Did anyone else have a bloody lovely Christmas?

[StFrancisdeCompostela]

Since mumsnet has been sufficiently gloomy about Christmas to lead one poster to question whether the entire thing should just be cancelled outright, any positive stories to offer a counter view?

I had a bloody lovely day. Got to spend hours cuddling my beautiful baby nephew, who spent many weeks this year in hospital but is now out and doing brilliantly. Spent time with family who I missed desperately last year. Saw my son adored and cherished by my family. Got thoughtful, generous presents and had the joy of seeing people really appreciate and enjoy the things I gave them. Ate lovely food. Read my book by the fire. Walked on beautiful, snowy hills. Cuddled my childhood dog.

Anyone else?

Yes I got engaged

My 21 year old
Brother in law died on 3rd December. It's been a horrific month. But we manage to salvage what we had and gave our children and in laws (siblings not parents) a very nice day. We are up and down. Life is hard. But Christmas is Christmas and the magic will always remain

We (me, DH, DS1 & DiL, DS2, and Dbro) had a lovely time. We lost Mum in February from Covid so it was slightly tinged with sadness, but there was so much laughter from shared memories and from wonderful future plans.

No one drank to excess (she said sheepishly) and DBro who is a recovering alcoholic had his 7th sober Christmas.

DH just got the results of his post radiation and chemo treatment scan and the Dr said "It looks as good as any post-treatment scan I've ever seen" which was wonderful news. He won't be considered cancer for some time but this was a great start. His immune system is still in the loo so everyone did home covid tests with no arguing and all were negative.

We had a lot to be grateful for this year.

oops! "cancer-FREE"

Was wonderful and it's not over yet. Still have plans to see family again later in the week and it's my birthday this week too.

Saw all the people I love, DH was off work for the 25th for the first time in 17yrs, children aged between 8wks and 14yrs all happily playing together and just so happy to be in the same room, thoughtful gifts, great food, saw friends for a lovely walk, Junior Choice on the radio, carols on the wireless, good books, fire on, board games. Just all our favourite things for a couple of days.

I truly think this has been my favourite Christmas as an adult. DS's (5 and 2) have played so beautifully and enjoyed their presents. We asked GP's to not go mad on them this year and they played with everything rather than discarding and moving on.

Spent Christmas Day at home for the morning playing and chatting then went over to IL's for late lunch. Boys fell asleep in the car so DH and I drove around catching up with each other and enjoying the quiet while they napped.

Two of DH's brothers are married to Americans so they had gone to the states for Christmas and because of COVID, we didn't have all the extended family. Usually there's 20-25 people at dinner, yesterday there was 9 and it was actually really lovely to sit and have quality time with everybody.

Today, DH left me to lie in and I slept until nearly 10am which is unheard of and then my parents and brother came around and we laughed and played and ate and drank and DS had the time of their lives.

Honestly, this Christmas has just been lovely. The kids have wound me up no end but then they do something that melts me again. I wish I could have just stood back and watched it all play out.

We had a great day too. We’re in Aus and it’s the second Xmas with no family, but we did a nice phone call and they were all pretty jolly too. Kids loved their pressies, husband bought me some lovely and thoughtful things. We had a fish BBQ for lunch which was easy and delicious. Great day!

Yes, I had a lovely Christmas! The kids weren't asking for anything, so they were thrilled with a new TV (which arrived Christmas eve) and a few games and bits. Lunch with all the trimmings was on the table by 1pm. Ds spent the lunch hour watching the James Web launch (he has asd) so we didn't have the usual lunch table shinanigens and arguments.( He ate in his room) .. Later,
a friend popped in for an afternoon walk. I'm so thankful for a calm day 😊😊

We've had two lovely relaxing days at home. My parents have come over both days. Kids have been in good spirits, quite bouncy but no bad moods!
For once my fibromyalgia has been mild so I was able to do all the prep and cooking to have dinner just how I like it!
Presents were great, got exactly what I wanted and kids were very happy. DH has a HOTAS for his gaming and spent several hours this morning configuring and flipping switches and pressing buttons.
Ds1 was actually sociable a lot of the time and my mum finally won a game of Catan which she was very pleased about.
Even persuaded ds2 to eat some green veg today which is as close to a miracle as anything!
Seeing more family in the week which I'm looking forwards to.

Yes, I did. It’s been absolutely wonderful. Definitely one to remember.

Us! Our Christmas was lovely - it was our second Christmas ) and we loved every second of it. it was only me, dh and our 3dc and we had the most super chilled and happy day ever.

We woke up around 10, everyone got showered/dressed, then we did our presents and then dh and I made a nice breakfast while the dc played with their new stuff. After breakfast we all cleared up, and I set up our cheeseboard and snack buffet to graze on throughout the afternoon and we played loads helping the dc set up their new marble run and play Mobil. We had a late Christmas dinner around 7. We decorated our dining table beautifully, dh and I enjoyed cooking everything together and because it was just us and it was just to our timing, there was zero pressure. The food turned out amazing. At night My eldest dd aged 12 said she didn't want the day to end which is honestly the nicest thing I've heard her say in a long time

We celebrate other religious festivals with family and although it's lovely, we don't ever get the opportunity to spend that quality time with our dc on the day as it's always so hectic and busy wherever we go. I am very precious about keeping Christmas Day just for us for this reason and I think it is something we are all growing to love.

Yes

Very quiet as couldn’t see family but lovely and chilled. Several days of special food and fun that’s not over yet; lots of lovely gifts we enjoyed all of them; playing games together and walks - lovely.

Terrible weather!! But we put waterproofs on and go anyway.

What a bloody lovely OP!

I have, as well. Kids home from university, some nice lie-ins, parents round, fab food, some really nice presents and time spent together watching films and talking crap. It’s been good.

We had an awesome Christmas! 30 of us (!!!!) and all the kids, we went to a friends house, we swam, lazed about in the pool, drank frozen daiquiris all day. The adults did a hilarious secret Santa where we could steal each other’s gifts, lots of laughter and singing badly to Boney M. Krishna’s music
Lying on an inflatable unicorn with a cocktail was a highlight!
Despite the heat we just had the best time with our expat “family”.
Doing it all again today, despite the heat!! ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

Boney M CHRISTMAS music! Not Krishna

I might have been the poster who posted about cancelling Xmas... just so frustrated with all the moaning.

We had a lovely day, very much making the most of it. Christmas is always lovely, because we want it to be.

Everything was lovely, I still feel serene now even though I am back at work.

Christmas Eve, DS and I went to see my grandparents, my grandad is poorly but it made my day to see him light up when he got his present.

Christmas Day we all piled into my sisters house and had a brilliant day. I actually cried from laughing so much!

Boxing Day, DS, DP and I had a meal together and snuggled up on the sofa watching films all afternoon.

We even managed to sneak in our hobby a few times, and got some exercise in because of this!

Had a week off work, drank a bit too much wine but nothing to speak of, ate good food, and surrounded by family.

We had a lovely time. My PIL and SIL came for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and we had a great time. It was wonderful watching my 3 yr old play with them and everyone chipped in with cooking or washing up etc. so it was a real team effort, family Christmas.

Then my DP arrived on Boxing Day and are here for a few days - we're doing "Christmas Mark 2" today and we're also having a lovely time. Same with everyone getting involved and my DD is just so excited having everyone here!

I did for once