Christmas 2004 dawned bright and hot. I was sharing a house with two of my cousins, who all had somewhere to be on Christmas, so had left the night before. I went out to our pitiful 20cm-high tree and opened the one present I already knew was under there – a purse from my cousin that I chose. Santa was nowhere to be found.
I went to work. At that point in my life, I cleaned guest rooms at a resort, rooms that this day were filled with Christmas cheer, wrapping paper, and happy families enjoying holidays in the sunshine. I cleaned their toilets and I vaccuumed their carpets and I was the epitome of Christmas cheer. Then as I was driving to my empty house, I could see people out in their decorated garages and yards, eating, laughing and having fun with each other. I went home and sat on my single mattress on the floor of my closet-sized bedroom and cried into my cat.
Gosh I wish I was kidding, but that’s legitimately what I did! So funny. Anyway, as I was laying there bemoaning my fate, my phone beeped with a text message from a friend’s parents wishing me a happy Christmas. One thing led to another and they invited me out to their house for lunch, seeing as I was alone. I almost said no, because my ex boyfriend was there and we weren’t breaking up very nicely.
Fast forward to too many beers (not me), yelling in front of my friend’s parents and their whole family, including small children (again, not me), tears (me), and driving home alone before the day was done to eat a solo dinner and probably a bit more crying (me).
Oh the misery! Oh the hilarity! Do tell me your Christmas horror stories 🙂
This is one of the things I hate about holidays. Would you day have been a particularly bad one if it weren’t Christmas? Besides the argument with your ex I would say no.
I love holidays don’t gete wrong, I just hate the pressure for the day to be particularly special which almost immediately has you fighting a battle for it to be special. And sometimes us fighting for things to be a certain way just makes it not that way at all if that makes sense?
I’m sorry that you spent your Christmas alone and that the small part of it you enjoyed others company your ex had to ruin that for you. I bet some of your best Christmases involve your girls x
Um, yeah, cleaning toilets and heartbreak are pretty shit on any day of the year! I just wished I had a nice family to be with on the day, and they aren’t there the other 364 days of the year anyway, so it’s not like I expected too much! I think Christmas is the best. But you make perfect sense!
I’ve found most Christmases are disappointing too much expectation. The best ones are the quiet ones (but not completely alone).
I’ve had some pretty crappy birthdays and mothers days though so I completely understand the cat crying!
Oh I’ve never found Christmas disappointing! I like loud, raucous, crazy christmases. Like that one year I was doing absinthe shots at nine in the morning… that was a little nuts.
Our worst was two years ago – I was 39 weeks pregnant and unable to fly up to our family. I’d spent Christmas Eve day in a quarantined room in the ED because Lovely Husband was hospitalised with gastro. We had to sleep in separate beds and use different toilets. Christmas Day was boiling hot and Lovely Husband was weak and trembly after days of being unwell, so we ate ham sandwiches in the dark and spent the day not touching and watching back to back episodes of Sherlock.
Oh my gosh, how awful! My second-worst christmas involved a caravan and scrambled eggs for dinner. And more fighting. But no gastro, that’s the worst 🙁
Minus the gastro and pregnancy, it could be a good Xmas to some!
I never really liked christmas, to be honest… apart from the family reunion, it’s depressing
I love Christmas. It’s sad that some people feel the way you do about it 🙁 I especially like pavlova.
You are a riot!
My worst Christmas was two years ago when I lost my shit at one of my sisters in law (I have 4) who is a resentful, grudge holding, judgemental poohead. It was a long time brewing but of course I chose Christmas Day in front of the whole family to do it! Also one of my best Christmases because the truth was revealed & now I don’t pretend with her anymore.
Oh how nice is it to clear the air! Is she still a drag?
Yikes, that’s a pretty bad Christmas!
Christmas for us has always been a pretty low-key affair as almost all our family is back in New Zealand, so we’d spend breakfast with family friends and lunch with just us and one set of grandparents – so there’s generally no one to fight with!
My worst Christmas is therefore not that bad in the scheme of things – it was our first Christmas back in NZ after moving here, I was about 3 years old and woke up on Christmas morning with chicken pox. I think I spent most of the day in a bath of calamine lotion!
Oh my gosh, I had chicken pox on christmas day once too! Only I was 14, and I had them everywhere, including all in my throat, so I couldn’t eat any of the amazing Christmas food you wait so long for!
My would include an ex, yelling (not me) and crying (me) as well. So different from life now and while SO devestating at the time just makes me giggle now.
Oh gosh, I love telling people this story. So pathetic. So giggle-worthy!
Holidays really do highlight bad days… there is just so much pressure!
My worst has got to be the year I was 8. Mum gave us our presents and we were all having a fabulous morning. But she then lost her temper, threw out breakfast, took our presents and locking herself in her bedroom crying. We were meant to go to our family friends place for lunch and she didnt come out of her room until 2pm. I had to call our friends and have them turn up and basically drag her out of her room… I still, to this day, do not know what the hissy fit was about!
Oh my gosh, isn’t that a weird scenario! I wonder what it was? And isn’t it interesting to see how a mother’s experience of the day impacts on the whole family. I say BAH HUMBUG to pressure, I can’t be bothered impressing anyone on the day. Except with my potato bake. But I would have liked to have not been totally alone when everyone else was having lovely fun!
Geez, stop blowing me away will you? I’ve just finished reading your last two weeks of confessions back to back and have loved every brilliant minute of your writing – so honest and heart felt with classic veggie mama humour and wit – I can’t take it any more!! I relate to so much of what you’ve been through in life, right down to the lonely christmas and crying into my cat. This has easily been the best series of blogging I’ve ever read. So inspiring. You’re such a star Stacey 🙂 Write a book for god’s sake!!!
I’m with Lisa – such a great series Stacey! I’d buy the book for sure!
Oh a book would be so fun! You can come to the launch. The imaginary one for my imaginary future book, haha.
This makes me so sad we put such pressure on ourselves to have good Christmases and Birthdays etc when really they are just another day a celebration of course but they can go wrong,sometimes the best dinners or lunches are not planned ones they just turn out that way xx
I’m actually stoked I have such a stupid funny story!
Wow, the poor cat… ..only joking, Glad your able to tell this sad tale with a laugh as you always do. Great writing !
haha no wonder he ran away and never came back!
I’m not sure if it counts but one year we were robbed on Christmas Day though didn’t find out until 4 days later when we returned home. The next year we were living overseas in a country that doesn’t celebrate Christmas and away from all of our family and friends.
I think it’s the being around people you love that makes a christmas great, so if they’re not there, it can be a bit of a bummer. Being robbed totally sucks though!
That sounds so sad! Our worst Christmas was the first Christmas after my Dad died. So it was tough enough, I must of fallen asleep but woke up to the adults arguing as my Grinch Uncle decided no more Christmas presents. He must of got pissed off with his lousy gifts, I cant remember! But it was soon changed to gifts from everyone til your 21, then you’re in the Secret Santa group. Seems fair enough. and that is a $70 gift so its a decent one too 🙂 Since that awful Christmas its now a great day, everyone sucks up any dramas, puts on a Christmas face and drinks to get merry.
I’m so fortunate there’s usually zero drama from both sides, so I can’t really complain. But did the grinch back down?!
The Grinch is still Grinch, every Christmas. Always looks a misery! We just ignore him!!
Life’s too short, Grinchy!
It has to be Xmas at my sisters in France. There was no room for me to sleep in the house, so I was sent to sleep in their unheated stone outbuilding. The temperature that night was – 5 degrees. They locked the house at night,so I went out armed with a hot water bottle,battery radio a bottle of wine and a bucket ( for the bathroom!) the camp bed was very narrow and flimsy,I rolled over in the night, the camp bed collapsed onto the half full bucket and opened bottle of wine…. I sat up the rest of that night,freezing and drenched. The look of horror on their clean,warm,content faces when I appeared in the morning looking like swamp woman,almost made it worth it! …… Never again. Happy Christmas everybody ! X
No room so you have to sleep outside? What a welcome! Glad you can laugh about it now. Are you laughing?