Ask Lemmy

My mom died on the 24th, so Christmas was pretty shit

Got lucky. But one year my wonderful kitty got very sick and had to be put down on Xmas eve. That coal hurt for months and years. Happily, I’ve worked through it. My two kitties got tuna on Xmas day.

Christmas morning my phone broke (shutoff at >50% and wouldn't turn on at all). The day before a flight. When all of the stores to get a quick replacement were closed. And the only way I could get any info about my flight was by having my email's 2FA keys, which were on my broken phone, and the only backup was on my desktop, which was 500km+ away.

Had to walk our catsitter through sending me the backup, and then rush to a retailer this morning to buy a replacement before my flight. Was not a fun experience, or a fun way to spend all of my Christmas money 😅

I had to cancel Christmas for my eleven-year-old foster daughter.

Last Monday, her mom (who was doing really well after eight months, and we were trying to organize an overnight stay on Christmas Eve with), had a mental breakdown that resulted in the police getting called and her one daughter that had moved back in had to move out. DSS then canceled all unsupervised visits. We were all devastated by this setback, and we tried everything we could to arrange some kind of visit Christmas Day, but they wouldn't budge (once we found out the full context of the incident, we agreed that was the right call).

Move to Friday, the 22nd. I get a call from my wife that the girl had stolen a gift bag with some shampoo and soaps that was to be donated to one of those adopt a family programs at her school. When confronted, she denied stealing it, claiming she was told it was for her (it wasn't, nor was the kid that she claims told her that aware of this). We were livid. My wife made her bring the gifts to the girl and apologize. After, she doubled down on her innocence and wanted to know if she was still going to be receiving all of her Christmas presents (she's extremely materialistic). It was at this point, I told my wife that she was not going to receive anything from us, which she reluctantly agreed.

Before we could even inform her of that punishment, she attempted to run away. The only reason I heard her is that she closed the storm door too loudly. When I chased after her (in 22 degree F weather, and she only had a fleece jacket on) and yelled at her to get back in the house because she was grounded, she refused. Eventually, I had to call the police because of the danger (she has a history of running away). She initially refused to polices urging to come back to the house, until they told her that if she refused, she would have to go to a juvenile detention facility for Christmas.

I then had the task of telling her Saturday that, because of her actions the day before, she was not receiving any presents from us for Christmas. Her first question was: "will I still get the phone that my mom bought me?"

We've since been monitoring all exits out of our house since Friday night. My wife has slept on the couch in the living room each night.

My car broke down this year, and I haven't replaced it yet, but my parents put a car air freshener in my stocking.

Disclaimer: I still enjoyed the time spent on this, but....

I spent 2 hours talking with my highly inebriated and closest friend because she decided to spend Christmas with her family. Her shitty, shitty family who has always been some combination of neglectful and passive aggressive. She's also very sensitive and it still hurts her after all these years/decades that they treat her this way.

my poor dog's anal gland burst. he got to go to the vet and is currently sleeping next to me with his inflatable cone. my poor lil guy.

My kids (18/16) did not get me a present for Christmas. They got gifts for each other, my wife (their step-mom) and their step-sister (with my assistance). Yet still failed to think of getting their father a gift. They both have driver's licenses, cars, and their own money. I'd have been happy with a $2 bag of sour patch kids. Shit, I'd have taken the fucking coal if they just would have remembered.

Is this like moments of bad luck, or unfortunate "gifts", or things that make you say "oh ahh I could burn this and accelerate climate change"?

We usually spend the whole day with my parents, but for the second year in a row it was cut very short by winter weather.

The year before that it was illness, and before that the heart of the COVID pandemic.

I was really bummed because I don't think my parents have many Christmases left.

I threw out my back while lifting weights on Christmas Eve. Spent Christmas dealing with lower back pain.

The clutch in my wife's car started slipping on Christmas day. We had to limp it home and switch to my car which is an '89 Honda Prelude. My wife doesn't like my car but at least it gets around for now. First world problem.

Ass on the toilet, face in the tub. I was in the bathroom from around 9pm to 4am.

Seven years ago on New Year's Day my little sister unexpectedly passed away, and just a few days ago my stepmom (a mother of little girls 7 and 9) passed.

I would have taken 100 Christmas's of coal over this. It will be hard to not go into the holidays bracing myself for the next disaster.

Oh boy, you're about to learn a lesson in humility and perseverance.