Making Christmas lovely and special as a single parent... Tips?

[Karmarama]

This Christmas will be my first as a single parent with my DC who are 16 and 9. In previous years my sister and her DC have spent a couple of days with us which has always been lovely but they moved abroad earlier this year for her work and won't be back for Christmas.

My 9 yr old has additional needs (autism) so anything like inviting friends over for the day or going to a hotel is out! My best single mum friend only has one DC who's spending Christmas with his dad and she will be volunteering to take her mind off being without him.

Just not sure how to make it feel special on my own!

All you ever ever ever need for Christmas is a few decorations, a tub of celebrations, a board game and Christmas tv. Honest! Friends over or a hotel sounds like hell to me, it's home, having a laugh with the kids.

Hey hun, the things my little man liked:

Going to see xmas plays and pantos
Xmas eve movie night - we go full out with pizza, hot choc, popcorn etc. And xmas movies.
Keep an eye out for local events and stuff, maybe try ice skating if that's near by?
My son's almost 6 so he's still at the age where he likes doing the arts and craft side but baking is always a hit, and making gingerbread houses

Not a single parent but have a 12 year old with ASD and 13 year old. They've enjoyed:

Trampoline park
Making hot chocolate at home with marshmallows, chocolate, cream etc
Baking esp. with animal shaped cookie cutters
Watching films on Netflix or at cinema
Putting tree up and making decorations
Ice skating
Longleat safari park Festival of Light
Bowling
Nice food either out or in though not too busy. DS likes Toby Carvery as its the same every time.

My ASD one struggles with presents so we do one a day or give cash. He will go to a holiday cottage and will do hotels but needs to know food times and menus for a week.

We love to stay in and do the ready made gingerbread houses you can get from ikea and other shops. One each for the kids, a few small packets of buttons and little sweets and put on some Christmas music. Getting the walls to stick together is always a joint effort / pandemonium but in a nice way. And then you have gingerbread! I like to heat up some mulled wine while they go mad with the decorating. Get them to pipe on the year with icing and when you look back through photos in years to come you’ll know when it was taken.
Cinema for a Christmas film, ice skating, and start a new tradition, like pick a gift each from under the tree to open on Christmas Eve, or go to a certain place to buy a wreath like a pretty garden centre.

Ask the DC what they would like to do, because it may not be too different from what you did when you had guests. The younger one may prefer to stick to a familiar pattern of events on the day itself. You could change the run up to Christmas and do some things differently.
I knew someone who used to have a Boxing Day present for each person, a small gift that was held back for it. The DC were also allowed to share out all the chocolates hanging on the Christmas tree.

Make life easy food wise and have what you all like rather than what you think you should have because it’s ‘traditional’

Get out for a walk together on Christmas Day, even for just half an hour, it will lift everyone’s mood if they are feeling a bit ‘flat’

It seems on the TV adverts that everyone has a house full of family and are having parties, but it’s not a reflection of everyone’s Christmas and the pressure to make it incredible is immense. Your DC have you and each other, and you can enjoy it just as much however you choose to celebrate.

I was on my own for year with the kids and as a pp said you dont need much. Get a couple of board games in, stick on some Christmas music or a movie and gorge on selection boxes and sweets.