Another downside of Christmas

[BaronC]

As someone who finds background noise annoying in the extreme, due to it it interfering with my capacity to concentrate, this time of year is murder.

Why? I hear you cry. Well, I'll tell you. Below is a snapshot of the past two days in the mansion...

Mummyyyy?

I was just wondering, can I…

I don’t like ‘Frozen’ any more

If I fall over and land on my face, what will happen?

Where are the crackers?

Mummyyyy?

Ooh, yay!

I don’t like mashed potato

It’s not very easy to brush hair when there are ears on top of the head

But I don’t like getting told off

Ooh, look, found it

Have we got any sweets?

Can I get the crackers?

Andyyyyyy?

I was just wondering, is it ok if I…

Ooh, a scooter

But I really wanted to…

I’m going outside to try my roller skates

It’s purple

I can’t roller skate

Mummyyyy? Where are my….

Do we need crackers?

Found it!

That’s adorable

When can I see owls again?

I never said I don’t like ‘Frozen’ any more

Andyyyyyy?

Can I have some sweets?

I was just wondering, when can I…

Mummyyyyy?

Chips aren’t really potato

I’ve found it!

Shall I fetch the crackers?

That is just what I can recall....

Shoot me now.

Baron/Andy

[iforget]

Andy I feel your pain... We have had a very quiet Xmas just the two of us, but yesterday we had visitors...

Cue chaos.....

the tv showing cartoons,

two men chatting about the latest Star Wars movie over the sound of the cartoon movie,

two small boys trying to get a word in while their father is chatting about the latest Star Wars movie,

one tablet playing cartoons louder than the tv and the debate about the latest Star Wars movie,

one noisy toy with flashing lights and loud muzac,

three balls pinging around the place,

some crying,

lots of shouting,

two small boys fighting over something or other (repeat that several times)

one harassed mother trying to keep boys in check,

the oven timer beeping,

the assorted phones ringing, buzzing and beeping,

fizzy drinks,

crackers being pulled,

some crying and sulking

and a little light telling off by harassed parent,

the clanking of cutlery and dropping of forks ,

pleas for more cucumber please,

spilled drinks

and dropped chicken bones (who knew chicken bones could bounce that much???)

a small fight over the colour of the bowls in which the ice cream was served ..

.more sulking,

more mess,

a pile of dishes

and then grumbles and more sulking when it was time to go home...

which involved...

more yelling and griping as belongings were gathered and the car was packed

and the flagging kids suddenly got a burst of energy

and started running around

and yelling

and hugging

and fighting over who was going to sit where...

and then lots of waving...

and finally... peace....

Tackling the mountain of dirty dishes was like therapy...a bridge between the chaos and the flopping down on the sofa in blissful silence.

Loved our visitors but it really is draining when they don't come with volume control and if you read that lot without pausing for breath you might get an idea of how I was feeling by the end of the day

Merry humbug one and all

[Gaia_rising in reply to iforget]

Oh, boys, I'm with you!

I didn't go to the in-laws for Christmas lunch, but I am trapped in the house with the husband, who has tinnitus, and some industrial deafness, and can't abide 'quiet'... One of these days, I'll walk into the living room, where he has the TV blaring at volume level 9 million, turn off the TV, turn on the light, and sit in the armchair, and read my book.

As it stands, I'm on my bed, with my book, after washing the dishes from a massive meal I didn't eat, because, by the time I'd managed not to burn anything too badly, I was too anxious about dropping something on the floor to be able to eat it!

Never mind, I'll be back at work in a week, and then there will only be 1000 children, and the office tea-walrus to deal with...

[BaronC in reply to iforget]

Oh yes, I forgot about Star Wars, if I hear another word about the sodding film, I swear I'll explode.

My suggestion of,

'Why don't they just shoot that Darth Vader bloke when he's cleaning his teeth or having a crap' didn't go down well.

[sospan]

Have you visited any elderly relatives over the festive period ? Now that is an added challenge :

TV as loud as a teenagers bedroom that is into heavy metal,

Every light with the maximum bulb you can fit and off course turned

The cactus wilting because it is far too warm for them with the heating cranked up to full.

Then the conversations which go round and round and even with short term memory issues you think - didn't we just have this conversation ?

Bless

[angelite in reply to sospan]

LOL Sospan ! I can get this at home ! : ))

[Matt2584]

I don't like crowded environments with lots of background noise.

A few years ago my aunty used to spend her birthday parties at certain pubs or bars.

I could not here a word people were saying too me and 8 could hardly hear my own voice because of the music/background chatter.

So most of the night would be me sitting there quietly drinking bottle after bottle of beer and my family having a wail of a time.

My aunty and uncle have sort of caught onto that now and we don't go out to crowded places much now, which is a good thing for me.

We do meet up with my aunty and uncle to have a meal at a pub every now and then and the past few weeks we have met up.

It is much quieter but sometimes even reasonably quiet places can still be a struggle to hear.

I'm gonna have to try putting a slice of onion in my ear... Seriously!

Take care,

MJ

[angelite in reply to Matt2584]

Hmmm... Onion ring earrings, could be the next fashion craze, Matt - might be a good repellent for unwanted attention ! : ))

[Matt2584 in reply to angelite]

It could be couldn't it :).

Truthfully though, onions are fantastic. I was reading once about some woman's kid who was ill, sinus infection I think.

She cut slices of onion and put them on the bottom of her sons' feet and he would wear socks to hold them in place.

The reason for the onions on the feet is because of the meridians of your body and the onion has direct access to the bloodstream... Something like that anyway. You would have to look it up on the internet for a better read.

And there was me thinking 'meridian' was a tv channel :).

Earlier this year, 2015, I had a stomach bug and I did the onion trick. I was lying down with onions on my feet :).

I was lying down on my back and my stomach felt quite yucky and I did not want to eat, I felt like I would be sick otherwise.

Anyway, about half an hour later, the stomach bug alleviated and I could sit up with no problems.

A little while later I was eating! :).

I know there are tons of people out there who would think that nature is NOT the reason for getting better (my Dad is one of them) but I think they are quite, quite wrong.

These people would most probably say "So why isn't the onion-on-the-feet thing advertised?".

Good question and the answer is simply because we live in an evil/ corrupt world.

Natural cures aren't advertised because they are cheap, even free, and pharmaceutical companies wouldn't be getting anything.

Look into big pharma for that explanaition and then look at the cure for cancer which is out there and has been out there since time began.

It is all about these people in power making as much money as they can, that they don't even need, so they can make our lives miserable.

[cat3]

Commiserations to all. To make it worse, TalkTalk has been 'down' in my area for 4 days so haven't been able to escape to the 'virtual' world of peace & sanity.

Just New Year to muddle through now ; at least the next big event will be the daffodils and lighter nights. xx

[MXman]

Ha ha sorry your post made me laugh as I too have all sorts of problems with in-laws and Noise and shouting and the TV and in-laws and socialising and being friendly over this period, did I say in-laws.

Im concluding that we all on here find it a difficult time and we have to apply the Patience and Tolerance cards more than once. My noise level tolerance is very low at the moment too so I understand completely where you are coming from.

Have a great evening and hopefully it will be a quiet peaceful one. XX N

[malalatete]

Well this is where the ME can sort of come in to the rescue from time to time: 24th Dec 2 x carol/ cathedral services; 25th Dec 1 x cathedral service then travel home to have Christmas Eve a day late; 26th Dec Christmas day and dinner a day late; 27th in bed except for brief attendance at a golden wedding anniversary party; 28th in bed; 29th in bed.

So 3 days festivities = 3 days bed rest.

Might be a better deal if the bed rest wasn't enforced by virtue of feeling so cr@p I couldn't get up, but it was at least some respite from the sorts of situations described above, although in this household quite a lot of the noise in the first 3 days was down to me getting cross/worked up/confused as I got closer and closer to crash point...

Ho hum. 5 years in and still 'life gets in the way' of my being convinced I have worked out how to manage this. I reckon it has all been just a practice run for post-op life by the sounds of it!

[angelite]

Lol Andy !

My favourite has to be 'if I fall over and land on my face...' : ))

New Year is by nature a noisy event in itself - brace yourself ...

Rather worried by the revelation of roller skates in your house - hope they don't adjust to fit your size ( be good , you've broken enough bones for this year ! )

I have surpassed myself this year, managing to fall asleep on rugs at both my Dad's and sister's house, in spite of dribbly labrador chops/moist dogtoys in my face : )

My rabbit has developed a UTI and eye infection and is now on 4 lots of lotions/potions twice daily so has spent Christmas being syringed, eyedropped and creamed from all angles ( exhausting ) and now views me as the enemy !

Cried yet again, watching ' Goodnight Mr Tom ' : )

Happy New Year !

Hide the party poppers,

Angela x

[malalatete]

Oh eck New Year. Can anyone here remind me why I agreed we would spend that round at the house of friends with their 5 children? And can anyone tell me if it is very bad form to go to sleep at 10.30 as I usually do on 31st Dec??😌 I can see 3 more days in bed on the cards....