What's Christmas looking like in your house?

[Kumquatsquash]

We were supposed to be off to Greece to spend Christmas with Grandparents

Instead, it will be just me, ex DP and 2 dc. Dc will wake us up at silly o'clock to open presents. Breakfast will be smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and mimosas, chocolate waffles for the kids.

Then we'll either go for a walk if it's nice, or watch a cheesy movie. Dinner will be spatchcocked Turkey, stuffed tomatoes and peppers, roast potatoes, and salad.

After dinner I'll be downing margaritas and watching Netflix until bedtime.

Christmas dinner with PIL - they form a childcare bubble with us so not much of an extended risk.

Apart from that home as a family of 4.

Three dds will wake up around 9 (12,16&18) open stockings then ex will come at 10ish well open tree gifts with fizz and pastries

He will go and I’ll get dressed and start dinner - my mum and step dad are coming but staying in a hotel - dinner around 1:30 then booze and games - kids to their dads Boxing Day - not hugely different from normal except we normally travel to my mums on the 27th till the 30th

Dad is coming over on xmas eve for a dinner consisting of a choice of pate and brioche or prawn cocktail followed by roasted cockerel, baked ham, sprouts with chestnuts and bacon, mac and cheese, cauliflower cheese, stuffing and peas followed by a fresh cream Eton mess or lemon meringue pie.
After dinner we will give dc a Xmas eve box which has inside a pair of pyjamas, a hot chocolate kit, a paint your own nutcracker and a book. They can spend the evening painting the nutcracker and reading their books while I run Dad home. Then I will have a small alcoholic beverage or 2 and hit the hay.

Xmas morning we will be woken at around 7 (hmm) by excited kids with full stockings and will head downstairs for coffee. Once coffee is made I will pop the Xmas lights on and call everyone down.

Kids will open their presents, then we will have breakfast of bucks fizz and almond croissants and pastel de nata.

After that I have to work from 10 til 4 so I guess the kids will play on the switch with their dad and eat choc all day..

After work we can play board games and eat leftovers and party food. Once the kids are bed I intend to work my way through 1l of advocaat and all the pringles.

Here's my prediction.

Breakfast.
Open presents.
Walk round town, ice skate on the pond.
Make then eat big Christmas dinner.
Play Among Us.

Not too different for us.

Christmas Eve dinner at PILs who live 5 mins walk away.

Back to ours to sleep.

Christmas morning we will give the DCats their presents from Santa Paws. We'll all (including cats and lodger) have smoked salmon and scrambled egg. Me & lodger will have Buck's Fizz.

Get showered and dressed and schlep over to PILs for canapés, presents and Christmas dinner. Lots of chatting, fire roaring, steady flow of booze and chocolates. Will stay until later in the evening and then back to ours.

Boxing Day we'll be out for a brisk walk somewhere people go with dogs so I can pet them.

Me and my two teens. Luckily they no longer wake up before dawn so we will head downstairs at a decent hour. After presents I'll make french toast with bacon for whomever wants it. Dinner is at about 5: stuffed turkey crown, usual trimmings. Dessert not yet decided. Then some games and a movie. Some point during the day I'm sure my son will want to see his girlfriend. Me and my daughter may do a marathon of American TV Christmas specials (Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer etc) which we have on dvd.
Interesting how few go to church or mass, which I did every year until I left home.

I usually go to the family Christmas carol service locally but won’t this year to reduce my risk

We’re in tier 3. No idea if church attendance will be allowed, but if it is we’ll go to church. BIL is single and far from his parents so will come to us overnight (he’ll self isolate for a week before).

So it’ll be stockings, stick turkey crown in oven, church, home for sherry, presents, prawn cocktail starter for “lunch” as we have a toddler. Toddler will nap and we’ll watch a film or play Scrabble etc then. When he wakes we’ll do more presents, play with him, serve the main course for “dinner”, do Christmas pudding, play with DS. Then bath, stories, bed for him and wine, parlour games or film for me, DH and BIL before bed.

DH, teen and I at home. No church. No traditional extended family drinks at DAunt's house. If we go out, it will be for a festive walk.

Teen will start the day with her stocking. We'll cook a nice breakfast. I will have time for a relaxed shower for a change . May have wine earlier than usual. Presents while turkey cooks. Proper roast turkey dinner at relaxed pace in late afternoon. Might even open a bottle of,port for relaxed supping with cheese. Long sleep to catch up on many too-short nights this year.

@Nowaynothappening

Oh and I’m making knickerbocker glory’s for dessert this year at DC’s request. Bought all sorts of toppings and ice cream glasses too plus little cake sparklers to stick in the top.

I'm going to steal this idea! We are having a tapas dinner as neither of the boys like roast and I don't like it enough to bother just for me..... but we all bloody love icecream!

Pretty much the same as last year. Me, my partner and the kids at home on Christmas day doing the usual family stuff. On boxing day we'll be going to visit my parents and brother.

DH, 2 children and I will be at home.
Usually presents in the morning, bacon sandwiches then playing with the new toys. Then a Christmas film and Xmas dinner.

I used to do a long walk pre kids and when they were tiny but I’m not sure I’ll convince them out. I prefer stuffing my face after a long walk....dunno why.

Joris, sounds wondeful, lavender 😂😂🎄🎄

I'll be by myself, was supposed to be going to my parents with DS and DBIL but my parents think it might be too risky. I'm a little bit annoyed as I was looking forward to it but it's their decision. I do wish that they'd told me a week or two ago.

Biddy that sounds lovely too. For us it will be the same as usual although the big change might be.. Instead of giving the girls new night dresses on Xmas eve I may give them a new dress each.. Not sure...

I don't eat breakfast, dh and the children will probably have their usual. Early start lots of presents and relaxing and then late afternoon we will eat... Dress for dinner after a day of lazing..

I was half expecting to cook pizza but it turns out everyone wants the individual elements of a normal Xmas lunch...
Quantities will be smaller and it will be a smaller bird so hopefully not too long in the kitchen.

Slash that's ashame maybe new info has pushed them over the edge..

Well, the planned visit to parents is now off so it's just the 3 of us. DD will wake us at some ungodly hour. She'll get into our bed and we'll all open our stockings.
DH will go back to sleep, I'll get in the shower and DD will bounce off the walls with excitement until we're all dressed and ready to go downstairs.
Croissants and Bucks Fizz for breakfast, then presents.
DH will take charge of the dinner while I play whatever new board game DD has got. We'll eat, then I'll clear up while he helps her set up whatever new gadgetry she's got.
I will suggest a family walk. They'll both grumble and moan at the suggestion and I'll give up on the idea. DH will go and have a nap. DD and I will watch a film and devour chocolate. I will get quietly battered on sherry.
DH will emerge in time for tea, but nobody will be very hungry. We'll nibble on cheese & biscuits, and have a family game of cards. DD will get grumpy and tearful and argue that she's not tired and wants to stay up late because it's Christmas. I'll put her to bed and she'll be asleep in 10 minutes.
DH will put the fire on and find us something festive to watch. I'll be asleep in 10 minutes.

To be fair, if we were visiting my parents it would be very much the same except there'd be more people snoring in front of the TV by 9pm.

@TheRubyRedshoes

Slash that's ashame maybe new info has pushed them over the edge..

I can't blame them tbh, just wish it had been done earlier. We're in Scotland and only last week went from tier 4 to tier 3 and cases are rising again. The council have opened up a local walk in place for people who have symptoms and were doing asymptomatic testing fairly close a fortnight ago. My BIL and I work retail and my DS works in a school.

@MaverickDanger. That’s exciting news for Xmas .... good luck and please come back and let us know when your DS arrives.
Take care

Can't be bothered with it this year ,so it's just going to be a normal day.

Same as normal. I finish work about lunchtime on Christmas eve, we'll have a the big feast dinner in the evening. A long walk if the weather allows and then sit in front of the fire with board games and a movie.

Just me, DH and DS (9) our parent has all said they are so close to the vaccine that they would rather wait to get together at some point next year. DS will bring his stocking into our room at 7ish. Once he has opened it we'll head downstairs for a mug of tea and a mince pie (DH will light the fire while I make the tea). Ds will distribute presents. There will be phone calls to my folks, the in laws, my siblings, DH's brother and a few dear friends to do thank yous and I gots. I will stick the turkey in the oven (my big tip to a chilled Christmas is to have a very late lunch when it is ready rather than being a slave to the clock to get lunch on the table by a set time). Pate on toast/cheese and crackers as required with a bucks fizz or two. I normally grab a bath while DH and DS do something techy. Late lunch then a stroll around the village. Grazing on left overs/Christmas food for the next few days. No Boxing day trip to the in laws this year but DH is on call so it might be a few days of lazy family time or it could be just DS and I if he is called I'm the office.

DD is nearly 3 so really gets it this year. Plan is to do her a stocking with some presents in there (books, choc santa and a christmas Mickey Mouse as she loves him). DH and I will ask Santa to deliver us a lindt teddy bear upstairs too We then eat choc in our bed with DD and her presents, coffees and milk for her.

Come down, do some Santa presents. Make family calls.

Then go oh shit look at the time and scramble into the kitchen to do Christmas dinner, with some bucks fizz while awaiting DM and my grandad. Once they're here and dinners cooking, more gifts. Eat. Telly and DD plays with her new toys.

DM will bring her dog, so walk. More tv and toys till DM and grandad go home, and DD bedtime. DH and I get out the nuts, lindor and whiskey and collapse until bed.

I'll probably collapse into bed around 2am, try to sleep but be far too excited. I'll nod off but wake every hour and check the time until around 5am when I'll stomp to the toilet and flush very loudly, rousing dc. I'll then crawl back into bed and await the sound of elephants hot footing it into my bedroom to 'wake me up'. We will go downstairs, DH will make some (strong) coffee whilst we check if Father Christmas has taken rudolph's carrot and ate his cookies we baked the day before and then we will open presents. The rest of the day will be spent playing, eating, watching movies and snuggling up together.