'slide and see' bedtime board book, a bath book and some bath toys (all for imminent granddaughter), and a tin of "Dangerous Experiments for After Dinner" cards which will be a great stocking filler for one of my sons-in-law. All these for £1 each.

The items which I ordered from AliExpress a couple of weeks ago have already started arriving, and I'm really pleased with them. The prices were excellent and I am in the happy position now of having bought almost three quarters of the Advent Calendar fillers for the men in the family already, which takes the pressure off later in the year. Finding calendar fillers for my daughters is always very easy, but for the men .... sheesh!

chanie

My OH also does secret Santa with his siblings.  It works really well as it means they each get one decent present rather than a couple of smaller, cheaper gifts from each sibling.

@C_JI’ve had my Christmas stocking since I was born and I have so many fond memories of seeing it hanging on the wall for Christmas.  It’s a tradition I have carried on with my own children.  I’m sure your DGD will enjoy her stocking for years to come.

I haven’t bought anything recently, but have sorted out a few gifts for birthdays/Christmas 2022, already, so I think I’m off to a good start.  2021 was the most disorganised I have been in years, in terms of Xmas - I think I lost my motivation, as the shops were shut due to lockdown.  I did get my mojo back, but it wasn’t until nov/dec, so it was a bit of a mad rush.  I’m determined to get sorted earlier this year.

I also have a OHs big birthday coming up, so I need to sort this out as well., but luckily, his birthday is ages away, so I have plenty of time.

princesskitty29

I haven’t posted in a while as we picked up a puppy the weekend before last which sounds lovely but I have been suffering with ‘puppy blues’ ever since. I had no idea it was a thing and unfortunately it’s very similar to how I felt when I had PND after my eldest child which has been hard and I literally can’t believe I felt like this over a dog! She’s very lovely though and I’m trying to think ahead to when life will be easier. We’re 10 days in and I am already coping much better and feeling calmer now, I think it will get a lot better when she is toilet trained and we can take her for a walk.

Thanks to those who mentioned the WHSmith sale, I went on their website and did really well. I got a few packs of 10/12 cards that were reduced to 99p, some LED bike lights for the boys stockings that were reduced to £2.99, 2 x rolls of wrapping paper, a jigsaw puzzle for my mum’s birthday reduced to £3.74 and I pre-empted birthday parties for my boys and bought a few children’s gifts reduced to around £5 which I was pleased with as I normally spend around £10 on a children’s gift. They are all allocated now as my boys have received 4 birthday party invites between them for next month!

I also bought 2 baubles from the site ‘Red Candy’, one is of David Bowie as my auntie worshipped him in her youth and a loaf of bread bauble for a friend who literally puts everything he eats into a sandwich! It’s a long running joke so I was really pleased to find it, I also got it massively discounted as the only one they had left was one they’d used for photographing but it’s perfectly fine. They are much bigger than I thought they would be!

Anyway that’s all from me for today, I hope you are all doing well. xx

Caz good to hear from you! I know what you mean, I think covid is still taking some of the joy out of these occasions and that’s why it’s a bit quiet on here at the moment. I do hope as time goes on and we learn to live with it that we will celebrate more freely again and really enjoy the occasion.

theoldmrandmrs I’m so sorry to hear about your mom, that must have been so hard for you but what a lovely idea for a present for your family! I bet they loved it and there are some great things there and a lovely nod to your mom with the Christmas market.

CJ ooh exciting a new granddaughter on the horizon, or has she arrived now? It sounds like you’re doing well finding bits and bobs, I think charity shops are a good place to go after Christmas as I should imagine they get a lot of brand new unwanted gifts.

chanie it’s so easy to lose momentum and end up rushing at Christmas! I think there are a few of us on here that are determined to be better organised this year so we can cheer each other along!

CazD2008

Thank all for the ‘welcome back’ and secret Santa idea! It’s brilliant and I’m going to suggest it for this year.

princesskitty29 I also went on the WH Smith sale. Purchased some of the space rocket money boxes for just £4.99 - I will keep those for birthday party gifts. My daughter is 6, so they will be ideal for the boys in her class. I also had a couple of packs of Christmas cards and 2 x VW camper van aprons which I’m putting away for DH and my dad for Father’s Day.

theoldmansmrs I’m so sorry to hear about your lovely mom. I am very lucky to have both sets of grandparents (I’m 35 this year!) and I absolutely dread the day I lose them 😔

Hope everyone is having a good week. X