What are your Christmas plans this year?

[seasid]

I love this little community on mumsnet as it involves so many people from many different walks of life. I also LOVE hearing people’s stories and I also love Christmas - so what better question than asking what you all are up to this festive season? 🎄

Christmas eve me,dh and ds11at home with Xmas films and nice food and drink.Christmas day is at my parents with my db.
Boxing day nothing!
On holiday in Norfolk 27th-1st Jan.Did it last year and it is a refreshing change.

We are only 9 for Christmas this year and I’m cooking. DS has profound SEND and loves the car so first thing we are going to be doing a few hours delivering Christmas hampers for a local charity, with lots of Christmas music and some loud Christmas jumpers on.

Then home for presents and cooking. I’m not doing turkey so that there’s plenty of time for the deliveries, probably beef wellington. Then watching endless Christmas specials that DS loves. Maybe a dog walk on the downs. That’s about it!

Thursday 18th I’m taking DD to London to look at the lights/Selfridges windows. Friday 19th, we are going to a panto/christmas show.

Wrapping and last present shopping until the 23rd which will be the big food shop.

24th we will have my family over for dinner - usually some sort of pie. There will be 13 of us in total.

Christmas day - just the 3 of us and then presumably we will see DP’s family sometime between Christmas and new year.

There are moment of Christmas madness but plenty of chilled time too - which is much needed.

Christmas eve party at our house with some family
Christmas morning/dinner at home just us and kids. I absolutely love doing the dinner.
Christmas evening visiting family
Boxing day take the kids somewhere but not decided where yet

I will be working in A&E.
my first Christmas without my mum, my first Christmas away from my toddler and partner and my first Christmas away from my grandmother who’s in a care home with dementia.

definitely not a Christmas to celebrate however I will try to make it special for my little one

We just boooked a cruise! Going to be having a couples massage on Xmas morning.

DH has 23rd, 24th and 25th off work. So 23rd will be food shopping and finishing up the big deep Christmas clean, 24th will be relaxing day baking and watching Christmas films, Then Christmas day we stay at home just us as we don't want to host or travel. Then boxing day DH has to work so me and DD will be watching Christmas films and stuffing our faces with chocolate and cheese.

Also love Christmas!

We’ll do some Christmas markets/garden centres during December.

Christmas Eve Eve (my kids invented that one!) - take away/out for dinner and film
Christmas Eve - in laws and sister in laws to us for dinner, games, drinks
Christmas Day - my parents and brother to us
Boxing Day - always in laws for buffet, games and drinks

Our wedding anniversary is during that week so we’ll go out for dinner.

NYE always at home, some kind of party - haven’t decided what yet.

Going to Disneyland from 22nd until 26th

On Christmas Eve we're going to my brother's house along with my sisters and their families, parents, granny, aunt, uncle and a family friend of my parents' who spends every Christmas with them.

We'll do midnight mass in the nearest church, leaving the children and grandparents at home. Then in the morning it will be croissants, scrambled eggs and Buck's Fizz. A dog walk for the four dogs (my sister's, my brother's, two for my parents). My brother lives in the Scottish highlands so it's a gorgeous area for walks etc.

Then it will be presents, lunch, a fancy cocktail or two, games, leftovers sandwiches, and bed.

We're staying a couple of nights then returning to our house for a quiet few days on the 27th.

I'm really looking forward to it. My brother is an amazing cook, I get to make a fancy pudding, and my children will love having their cousins around and the big family chaos.

Go you, I bet it cost a fortune over Christmas though

Christmas eve we go out for a early family meal which will be 12 of us.

Christmas day i host 20 people and i absolutly love it!

I divorced when my dc were young so I gave up on the concept of 'everyone-together-magical-day on 25th December'. For me, and us, Christmas has always been on which ever day we celebrated it. One year it was on 1st December (dh and I were going to Australia for a month) - that advent celebration was one of the best and we still have some special advent events.

Presents get opened on whichever day we are celebrating with wichever part of the family.

This year we have very long and protracted celebrations. My dsis (from Australia) is coming mid November so there will be a festive theme to everything we do - think turkey, stuffing, sprouts and cranberries in a burger bun! And Christmas cake.

There's a grandchildren Xmas event in the first week of December with all the best of the Christmas snack food - picky bits on steroids! And Christmas cake.

There's a school carol concert with all the mulled wine and mince pies.

We've organised lunch in a restaurant with SILs and BILs where gifts will be exchanged. And opened.

There will be something else with dc and dgc close to 25th but I don't yet know when and I don't yet know what... But full of games.

On 25th, dh and I have a restaurant chef prepared dinner (one of those things where you finish it at home). Just the 2 of us. We'll have fizz at 11am and start cooking and will go on until about 5pm. No telly.

Pure joy.

No plans yet!

This will be my second Christmas since mum died. I always hosted and am finding it a tough week as it’s Christmas, Mum’s birthday and NYE within the space of 5 days.

I’ve been invited to a great friend’s house for Christmas Day - it’s a bit like my second home! And a very good friend of mine has recently moved to my area, so I’ll be at her place on Boxing Day. I feel very blessed to have such great friends.

23rd is youngest dc birthday, he will turn 17, we are celebrating with breakfast at the Ivy.

Christmas Eve dh will be working, ds and I will go to church, then we will host the two adult dc and Dil for dinner in the evening.

Christmas Day, the two adult DC and Dil will all be around at some point, not sure who is eating with us and who isn’t at this point. Maximum 6 of us for dinner, that’s enough!

Up open gifts with DH , make some breakfast probably croissants or bacon rolls then chill out til about 2 - drive over to pick Mam up and go for a curry at 3 then back to her bungalow where rest of our little family will assemble for games and a beige buffet and home about 10pm

Just me and my two boys so i have booked Xmas Eve dinner with Father Christmas then on the day gonna do a big Xmas buffet and chill in our pjs! Cant wait!

20 December DH and I are going to the local Italian Association Christmas dinner dance.

21 December lunch and pantomime with DS and MIL. Friends and their DC over for mince pies and gluhwein in the evening.

23-27 we’re at BIL’s for Christmas. There will be 12 people in total, but we’re staying in holiday cottages near them.

Feeling slightly unsettled about Christmas this year. Ds moved out to live properly elsewhere for the first time - not uni when you know they’re coming home, but actually changing address - it felt odd to invite him for Christmas without it being a given. Then my late husband’s parents both died this year which has closed off a whole area of Christmas planning, while my dp’s extended family are coming over from halfway across the world, including a fairly new baby. I’m not quite clear exactly what’s going to happen. I do have Christmas Eve off work which is lovely, and I think the big day will be Boxing Day at our house. That’s about it so far.

We have guests arriving from the 23 through to 27, final number is 16. So a busy one but it’s always lovely. Then we are flying out to the states for a few days over new year.

2025 has been a difficult year so we're not doing any entertaining this Christmas. Fortunately my SIL volunteered to host the family post- Christmas gathering and we won't be hosting our usual early December chrimbo party, as it's my BIL's 40th and we're all going round his to celebrate.

Looking forward to a quieter Christmas this year (fingers crossed 🤞)

Nice meal out with DH and the kids at a local restaurant on the 23rd December, that’s our tradition.

Usually we go to my in laws on Christmas Day but we’re not feeling it this year (not really speaking to my MIL) so will be our first Christmas Day at home with me cooking. Looking forward to it! Apart from that we’ll be working plenty up till 22nd/23rd but after then food, relaxing, movies, all the Christmas TV we can handle, games.. just family time. 🥰

Quieter Xmas for us this year, 5/6 of us for most of the day and then a friend or two joining later. We're considering going rogue and not having turkey dinner.....

Don't like Christmas as it epitomises the pain in my life that infiltrates my daily life.
I apologise if I appear a killjoy but I am being honest.
For those of you who enjoy Christmas, hope all goes well