To ask what you do at Christmas

[hmmjustwondered]

I know it's ages away but I just wondered do you spend Christmas Day as just your family unit? Or with your parents and adult siblings and all the kids?
We usually spend it as all our family taking turns who hosts but if I'm honest I'd rather host every year as love doing Christmas. We also have dogs so makes it tricky as can't take them with us but also can't leave them for long.

I keep my fingers crossed as September approaches because that’s when the huge poster goes up on the wall at work for us to put down our preferences, which do we “want” to work, Christmas or new year.
After putting down preferences I then wait to see if I have got what I hope for.

Then when I don’t get what I hope for, I have to think of a way to explain to my children why I won’t be there on Christmas Day with them.

DH makes it lovely for them.

If I am home, it’s just us, the pil come for a bacon butty in the morning and give the kids their presents then disappear after about an hour.

We have my mum as she is on her own & none of my siblings offer for her to go to them.

If I have to work, I try to do the night shift Christmas eve so I can be home, die on the sofa all day but at least be there.

If not, I’m there at work for the 12 hours, I just get on with it and accept the loss of a family Christmas again.

Go and be a nurse they said, you’ll love it they said.... pfffft.

On Christmas Eve we all go to my mums for dinner then church (my mil and bil come too).

On Christmas Day we have the morning to ourselves then we host everyone at ours so that's usually; myself, dh, ds (this year we'll have a newborn too), my mum & step dad, dB, SIL, niece and nephew, MIL & BIL.

If the six people together restrictions aren’t eased for Christmas, it’s going to be a very different Christmas for many families

There's only ever three of us, me and my parents. I go to them. It's been that way for decades, since the last grandparent died. We do very little, it's just nice to see them and to eat my mum's cooking and not be at work.

We always host since having children - we alternate my parents / dh family on Christmas Day and as dh parents are divorced we see the other 2 sets on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day plus his sister and nanny on his family days.

I love the fact it’s at our house but I’m normally ready to go back to work for a break afterwards as it all falls on me to do

We see the in-laws on Christmas Eve.
We have Christmas Day to ourselves.
We see my family on Boxing Day.

We alternate going to my parents one year and my in laws the next. We coordinate it so all my siblings are also at my parents the years we are. I love it - both sets of parents are lovely people and wonderful, generous hosts. I’ve never had a bad Christmas with any of them.

Never hosted. We visit family in the morning, then home for lunch, then lazy afternoon. Thats it. Done and dusted. Everybody happy.

Xmas day we stop at home. Me, DH and two DDs.

Boxing day we alternate between my mum, my sister or us who hosts for a picky dinner, board games etc and the grandparents give DDs their presents then. Although this year I'm working boxing Day night 🤦‍♀️ so not sure what's happening this year.

We usually have it just our family unit. I love it as it is so low pressure. However, my parents who live abroad are planning to come over (fingers crossed they can) this year. We see my partner's family on Boxing day and my DC see their dad and his family on 27th. We see my DB and DSIL usually sometime between christmas and new year.

DS2 is a Christmas baby so that first year we stayed home, had family popping in but didn’t host for dinner (DH was in charge of the M&S Christmas dinner!). Spent the day in pjs and was lovely and stress free. Loved it so much we’ve done it every year since, which works as DS2 is autistic and cannot cope with too much fuss and noise. Apart from folk not popping in, a Christmas Day probably won’t be that different for us this year

We always spend the day at home as I think it’s nicer for the children to be able to open their gifts and enjoy them without having to go anywhere. We pop and drop gifts off to family the week before and make plans with our friends for Boxing Day.

A bit different to most as I live a long way from family so I've had Christmases with friends, colleagues, alone, one year with my (absolutely lovely) landlords. I've only had 2 or 3 Christmases with my family in 16 years, but I usually see them just before or just after.

This year will be Christmas Eve with DP's sister and her family, and Christmas Day will probably just be us, or maybe round to friends' for drinks in the evening.

If we're lucky this will be our last Christmas without DC and I've already decided that if people want to see us they'll have to come to us, or we'll visit them for part of a day, but not overnight and not travelling away from home.

So many (similarly ex-pat) friends spend Christmas travelling here there and everywhere visiting with the kids and presents and sometimes dogs in tow and it's not really fun for anyone.

We have my parents Christmas Eve for dinner and they watch kids hang stockings etc.

Christmas Day there are 15 of us at my parents for dinner.

DH and I both have three siblings each. We spend each year with one side of the family (that hosts for all that side who join). We don’t get to host as we can’t fit them all in. But I’m Boxing Day we do the ‘other side’. We sometimes host that as more of a buffet and people can eat at different times and sit down.
This year though will just be the 4 of us. Which I’m really looking forward too As we don’t ever get time on our own as a family at Christmas.

I am trying to cheer myself up by thinking of new ideas for Christmas, as I just can't see my normal Christmas happening this year. It would normally involve us traveling across the country to see extended family, or them coming to us, which seems unlikely. I can see the joy of bunkering down at home, if we hadn't already had 6 months of that. I will also miss things like midnight mass on Christmas Eve - packed church, carols, candles, lots of hugging and then walking out into the frosty Christmas night. Even if it was on I don't know if I would want to go this year.

Single parent but my ex has never shown any interest in doing more than seeing the kids briefly on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day. We alternate between going to my parents from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day or my parents coming here. Sometimes we have Christmas on our own.

Normally we host for family or friends from Christmas Eve till 28th December. This year tho we’ve booked to go away.

We usually go to MIL's with BILs and SILs - if they aren't working.

We need to get a flight or a drive x 2 and a ferry - even back in May/June DH and I were saying no way.

DD is 7, so it will be nice if she can enjoy her presents at home and I'll hit up M&S for a turkey crown. We'll eat well and watch the telly to our heart's content. We'll SKYPE family at some point.

I'm getting excited about the Christmas Radio Times coming out!

Used to be just us , our own family unit but since my fil passed we have mil with us , my own family pop in during the morning to see us . We used to go to friends in the evening but have moved , I miss that

We stay at home Christmas eve because I love the excitement of the kids waking up at home to find santa has been. We have breakfast with just our family then get ready and drive over to the Inlaws before lunch, spend the rest of the day with them and stay over. I'm very happy with this arrangement. It's important to me that the children wake up at home and we have that lovely Christmas morning before seeing wider family.

Until last year it was me hosting my parents, siblings (no partners currently) my adult kids and stbexh. This year I have no idea, I have a new dp, one dd has long term bf/dp, I've moved ... my dm will host but just not sure that's what I want. Then there's dp's kids (adults) depends on whether their dm want them home (no guarantee) I know my dm won't mind extras. Then there's the law. ... life at the moment! I'm tempted to book a hotel up in the highlands

Just me, DH and DS who is now 28!!!

My DPs have both passed away.
In-laws have too but MIL only in May - however they were more than 300 miles away and had other family there. We never went there for Christmas Day but did do New Year once I recall. Once was enough!!!

We live away from extended family. We have Christmas day just us four. We get up, do presents, take the dog on a festive walk, come home, have turkey dinner then watch telly and play games. Lovely day. Usually repeat on boxing Day with buffet lunch and turkey pie dinner, then it's on the road.
Second full christmas at my sister's with all my family. Then following day onto my sil's for more eating, drinking and being merry with his famiky. Usually arrive home near NYE desperate for some salad and a detox. Don't know what we will do this year.

We mix it up a lot but usually either we host or we go to SIL. We haven’t been to DH’s parents for about 20 years (they would rather not host) and although my parents love hosting, they live somewhere tricky to get to so we’ve only been there for Christmas 3 times in the past 15 years.

If we’re hosting then my parents & siblings and DH’s parents & siblings are invited. Both our parents always come but our siblings also mix it up with their in-laws so sometimes they’ll come and sometimes not.

If we go to SIL then usually my parents will stay on Christmas Eve and have a festive breakfast with us. Sometimes my siblings come over for that.

I like having things different and not in a set way every year. That way there’s no expectation on anyone.