Do you like seeing family at Christmas

[Drivinghomeforchristmasnever]

Or do you dread it?

We do a Xmas Eve meet up with aunts, uncles, cousins and that’s lovely. Mil/fil/sil/bil and my parents and sister I see all the time so it’s not that special if anything it’s hard work cause they all have their ways that inevitably clash!

I only see my parents and DH's dad, which is absolutely fine. I don't have any extended family in this country and DH isn't close to his siblings or cousins.

Two of my three with their children and partners are coming to mine tomorrow and I will be cooking with love and pleasure for all of us and its one day of the year I don't demand they come to mine the invite goes out and I'm happy they choose to come to us, one is away this year so I will see her when they come back

We dont.

If I’m totally honest I prefer Christmas Eve and Christmas day just us (DH and the DC). When we have other family to stay (none live close enough to just visit for the day) I always feel so much pressure for everything to be perfect and I don’t really relax.
I prefer to see the rest of the family in the days after Christmas before the kids go back to school.

Yes. It's not very Christmassy with just the two of us. It will be nice but basically a Sunday with nice dinner. Will miss the chaos and laughs this year.

Yes l love it.. because it's just my daughters and Grandsons.. one daughter tomorrow with her wife and 3 Grandkids..
Other daughter boxing day and 3 Grandkids. We are a close loving family..
No in laws.. no awful ex husbands.. that's the way we love it..
And only 15 walks to each other's houses.

I love seeing my brother, SIL and their family. I love seeing the cousins on my dad's side.
I have a duty visit to my elderly aunt and my cousins on my mum's side and I dread that. I don't like my cousins and my aunt is really catty.

Same. It’s the one time of the year I get an extended time with no demands from work and I end up spending a big chunk travelling and sitting around bored with family. Definitely falls more on the side of ‘obligation’ rather than pleasure.

Yes I do. But I have to say I have some really unpleasant memories of family Christmases, along with some family ones that were so perfect they were like something out of a film. I’d rather not have such high stakes now and will make an enjoyable Christmas whatever the options are.

Absolutely love it..I cook for loads of us..love when we are all together..dread when we don't all get together..I save for it every year so it does kill me with costs ..

It depends, some of my family I love, and I spend time with them, and enjoy every second.
Some close family, like a sister, I haven't seen for years, so obviously I don't spend time with the ones I don't like.

It makes sense.

Just DD and her DH and that's it. There is nobody else in my family I want to spend more than an hour with if I'm honest.

We spend Christmas with just me, husband and children and then visit in-laws on Boxing Day and travel onwards from there to see my family.

I don’t mind seeing my in-laws, they mean well, although the visit is always quite dull for my children as there’s a lot of sitting and chatting. I stay with my mum which is hard, she’s only early 70s but is unwell after years of alcohol abuse so it’s quite hard work. I do like seeing my dad and step mum which we do for a few hours.

Ultimately I am looking forward to driving home tomorrow after all the visiting has been done.

Prefer to just be with dh and dc. We did see in laws and dh’s siblings who are nice but it’s a lot of sitting about eating in a very hot house.

I don't mind it but I've got to be honest, my side of the family are pretty dull and just want to sit around and drink cups of tea.

I like a drink, a laugh, a bit of karaoke or games. Nobody is ever bothered. My siblings are far too preoccupied with their own small children or just don't have a sense of humour or fun, and my husband's siblings are both vegan and refuse to come if the food isn't entirely vegan, even though the rest of the family aren't vegan and wouldn't be happy eating vegan food.

So we're left with elderly parents/grandparents who fall asleep after dinner and then sod off to bed at 9pm.

The most fun company I've had over Christmas is my own husband and 6 year old daughter.

Is it just me?

I like to get my visits done before Christmas Day. I've done more than my fair share of 12 around the dinner table on Christmas Day and now I'm happy for a quiet day with my other half and the dog.

I love seeing my grown up dc and dgc.
Not seen my siblings or Mum this year.