Sorry to hear all the really bad experiences of Christmas here. Mine hasn't been bad on that scale but it just feels a bit sad and lonely. My mum died a few years ago, so I can't take kids away to grandparents as she did with me and my much younger sister and brother for some years, my sister is away for the whole Christmas holiday (and we're all a bit sad about that, as in other years we've seen more of them at Christmas or close to it. Last year we didn't have a working oven but we had a Christmas meal with my sister and her kids the next day.
I think it's the second Christmas for just dp, me and 2 kids but for the first in 2020, we had been through lockdown and it was very clear that we were about to go into a second one here in London - after the year we had we were kind of ready and it didn't seem so bad. There were very sad losses, especially my aunt's beloved partner of 30 years who died of COVID after a month in intensive care (probably just long enough not to count in the government's dodgy stats!). I feel guilty about not really knowing what to get the kids for Christmas or being able to spend very much. And I'm feeling very sad for a whole range of complicated reasons.
DS1 has been brilliant about helping with shopping and preparing food and making the best of everything, though he's sad not to see more of extended family too. DS2 though has complained a bit about a number of things in a way I find hard to deal with, because it is true, Christmas is somewhat lacking in excitement or family socialising this year! But I find the way he complains about stuff tricky to deal with at times, and then dp also gets grumpy with me! My dad (83) lives nearby but is housebound and he and his dp get tired quickly, so DS1 and I are going to visit Friday and then DP and DS2 will visit on Saturday, for probably about an hour each, rather than all descend in one go.