Nightmares about Christmas

I have been awake half the night wondering why on earth I put out an open invitation to all AC and families for Christmas lunch.

I am now catering for 20 ?

GrannyGravy13

I have been awake half the night wondering why on earth I put out an open invitation to all AC and families for Christmas lunch.

I am now catering for 20 ?

I did that last year, and I was going to cater for 16. Ordered a massive mortgage breaking Turkey - ended up with just 4 of us? as the rest all had bugs etc and so I spent Christmas Day cutting out meals for them all and delivering them.

This year we are all invited to DS. So the massive Turkey will delivered there?

Christmas is always a nightmare for me. I love January 1st!

GrannyGravy13

I have been awake half the night wondering why on earth I put out an open invitation to all AC and families for Christmas lunch.

I am now catering for 20 ?

Eek! I hope you’re getting them all to bring something! Good luck!

My poor old MiL had - every single year for about 40 years - cooked Christmas dinner for about 12 in her tiny kitchen.

So some years after the Christmas in my pp, when we were still abroad, in a climate that was perfect in December, we invited Mil and FiL to join us - dh was buying the tickets.

MiL jumped at it, but FiL grumped and grumbled, couldn’t leave the house in December, what if the pipes froze, etc. (they lived in London so highly unlikely) - but good old MiL said, ‘You can do what you like - I’m going!’

Of course he did come in the end, and enjoyed it.

My recurring nightmare was that I forgot to leave out the Santa presents and we woke up to Christmas morning to cries of ‘Father Christmas didn’t come’ I used to wake up in a cold sweat.
The nightmare only stopped when the children left home!

Witzend

GrannyGravy13

I have been awake half the night wondering why on earth I put out an open invitation to all AC and families for Christmas lunch.

I am now catering for 20 ?

Eek! I hope you’re getting them all to bring something! Good luck!

My poor old MiL had - every single year for about 40 years - cooked Christmas dinner for about 12 in her tiny kitchen.

So some years after the Christmas in my pp, when we were still abroad, in a climate that was perfect in December, we invited Mil and FiL to join us - dh was buying the tickets.

MiL jumped at it, but FiL grumped and grumbled, couldn’t leave the house in December, what if the pipes froze, etc. (they lived in London so highly unlikely) - but good old MiL said, ‘You can do what you like - I’m going!’

Of course he did come in the end, and enjoyed it.

I have a cunning plan

Let the wives and DD look after the children in the play room and the sons roped in to help me in the kitchen. (DH will carve, giving him the chance to say he helped cook Christmas lunch)

I have also bought Christmas Duvets for all the beds as some are here for B & B

(I only hope I remember to order enough fizz on my grocery delivery to get me through ???)

Oopsadaisy1

My recurring nightmare was that I forgot to leave out the Santa presents and we woke up to Christmas morning to cries of ‘Father Christmas didn’t come’ I used to wake up in a cold sweat.
The nightmare only stopped when the children left home!

That happened when I was 10 years old, etched forever in my memory.

Mum hurriedly said I must have been awake as Santa has left them in the cupboard.

Don’t do what I did one year, Grannygravy13 - drank so much Buck’s Fizz (a Christmas morning essential in this house) that I completely forgot the potatoes - hadn’t even put them on to parboil.

So dinner was at about 5, rather than 3 ish*. but TBH since everybody was that much more ready for it, we’ve had it at 5 or 6 ever since.
*The turkey did keep nice and hot, well wrapped up in foil and tea towels.

GG13 oh goodness your poor thing! I used to have that nightmare throughout the year, not just at Christmas!

Whitewave We had a similar problem in 2020. Ordered a large turkey and bought in food for 7. Then Boris imposed a shutdown and DH was rushed to hospital after a heart attack and on Christmas day DD and I peeped aat eachother over the 7kg turkey. On Boxing day we cut it in half lengthways and put half in the freezer. The turkey in its many manifestations lasted us until the end of June. The gammon we could freeze,

We’ll be a dozen for dinner but thankfully in my GSs newly purchased house which has more space for us. He’s happy to host if I cook the turkey and take it with me? everyone else will contribute a dish so it’s so much easier on everyone.

December is a nightmare, generally. We travel as much as we possibly can in November, December, and January.

Not Christmas. But I do have a reoccurring nightmare that I’m going on holiday and I haven’t arranged for anyone to look after the Guinea pigs. I haven’t had Guinea pigs for years. I’m sure that, if I hosted Christmas I’d have a similar nightmare about that.

The only year I've been really organised was the year I was expecting DC1 at Christmas.
Cards written, presents bought and wrapped by the end of October, food planned and Mum and Dad on standby to cook it all ?

I have never had nightmares about Christmas, but when I was pregnant with my first child, I kept having nightmares that we had gone on holiday, usually abroad, forgotten about the baby and left it behind.

December is a nightmare, generally. We travel as much as we possibly can in November, December, and January

Good idea! I used to travel to get away from the horrendous family christmas. Then I just TOLD my family I was travelling to get away from the entire shit show. Just left the phone on voicemail for two weeks.

M0nica

I have never had nightmares about Christmas, but when I was pregnant with my first child, I kept having nightmares that we had gone on holiday, usually abroad, forgotten about the baby and left it behind.

I did once leave my baby behind - dd1, only about 10 days old - I left her in Boots, having completely forgotten that I had her. Luckily I was meeting my mother soon afterwards - her horrified, ‘Where’s the baby?!’ sent me scooting back in a panic!
No harm done, thank goodness. Funny that I’ve never had a a nightmare about it, though.
Dd1 thinks it’s hilarious! Another sign that Mum is bonkers…

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas and I do question is it right to be broaching the subject of Christmas day meal so soon when I have all the time in the world to plan, organise, shop blah blah blah and my DD and partner both work and have busy lives.

The word nightmare doesn't fit anywhere in my sentences about Christmas. ?

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Some great ones here - love the forgotten baby one @witzend - makes us all feel more human about our own ones! I have forgotten to collect a child before and lost one temporarily in a shop but not left one in there!

One nightmare we had was I did a sainsburys order for all the Christmas food. Was working and it was arriving late evening on the 23rd and had loads coming. The driver unloaded everything and I was happily taking things in and then he said right that’s the lot - and I said but what about the meat? He hadn’t brought any of the meat. No Turkey, no ham, no bacon, no sausages, no pigs in blankets, no stuffing meat. Nothing.

Had to scoot around on Christmas Eve trying to find a Turkey, which was in very short supply that year, and ended up with a frozen one from the coop! Just a basic apology from sainsburys - not even a voucher or organising an emergency supply. Swapped after that!

We have six for Christmas Day this year and ten for Boxing Day - no idea what to feed them all yet - is two days on the trot of Christmas Day dinner feasible? the Boxing Day lot will be a proper dinner rather than just a a leftovers buffet so any suggestions welcome!

As I am having a hip replacement in November, 4 of us have booked Christmas Dinner out at a nice local restaurant. Feeling smug, but it didn’t go down well with my daughter who doesn’t live local!

I read the headline and thought the posts were going to be about the many people who will have a real nightmare about Christmas this year involving no food, no heating, no presents.

I'm very happy to cook, it's not that different to doing a roast really, just extra side dishes. My son, daughter and two of my grandchildren live close by and we do the present opening at her home so I'm spared the wrapping mess and very early start, she is spared the cooking.
We actually have a cockerel which is great because it isn't so huge, it's more moist and personally I think it tastes nicer. I do a small turkey crown for my husband who has a strange liking for tunkey breast.

(sorry, obviously mean "turkey" not tunkey....)