Does anyone else spend Christmas at home?

[Christmascandle]

Sorry I know this one gets done to death so feel free to ignore.

We usually spend Christmas at home, just the four of us. But I've noticed when people ask what I'm doing and I tell them often they'll look at me like I've got two heads.

These are our reasons.

Mainly the dc want to stay at home, they enjoy it more and hate going out.
My parents aren't big on Christmas, they live in a small apartment and there's no space. They're also not bothered at all after 3dc and several grandchildren my mother is glad not to cook for lots of people so it suits everyone.

My mil is a great host and would love to have us, and some years we do go, but it's her Christmas iyswim, and on the whole the dc find it incredibly boring. In laws don't live close by so we'd have to travel. They are quite formal and not very child friendly, music playing so loud you can't speak, then we all have to sit in silence to watch the queens speech, then fil puts his tv on really loud and falls asleep. It's just not very enjoyable for us but I'm sure that they don't see it that way. Luckily they are laid back and understanding but I'm sure deep down they probably think we are weird for not going but they'd never say anything, we see them lots throughout the year pretty much every weekend.

We have a beautiful home of our own, we're great cooks and have nice presents for the dc, we don't want to leave all that on Christmas Day.

Neither set of parents want to come to us, in laws usually visit Christmas morning to see the dc open their presents.

I keep reading all these threads about people forced into visiting family and everyone hates it.

Does anyone else just do it their way?

I'm working on it.

We used to alternate being at home and having MIL who lives nearby over with staying with my family.
I've had enough of a 6 hour train journey each way at Christmas to a place that is lovely in the summer but boring as hell in winter.

This year we're breaking DF's expectations for it to be "his" year by going to FIL's in Spain. I plan on staying at home every year after this.

We always stay at home.

We occasionally have my parents, DBil and various partners of his and DH's Great Auntie fun sponge but most years it is just the 5 of us and we love it. DC late teens/early 20's now and still want to be home.

Everyone helps with food prep and table laying Christmas eve and that's a really nice family time.

Christmas Day we have a leisurely morning eating nice nibbles and drinking fizz while opening presents. Everyone helps cook.
We pop to our local for a drink and see all the neighbours, babies, kids, dogs etc then home for Christmas lunch and a long extremely competitive time sitting round the table playing trivia games and charades.
The Queen's Speech will be watched but possibly on record.
Sometimes a walk after we eat weather depending.
Turkey sandwiches and Christmas films all evening- a really nice, chilled day that everyone enjoys. We have done roughly the same the DC entire
lives and none of us have any desire to be anywhere else.
Getting happy just thinking about it

We've had Christmas at home for about 9 years now. Before the kids it was myself, husband and father-in-law and then they came along.

My dad spends it with his partner, stating neither would see their family except her family has visited every year. My siblings are always too "full" and we practically slum it in comparison to them so they'd never visit. Bil lives the other side of the country and his wife's family won't hear of them spending it anywhere but with them.

I cook everything from scratch and we have all our own traditions and I bloody love it. Wouldn't switch it for anything.

I put my foot down about having to haul DC away from their presents and troop up and down motorways on Christmas Day when oldest DC was 4 and we’ve done it at home ever since. It’s so lovely and relaxing, and we welcome anyone from either side who wants to come to us. We travel to others on Boxing Day.

When my kids were young.apart from DS first Christmas we always stayed at home. Kids happy playing all day. Wine for us and sometimes we made roast sometimes not. We always invited parents and sometimes they came. Far the stressful to be traveling round country with presents and kids sleeping badly sharing rooms.
Kids grown now. This year I'm working on Xmas day. Will just be me and my DP after work. We have plans to see other family between Christmas and New year. Iove being in my own house. Hate visiting .

My Parents in Law insist they stay at home Christmas day as Christmas is for family. Er, exactly?!

I feel sad about it.

Me and DP always stay home and we don't even have DC. people think we're proper weird. I don't really give a shit though. People go on about "having" to visit relatives but then act like you're the worst person in the world if you don't, I don't get it. The ironic thing is, some of the people that have made comments bother with their families way less throughout the year than I do.

I have my parents over (very local) it's very casual, they eat dinner and hang around a bit and I load them up with leftovers to take home. Then they go home, 2-3 hours tops. I see them most days anyway.

I love Christmas at home! Stopped going to SILs years ago when dd1 was a baby but I'd been looking for an excuse for a few years. Got fed up of watching TV with the volume turned down with 1 drink every 2 hours if you were lucky! We just enjoy a lovely peaceful day relaxing together.

Several years ago we put a stop to the endless, your turn, my turn, with the two sets of parents, and actually it was always bloody me who, through guilt, had both sets every year. So, finally the children had enough, and said they would like a Christmas to be about us (our family of four), rather than the slightly cantankerous rellies. It has been bliss ever since.

I'd say the majority of people spend it in someone's home, so I don't really get why people are looking at you weird.

I'm spending it at home. With family and friends. Last year I spent it at a friend's house. So she spent it at home.

It's totally normal.

Have stayed at home for years. Have had mil or my parents a few times but all are gone now and I don't envisage having Christmas anywhere else for some time. We used to go home to our parents years ago and enjoyed that but I wouldn't feel comfortable in anyone else's home for Christmas.

I have to say I never had a christmas at home. As a child it was always at my grandparents place and now it is either with DM in her house or at PiL place. Christmas is about family so that means spending it with parents and grandparents. Our current home is too small to host or I would offer to take turns. My mum is planning to move here so the set up will be taking the kids to her on the 24th and staying over and having Christmas eve dinner after which they are allowed one gift to open after some christmas songs. Christmas day leave my mum to drive to PiL and be there between 10 and 11. Christmas lunch, queens speech after which they can open their other presents.

As in staying over - I'd be delighted to get a dinner in someone else's home 😂

We had Christmas at our home from when 1st child was 3. We had both sets of parents to us, and sometimes a brother and family. Family arrived after church, we all ate together then opened presents after lunch. The kids loved it.
Now eldest Child has her own family and we have been invited there this year (they alternate us and her in-laws) and I feel very guilty at not cooking for my parents - so we are doing a family meal at home the weekend after Christmas.
I do tell DD though that she really must never feel obliged to invite us any year, or to be rigid with alternating, but it is so lovely to see the DGS, and DS also joins us there.

I grew up having to rush out to my grandparents' house, but 20 years ago my gran had a hysterectomy in early December so we invited her to ours that year. We enjoyed the day so much more that that's what we've done ever since. I see no reason that we wouldn't carry on. Do what's right for you. There's plenty of time to see people before Christmas or between Christmas and New Year, without having to make the day itself stressful.

Yes. I used to be dragged out as a kid and HATED it. All the adults sat around drinking making loud stupid jokes, asking endless questions about school or silly comments trying to embarrass me for hours on end. Everyone staring when I opened presents when I just wanted some privacy. (Not saying everyone's Christmas was like that but I hated it).

Single mum and just me and my boys & our dog. Bliss.

Yep except this year we are travelling to DS1 as he is allergic to cat. 5miles. walking distance for one brother and we will pick the other one up on the way. So DH and I and 3 boys DD abroad with her partner. No parents now.So think on those arguing with parents and in laws. I wish we could see them.

We always have Christmas at home and my dad joins us for the day.

I really wouldn’t like to be away for Christmas at all. I just want to be chilling out in my own home.

We attend a late evening Christmas dinner with family, but spend the bulk of the day at home. I love that we are home for Christmas. Being home Christmas morning is actually really important to me

Several years ago we put a stop to the endless, your turn, my turn, with the two sets of parents

Exactly this! DH and I stay at home, prepare tons of food, and anybody who wants to join us, does; anyone who wants to make their own arrangements, doesn't. Works for us.

We stay at home, both the dc’s have ASD and are now teens, they don’t want to go anywhere. Several family members don’t seem to get this and keep asking if we will go to theirs (mainly my dad and step mum), when I explain they pull faces and moan. We are comfortable at home, the dc’s can do what they like, wether it’s hiding in their rooms, slowly unwrapping gifts all day or eating what ever they like).

Christmas day is us, relaxed in our own home with good food & no clock watching. A few times we have had friends over for the day.

When dh & I moved into our first home I suggested from the start that we had a relaxed Christmas day at home. I would do a present run before Christmas eve & then we would visit both sets of parents on Boxing day. When my sister left home my DM always went to her, even though I invited DM every year. When she still didn't want to spend the day with us for my eldest dc's first Christmas I stopped asking (8 years of rejection was enough).

PILs liked to host & wouldn't have even considered spending the day with us either (not an idea I was keen on as MIL could be vocally unpleasant if things were not done her way & FIL drank like a fish). They lived with DHs sister & family & everything had to be done "their" way. But it worked well as DH's db & family would visit on boxing day at the same time as us and more people diluted MILs sarky comments at those of us who dared marry her children!

So absolutely love spending Christmas day at home, no rushing about & just enjoying time being us

We do.

I have spent 99% of Christmasses with my parents, I have been away once for Christmas. We used to decamp to a relatives house in the evening but now thats rare. I treasure spending time with my family as we live such busy lives.