Wins and Fails of 2020 Holidays

[mommyoffive]

Do you have some wins and fails for the holiday season? 

 

So far

Fails

Ordered Kiwico boxes for all 5 kids, 4 came.  I feel bad for the one left out. 

Matching pjs that they got tonight, do not fit the oldest. 

Puppy ate some of the gingerbread houses that the kids just made today. 

 

Wins

I got a Christmas eve nap

 

[JustEm]

all our gifts came. we haven't opened anything so now idea on fails yet.

 

ds' bday was last week and a board game he got was missing half the cards needed to play 😞  

[mommyoffive]

7 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

all our gifts came. we haven't opened anything so now idea on fails yet.

 

ds' bday was last week and a board game he got was missing half the cards needed to play 😞  

Oh man that sucks.  I hope the company sends you a new set. 

[JustEm]

Just now, mommyoffive said:

Oh man that sucks.  I hope the company sends you a new set. 

they are.  it is just suppose to take 6 to 8 weeks to fulfill because of covid.  Thankfully, our closest friend has the game too and he told my son that he doesn't plan on playing anytime soon since it is a multiplayer game so he's going to lend it to him

[prairiewindmomma]

Preliminary win: I ordered pizza for all instead of making my usual fancy meal. We rarely order pizza, so this is a huge treat—and about the same cost as the brisket I would normally make. We even ate on paper plates (which we almost never use) to minimize cleanup. We are sitting down to watch episodes of The Mandalorian now. 

[mommyoffive]

1 minute ago, Margaret in CO said:

My kids all worked SO hard to find/make just the right things for their siblings and SOs. Some of the kids went together and got a small fridge for dd's bf's new shop here at the ranch One big hit was horsehair bracelets I had made for my two oldest girls, from their horses they lost this year. One was a sorrel and one a bay, so the red and black hair looks really cool together. Youngest made lovely wooden jewelry boxes for them. Youngest dd's bf really liked the 10 different kinds of licorice I found him--worked months on it. Fails? The fact that dh didn't even TRY to get me a present. 

Oh Margaret, I am so sorry.   Sending you a  bunch of hugs. 

[Just Kate]

6 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Preliminary win: I ordered pizza for all instead of making my usual fancy meal. We rarely order pizza, so this is a huge treat—and about the same cost as the brisket I would normally make. We even ate on paper plates (which we almost never use) to minimize cleanup. We are sitting down to watch episodes of The Mandalorian now. 

Along the same line...we ordered takeout from an Asian restaurant. We normally have dinner at my parents and since that wasn’t happening, I decided I didn’t want to cook. It was yummy, easy, and fun...and we have leftovers for tomorrow!

[Junie]

Fail: We were planning to watch Maleficent tonight.  Disney+ apparently removed it several weeks ago.  If I had known ahead of time I would have bought the dvd.

[mommyoffive]

4 minutes ago, Just Kate said:

Along the same line...we ordered takeout from an Asian restaurant. We normally have dinner at my parents and since that wasn’t happening, I decided I didn’t want to cook. It was yummy, easy, and fun...and we have leftovers for tomorrow!

We normally always have Asian takeout.  A night off cooking when there is so much to do is smart. 

[scbusf]

Wins:

I made GF cinnamon rolls today and they were so great! I have tried so many recipes in the last 5 years I've been GF and nothing was what I was hoping for. But the ones I made today are perfect!!!!

Also, I had every single thing wrapped BEFORE Christmas Eve!!!!

[Junie]

48 minutes ago, scbusf said:

Wins:

I made GF cinnamon rolls today and they were so great! I have tried so many recipes in the last 5 years I've been GF and nothing was what I was hoping for. But the ones I made today are perfect!!!!

Also, I had every single thing wrapped BEFORE Christmas Eve!!!!

Ahem.  Isn't there a rule about talking about how great something turned out and not sharing the recipe. 😉  I've been gluten free for a long time and can't remember the last time I had a good cinnamon roll.

Not that I bake... But dh bakes.  And he loves me.  And it's Christmas.  :)

[Guest]

Fails: I am missing several gifts. I intended to give fun/funny socks to each kid but I am missing four. I am also missing a clothing item for dd and a custom cutting board for a work associate of dh.  
I never sent out family cards. I did the Hive exchange and dh’s business holiday cards but that’s it; I never got around to ours. 
 

Wins: don’t really know that yet but there are several things I am very excited to give. 

[Tina]

7 minutes ago, Junie said:

Ahem.  Isn't there a rule about talking about how great something turned out and not sharing the recipe. 😉  I've been gluten free for a long time and can't remember the last time I had a good cinnamon roll.

Not that I bake... But dh bakes.  And he loves me.  And it's Christmas.  🙂

Yes, dil is GF, so I could use a good recipe!

[SounderChick]

Win play kitchen for toddler.  Fail communication their is another play kitchen under the tree.  

[mom2scouts]

Fails:

My DIL planned a virtual family Christmas Eve get together today. The one son who broke up with his long time girlfriend this year and will be totally alone on Christmas Day ended up having to work and couldn't join us. He tried to have it on the video while he worked, but he couldn't get sound and needed to focus on work anyway so he logged off.😟

I've been staying home and haven't been getting the few things I ordered, so I really didn't get DH a present this year. He and the kids gave me several small things, so I feel bad. We got a him a few small needs when we were shopping for the kids, but no surprises at all.

The two gifts for DS haven't arrived yet. He knows what they are, but it means he won't have any presents tomorrow other than some stocking stuffers like underwear and gum.

My 78 and 81 year old parents are really depressed about missing every holiday this year due to Covid. They don't have smart phones or computers, so we can't even do a video call with them.

Wins:

DS got a really funny book about Manhood from his oldest brother and the first new cellphone he's ever owned (he's 18) and he's happy.

[scbusf]

26 minutes ago, Junie said:

Ahem.  Isn't there a rule about talking about how great something turned out and not sharing the recipe. 😉  I've been gluten free for a long time and can't remember the last time I had a good cinnamon roll.

Not that I bake... But dh bakes.  And he loves me.  And it's Christmas.  🙂

Here it is: https://40aprons.com/gluten-free-cinnamon-rolls-cinnabon/

I used the Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 GF flour and I made the recipe exactly as written!!!!!

[Annie G]

Win: 

Bought the two youngest grands bikes and earlier this week were able to be outside, distanced, and watched them joyfully ride.  It’s been years since I was able to buy a bike for a kid...fun!!! 
 

Gifts wrapped and stockings stuffed before dark. Usually the Pope is winding up midnight mass when I finish. it helps that it’s just me, dh, and ds. 
 

Fail: 

Ordered personalized AirPods for dh. Big splurge for me to do that. Apple promised a covid safe hands free delivery. When they arrived (tracking didn’t indicate they were being delivered that day) the FedEx guy hands them to ds and loudly announces “delivery from Apple- someone’s getting AirPods!”  Then made me sign for them.  It was definitely not hands free...and I was this close to strangling the fedex guy, it really seemed like he was intentionally ruining the surprise, thinking it was for ds. But of course dh was right there. 

[Junie]

32 minutes ago, scbusf said:

Here it is: https://40aprons.com/gluten-free-cinnamon-rolls-cinnabon/

I used the Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 GF flour and I made the recipe exactly as written!!!!!

Thank you so much!

[Acorn]

Fails so far:

My brother and his wife agreed to isolate so that they could visit my parents who are in ill health. They both work from home and live in big city with all the curbside services etc. I guess my sil needed a girls lunch out. Then one of those friends tested positive. I guess the bright side is her friend tested positive before sil saw my parents. 
 

Wins: delicious cookies

[Drama Llama]

Win so far.

DH and my kids are fans of the Washington Football Team, the one that is currently named Football Team.  I am thrilled that they got rid of the old name but I also find the new name hilarious so for our “Christmas jammies” this year I got everyone shirts that say 

Giants

Eagles

Football Team 

Cowboys

and then made my boys pj pants in a coordinating fabric.  

The boys seemed to think they were funny too.

[happi duck]

32 minutes ago, Thatboyofmine said:

What the heck???  I think I'd file a complaint because that is nuts. 

I totally agree!

We have wine delivered via FedEx and since March we don't need to physically sign.  We verify that we're over 21 through the window.  

Also, why should the FedEx guy be commenting on what he's delivering?!?  Not okay!

(I'm not quick to complain especially with delivery people during covid but this guy was wasting time and spoiling a gift!)

[JustEm]

Biggest Christmas win so far.  While dh and I were getting the younger 3 to sleep, the older 3 were allowed to stay downstairs and wind down.  They spent their wind down time hanging Christmas lights all over our living room to surprise dh and me.   It was such a beautiful surprise. It doesn't beat their surprise from last year but man are they awesome kids. What is even better is the youngest three don't know it was done so it'll be a great surprise for them in the morning.

[TravelingChris]

5 hours ago, happi duck said:

I totally agree!

We have wine delivered via FedEx and since March we don't need to physically sign.  We verify that we're over 21 through the window.  

Also, why should the FedEx guy be commenting on what he's delivering?!?  Not okay!

(I'm not quick to complain especially with delivery people during covid but this guy was wasting time and spoiling a gift!)

We have had to sign a number of packages.

[JustEm]

no fails so far.

 

Biggest win so far is the mini drone ds7 got. He is a hard kid to please and has lots of anxiety about not getting things he'll like.  He's been playing with it for a good 20 minutes with the largest smile.  And I got that for him on a whim. He has now decided to give it a rest and try out the remote control car I got him.

 

[TravelingChris]

Total fail-  DD2 picked up packages and stocking stuffers on Wed later afternoon and early evening from our house, her brother's, and her sister"s and she drove back to her boyfriend's home in Birmingham, Al suburb and didn't unpack the car (most likely because she is even more exhausted that normal ((fibromyalgia))  because she is still very tired from COVID.  Why she didn't get her boyfriend to bring it in, I don't know.  Car was broken into with window smash, all of the main presents were taken-  camping gear.  The took the JellyBelly box of jelly beans we were giving the boyfriend.  It was raining a lot all night so some of the stuff may be ruined.  The biggest fail for me was in the stocking stuffer- I got her pepper spray now in the hands of a criminal.

Biggest Win- Her sister's packaging.  All those presents were untouched and not taken-  Her sister was packing things with duct tape at one point and even when she used regular tape, she tapes so much, that for normal Christmas packaging opening, you need to have a knife just to get the wrapping paper off.  DD1 is super proud that her packaging survived thieves.

[JustEm]

57 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

no fails so far.

 

Biggest win so far is the mini drone ds7 got. He is a hard kid to please and has lots of anxiety about not getting things he'll like.  He's been playing with it for a good 20 minutes with the largest smile.  And I got that for him on a whim. He has now decided to give it a rest and try out the remote control car I got him.

 

The remote control car is a bust.  It does not work at all

[PinkTulip]

DH’s gift to me this year is a pair of SmartWool ski socks. Which is an awesome gift, because they are super nice socks. Except he has given me the exact same gift for the last 8 years, so now I am the proud owner of 9 pairs of SmartWool ski socks. I have told him for years now that I have plenty of ski socks, but apparently, you can never have too many. Lol!

[Wheres Toto]

No super wins. 

Ds literally gave us no ideas this year.  He got an ipod since he mainly listens to music on his computer, which doesn't work too well for the car or outside.   He also got the Fit thing for Switch which he liked okay.   I think he was a little disappointed but since he gave us no ideas at all, not sure what he expected. 

Dd asked for My Little Pony movies and got them all on DVD.  We spent part of the morning figuring out how she could watch them.  I'm also letting her order some shirts or stickers or something for this years big fandom.  I wanted her to pick them out.  She was happy with her movies.

Older dd got a lockbox for important documents, cash, gift cards and was happy.  

[teachermom2834]

My 12 yo dd didn’t ask for much. Not into toys anymore or any electronics at all but still young enough to want some fun on Christmas. The thing she kept telling everyone she wanted was clothes and toys for her dog. So the first two presents she opened were from two of her big brothers. One gave her a nice collection of dog toys. The other one have her a football jersey for her dog. At that point I could see on her face that maybe presents for her dog weren’t what she really wanted. 
 

We had a lean Christmas but I think we got enough to make it fun for her. But I don’t think she is going to ask for dog toys and clothes again. 

[ScoutTN]

No fails. Everything was liked. The Hamilton sweatshirt Dd got for Ds is too small and needs to be exchanged.

Faves: 

Falcons jersey, mini drone, GPS, Exploding Kittens, and chocolate for Ds.
UT mug and nalgene for dh.
Jammies, Let's Do Art box, LOTR hardbacks, and jewelry for Dd. 
Pretty tea mug, wraps to wear with dressy clothes, and Christmas mugs for me. 
 

Family: new laptop and printer. Not really Christmas, just needed to be replaced, but so glad to have them!

 

[Annie G]

6 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

We have had to sign a number of packages.

I think we usually have to sign for Apple purchases but they specifically said no contact delivery so assumed they’d just leave it.  We rarely get things from FedEx so it just stunned me.  Our porch has a side door where delivery folks enter and they usually leave it inside that door on. Spot specifically designed for packages. Nope. This guy walked 20 more feet and banged on the door.

[TravelingChris]

6 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

Total fail-  DD2 picked up packages and stocking stuffers on Wed later afternoon and early evening from our house, her brother's, and her sister"s and she drove back to her boyfriend's home in Birmingham, Al suburb and didn't unpack the car (most likely because she is even more exhausted that normal ((fibromyalgia))  because she is still very tired from COVID.  Why she didn't get her boyfriend to bring it in, I don't know.  Car was broken into with window smash, all of the main presents were taken-  camping gear.  The took the JellyBelly box of jelly beans we were giving the boyfriend.  It was raining a lot all night so some of the stuff may be ruined.  The biggest fail for me was in the stocking stuffer- I got her pepper spray now in the hands of a criminal.

Biggest Win- Her sister's packaging.  All those presents were untouched and not taken-  Her sister was packing things with duct tape at one point and even when she used regular tape, she tapes so much, that for normal Christmas packaging opening, you need to have a knife just to get the wrapping paper off.  DD1 is super proud that her packaging survived thieves.

Actually the JellyBelly beans weren't taken nor the book about photographers published by Phaidon which I got her at one of the Art Museums we visited on our 35th anniversary trip and I couldn't\t remember exact price.   And of course, place where car would be taken to for estimate and repairs was closed.  But the jerks smashed the window and edges were jagged and they took one of the sweaters I was getting her and used it as a shield for their hands and not only did it get soaked from the giant rains but also full of glass too.

[kristin0713]

Fail. I feel that I totally failed my DD. We got her a Taylor guitar, an amazing guitar, but it was the “wrong” guitar. The one she really wanted wasn’t available. We waited too long, and being in the middle of a move put shopping on the back burner. We got her one that is almost what she wanted but just is not it.  She had such anxiety about being disappointed on Christmas, too. We should have talked to her about it but DH is so stuck on “surprises” and doesn’t understand that surprises don’t mesh with people who have anxiety and OCD. He’s bent because he thinks she should be grateful that we got her this amazing and expensive guitar. She’s disappointed and sad. And maybe it’s also my fault that she’s not just grateful for it anyway. 

[Terabith]

58 minutes ago, kristin0713 said:

Fail. I feel that I totally failed my DD. We got her a Taylor guitar, an amazing guitar, but it was the “wrong” guitar. The one she really wanted wasn’t available. We waited too long, and being in the middle of a move put shopping on the back burner. We got her one that is almost what she wanted but just is not it.  She had such anxiety about being disappointed on Christmas, too. We should have talked to her about it but DH is so stuck on “surprises” and doesn’t understand that surprises don’t mesh with people who have anxiety and OCD. He’s bent because he thinks she should be grateful that we got her this amazing and expensive guitar. She’s disappointed and sad. And maybe it’s also my fault that she’s not just grateful for it anyway. 

Guitars are very personal.  I had a friend post about how he recently bought himself a Martin, played it for three days or so, and it just wasn't clicking, so he returned it and bought a Taylor.  Is it possible to exchange it for the guitar she really wants?  

Please don't be mad at her for not being grateful.  I'm sure she's grateful for the thought, but anxiety and OCD is just so hard, and the fact that it's an expensive guitar that she doesn't really want is probably making her feel guilty and upset, too, because she's probably trying to be grateful, but guitars are something that need to fit the player.  

[Terabith]

Small fail but not a huge deal:  I ordered the weird lollipops from the weird gifts thread, including the breast milk flavor.  They in no way taste like breast milk.  We haven't tried the other flavors, but I have my suspicions.  

Anyway, very small deal, more of a novelty curiosity, but not what we had hoped.  

Everything else seems to be fairly good, so far.  Kids seem pleased with their small stacks of loot, and Obama the cat is very pleased with his catnip fish in the style of Jackson Pollock.  He hasn't tried out his cat bed, but the old cat bed took weeks before they got over their suspicions about new furniture and now it's their favorite thing ever, so I'm hopeful the new cat bed will be okay in time.  

[kristin0713]

13 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Guitars are very personal.  I had a friend post about how he recently bought himself a Martin, played it for three days or so, and it just wasn't clicking, so he returned it and bought a Taylor.  Is it possible to exchange it for the guitar she really wants?  

Please don't be mad at her for not being grateful.  I'm sure she's grateful for the thought, but anxiety and OCD is just so hard, and the fact that it's an expensive guitar that she doesn't really want is probably making her feel guilty and upset, too, because she's probably trying to be grateful, but guitars are something that need to fit the player.  

I’m not mad at her at all. I totally understand her disappointment. I’m mad at myself for not being on the ball and pretty much leaving it to DH. We are going to exchange it, but the one she really wanted was not available anywhere in the country so I’m not sure what we can do. 

[kristin0713]

9 minutes ago, Seasider too said:

Aw, that’s hard. I know my musician kids are also that particular about instruments. The right one is the right one, especially when getting into higher quality/price levels. Can you exchange it?

I wouldn’t assume she’s simply ungrateful. You say she is anxious, I imagine on top of that she feels bad for being disappointed but can’t not feel disappointed. That’s a load of emotions. Maybe when the current situation settles, you can have a talk about expectations (thinking about what you said about her being anxious ahead of time about being disappointed). 

I totally agree. I just also feel like a mom fail for not having super grateful kids—that’s more DH’s comments getting to me. 

[Terabith]

2 minutes ago, kristin0713 said:

I’m not mad at her at all. I totally understand her disappointment. I’m mad at myself for not being on the ball and pretty much leaving it to DH. We are going to exchange it, but the one she really wanted was not available anywhere in the country so I’m not sure what we can do. 

Will it become available at a later time?

[Emba]

Two kitchen fails before 9 a.m. I usually Can make things work and have few true fails but these were both food ruined, had to be thrown out, fails.

 Wins: successful homemade pie crust from a recipe I’ve only used once. Green bean casserole turned out great.

 Presents all seem to be appreciated, no fails there. 

Edited December 25, 2020 by Emba

[kristin0713]

9 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Will it become available at a later time?

I don’t know because DH did the ordering and substituting. They are going to Guitar Center tomorrow to see what they can do. 

[Kareni]

6 minutes ago, Seasider too said:

I’m going to pour a glass of wine and have a sip for all the fails today. A toast to all the efforts and a wish for disappointments to quickly pass. 

Ditto! Though I'll be drinking hot chocolate.

Regards,

Kareni

[happi duck]

8 minutes ago, kristin0713 said:

I don’t know because DH did the ordering and substituting. They are going to Guitar Center tomorrow to see what they can do. 

Taylor guitars are also sold at independently owned shops all over the country.  An independent shop might have a better chance of tracking down what you want.  If there's not one in your area I'm guessing a shop would happily work with you long distance.

The Taylor website has dealer information including, if I'm reading it right, online dealers. https://www.taylorguitars.com/dealers

 

[MercyA]

28 minutes ago, kristin0713 said:

I just also feel like a mom fail for not having super grateful kids

That's just not true, period. 

I have OCD and I know exactly how your daughter feels and it has nothing to do with gratitude or appreciation. I asked my DH not to get me Christmas gifts (even though he is happy to do so), in part because I (especially before I was medicated) had a lot of anxiety around it. 

[mom2scouts]

9 hours ago, hjffkj said:

The remote control car is a bust.  It does not work at all

Remote control cars almost always require you to charge them before first use. It's annoying, but the car may work fine.

[Toocrazy!!]

Wins- Rubik’s cube connect. These are cool! And lego technic set. 18 year old boys still really want toys it seems. 
 

fails- my attempt at bread machine dinner rolls. Not sure what happened there, but they were a disaster. 

[Acadie]

Fails--the Brie en croute appetizer took longer to cook than the main course, and I made too much food Christmas Eve. Why do I always do this, no matter what size crowd? Will simplify next year, I swear! Dh and I had a fight 2 days before Christmas that was still in the air Christmas Eve 😞 

Wins--My dds were delighted with their gifts, purple shampoo which dd14 kissed upon opening, a Garmin for my xc runner, a hair straightener just for pandemic kicks, and dumbbells for all of us. It was a cozy day, 15 inches of snow falling and nowhere we needed to be except a couple extended family Zooms, which were extra precious because FIL was discharged from the hospital last night after a stroke. They got him to the ER early and he's doing fairly well, considering. The sweetness of the day dissolved the last residue of the argument with dh.

And it's still in the oven, but I'm going to call the roasted lamb rubbed with sumac and garlic a win in advance. It smells like heaven! 

[teachermom2834]

Prime rib for Christmas Eve was a win. I had posted asking for help because I wasn't sure what to do with the 14 pound rib roast I had. Decided on a reverse sear method. It took longer than I expected to cook and I got nervous but it was delicious. Prime rib sandwiches for lunch today also a hit. I'm always eager for a cook once, eat twice deal especially at the holidays. 

 

[kristin0713]

1 hour ago, happi duck said:

Taylor guitars are also sold at independently owned shops all over the country.  An independent shop might have a better chance of tracking down what you want.  If there's not one in your area I'm guessing a shop would happily work with you long distance.

The Taylor website has dealer information including, if I'm reading it right, online dealers. https://www.taylorguitars.com/dealers

 

Thanks, yes he did call Taylor directly and they told him there was only one and it was damaged. They recommended a similar model and shipped it to our local Guitar Center. Really he should have just told her and involved her in the process but he didn’t want her to know she was definitely getting one. I would do this totally differently if I could go back but we just need to move forward now. Thanks everyone, I appreciate the encouraging words. I don’t mean to take over the thread!

[Junie]

We had lots of wins here: Baby Yoda comforter, Olaf toy for dear niece (I love him! I need him!), Harry Potter dvd collection, pretty much everything that dd16 got was a win.

Dinner was a win -- rotisserie chicken, instant potatoes, canned cranberry sauce -- and dh basically took care of all of it.

We had just the right amount of snow -- a dusting.

And a couple of fails: American Girl outfit that they already have, computer game that ds20 wants (the only thing on his list) hasn't come out yet, a necklace that I bought online that isn't quite what we wanted.

Some of my kids are very, very easy to buy for and some of them are very hard.  This year was especially hard since I did all of the shopping online.

[livetoread]

Fail: I took my brownies out of the oven, but wasn't sure they were done. They were in a glass baking pan, and knowing how sticky they can be to pans, I thought, what's the harm in turning it up to take a peek at the bottom of the pan? They were done, but 3/4 fell out onto the stove and part way into the oven, so we scraped up what we could and had brownie mash with our ice cream and hot fudge, lol.