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.

We live in Asia, so rules are more relaxed here but we can’t go home to England as usual which is really sad, as they are keeping boarders closes here for a while. We have a 1 year old and are having 2 couples and their 1 year olds over for a champagne breakfast from 9-12, and then at 3 we are going to a friends for Christmas lunch where there will be quite a few people, lots who I don’t know. It won’t be the same but we will make the best of it!

Just the 3 of us at home as normal, though we wanted to go back to U.K. this year, which obviously isn't happening. Dd is normally up by 9 and will open her stocking. We make coffee and croissants etc, then pressies. Then we get dressed, I open the bubbly, stick on Family Favourites and start the lunch. We'll eat about 3. - having duck this year with all the trimmings. Then board games and chocolate and snoozing in front of TV.

[quote pepsicolagirl]@mutantelfoftraal have you tried nhsvolunteerresponders? They should be able to help[/quote]
No but thanks for the suggestion, we've cancelled the order and are going to make do and have xmas lunch another day as we don't have small children who believe. I'd rather the NHS volunteers went to people who need essentials TBH.

We live in Asia, so rules are more relaxed here

Things I never thought I'd read #2781!

@lljkk

Like an ordinary Friday. Friend might cook me a meal. At this point, I have zero idea what DC or DH are doing.

I’m sorry @lljkk is your family going through something? X

We were supposed to be spending Christmas in the Lake District but won’t be now. It will be the two of us at home with the pets. Present swapping first, then breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs served with Buck’s Fizz. Full roast dinner, we don’t usually have turkey but I decided we would this year and have put in an order for the smallest they can find. We will walk the dogs, play scrabble and watch Christmas movies.

I don't know why I read this thread.

We're nurses, we have to work long days all thorough. DH is working the 25th. So it'll be me with x2 DS of 4 and 6. We wont see any of our large extended family which is unusual and sad.

Luckily we have the 26th off as a little family so we'll do a roast then.

It is what it is this year.

Ours is going to be a pretty much normal Christmas Day for us,
Kids wake hopefully later this year as our youngest no longer believes, bacon sandwiches with Buck’s Fizz then we take it in turns to open presents not as many this year as the eldest are 19 and 16.
Usually we go to in-laws for 12 for a hour but they emigrated this year so looking forward to a lazy morning whilst kids just chill DH helping set up new tech/toys.
Go to my mums for 3 there will be DM,DB ds,Dbil and nephews and us 5 so only 3 households as normal really.
Lovely late lunch cooked by the mother 3 meat the full works starters and various deserts all washed down with wine,
Long walk with our dog who’s coming too about 6 then back for lots of extravagant games my mum goes crazy every year it’s the kids favourite part of the day then about 9pm picky buffet and finish off the gin and wine home about 12am ready for a very lazy Boxing Day full of soaps films and call the midwife and baileys
Hope everyone has a good day whatever you may end up doing

@Strangedayindeed, kind of you, but don't worry!

Situation is just so up in the air.
I don't at all mind a quiet Christmas, although would be nicer if it were by choice not by default nothing else is possible.

Christmas eve is day 10 of self isolation so us, so our plans have been slightly scuppered! Also DP is working Christmas day and I don't think I'll feel confident to mix with anyone so soon after isolation so it will just be me and DS.

Assuming we're all still mostly symptom free, christmas eve will involve waking up whenever 1 year old DS does (if I'm really lucky this might be as late as 8am!). We'll open stockings on our bed, then downstairs for main presents.

Breakfast will be bacon sandwiches for DP and pain au chocolat for me. DS will have his porridge then whatever he can scrounge off our plates, as usual.

Isolation means no lovely walk for us, so I think the rest of the day will be fairly normal, except with more prosecco. Play with DS, take turns to look after the cooking. When DS is napping we might play a game or watch a film.

Christmas day is going to be even more low key. DP is working 6.30-6.30 so my plan is to play with DS and eat leftovers. However hopefully we'll get to go on our first walk in 10 days, so that will be exciting

DH, DD13, DD10, & me.
Get up around 8, presents.
Scrambled egg & smoked salmon for breakfast with Buck’s Fizz.
Gammon for lunch.
Christmas films, board games, dog walks thrown in.

I can’t wait!

Ex h will be over first thing to watch DS open pressies. I will do us all a (vegan) cooked breakfast mid morning and he will be gone by 12.

The rest of the day will be just me and DS. We will watch a film or two, he will talk to his mates and go on xbox at some point. We will have a gravy dinner later afternoon - some kind of vegan wellington or parcels with all the trimmings. Supper later will be buffet food. Leftover from xmas eve. Might have a long bath at some point especially if I have new smellies.

Not meeting anyone else. I bubble with ex h anyway so no new Christmas bubbling going on.

The only real difference to our usual Christmas is that we won't have a hired Father Christmas come to give the presents out (its tradition where we live, its not me being ridiculously extra!).

I'll get up early to take the ham out of the fridge and make the rice porridge, DS will probably wake up an hour or so later and DD has requested that we don't wake her up this year which I'm still unsure about, doesn't feel quite right to not open stockings altogether and she is liable to sleep half the day. Few presents under the tree after breakfast, then listen to the Declaration of Christmas Peace, dinner whenever its ready (mid-afternoon I reckon), Father Christmas will have to leave the presents on the doorstep to open after dinner, then Christmas sauna.

Going to do a treasure hunt for the big family present, if I can think up enough clues to make it worthwhile.

Covid free in my tiny country so our Xmas will involve lots of visitors, my newish boyfriend spending xmas with me and dd, a walk on the beach if its nice, and a lamb dinner (thats what we eat at Xmas in the Falklands). Very relaxed and informal, open house if any of our single pals decide they want to come round for dinner - no need to schedule ahead, it's easy enough to make a bit extra just in case 😊

Just the three of us. Presents, breakfast, using new gifts. Nice dinner. Watching movies (probably Wonder Woman). It will be much like the Christmas I had growing up. I’m looking forward to it.

Just us

Presents will be anytime between 6:30 and 9:30 (my youngest are completely unreliable re: wake up time )

Breakfast, morning building and sorting the toys that need building/ batteries etc..

Canapes around 12, lunch around 1 latest.

Bike ride or walk for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Hot chocolate, various facetime wishing merry Christmas to everybody.

Christmas movie

Bit boring really, I don't like quiet Christmas, but as long as no-one is down with flu/V&D/Covid it will be a good one.

The difference this year is that Christmas will actually be in our house. When we aren't abroad, we usually spend it visiting relatives who are spread all over the country. On the plus side, a lot less time will be spent in the car.

DP and I are buggering off to a holiday let by the sea in England. Walks, Christmas telly etc.
Quite normal for us; neither of us really do the family gathering thing anyway. Only real difference is we might otherwise have gone overseas.

We had planned to spend part of it away in Wales but, as of yesterday, that isn't happening.

We're waiting on covid test results.
Dd2 is isolating until the 24th as several of her class are positive.
I'm feeling rough
We have an 82 year old living with us and she bling and their OH we're going to visit. They both work in emergency services so all in all it's not looking great.

Doesn't sound bad to me 🤔

Just me and two very hormonal and long armed teenagers. They will sleep till midday, reluctantly appear wearing grubby pjs, grunt when opening gifts (none for me obvs) and retreat to their darkened rooms asap. I will be doing a Xmas dinner which the teens will bolt down in 2 minutes flat and once more return to their lairs without a word of thanks or Christmas cheer uttered. Ahhh what fun times I'll have. I miss the excitement of toddlers and little kids at Christmas time. Sorry having a pity party here.

Kids will likely be up before the sun on christmas morning. We do stockings first thing. Then i make breakfast while they play with new toys and dh puts toys together. Then we'll watch a xmas movie with breakfast prob the grinch. Play some games, then get dinner going around 11. (traditional xmas dinner) Will prob go for a walk while its cooking weather permitting (ireland) have dinner then spend the afternoon chilling, playing games, blasting out Christmas tunes. Mum and dad might pop in for a drink and to see the kids,in the evening when kids are in bed itl be drinks and netflix for me and dh.

Just me and DP this year.

Wake up, exchange presents, watch TV all day, have a roast dinner, watch TV, eat chocolate and get pissed in the evening.

I'm feeling quite miserable about it to be honest, but I know I'm lucky to have him, as some people don't even have a partner and will be completely alone.

DC1 arrived early in the month has been working by zoom from their bedroom. They will stay until Dec 29th, then we will drive them 100 miles back to their new place. The rest of us live here. So no change in tiers or lockdown can muck up Christmas for us.

We normally have a family theatre (sometimes special cinema screening) Christmas trip, plus a meal out and some other festive outing. We can’t do any of that so I’ve spent some of the money on a live - not cut - tree that we will plant out in January ( to commemorate the weirdest year) and a cook food dot net easy-peasy pre-prepped Christmas dinner to treat ourselves to an easy day with minimal cooking and otherwise we will have a relaxing few days of board games, Prosecco, beer and nice food.

The present budget is a bit tighter than normal because our annual profits took a kicking, but the gifts we have are thoughtful and appropriate and remind me of years ago when the DC were tiny and the budget was tiny (fewer ride along toys and Lego though ). So I don’t mind. Nobody will mind.

It’s the first year that one of the kids has lived away and so “come home” for Christmas and so it’s the start of an era in that sense, and the end of the old one. More diary calls needed in the run up but so very lovely to have them home.