Frosty the Snowman - it's the 2025 Christmas thread!

princesskitty29

Thank you all for your lovely words, it’s so nice to log on and have amazing support here. Now DS1’s birthday is out of the way I’m thinking more about Christmas now, even though we still have MiL’s, my dad’s and brother’s birthdays all before Christmas! I need to focus on those too as after the summer I have tunnel vision for Christmas and always end up scrabbling around to sort their birthdays as they’re not on my radar! I’ve favourited some Christmas pyjamas on Vinted for the boys, I still like to buy them matching ones while I can. I’ve found some Elf ones (as in the film) I think they’ll like and I’ve made an offer on one as I think the price is a bit too high, so will see what they come back with and will hopefully buy them.

Things have calmed down a little bit here now, DS1 is still having some meltdowns and being difficult but it’s not as frequent so I hope he’s just easing into the holidays.

@CrazyBee787 thank you for your kind words, that made me feel much better. 😊

@Spendless yes we just haven’t seen anything about the 10 year passport rule, and we’re not frequent travellers so just weren’t aware unfortunately.

@mandco yes that makes sense with puberty and hormones. What a fun rollercoaster this is going to be! Funnily enough we don’t have a school change as we live in a rare area that has a three school system, so it’s lower school age 4-9, middle school age 9-13 then upper school age 13-18. So even though he’s just tuned 11 we don’t have a school change, which is good with how things are at the moment. Sorry to hear you have to have a colonoscopy, it’s great we have these things available to us but they are awful, if only there was another way! I’m sure the fire walk will be great!

@fionadphil thank you for your kind words. The one positive to come out of our failed cruise saga is that it’s making everyone we know check their passports!

@Abbafan1972 thank you for your kind words and like I said, I’m glad my story is making everyone check their passports! I’m so sorry you have to have another colonoscopy, how awful for you, could you plan a little treat for afterwards to give you something to look forward to? Actually I’ve just thought my friend had to have a second one and was sedated the second time if I remember correctly, could this be an option?

@Coxy11 It sounds like you’ve done well with presents but it’s so hard when people have few interests or only seem to like expensive things! I’ve seen brand new gift sets for sale on Vinted which would make it cheaper, I guess the only downside is not knowing how old they are. You did the right thing with your job, there is nothing worse than dreading going in. Fingers crossed you can find something more suitable. Your holiday in Seattle sounds fabulous, I hope you have an amazing time!

@PenniesIntoPounds it’s always great when you find little gems you already have to gift to people!

Spendless

I saw a nice basket for a hamper yesterday in a CS. I dont need any but thought Id say this is possibly the time of year to look when everyone is still concentrating on their sunmer hols (and yes double check your passports everyone) and not thinking towards Christmas. Baskets at a reasonable  price can become thin on the ground later on. 

Bdays here dont start till next month  which are the only ones left this year then   and over within a 3 week span. One is my bday, the other 2 are big 0 ones, Nan's 100th and DH's 60th. Got some ideas for both, just little bits for Nan such as a water bottle and shopping list pad, practical things she needs and add some treats. DH mentioned some cuff links he liked but also thinking of some nice garden furniture. He WFH from a summer house which has a verenda, this area could do with sprucing up. Considering getting a nice chair so he can take a break and sit outside with a coffee. 

mandco

@princesskitty29 it can definitely be a roller coaster but you will get through it. I think that’s a way better system for the school years as the usual change at year 7 often comes at the worst possible time all the change on top of the hormone fluctuations can be really hard on any tween- hopefully by time ds changes schools he’ll be a lot more settled.
Im actually really looking forward to the firewalk - it’s on my bucket list so doing it for charity too is a double win 

@spendless good reminder to check now for hampers/baskets they get ridiculously expensive once the Xmas stock appears 
I think the garden furniture for the summer house so dh can take breaks from work in extra comfort is a lovely idea 

@Coxy11 while it probably wasn’t an easy decision if you weren’t happy in the job then leaving can be the right thing to do nothing worse than dreading the day. Hopefully dh will start to appreciate how much effort you put into shopping for gifts - I know it is a generalisation but in my experience so many men seem to think present buying is easy as they aren’t actually involved in the process. 

Hope you have a lovely holiday 

@PenniesIntoPounds it’s great when you find bits you can upcycle or had forgotten about 

DDs birthday next ended up using some of my boots points to get her an air up bottle she asked for - personally I think it’s a pointless fad but it’s what she wanted. Going out for a meal at the weekend and then booked an escape room for the following weekend (next week it’s only £10 each vs £27 each this weekend)
ordered a couple of parts for ds pc build which will be his birthday present so he’s sorted too I just need to work out what I’m getting taz then I can focus fully on Xmas.

A few restaurants locally have start to advertise their Xmas/festive menus - we don’t do Xmas/Boxing Day but will do at least one get festive get together - currently leaning towards the carvery as they have the best desserts so far.