How do you spend your Christmas and has it been the same, year in, year out? Have you grown bored of it?

[Alittletripdownmemorylane]

When we (dsis and I) were kids, our Christmas would be lunch with mum and dad then both sets of gp would come over for a Christmas tea (both my parents are only children so no cousins, aunt and uncles etc). Boxing Day would be spent at my mum’s parents and the 27th at dad’s parents as it is my dad’s birthday that day. I loved, loved, loved Christmas.

Since my gp have passed away and I’ve been with dh we have always host Christmas tea and evening at our house inviting over my parents, my in-laws and my dsis and her partner.
In-laws would have lunch on their own and my parents would have lunch at my dsis house.
This had been our Christmas routine since 1998.
The 27th would be at mum and dad’s house because of dad’s birthday and we would go to in-laws on 29th.
Dsis has never hosted Christmas at her house!
Anyhow, I never moaned because when the kids were young they wanted to be at home playing with their toys and we all had fun playing games etc. It was all lovely and a happy and joyous time.

However, 3 years ago mil passed away. So now we have fil over for Christmas Day lunch (bil and sil never, ever invite him over for Christmas), he then spends the afternoon watching old 70’s comedies on tv and snoozing. Our dc (15 and 18) go up to their rooms as they are usually bored and find grandad boring!
My mum sadly has Alzheimer’s so we now go to their house in the evening and dsis and I prepare a buffet tea and we play games etc.

Tbh, it’s all really boring now. The kids hate it. Mum doesn’t really know what is going on, last Christmas she thought it was someone’s birthday celebrations. It’s all a sad reminder that our family life is changing.

I have spent 25 long years hosting the big day and although I have always enjoyed the actual day I always find the build up and preparation really anxiety inducing.
In all honesty, I long to have Christmas at home, alone, doing sod all and wearing my PJ’s all day but feel so guilty thinking this.

With mil now sadly passed away, my parents and fil elderly (all 80+), mum with dementia and the kids now bored teens, the novelty has worn. I feel sad as Christmas used to be my favourite time of the year but now it just holds bitter-sweet memories.

Does anyone else feel like this?

Luckily for me no, I like it as it has always been.

But if it isn’t working for you, change it up.

Maybe Christmas Eve fun lunch out with the kids. Christmas Day at home doing nothing with an M and S buffet. And hotel lunch with the olds on Boxing Day. Or go away, whatever… but do something else. In 15 years your kids will have kids and you can go back to a trad day if you want.

Center Parcs family holiday over Xmas a couple of times, French gite and to a spa on Xmas morning a couple of times, ski or snowboard holiday and Xmas morning spent on the slopes, Xmas dinner in a restaurant a couple of times and at home a couple of times too.TBH I don’t like a traditional Xmas at home however, my son and husband do so we are always compromising.

I am deathly bored of our Christmas. My family are in Australia and I left 25 years ago. Been with dh 22 years and we have the exact same programme every year. Our home. When in laws were alive they came to us. Boring grey and wet. I cook we have lunch then that’s it. I’d love to travel abroad or stay somewhere hot or cold or return to oz for a bit and have a seafood picnic on the beach as per my childhood. Dh just wants Christmas ‘home’ and I am bored to tears with it.

When the kids were tiny we would go to my in-laws for lunch, my mum & parter would come to us to see the kids and do presents but she would go to my grans to cook lunch for her there. We stopped going to the in-laws the year my youngest had just been born. There were 13 there that year and 2 separate tables, I ended up at a table with my husbands weird cousins and their kids, away from my husband and 2 year old. While I appreciated it having to do the cooking with a week old baby, I also vowed never again.

Now we do dinner at home. My mum died in 2020 so the last few years my aunt has came to ours and mums partner, last year I deliberately didn’t invite them as it was becoming expected and had my in-laws
round instead. This year my aunt will be invited again and my friend who lives alone will come as well.

So it’s pretty much the same every year but I’m happy with it.