What are you doing for Christmas?

[MarvEll]

Can't decide whether to try and do the whole big family 15+ bash at a relatives, or just bunker down and have it just us? Actually quite enjoyed our lockdown Christmas last year because we decided that's what we were doing early on and so were really organised. Now I'm worried we'll make big plans and have them cancelled. I love a big Christmas but maybe it's just not the time!
Bloody covid makes it's so hard to plan!!

No clue.
Rather liked our Christmas last year with no travelling or squashing round a table. I loved lazing one the sofa eating my weight in Chocolate watching rubbish TV
I’ll probably invited DM though, as long as she leaves her dog at home! DSis will have DF & another sibling as they live locally to her.

I'll be in the pub at lunch time until it closes, then lazing on the sofa with music and DH.

@OhGiveUp that sounds dreamy! As does the bodyweight in chocolate @MeetMeAtOurSpot. Maybe I'm approaching this all wrong!

I'm off to my mums like I do every year. She's my carer so covid makes no difference to our plans.
She cooks a meal for all of us (her and her husband, me and my 3 kids and my 2 brothers who still live at home. And covid permitting my step grandma)
She loves to have all of her children and grandchildren together and she loves to cook, and we all really appreciate the effort she puts in, she even makes a separate batch of everything gluten free for my son who is coeliac so that he doesn't have to miss out on anything, including buying him his own little gluten free dessert, even though I offer every year to provide his gluten free alternatives she does it happily.
Then I'll come home around 6pm, and the children's dad will pick them up and they'll go to their dad's for the night, and I'll sit surrounded by toys, with a full stomach and a happy smile knowing that my family has had another awesome Christmas.

I've got 18 adults and 11 children for Christmas Dinner 🙈
It will probably be the same as every year.
My brothers will get drunk
My Sil's will be in bad moods
My oldest Sis will have too much to drink and argue with anyone
My other sister will run around after everyone.
My other sister will get the Karaoke out and sing all night😂
My niece will argue with her Partner.
All the kids will be hyper and end up running around hitting each other.
DH will say what he says every year we are going away next year for Christmas 😂😂😂
I do love my family but us all together and Alcohol is not good.

Return to the usual planned here, there are upwards of 40 of us in a normal year.

If I could cancel it I would. It's the first Christmas without my dm who was the queen of Christmas and loved everything about it...plus DF is ill and will be in hospital over Christmas.

Our normal year would be all the family here for a traditional Christmas Day but it's going to be far from normal. Dd has invited us there which could be a nice change but I think we will all be sitting there wishing we could turn the clock back.

We are spending Christmas Day with friends. We did it one year and had a blast so they are coming for the afternoon ( then heading to Heathrow and somewhere hot, the lucky so and so’s).

DH family is coming to stay the weekend before Christmas. That’s more than enough high-stakes Christmas hosting for anyone. It’s like living a Chekhov play. The dog will get well walked that weekend.

I hope to host my patents on Boxing Day but my mum is just beginning her second cancer treatment so that might not happen 😔

I usually go over the top with planning, purchasing, cooking, finishing touches. But last year’s Christmas ( which the kids cite as their favourite, ever) taught us to keep it lower key. Advent services and pantos, but no hoards of unnecessary gifts and dashing about all over the place.

Going to Dubai and I can't bloody wait. I may shed a tear of relief/happiness when I leave the tarmac

We have DSD and her partner, DS and his partner and their combined 3 children all under the age of 2 (2 of them under the age of 6mnths) coming to stay ay ours along with DSS who lives with us. All in 3 bed house with me and DH - its going to be interesting.

Also found out Sunday that DS's partners mom is now coming over to England for 2 weeks at Christmas and wants to see her DD so we have had to say that they can come round in morning for a couple of hours (we do not know them and have not heard great things so again could be great, or a bit awkward) there will be 4 of them in total - luckily they won't be eating with us.

Possibly have my DBro and his partner but they always wait until the very last minute to actually let anyone know.

Surgery Dec 23. Likely to be in for a week

Id absolutely hate a huge family gathering. Just dh, 3 teens and me.

Ill go for a 10k in the morning, breakfast, turkey dinner and wine. Tv, eat and play boardgames. Walk some point too.

Love a lockdown Christmas

@LittleMissnotLittleMrs good luck with your surgery and hospital stay. Hope you recover enough to eat a roast potato!

We're going to DP's DSis in Scotland, first flight since 2019! She has ordered Christmas lunch for seven of us from Cook, v sensible!

Ours will be DD, DH and me and my parents (covid permitting)

We have no real plans other than a Christmas Dinner, and a long walk on Boxing Day.

It'll be easy and relaxing, which is perfect for us.

I absolutely LOVED Christmas last year so we are doing a rerun of that - me, DH and 3 kids. We usually host ILs and it was such a relief to just be us. It was the first year since we had kids I think that I was fully present for the entire day. We still have to see ILs after the day and I wish we could just stay home like last year, having the best week of toys, hikes, leftovers and films, but there we go

We are hosting from 23 to 28. 13 adults and 2 children. It's likely this may be our last one all together. So hoping it's a lovely one. I've bought lots of food and drink ( still more to get ). Will be doing all rooms as lovely as I can.

We’re keeping some of last year’s “new” traditions. Instead of running round to my parents then DH’s parents and be out driving all day like we’ve always done, we’ll see my parents and brother only on the day for lunch and be home about 4pm for a nice quiet evening. We’ll see the in laws for Christmas Eve lunch and present swapping and also some friends will come to us then, then on Boxing Day out for a walk and lunch with friends and family who can make it. Christmas Day has always felt like such a chore for us but now we’re spreading the visits out more across the holiday and I hope it will work out really well!

I’ve never had a “big” Christmas. My dad died when my DC were young but we weren’t close anyway. My mum isn’t a nice person. My ex’s dad was also dead and his mum was an alcoholic. Even as a kid, my mums parents lived in their home country, and it was expensive to fly in those days. My dads parents had 13 DC in all so everyone just did their own thing. Honestly it’s something I wish I could have experienced just once, but then maybe I’d have hated it!

So it will be me and adult DC this year. Which will be nice anyway. We always have our main dinner on Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day is spent relaxing, eating leftovers and cake and chocolate! Nothing exciting but it’s fine.

I'll be on the beach drinking cocktails.

Last year Christmas was just awful - the actual day itself with just DH and the DC was lovely, but DF was in hospital after emergency surgery, DM was on her own and was too stressed at the thought of anyone breaking travel restrictions/ lockdown rules for me to see her, so I'd rather scratch that one from my memory.

This year my parents are staying Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, and PILs will join us for Christmas Day if FIL is well enough for the journey, if not we will go down to theirs on Boxing Day. So hosting, buy manageable numbers (and no one from either side goes overly mad at Christmas, so it should be reasonably relaxing.). This is quite possibly FIL's last Christmas, so we would like to spend it with him if possible.

DD is working Christmas and Boxing day this year and lives a 4 hour drive away, so we are not doing anything for Christmas. Our "Christmas" will take place the weekend after New Year's day as that's the first weekend we will all have off together. The tree is going up then and we will have a full-on Christmas dinner.
On the plus side, it's my birthday on the 25th and, for the first time ever, it will be a day centred around that. Can't wait, never had a "proper birthday day".

My husband is working so I'll be having a quiet day with the cat :) I'm not massively into Christmas and never really understood it as a big celebration tbh.

Quiet and relaxed. We are going away (just me, DH and teenage kids) to a holiday let on the coast for a week. Plan on food, films, walks, games, lots of snoozing.

We’ll see family around New Year.

Not a clue yet.

With numbers the way they are, DSiblings have agreed we'll meet at a forest in between us all for a walk, car boot picnic and exchange presents to bring back home for under the tree. In the next couple of weeks.

That way, we can make decisions on Christmas itself very late in the day. DM won't feel like hosting loads as she's recovering from a knee replacement. DMIL is upset we haven;t been visiting much recently (eh, Covid meant we weren't allowed? And she knows we spend every weekend ferrying DD to sports committments...). DF is agnositic about it all, and contemplating another BBQ (turkey was off when it was opened last year on the day, so steaks were rapidly defrosted and BBQ lit for him to reign over instead).

Last year, DH and I stayed here with DD and did our own thing - but with a stroppy teen who literally kicked off, so much so that we only opened presents on 26th as WE were too upset (she had stormed off to her room anyway). I can't do that again.

But I'm not sure we can travel this year either.

I'm currently ignoring it all for at least 3 more weeks (and I am usually organised enough that a cottage is booked by Easter and presents bought/made early and beautifully wrapped by 1st week December....). Of what is normally 55 presents I need to buy, I have bought 2 so far.

What I really want to do is take a few proper days off work, and just sleep and eat nice food and have walks outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air. (Working too long hours, WFH, and with far too long a "to do" list so I don't even see the daylight most days).