A very merry Xmas indeed!
Lucy Johnson, 42, lives in Moreton, Wirral, and works in a bakery
When I offered to host Christmas dinner last year, Mum, Margaret, and stepdad Ian were in shock.
Mum, 69, has put on the festive feast… well, for ever, and I figured she deserved a year off.
‘ You relax,’ I assured them, generously. ‘I’ll organise everything.’
Feeling proud of myself, I bought a boneless turkey from Iceland and picked up all the trimmings.
On Christmas morning, I got up early to put the turkey in the oven, then spent the morning prepping veg and boiling the potatoes, so they’d be ready for roasting.
By 11.30am, dinner was almost ready, and I had just enough time to nip to the pub to see a friend for a quick drink. ‘Just the one,’ I’d promised.
So I dropped off the kids – Lily, now 12, and Darcy, two – at Mum’s and headed out.
But the pub was busy, and I knew lots of people. ‘Happy Christmas,’ everyone kept saying, as they bought me drink after drink. When Mum picked me up at 2pm, I was more than a little merry!
Back home, I headed for the loo instead of the kitchen, where I proceeded to throw up all the drinks I’d just drunk.
Poor Mum had to take over in the kitchen and organise the dinner for the five of us and, as even food failed to cure me, she ended up cleaning up afterwards, too. Ian even got roped into looking after Darcy. Never again!
Mum was in a mood with me for a week after – and I don’t blame her!