FOR most, Christmas is a time to be spent round the tree celebrating with family – but single mum-of-one, Rebecca Tidy can’t think of anything worse.
The writer, 35, from Plymouth, Devon, said she was so worn out by the planning which goes into it – from Elf on the Shelf to Christmas Eve Boxes – by December 25 she just wanted to get away from it.
So this year – to the chagrin of her family – she’s decided to skip it entirely.
Come Christmas Day, the writer won’t be waking up to her children’s smiling faces but rather the stunning view from her five-star hotel room in Dubai.
It’s cost her £1.8k for the solo trip but Rebecca simply doesn’t care.
Now, speaking exclusively to Fabulous, the mum-of-one, has told her story:
I spend most of autumn dreading Christmas.
It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. But it’s not very joyous when you’re the woman that has to organise it all.
As soon as the leaves fall from the trees, I start planning the perfect festive season for the entire family.
There are more than 20 of us including kids, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.
The preparation is endless from buying the right gifts and catering for fussy relatives to stocking up the fridge.
When I was a kid, there was no Elf on The Shelf or Christmas Eve Box. And parents weren’t expected to put homemade cookies and a carrot onto a specially-designed plate for Santa and his reindeer.
But there’s so much pressure to get it exactly right these days.
The big day itself is no easier with a 5am start to get the turkey in the oven.
Last year, I did the cooking, clearing up and a mountain of dishes, only to walk into the living room afterwards and find my family members snoozing.
So in September I booked a solo trip to the UAE with plans to leave my little girl with her dad and grandparents in Northampton on Christmas Day.
They’ll go on visiting various relatives in London, Folkestone, Maidstone and then stay in our holiday home in Cornwall with a couple of other family members – but I don’t feel guilty.
I’m so grateful to be missing the holiday visits, as I dread them each year, it’s a really full-on schedule.
I’m already looking forward to jetting off to a five-star hotel in Dubai today.
I’m staying for a week and will celebrate Christmas Day admiring the palm trees.
What could be nicer than spending the week stretched out on a sun lounger with nobody there to bother you?
While my family peels the potatoes and parsnips for lunch, I will be admiring the palm trees instead of the messy Nordic fir I normally spend the month vacuuming under.
I can finally give that dreaded festive meal a miss. Instead of the traditional dead bird and over-boiled vegetables, I’m grabbing a salad from the all-inclusive buffet and acting like the big day isn’t even happening.
Last year, I gave my parents a luxury hamper for Christmas. I could tell they didn’t like the present long before they slowly returned each item to us, saying they didn’t want it to go to waste.
Thankfully, I don’t need to worry about gifting this December. Nor enduring hours of forced family fun with tedious games of bingo and Cornish Monopoly.
I’ve scheduled a trip to the hotel’s spa for Boxing Day, which is when I’m normally enduring a second round of entertaining. There’s a hammam, halo-therapy salt cave and a meditation pavilion.
But my family aren’t over-the-moon.
As a mum to a five-year-old and an aunt to three under-fives, it’s certainly ruffled a few feathers in my family.
None of my loved ones share my excitement for my well-deserved luxury holiday.
People have said I’m selfish… I don’t care. Like many mums, I’m truly exhausted from all the unseen mental and physical labour of family life.
It’s long past my turn to put my feet up and take a break.
I feel like I do every single school run and manage to work full-time And it’s me taking charge of everyone’s life admin whether it’s booking swimming lessons, making nativity costumes or baking cupcakes for the church fundraiser.
Admitting you’re disappearing for the festive season to parents at the school gate is like confessing to a crime.
Apparently, mothers must silently exhaust themselves during December.
But if all you do is moan about how hard life is, then nothing’s going to change.”
