Jump to content

Menu

Okay, I'm ready for your train wreck Christmas stories!


Recommended Posts

Who invites a houseful of kids to Christmas dinner and serves asparagus?? :lol:

 

Me... :001_smile:

 

We don't eat chicken nuggets or hot dogs at home. For Christmas dinner we had pretty typical fare: turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, stuffing, various vegetable dishes, etc. Nothing special for the kiddos. They are used to eating what the grown ups eat (we also don't do kid's meals at restaurants).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who invites a houseful of kids to Christmas dinner and serves asparagus?? :lol:

 

We would! My kids LOVE asparagus. (And they'd be over the moon with prime rib, too.)

 

It may be all in the way it is cooked? We roast it in the oven, dribbled in olive oil, and sprinkled with breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. YUM!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

These are fun and kind of sad to read.

 

Here's ours:

 

We left Friday for a 6 hour trip to see my family. It was snowing and bitter cold. We stopped to check air pressure...husband got out and then knocked on my window to hand him some change. I pushed the lever to lower the window and the motor died with our window down. We bought duct tape (because well you know if it worked for McGuyver....) And we got back on the road. Half hour later found out hubs didn't have it taped correctly as it came off on the interstate and boy was that cold to the next exit. Retaped... looking supremely white trash has my hubby put it and went on our way only to have my 4 year old decide he was tired of being in the car and peed in his seat before we could get to an exit.

 

Our actual Christmas was great...travelling NOT AT ALL. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My 4-year-old son came down with a stomach virus... during a skit at the Christmas Eve service. He moaned that his tummy hurt and then vomited violently all over dh. Dh was frozen, not knowing what to do (I was in the back of the church with the baby, blissfully ignorant of the situation). After sitting there for about 30 seconds covered in puke, dh gathered our four eldest children (including crying sick child) and left (as did I, when I realized what was going on).

 

We stared at each other in the car after we had made our escape and agreed that it was surreal. The timing was just crazy! Who throws up in church on Christmas Eve?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Who invites a houseful of kids to Christmas dinner and serves asparagus?? :lol:

 

Me too! My kids love asparagus, and prime rib too. They'll never know they love it if they only ever eat hot dogs and mac/chz.

 

I don't think you realize that the sadness at the end of Christmas outweighs the joy.

 

How profound! I have to agree with her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This Christmas was like every other, where we spend the late morning at my parents' house where everyone is shouting over each other and bossing each other around. Very stressful.

 

I was a little sore at my 9-year-old nephew because he tossed my gift on the ground without any acknowledgment. He's old enough to at least pretend to be grateful even if he's really just a pill. So I wasn't terribly sympathetic when when he got scratched in the face by my 3-year-old. My nephew had been dangling a ribbon in front of his face while my son tried to grab it, and I warned him that he could end up with a fingernail in the eye and should stop. Of course he didn't, because he doesn't listen to anyone, and got scratched. I didn't see it, but my BIL approached me and told me, "Just so you know, Noel scratched Greg right across the face." At that point Greg was reading happily so I told BIL that I had warned Greg it would happen, and asked if he wanted me to do something about it? He said no, he just wanted me to be aware. Five minutes later Greg is in his dad's lap crying about the scratch, my mom runs to get him ice, and everyone is asking what happened. I was beyond fried from the busy day and said, loudly, "Greg insisted on dangling a ribbon in front of his face for Noel to grab even after I told him not to, and got scratched."

 

I did apologize to both my sister and BIL, but I felt pretty rotten. The kid may be a pill but that doesn't mean I get to act like a jerk. I kinda want to take his birthday present back to the store and give him socks, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My kids were fine with it, but we had 4 grandkids there between the ages of 2 and 4. Not a chicken nugget, macaroni & cheese dish, or hot dog in sight.

 

Who invites a houseful of kids to Christmas dinner and serves asparagus?? :lol:

 

My children have never had Chicken Nuggets or Mac & Cheese. As for Hot Dogs.. are they classified as a food?:001_huh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOL! I already told my sister I got him a Nerf gun, and she's not the type of person who would think it was a good learning experience for him to get socks when he acts ungrateful, so I guess I have to give it to him. Next year, though, he gets something ugly.

 

The gift he was so rude about was a complete MagiQuest costume, for crying out loud, and they're going to Great Wolf Lodge in a couple of weeks. The same outfit sold for $55 in the store (I got it for $1 because it was discontinued). My middle kiddo (same age) was thrilled that he got one too and put it on right away. Of course my sister issues a very specific wish list every year, and ONLY wants stuff on her list. She is known to give you back a gift you gave her if she doesn't want it. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My "train wreck" happened last year and the offending aunt wasn't there this year, so by comparison, this year went pretty well.

 

Holiday train wrecks are all relative, aren't they? These days we usually compare ours to the year SIL's dog reached up on the counter and ate the Christmas ham while we were opening gifts. FIL (the one with the Ultra Clean Genes) made the discovery when he went to his room and found she'd heaved all over the carpeting.

 

That year has gone down in family lore as "The year Maggie ate the Christmas ham."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The week prior to Christmas, ds and dh and oldest dd all got a stomach flu. Called MIL to warn her "Think about changing plans, I'll keep you updated." She went and immediately canceled their hotel ressies and invited friends they don't really like anymore to their house for Christmas dinner. They are coming the weekend of Jan 7 now. I'm sure she will complain that I didn't leave Christmas decorations up. But I always take them down before we start school again.

 

Now my folks are supposed to stop on their way from Atlanta to their house. Middle dd has a fever. So I don't know if they will stop for my birthday, tomorrow, or not. Well, they will at least stop, I don't know if they'll spend the night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a stomach virus Thursday and Christmas Eve. By evening Christmas Eve I was feeling better, mostly because I'd taken y'all's advice and decided to take it easy for Christmas and not worry about the big dinner, the relatives, the big gifts. DH had gone out and gotten a few things, I'd gotten him a gift or two, it was all good, right?

 

Saturday I woke up feeling great. So DH and his mom expected a full-on Christmas - gifts, dinner, the works. My MIL is Muslim so she's never really seen a "real" Christmas in action. She was excited - and brought over a sleigh full of gifts that I had no idea about. I think she was saving them for New Years but with my recovery she wanted to do Christmas.

 

Did you know that there really are grocery stores open on Christmas Day? I went out, bought groceries, and cooked a roast beef (never done that before), twice baked potatoes, roasted vegetables, etc.

 

And DH wondered why I very nearly passed out when the day was finished. And felt like cr@p. And thought I was relapsing.

 

Oh - and MIL gave us a Playmobil farm/ranch set that has about 10,000 little tiny pieces that all must be put together before DD can play with it. I called my mom and thanked her for giving DD "ready to go gifts". DD loves her paints, her puzzibit toy, etc. The Playmobil thingy might be ready for Summer Break!:tongue_smilie:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a stomach virus Thursday and Christmas Eve. By evening Christmas Eve I was feeling better, mostly because I'd taken y'all's advice and decided to take it easy for Christmas and not worry about the big dinner, the relatives, the big gifts. DH had gone out and gotten a few things, I'd gotten him a gift or two, it was all good, right?

 

Saturday I woke up feeling great. So DH and his mom expected a full-on Christmas - gifts, dinner, the works. My MIL is Muslim so she's never really seen a "real" Christmas in action. She was excited - and brought over a sleigh full of gifts that I had no idea about. I think she was saving them for New Years but with my recovery she wanted to do Christmas.

 

Did you know that there really are grocery stores open on Christmas Day? I went out, bought groceries, and cooked a roast beef (never done that before), twice baked potatoes, roasted vegetables, etc.

 

And DH wondered why I very nearly passed out when the day was finished. And felt like cr@p. And thought I was relapsing.

 

Oh - and MIL gave us a Playmobil farm/ranch set that has about 10,000 little tiny pieces that all must be put together before DD can play with it. I called my mom and thanked her for giving DD "ready to go gifts". DD loves her paints, her puzzibit toy, etc. The Playmobil thingy might be ready for Summer Break!:tongue_smilie:

 

Despite the fatigue it sounds like you were able to pull it off! I hope you are all feeling totally better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some of the stories. Wow.

 

Let's see. Pretty tame here. My aunt called me on the 26th and chewed me out for 1) calling my cousin before calling her 2) because she heard from my mom that unless I know my uncle is not contagious (he has TB and is coughing blood) that I don't want to visit them because of my kids.

 

Apparently, those are two very good reasons to call me up and yell at me, and without once saying Merry Christmas.

 

Oh, and later in the day I had to take my youngest to the urgent care because DH dropped a log on his head. He's ok. Just needed some Dermabond. :001_smile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Guest off meds. :001_huh:

 

Oh, I've had to suffer through more of those holidays than I'd care to remember. Of course, with so many rightly medicated relatives, one is bound to be off meds at any given gathering. We stayed home this year, but my mother recounted the family Christmas eve get together for me. This year, rather than being off meds, my grandmother over mediated on prednisone of all things. Her roid rage was focussed on my poor aunt, who has been the only one brave enough to try to step in on her management of her health (which is clearly not going all that well). If I lived closer, I would have my aunt's back. Who cares about being written out of the will.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a house full of kiddos and hubby with the flu. It started Thursday with my 22 month old and then it progressed to my 6 year old on Christmas eve and then my 10 year old and hubby on Christmas morning. My oldest son and I were the only ones able to make it through without getting sick. All of our family get togethers were canceled. A ton of food was wasted. Presents sat under the tree unponed because the kids were too sick to care about them. I went three nights with very little sleep, so I could take care of the sick kiddos. I was exhausted by Sunday with all of the laundry, cleaning, changing clothes, taking temperatures, keeping track of medicine, trips to the walgreens, etc.. It wasn't a great Christmas, but it is one that I will never forget.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My mil got my dh a remote controlled car (he's 34). He opened it and thought it was for our son and she said "no, that's yours! you can race it!" She also gave all of us adults a slinky. It's the thought that counts, right?

 

We have two guys in our cul-de-sac who are in their 30's who race remote controlled cars. They have a blast! And no, they won't let the kids touch them. . .:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

.

 

Who invites a houseful of kids to Christmas dinner and serves asparagus?? :lol:

 

Me. We had 5 extra kids over on Christmas and it would never, ever have occurred to me to make chicken nuggets or mac n cheese or hot dogs for Christmas! Good heavens. The kids all ate what was presented (traditional American fare-turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, corn, asparagus, dressing, cranberries) with no complaints.

 

Me! We had beef tenderloin and asparagus for Christmas dinner and the kids LOVED it. That doesn't seem like a gaffe at all. I can't imagine serving nuggets, mac n cheese or hot dogs at Christmas dinner. I don't want to seem snarky, as our diets are far from perfect, but it seems like her expectations were normal and perhaps your grandkids' diets need a shift.

 

:iagree:

 

 

My story isn't that bad, except that we (me, James Bond, my mom and step dad) were all up at 7:30 on Christmas morning and Indy was still asleep! I was about to go wake him up when James Bond decided to go shovel the sidewalk. :001_huh: We had to wait for him to finish before we could get Indy up. I went in around 8:15 and woke him up to open his presents.

 

My mom and stepdad have been here since Dec 7 and are driving me mad. They don't like the cold, don't like German food, anything that's not "the way it is in America," or almost anything I cook, don't like the TV we get (our stations are limited) and are "bored." They don't want to visit more castles or museums and don't want to shop. Well, that's what Germany has in abundance. We went down to Garmisch for a week (it's in the German Alps) and they took a bus tour to Neuschwanstein Castle. I did not go (being pregnant is exhausting and I needed to rest, plus I've been there 5 times), and when they got back I asked Indy how it was. He said it was great except that they "sure do complain a lot." Out of the mouth of babes. They are constantly complaining and it is driving me mad! When my mom wants to do something, she wants to do it when she wants to do it and gets mad and pouts if we don't. Mornings are not good for me (I'm so tired and frequently have an upset stomach in the mornings) so I prefer to do stuff in the afternoon. She gets mad because she likes to do them in the mornings. Yesterday I had to go buy Indy some new clothes (the boy just keeps growing!) and she wanted to go in the morning. I told her I wasn't going to go until the afternoon (because I wasn't feeling well) and she got mad. She decided to stay here and mope in the afternoon instead of going with us and was mad at me all evening. :confused: They're here for another 2 weeks! If I don't kill them, I'll deserve a medal. My mom wants to come back for a month when I have the baby, but James Bond says 2 weeks is the limit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Me. We had 5 extra kids over on Christmas and it would never, ever have occurred to me to make chicken nuggets or mac n cheese or hot dogs for Christmas! Good heavens. The kids all ate what was presented (traditional American fare-turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, corn, asparagus, dressing, cranberries) with no complaints.

 

 

Since I have been lambasted for my post about the dinner, I want to say that the grandkids would've eaten what you posted! Corn, mashed potatoes, turkey or ham would've been great!

 

There was only prime rib - and big slabs of it - which was hard for the 2 year olds to literally eat.

 

Asparagus was THE only vegetable on the table. (I don't care for it myself, but my hubby and kids love it).

 

And there were scalloped potatoes with cheese, which the little ones were able to eat successfully.

 

I suppose my :001_huh: moment was that there wasn't a 'kid-friendly alternative'. Not that the meal should've consisted of chicken nuggets and mac & cheese, but that something would've been offered that would've had more appeal for the younger ones as a side-dish / substitute entree.

 

And this party took place on the day after Christmas, not Christmas day. This was the family get-together and, usually, we have a 'buffet spread' (ham and turkey sandwiches, veggie tray, stuffing balls, Chick-Fil-A nuggets, fruit bowl, etc.). So I think the menu took many of the family members by surprise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...