Which way is your other half?

[saundra]

I shall buy a millions of lights In the sales for next year
Ever optimistic

[Lozzles]

I do all the decorating, present buying and wrapping, cooking and general arranging of everything. I don't mind because Mr L will just waits for instruction from me and supplies me with with tea, and washes up and keeps the dog out of the way. This Christmas though he is busy making pens for all the family. Just gorgeous they are too, so lots of nice gifts from him this year

[JoM]

John got the decorations out of the garage and put the icicle lights around the bay window. Getting the decorations out is pretty easy as they're all stacked in the one corner but there's quite a selection of Christmas trees stored up in the roof (it's a pointed roof so there's a fair bit of storage space for large items on the wooden beams) so he has to get the step ladder so that's definitely his job. He's got to get another out on Saturday

I do everything else. The only person I have to buy for who I ask his advice about is his mother, and even then he usually has no idea

[JoM]

Oh, I've thought of one thing he does - he usually stirs the gravy on Christmas Day because at that point in the cooking I'm usually doing my headless chicken impersonation

*Edit - Loz, I'm intrigued about these pens!

[TheOstrich]

I'd say there's a division of labour in this household - whether you consider it fair or not, I leave to you ...

We do plan everything together. Mrs O has called for a final meeting to be convened this Monday. A planning meeting usually involves me following Mrs O taking down instructions, rather like one of those generals you see, with their notebooks out, poised behind Kim Il Un.

Xmas cards - we each have our own list to write (Mrs O's is longer) but I buy the cards, stamp them and ultimately post them. We're actually down to just 31 this year ....

Presents - Mrs O plans most of them and wraps them, but I post them off. The exception is my S, who visits us on Xmas day, and for whom we traditionally provide a goodie food hamper. We have a lot of fun in going out and buying all the jars and bikkits and wines together.

Decorations - I get them out of the garage, Mrs O puts them up. But it's only a 4' plastic tree, decorated with a string of lights and baubles, crib scene, and absolutely nothing in the way of lights attached to the house, as I'm a zealot about the electric bill. In recompense, I provide Mrs O with an evening tour around the estate and local area by car so she can gawp at everyone else's - and there are quite some displays out there this year, though, we remarked, not as many as in previous years.

Meals - we set a festive menu and I do 95% of all the food shopping. The other 5% (I.e ordering the turkey crown) we do jointly. We also go out for a quiet Christmas lunch ourselves in December. On the day, Mrs O will mastermind the cooking and I'll be on hand to help out if required. Otherwise I will be deemed to be "getting in the way".

I think our watchwords for surviving Christmas are - (a) start early in November and (b) keep it simple ....

[miasmum]

Tim does all the cooking, which is just as well as it would be inedible if I did it. He loves to make it all himself, cranberry sauce the lot, but they don't appreciate it. If I had my way we would have frozen Aunt bessie everything, they wouldn't tell the difference

My favourite bit of Christmas day is after dinner, when I shoo everyone away, shut the door, put my music on, and do all the washing up with a glass or two of wine. I actually wash by hand because it takes longer I string that out as long as possibly can.

It saves another listen to the mother in law regaling us with stories of the dogs she looks after, as that is all she talks about these days

[JoM]

Ossie, that did make me laugh....I hope Mrs O doesn't ever log in here

Shell, that does sound nice despite the washing up. I always escape to tidy the kitchen, unload the dishwasher, strip the meat off the turkey etc. Stuff I'd hate doing normally but a way to just get a bit of breathing space on Christmas Day.

[Kaz]

Ossie!! Jo I have met MrsO, she's lovely and she is nothing like Kim Il thingummy

I cook everything on the day, although I prep the veg the night before Mick keeps me supplied firstly with Bucks Fizz and then when that runs out nice BIG glasses of Pinot and a box of Matchmakers Thankfully for the third Christmas in a row I now have my trusty washer upper - Mr Beko

[Kaz]

That reminds me I must find my red apron - CD is the only time I ever wear an apron, but then I don't normally cook wearing a frock or posh jumper

[debih]

We sort of split it but I do the bulk of it.

I buy all the presents, wrap them and deliver them; I write all the cards and deliver/post them; I get all the decorations out of the loft; I put up the artificial tree in the dining room; I decide what we are eating, shop for it and cook it (although as we are not having our festive lasagne this year and will need veg I will make sure that he will be doing most of the veg) and I organise what we are doing on Boxing Day and get what we need for that.

He fetches the real tree, hangs it and puts the lights on. We all decorate it.

He is in charge of getting the ham (I already did it this year), getting the dog food and this year I have also asked him to order two pork pies for collection on Christmas Eve from the pub (they make lovely pork pies in their kitchen).

I have already made sure that I enough tins of dog food stashed away in the shed to last for Christmas as he hasn't been yet and I know when he does go to Tesco for it it will be so busy he will refuse to queue. I haven't mentioned the pork pies again so I have made sure I have got alternatives for Boxing Day at our friends.