This year, for the first time, I won't be spending Christmas Day with my parents and brother as I'll be with a very dear friend who was widowed last Christmas. I was extremely mentally ill over last year's festive season so quite frankly it's immensely liberating to celebrate this year in a different way, and in a different place.
I do know that doing this isn't ideal for the rest of my family, so I want to make the day we are getting together (the week before the 25th) special and festive so that they have a really lovely time - and hopefully can see that I've made a good decision rather than 'ending Christmas as we've always done it'!
So far, we've got a 'boxing day' style buffet planned (pork pie, bubble n squeak, meats, cheeses etc), followed by an evening carol service with mulled wine. Any other tips from people who've successfully changed a christmas 'routine'? Or ways of making our day extra Christmassy?