How can I make the day different to a standard Sunday at home ?

[thebearschairs]

As per most of us, plans changed. I'm actually relieved but it will be just me and my two kids for Christmas Day. When Boris broke the news I had lovely ideas of how special the day could be for us all but since then, the days have been a struggle..

I really need ideas on how to make the day special without the structure of guests. Fragile MH so need it to be easy and low effort..

So far I've got...
Stockings
Special breakfast
Presents - will try and spread these over the day
Maybe a FaceTime with a family member
A game?
Possibly a walk but not sure I can face the resistance and grumbling about it all.

I've got visions of the kids either fighting and shouting whilst I'm trying to cook or glued to bloody Roblox. There's a place for a bit of screen time but not all day.

Anyone got inspiring thoughts on how to make it nice and memorable after this shite excuse of a year.?

Well lots of presents to start the day will make it less like another Sunday!

Plan zoom calls with family/ friends (to open gifts if exchanging). Or just say hi.

Ask dc what they want to do.

Film or games not screen time until but later.

Wear nice clothes.

Party tea - depends what you're doing for Christmas lunch but buffet tea would feel special. A nice treat brekkie is great idea.

Im doing a Christmas tree pinata. Also got a "pass the sprout" table game no doubt with naff jokes. Dc love cracker jokes so it's similar. We have crackers too.

Hestitate to mention it but you could go to church!

Walk is great. If you have somewhere nice nearby. I'm walking on boxing day whilst my ham cooks.

@BeautifulandWilfulandDead

We always have Christmas at home alone and totally don't have this problem. Everybody makes an effort to get along and be in a good mood. Eat and drink what we like, music and dancing, nice stuff on tv, it's very festive and always really fun!

Sounds really nice. I had such high hopes but can feel myself slipping down hence asking for some ideas

Need kids to get the memo about getting along !

@ZenNudist

Well lots of presents to start the day will make it less like another Sunday!

Plan zoom calls with family/ friends (to open gifts if exchanging). Or just say hi.

Ask dc what they want to do.

Film or games not screen time until but later.

Wear nice clothes.

Party tea - depends what you're doing for Christmas lunch but buffet tea would feel special. A nice treat brekkie is great idea.

Im doing a Christmas tree pinata. Also got a "pass the sprout" table game no doubt with naff jokes. Dc love cracker jokes so it's similar. We have crackers too.

Hestitate to mention it but you could go to church!

Walk is great. If you have somewhere nice nearby. I'm walking on boxing day whilst my ham cooks.

Some great ideas here. Thank you.

We never have any family to see on Christmas day which makes it easier for us this year as being just us is normal. It always feels very special to us - never just a normal day. I'm not sure what exactly makes it that but I think it is because we spend the whole day together relaxing and having fun. I get to give my DC my whole attention for the whole day. We play with their gifts - toys, boardgames, console games. We eat what we want including lots of treats - which we don't usually have. Our day starts when the DC wake me (not early luckily!) and we go downstairs and they open their stockings. We then have pastries for breakfast followed by opening presents to each other under the tree. We then play with the gifts. I'll put the dinner on - I prepare the veg the day before so don't spend much time in the kitchen. We have a few nibbles before dinner at around 2pm. After our main course we have a break. We often play a board game at this point. Then we have pudding a bit later. After that we open presents under the tree from other family members. The evening is spent chilling out, probably watching a film together and playing another boardgame. Mince pies and Christmas cake for those who want it. We always have a lovely day.

@clairedunphy

Watching with interest, and also enjoying the image of *@clymene* pushing veg into boxing day (it took me a while to get that it wasn't a reference to sprouts...)

OMG it sounds like I'm going to give birth to veg on Boxing Day 

Thanks for starting this thread @thebearschairs - it's given me some really good ideas too. I don't usually insist on a walk but I think it will be a really good thing. Also love the idea of table presents!

I'm going to try and keep mine if screens for the day.

Presents
Breakfast
Play with presents
Lunch
Big walk
Games - we've got In for a Penny, Christmas Articulate. game of Life and something else I can't for the life of me remember
Small walk - ddog needs a second walk
Tea / snacks and Home Alone

Essentially a Sunday with presents and games, which is what Christmas usually is for us.

We don't have roast but a hot buffet of what everyone wants I think this year it's
Smiley faces
Quorn southern fried nuggets
Chicken goujons
Chicken satay
Duck spring rolls
Hummus
Nuts
Crisps

Erm not sure what else as DH caters and then party puddings.

They generally snack on chocolate etc and we don't have a proper tea!

You sound stressed by the idea of trying to cook while the younger one wants you — what about not cooking, assuming you were planning some elaborate trad dinner? I think in your shoes, I’d be tempted to be child-led, and only eat fun, easily-prepared food. That frees you up for fun.

We are having breakfast, gifts, call my DD's, cooking dinner (getting dp's dd to help me, she's ld adult so simple tasks) after dinner my DD's have set up "entertainment" not sure what exactly but it's virtual with lots of family, we are all scattered this year. Hopefully watch a movie but will depend on dp's dd who doesn't always settle easily, at least she goes to bed by 10

Get an empty tub or jar and over the next couple of days get the kids to write down 5 things each for Christmas Day...,
A game to play
A film to watch
An activity ( Lego,drawing ect
Something outside (a walk ... football
A book to read or screen time.
Pop them in jar and when it's getting on top of you Pull one out of the Christmas lucky dip and they can do the chosen thing

In my house we do stocking presents in the morning. Cooked breakfast. Walk dogs. Game or Xmas movie while I cook lunch. Prep night before. Xmas lunch with crackers and champagne. Chocolates can be opened after lunch. Presents from under the tree. Skype chat with dd and watch dgc open gifts from us. Dog walk. We tend to eat desserts in evening rather than after lunch. Son computer game time 1 -2 hours if no whinging about gaming during rest of day /I Skype chat with my sisters /DH rings his parents. Bed for child. More wine and snuggles on sofa and chocs for adults.

We eat later. As children mine wanted 'candles' on the table, so for full effect, Christmas dinner is late afternoon. We dress up too. What do your kids want to do?

For managing time and expectations, we all used to write down two things we want to do in the day...watch Elf, play monopoly, read a book (me) and then we'd take turns to pick them out of a Christmas Santa hat/stocking. Meant we, (me included) got a say, it was fair for everyone and somehow we all got on with it...I suppose because we knew our turn would come.

Great minds and crossed post quarant 😉

We have a garden, but might be possible for indoors as well at night...have decided to hide a few presents in the garden and give them a flashlight each and go looking, will hide them up in trees etc. Will give them 5-10 minutes to look (or the presents might be mine haha!).

Ours all pile on to our bed with their stockings and open them there when they get up. Then we go down and I put xmas songs on Alexa and a fire on the TV on youtube and do presents and will set things up for them like new devices etc. Then we usually call everyone to say merry xmas and me and dh start breakfast and kids go do their own thing. Then have a big breakfast and after we all get showered and dressed up. Then ususally go visit whoever wed visit and if it's no one (this year) would maybe go for a walk. Home to let them do what they like whilst my dh sorts dinner for a couple of hours and I have a few glasses of buckzfizz. Have dinner around 5, then after dinner we will play various games all sat round the table. After that we usually play singstar and have a wee party with nice nibbles out. Might have a zoom quiz with any family members who fancy it as well this year.

Boxing day we will have a lie in, a fry up and eat leftovers for lunch and dinner, maybe not even get dressed, watch films and eat junk and play with things the kids like to do together and slowly restore the house and put things away.

Mine are 8, 11 and 16.

nutella tree

Sorry if already suggested but if you have a fire pit or chimnea then hot chocolate sat round that for an hour could be fun.

If you have Spotify then you can take it in turns to put a song on, even more interesting if you go the alphabet for artist's name or something.

Games or big jigsaw puzzle that you can all do together.

Eat and drink what we like, music and dancing, nice stuff on tv, it's very festive and always really fun!

This is my postcard version of Christmas.

In reality the kids will be shouting over each other to get Alexa to put on 'their' song. They won't 'dance'' for more than three minutes and the youngest will still be whining three hours later that they 'wanna dance'.

Opening the gifts and playing will last an hour, then breakfast for thirty minutes, then playing with new toys another hour. A film will last two hours. That will bring us to 12.30pm and there are still many many hours left to fill. If its not raining, we could go to the park for an hour in the afternoon.

My eldest will want to play Roblox all day and will insist they are 'injured' if we stay in the park for any longer than the designated hour.

Board games ALWAYS end in tears.

A lot of the suggestions such as doing a big cracker pull only last five minutes or so.

Hot chocolate is always another suggestion on MN. My children are the only MNetters children who don't see hot chocolate as a delicious treat and have lovely warm fuzzy feelings as they savour it. Nope. My kids have a sip or two and declare its too cold, too hot and either way will walk away from it saying no thanks.

I can't seem to do 'festive' at all and my children certainly don't play ball to my attempts.

if you have a fire pit or chimnea then hot chocolate sat round that for an hour could be fun.

The hot chocolate one again. If I asked my kids to sit outside drinking hot chocolate for an hour, I would be met with point blank refusal. They would also refuse the suggestion of dinking it inside for an hour. If I brought it outside, I would be left sitting on my own outside!

What am I doing wrong?????

I don't wish to be rude but it's a lot easier to create Christmas magic when there are two adults in the house.

There's nothing wrong with you @Thismustbelove - it's the sort of thing that looks good in a film or on Instagram . In reality, sitting on a damp drizzly patio in Peterborough is not terribly enticing. My kids also hate hot chocolate

The only person in this house who can spend some time enjoying hot chocolate is DH but he’s no trouble at all and can be left alone for some time ( but not outside). DD is 16 and never was particularly keen on hot chocolate, I always put it down to her additional needs. As to the day... she is not good in doing things on her own and struggles with board games so entertainment is a bit tricky. I’ve planned limited amount of dishes so we will be able to do cooking together. We will dress up for lunch. I’m also planning walk about 6 pm, a lot of houses around are nicely decorated so we are going to choose who is the best one, just for fun.

Some children are just harder work! Mine end up in tears with most board games because they are so competitive. Whinge and strop all the way if forced for a walk of any sort. Hot chocolate/bribes dont entice them (the usual response will be "I dont care") Films great but a lot of argument to agree on one. They're actually decent kids, great at school etc but are such moody buggers at home.

@Clymene saying I don’t mean to be rude and then being incredibly rude isn’t exactly festive now is it!!!

There is no need for two adults to create Christmas magic. All it takes is one willing and able adult like the OP clearly is!!