Christmas, um...annoyances
Dec. 25th, 2013 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
girlofpreyWell today was interesting. Mum was working this morning, because hospitals don't shut for Christmas, so we ended up waiting till about 2 o'clock to open presents. And then the present thing was a sort of lacklustre affair. Dad hadn't bought mum anything because they'd decided not to this year. Mum had bought dad a couple of little things but wanted to let my nephews give them to him. And one of my presents was a fairly expensive watch, so I didn't get much besides, and I'm not complaining - I really like the watch - but I'd been sort of thinking "when I get [DVD x] I'll watch that for the rest of the day", which is the main plus of knowing exactly what you're probably going to get. And then that didn't happen. It was odd.
And then something was happening at my sister's. I don't know what it was, but mum said all last night when my sister talked to her or my dad she was calling her partner names, and today he decided not to come to ours for Christmas dinner. Mum thinks they've had a row, but over what, who knows? To be honest, it probably improved things a little, because all my sister's partner really does is sit on the couch, and only even helps out with the kids if you absolutely say to him you want him to step in. So we had a bit more space. The kids seemed happy enough with their presents, and we even managed to get through Christmas dinner pretty alright, and my sister seemed to be fairly cheerful, or putting on a cheerful face, for whatever reason. But as the hours ticked by it all started going a bit sour. When my MN is playing quietly, my ON always wants to come and butt in and be the centre of attention again, and then tends to make my MN - the one who's being referred for mental health assessment because of his temper tantrums - kick off. When my MN kicks off, my YN (now 2) likes to copy him, which doesn't make the situation any better. And my MN just likes pissing people off when he's in that sort of mood. You tell him to stop something and he says "no" and does it even more, you tell him he's in trouble and he calls you a name, you grab him and he kicks you. And all my sister has to say is "just ignore him" - when he's like throwing things around the living room and nearly hitting the lights and the flatscreen TV or whatever. So then, for me at least, it's like either a) keep getting onto him and obviously fly in the face of what my sister's said, b) ignore him and just more and more frustrated with him, or c) get out of the situation entirely, and risk leaving him alone to break something. I basically went with b) because it was about time for him to go anyway, and when he left...I was glad he did. I still feel like I'm simmering really. And it's my sister really - I could probably cope with him somehow if she wasn't around saying "just ignore him". A little support wouldn't go amiss, you know?
But my sister's obviously having this fight with her partner, and she was making comments at dinner about how things "weren't alright really", and it's just...hard to be too mad at her when her life is obviously pretty shit as well at the moment. So it's just Christmas, isn't it? Come back next year.
So that was the day. And now it is done. Tomorrow my mum is working in the afternoon, because apparently she had last Christmas off so now she has to work a few shifts for this one, which means we won't be having a big dinner again and my sister and the kids won't be coming down again, as they generally do for Boxing Day. I'm almost looking forward to it more than today. I'm planning to play computer games and eat chocolate. Hurrah.
God this probably sounds humbug-y. It was a genuinely nice day on the whole, there were a lot of lovely moments both before my sister and nephews arrived and after. I'm just a little glad the difficult parts are over with. Rah.
And I also watched the Coronation Street Christmas episode. I love that they love David so much they just want to film him in the all the exciting and exotic locales. First the peak district, and now some random bridge in Manchester. I don't blame them. He's so beautiful.
But Jesus. Feels like they should have put some sort of warning on before the show today. In fairness, I saw it from after the Meerkat advert, so maybe they did. It feels like they should have put a HUGE warning on it everywhere it was discussed or advertised. Cancer, brain damage, domestic violence, homelessness, and young people hating themselves. Thanks Corrie. Thank god Tim didn't put the turkey in and Deirdre had a halo of mistletoe, or there would have been no let up from the angst. Two questions: where was Lily during the Platt-Tilsley-Price-Macintyre-Grimshaw-Roberts family lunch? And where was Simon sleeping last night, if he's not staying with Leanne and Nick right now and Peter and Carla didn't get out of bed till after he was already outside? No wonder the children of Weatherfield grow up so fucked up. And I almost forgot Tracy joking about Amy being shunted back and forth between houses, and none of them being her mother's. Weatherfield children would probably be excellent secret agents when they grow up. Brilliant, messed up and morally flexible secret agents. Or they should just put them in the Hunger Games. They'd probably happily kill other children for a loaf of bread right now. (NB: I don't know how much the Hunger Games actually has to do with hunger).
And then there was Yuletide. I found one slash story for a pairing I loved in a fandom that doesn't get much fic, which was pleasing. But I remember when Yuletide used to be more exciting than this.
Um. Merry Christmas?
And then something was happening at my sister's. I don't know what it was, but mum said all last night when my sister talked to her or my dad she was calling her partner names, and today he decided not to come to ours for Christmas dinner. Mum thinks they've had a row, but over what, who knows? To be honest, it probably improved things a little, because all my sister's partner really does is sit on the couch, and only even helps out with the kids if you absolutely say to him you want him to step in. So we had a bit more space. The kids seemed happy enough with their presents, and we even managed to get through Christmas dinner pretty alright, and my sister seemed to be fairly cheerful, or putting on a cheerful face, for whatever reason. But as the hours ticked by it all started going a bit sour. When my MN is playing quietly, my ON always wants to come and butt in and be the centre of attention again, and then tends to make my MN - the one who's being referred for mental health assessment because of his temper tantrums - kick off. When my MN kicks off, my YN (now 2) likes to copy him, which doesn't make the situation any better. And my MN just likes pissing people off when he's in that sort of mood. You tell him to stop something and he says "no" and does it even more, you tell him he's in trouble and he calls you a name, you grab him and he kicks you. And all my sister has to say is "just ignore him" - when he's like throwing things around the living room and nearly hitting the lights and the flatscreen TV or whatever. So then, for me at least, it's like either a) keep getting onto him and obviously fly in the face of what my sister's said, b) ignore him and just more and more frustrated with him, or c) get out of the situation entirely, and risk leaving him alone to break something. I basically went with b) because it was about time for him to go anyway, and when he left...I was glad he did. I still feel like I'm simmering really. And it's my sister really - I could probably cope with him somehow if she wasn't around saying "just ignore him". A little support wouldn't go amiss, you know?
But my sister's obviously having this fight with her partner, and she was making comments at dinner about how things "weren't alright really", and it's just...hard to be too mad at her when her life is obviously pretty shit as well at the moment. So it's just Christmas, isn't it? Come back next year.
So that was the day. And now it is done. Tomorrow my mum is working in the afternoon, because apparently she had last Christmas off so now she has to work a few shifts for this one, which means we won't be having a big dinner again and my sister and the kids won't be coming down again, as they generally do for Boxing Day. I'm almost looking forward to it more than today. I'm planning to play computer games and eat chocolate. Hurrah.
God this probably sounds humbug-y. It was a genuinely nice day on the whole, there were a lot of lovely moments both before my sister and nephews arrived and after. I'm just a little glad the difficult parts are over with. Rah.
And I also watched the Coronation Street Christmas episode. I love that they love David so much they just want to film him in the all the exciting and exotic locales. First the peak district, and now some random bridge in Manchester. I don't blame them. He's so beautiful.
But Jesus. Feels like they should have put some sort of warning on before the show today. In fairness, I saw it from after the Meerkat advert, so maybe they did. It feels like they should have put a HUGE warning on it everywhere it was discussed or advertised. Cancer, brain damage, domestic violence, homelessness, and young people hating themselves. Thanks Corrie. Thank god Tim didn't put the turkey in and Deirdre had a halo of mistletoe, or there would have been no let up from the angst. Two questions: where was Lily during the Platt-Tilsley-Price-Macintyre-Grimshaw-Roberts family lunch? And where was Simon sleeping last night, if he's not staying with Leanne and Nick right now and Peter and Carla didn't get out of bed till after he was already outside? No wonder the children of Weatherfield grow up so fucked up. And I almost forgot Tracy joking about Amy being shunted back and forth between houses, and none of them being her mother's. Weatherfield children would probably be excellent secret agents when they grow up. Brilliant, messed up and morally flexible secret agents. Or they should just put them in the Hunger Games. They'd probably happily kill other children for a loaf of bread right now. (NB: I don't know how much the Hunger Games actually has to do with hunger).
And then there was Yuletide. I found one slash story for a pairing I loved in a fandom that doesn't get much fic, which was pleasing. But I remember when Yuletide used to be more exciting than this.
Um. Merry Christmas?
