If you Xmas at home, what do you do?

[YukoandHiro]

We have a v small family, DH and I both only children and his parents have passed away, so we go with our two children to my parents most years. It's very traditional, exactly as it was for me growing up really.

Anyway due to omicron we might end up cancelling plans to stay with them this year and will be doing it alone as a family for the first time (last year we had a newborn support bubble). Trying to think about what we can do to make it special but also make it ours, and a bit different.

What do you do with your families on Xmas day?

We stay at home every Christmas. I'm also an only child and DH has one sister who we don't see on Christmas Day. My Mum lives abroad with her husband and can't come over every year. We have my Dad come every year for Christmas and DH's parents visit us on the morning to exchange presents. We just spend the day playing games, eating good food and enjoying each others company. We've done years where we go round visiting people but I much prefer spending it at home and the kids enjoy being able to play with their new toys all day. Hope you all have a lovely Christmas.

We usually see family before or after Christmas Day itself but don't miss visitors/visiting usually.

The kids wake us up by bringing in their stockings to show us. Until DC3 arrived the rule was they couldn't wake us until 7am but as he's up long before that any time goes. I expect this year we'll be trying to contain DC3 in our room with his stocking for a while until the older two wake up. 😂

We all go downstairs and are suitably delighted with how exciting the living room looks after Santa has been. The elves always take the time to sort out all the presents and create a display for everyone. We all open one or two presents then pause for chocolate and breakfast.

We phone relatives who live overseas as it works best time zone wise and then get dressed and open a few more presents.

Lunch is always a light meal (my eldest is autistic and his body is certain that it can only have a giant meal in the evening) and we sing happy birthday to my OH and have some birthday cake.

OH then opens his birthday presents and the kids open whatever they have left. We then have a lovely afternoon of building and playing and enjoying new things.

At 3ish I start dinner prep. We predfer chicken which doesn't take as long to cook so once it and the potatoes are in, the rest doesn't take too long.

Dinner is usually around 5 and after everything is cleared up we'll play a game. This year we'll probably wait until we've wrestled an over excited 2yr old into his bed and then play something with the bigger two. 😂

We keep it all low key and unpressured as it helps my eldest cope and enjoy the day. I'd love a bustly, noisy Christmas full of people occasionally but I also love ours too. 😍

*prefer

Honestly I'd hate to be visiting/ have visitors Christmas day.
We get up, open presents - usually not all, I let them pace themselves, have breakfast, snack on chocolates and pringles until the roast is ready at 2/3 for late lunch. Christmas cake for dinner / desert as we're all stuffed by then.
Play with new toys / games throughout the day. All fairly low key but lovely.

Normally go to mass and visit 1 set grandparents.
Last year could do neither and so went for a walk. Eat/ cook/ open presents.
Wine and board games!
Intended to watch Home Alone but no time so did another day.

We don't go anywhere really - sometimes the local park with the new bike or whatever

It's just us. Presents then breakfast. Get washed and dressed. Christmas Dinner is early approx 1 or 2 pm so that takes up a lot of time.

Chill with movie. We've invited in laws who would prefer to stay home.

its just me and one of my daughters, as it was last year

Christmas Eve is a special takeaway, and watch tv, not late as dd get up at 5a m eve day this week and 4am on xmas eve

Cycle ride in the morning, dd gets up about 10 and we have breakfast and presents. Pop the meat in the oven to roast (literally everything else is prepped ready to go in oven) dd walks round to see hr grandma and I go for a xmas run.

We then meet back at the house or the local pub for a drink and then get into brand new matching pjs

dish up dinner and eat with music and then play a few games and snuggle up to watch tv films etc

see lots of friends after the day and this year planning walks again to be safe, with mince pies and flasks of mulled wine

We open stockings in bed, DD7 usually wakes us up delightfully early. Then we all go down and start on presents with coffee. Then we have breakfast together- pastries, toast, tea, orange juice, etc. DD plays for a bit while we sort food, and get dressed. Watch films, go for a long walk with coffee and pockets full of chocolates. Then home for lunch at 2 ish, we sit at the table with drinks and games while DD runs around and plays. Then have picky bits in the evening. When DD goes to bed Dh and I usually do a puzzle while we watch a film and have more drinks and chocolates. We always give one last presents after she's gone to bed.

Get up 4 milk , feed , muck out animals come back in breakfast more jobs then feed animals settle them for the night come in fall asleep on sofa cant be arsed to do anything else.

The times aren't cast in stone!;
7:30-8:30 - DCs open presents from Father Christmas while DH and I drink tea.
8:30-9:30 - sausage sandwiches (Richmond skinless, cooked the night before).
9:30-10:30 - prepare dinner
11-12 - take dog for a long walk, all wearing Christmas hats
12-2 - Cook/eat dinner.
3-4 - DH dresses up as Father Christmas and gives out the relatives/friends/neighbours presents to us all. I absolutely love this bit, it spreads the present opening out over the day and gives us something to look forward to after dinner. My dad has done this since I was a baby but DH takes over if we're not spending Christmas with him.
After that, we play games like 'Who Am I?' and charades.
We normally have a big family Christmas so I wasn't sure how last year would pan out, but it was really quite enjoyable!

We have our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and open our presents after that.
Christmas day we're in the pub at lunchtime then home for a bit of lunch before spending the rest of the day with music, food and drink.

I get it is personal, but for me I much prefer Christmas day just us. Us being me, dh, dd5 and ds3. It's just so lovely and relaxed, we do what we want when we want and the kids get loads of time to run around in pjs playing with new toys. Watching that is the magic for me.

When our kids wake up they will find that Santa has left a gift on the end of their beds and they are under strict instructions to wake us up before opening it! That is my favourite bit! Then we will go down and open stockings and discover the mince pie and carrot have gone. We are going to save tree gifts for after breakfast this year. So an easy breakfast in the kitchen up to the table together with Xmas music.

Then tree gifts for us all. After that, kids will be busy playing while we chill, read, prep lunch (traditional roast turkey and Chrismas crackers). We will eat around 1, up to the table with Christmas music again, me and dh will have a glass of bubbly. At some point we will go for a walk if and when we feel like it to say hello to some doggies. Probably after lunch. Then board games and films under a blanket with loads of chocolate. Evening picky bits and then kids in bed. Then DH and I will have a few drinks and watch a film with even more picky bits.

God I love Christmas!!!!!

I'm a widow and most of my family live abroad so it's just me and my two teens. We open presents then have a brunch, french toast with bacon and maple syrup, and get started on cooking Christmas dinner. We don't eat til about 4. After dinner it's a board game or two then a movie. At some point the dogs will get walked.
I do feel a bit down at the end after the kids have retreated to their phones and it's just me and a half bottle of wine and a mess (kids are good at tidying just not right away). It would be nice to have another adult around, which you do, so you can toast another year gone etc.
our other traditions include traipsing around a field and cutting our own tree the first weekend in December, watching old favourite Christmas movies every weekend and so on.

We have had the last few at home. Me, dh and 3 kids. We get up, open pressies, have a bacon butty for breakfast. Kids play, we go for a walk, start lunch (although we tend to eat about 3/4) just really relaxed. In the evening we get out a board game, kids have a hot chocolate, us having a wine and then them to bed and we watch rubbish TV with cheese and crackers. For us, it's perfect

Just us. Kids are 19/17/13. We chill. We have a drink, eat, walk, play games, watch tv.

We did the running around for yrs when the kids were younger, wasn’t fair on them. DH’s elderly aunt was an inherited guest. Ill welcome anyone on Christmas day but you make your own way to mine and go home. But dh had to drive there and back.

Now we have OUR Christmas and its bloody fab! No one here.

Very similar to the answers above. I have stayed home for Christmas ever since dc1 was born, so 16 Christmases and I wouldn't have it any other way! It's me DH and 3 dc's. We get up, open presents, eat breakfast, open more presents, play, then I'll start to get dinner on, any visitors are welcome to pop in to see the kids at this point - usually my parents, siblings and grandparents, they leave after about 30mins, we eat food, play with whatever new things they have, play the new board game that they had from Father Christmas, maybe have a fashion show of their new outfits, then just relax, pick at leftovers and Quality streets and watch a movie together.

We cook for each other - try new recipes, watch old films, go cycling and walking, have lie-ins or early nights , play board games, read the papers together, are generally lazy and take it easy.

It's bliss.

I do remember in the Archers someone asking Jill ( when Phil was around" - "what will you be doing for Christmas ? " "Well we will be at brookfield of course "

In our house we do latish brunch (scrambled eggs smoked salmon & a bucks fizz for the last 10 years or so ) then to the tree with coffee and open presents - then cooking dinner with music etc - lunch is late & then just a film or something - lovely and relaxing. Dogs are walked betwixt and between .

I'm reading these posts with interest.
There are four in our house. We spend it by ourselves.
I find it an incredibly long day.
Children wake up, run downstairs and open presents. I take photos and exclaim excitedly about the various toys.
We have breakfast.
The children play with their toys for a while.
We go for a walk.
We come home and have lunch.
After lunch kids watch tv. We clean up. DH watches tv and exclaims how tired he is!
We laze the afternoon away and half heartedly decide to have dinner which nobody except DH really wants to eat.
We watch more tv.
By 6pm I'm wishing the hours away.
I find it a very boring day.
The children find it a boring day.
This year I will extend the gift opening by opening some in the morning and some in the late morning.
I'm not looking forward to it at all though and wish I was!
I think part of it is because our house is very cold and it isn't pleasant spending a whole day in it.