Holidays + being CF = awesome!

This time of year I'm extra glad I didn't have kids. So much of holiday stress is optional.

Well, all of it is, really. One can opt out entirely. But I do like some Christmas things, and because I don't have kids I can pick and choose. No kiddie events to attend, no presents to buy for kids. No January debt. I don't travel for the holidays very much anymore, because of expense and crowds. I see my family at other times. We've even opted out of 90 percent of the gatherings w/ Mr. Random's side of the family (they're mostly local) because many of them can't be arsed to actually directly invite us. Relying on other family members' word of mouth is lazy and tacky. So that excuses us from the parties thrown by two of his most dysfunctional siblings.

I get to make holiday treats and presents if I feel like it (most years I do), buy Mr. Random a present if I see something awesome (this is my philosophy about presents in general, not just xmas), take some time off, watch movies, etc. Sometimes we have a fancy Christmas dinner with friends and family, sometimes not. Last year was Chinese food and movies and board games and drinks. Holidays mean some freedom and relaxation.

One friend complained on her FB that she just wants to be past Christmas already. I admit I did a great big when I read that. She's one who over-programs her life, so I'm sure her kid-centric holidays suck after a few weeks. No sympathy. But I'll keep an eye on her page if I want some schadenfreude!

I am having the most low key Christmas ever and it is awesome. The only holiday stress that I have had is that my dad’s present got lost in the fucking mail and I had to play the bug ups and the company that I got it from game for like 3 days to finally get it.

My holiday plan is pretty much the Doctor Who Christmas special. The BBC gave me a great gift: finally the Doctor is a woman.

My work is divided between a few CF/CL people who see the holidays as an excuse to take time off to go drinking and parents who are completely stressed out about it. The parents know enough not to bitch because everyone else will give them hell because I work with a bunch of incredibly blunt humans

I'm the same way as you are with gifts. If I see the perfect thing, or I have a great idea, I get it just because. No obligatory gift-giving. Today I'm cooking for a dinner I'll have with friends tomorrow. That's not stressful because I like dinner parties and since I don't have all these random activities to fill my time, it's been an especially relaxed preparation with the whole weekend for it.

I say that CF and single is not a bad thing either. Only one set of relatives to visit, fewer people to convince that useless gifts are just that, useless.

I'm on call for the two weeks we're off. No big deal, I plan on dividing the time between finishing inputting OSHA reports and working with glass. Finally got my kiln fixed so I plan to play with that. Spent a week in Nokomis with Corina Tettinger for the last Beadcamp since it's, unfortunately, closing permanently after May. It was weird though being the youngest person there and one of two people CF (Corina Tettinger is also CF which was cool). Most of their conversations revolved around kids and I couldn't help but think how boring your life is to only have that to talk about. It felt really awesome to just be able to go on that trip without having to worry about kids. I almost feel sorry for parents....almost. This time of year is murder for them and all I can do is smile.

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"It is better not to look like what you are; it is better to look like a bourgeois woman because then all the doors are open for you and then you can just go and make hell." - Marjane Satrapi

And adding a link to some of the stuff she does. It's awesome:

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"It is better not to look like what you are; it is better to look like a bourgeois woman because then all the doors are open for you and then you can just go and make hell." - Marjane Satrapi

Quiet here too. Made a simple dinner for me and hubby... then we watched some old home videos of Christmas when my parents were still living. We do this at least every other year and never tire of watching my parents open the same gifts over and over... with their laughter preserved over the years.

Tomorrow we'll open a few gifts, have another nice dinner and then maybe some games. Have to finish wrapping a few things as we will have our official gift unwrapping on new years eve. That is when nephew will be here. Yeah, I had to buy a few kyd things...but no toys. I got the kyd some clothes...you know.. useful things. Found some great things for her at Goodwill. Practically new as kyds grow out of things so fast. I was not about to pay full price for any of it when I could get her a pile of clothes for only $12. LOL If her spoiled bratt moo doesn't like it... tough tiddlywinks. The stuff is really cute.

After that we will see the new year in with a group of good friends at an adult party.

Mr. M6 and I are enjoying a nice, quiet day today. I'm making a prime rib for dinner, and we're going to sit around and drink Irish cream and open our gifts.

To my fellow CF grinches: Merry fuckin' Christmas!

I don't celebrate this holiday, it lost it's luster when my mother died.

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Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!

We don't have kid stress either on Christmas, which is really nice. The last year and a half have been hard since our house had 3 feet of water in August 2016 and after firing the contractor, we did much of the repair work ourselves. We still have some cosmetic work to do, but we're almost done.

We planned to cook at home, but it kind of snuck up on us, so we went to the Christmas buffet at a local casino and dropped a few dollars in the video poker machines. This casino has the buffet inside the gaming area, so nobody under age 21 and get to it, so there are never any kids there, the food was outstanding and of course, we ate too much.

Now it's back to our peaceful home to play on our computers and watch TV.

Sure beats dealing with the pandemonium of critical family members, screaming kids, etc.

To all on this CF forum, I hope your Christmas was merry and non-stressful, and may the New Year be a 1,000% improvement over 2017 for all of us!

My Christmas Day consisted of sleeping in, followed by a leisurely breakfast with Mr. Random. We played D&D Online for a bit, then had a friend over for board games, massive Chinese take-out feast, and Netflix. It was awesome. After Friend went home, we put away leftovers and had a nice relaxing evening together. This morning Mr. Random went back to work happy & rested...I know some of his co-workers will be moaning about self-inflicted holiday shit, but he'll just nod sympathetically while inwardly gloating.

Hope everyone else had a good holiday.

Unfortunately this year, Christmas was very stressful and i really wished i was somewhere else. FIL died unexpectedly this summer after a heart attack and MIL's condition started deteriorating fast. She has lost her memory and she became like a small child, she cannot take care of herself anymore and she needs supervision most of the time. Of course, all the duties fell on on DH who is also taking care of the grandparents. And he also goes to work meanwhile.

Other siblings have their own lives and they come and help only when they have time. His little brother helps how he can but he has his own health problems and he cannot do much. We needed to hire a nurse to come from time to time to check on MIL to see if everything is fine but the costs are quite high. MIL was a SHAM most of her life, never learned to be independent and this can be very well seen now.

Spending Christmas with an adult who acts like a small child is not fun at all. Especially when you knew her and saw with your own eyes how her health deteriorated. It's like she's a total different person and we cannot get along with her anymore.

BlackPearl, sorry to hear about your challenges. You and your DH are very empathetic for being able to take on so much at once. I wish you guys a better New Year, I hope things get better in some way, somehow.

Damn, blackpearl, I'm sorry about all you and your spouse are dealing with. I hope he's holding up okay, and that you guys can get the support and help you need. You're both really compassionate and kind to step up and care for his mother.

sorry blackpearl. my own moo died christmas eve last year. mixed feelings, but it is something I think about from time to time. your mil may also be unable to cope with the loss and has retreated that way as well. many times, the loss of a spouse, the other sadly follows suit close after. goodluck.
I was invited to bosses house christmas eve. they were being nice as I think I am something of a hermit. the house was chock full of kids. at one point I thought 'thank god I can go home to peace and quiet.'

two cents ¢¢

CERTIFIED HOSEHEAD!!!

people (especially women) do not give ONE DAMN about what they inflict on children and I defy anyone to prove me wrong

Dysfunctional relationships almost always have a child. The more dysfunctional, the more children.

The selfish wants of adults outweigh the needs of the child.

Some mistakes cannot be fixed, but some mistakes can be 'fixed'.

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. Leo J. Burke

Adoption agencies have strict criteria (usually). Breeders, whose combined IQ's would barely hit triple digits, have none.

Blackpearl, what you're going through is rough. The siblings should help, but they don't. I went through something like that some years back with my old mother.

You will get through this.

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mumofsixbirds
Mr. M6 and I are enjoying a nice, quiet day today. I'm making a prime rib for dinner, and we're going to sit around and drink Irish cream and open our gifts.

To my fellow CF grinches: Merry fuckin' Christmas!

Merry Belated Christmas, mo6b

We drove to a swanky resort on Christmas Day. Think snow, think cold. We come back home in a couple of days. Everything here is about winter sports. Our jobs are so stressful, and we haven't done a real vacaton in a long time, so we booked this last year to be able to guarantee one of their cheaper rooms.

It was -10F last night at 8 p.m. and we were out in the cold. It's going to be warmer today, so we are going snowshoing all day, then it's off to the hot tub in the evening.

I know that this type of cold weather doesn't suit many people, but it works for us.

Happy New Year, bratfree!

Merry Belated Christmas to you too, Peace! Sounds like your holiday is beautiful!

There's no time like Christmas to remind me how GLAD I am not to worry about brats. Going Christmas shopping for a few members of my family, I saw how miserable the moos and duhs were with their shriektards, and I couldn't wait to get home to my peaceful environment, put on some nice classic Christmas music and have a drink. I couldn't imagine the meltdowns and bs that parunts have to deal with at this time of year.

Not us, no sirreee....we get to enjoy the holidays on our terms, without some little dictator telling us what to do.

Happy New Year, bratfree!

Thank you all for the encouragement. It's hard to adapt to the situation but we are doing our best like taking one day at a time. I can't even really imagine having kids right now, it would have been a total nightmare.

I do wish everybody a better year than the previous!