Does anyone else with DC have a low key Christmas?

[purplespink]

We have 3DC but I feel like our christmases are low key compared to most others I’ve read about. I think that we do go a bit OTT on presents but apart from that, it’s just the 5 of us, have a Christmas lunch etc but it’s not a whole massive thing with lots of people. Christmas music/films on during the day, board games, enjoying our new things, having good food etc we have all of that. I’m very happy with how we do Christmas but just wondered if anyone else with DC does the same?

It's quiet at ours too but absolutely lovely 😍 we only have 1 child who is 12 now.

Today, we are mostly chilling although 3 separate friends are popping by at some point to exchange small gifts and see us. Tonight will be the three of us- party food and the grinch and then the all creatures great and small special/more chilling out.

Tomorrow will be presents, playing with DS with his new games etc. Nice relaxing brunch of bacon and egg butties. Usually have radio 4 on for Christmas carols. King at 3pm and then off to SiLs for Christmas Dinner and seeing people.

My parents are coming on 27th to stay the night so that will be lovely too.

Boxing day will probably involve a walk and more relaxing.

It's low key but lovely and means we enjoy it because it isn't stressful.

That's been our family Christmas for years now. DH's parents can't really travel any longer, my parents live abroad and can't come over for tedious reasons, my brother lives abroad, DH's sister does too ... so it's all a bit sad in terms of family getogether. I think I've become deskilled at coping with the tensions that a larger family gathering brings though, so it's probably just as well! DS2 is profoundly autistic and not great with lots of bustle and visitors, and our Christmas is always going to be a compromise between what works best for him (and keeps us sane if he's not flipping out) and what we'd like.

We do put on day clothes though!

Just learned that I have a low key Christmas. What’s high key then?!

We have learnt the hard way to strip back Christmas to the basics. Son was diagnosed as autistic but only two years ago, so it’s taken a while to work out what works. ILs will visit for lunch but otherwise it’s just our immediate family. No travelling at all over the Christmas period now, I look back and see what madness it was! Have quite a few plans to see family and friends in Jan when it’s quieter.

This is our Christmas too - we live abroad and our families don't have room for us to stay over, so travelling for Christmas is expensive. We can host maybe one person/couple here but they don't usually want to come away from the rest of the family.

We have done Christmases where we travelled to see people but most of the time it's just us, chilling at home. And yes we do go a bit mad with presents because we don't have stuff coming from other family members. Though some send us money to buy the kids stuff, so we often assign something as being "from" those family members. TBH even if everyone only has a few gifts they soon add up with 5 of us.

Yes

Yes autism is our reason too. We have 2 young autistics in the house.

Guessing party going / hosting

low key xmas is the way forward

all the above sounds lovely

we really enjoy PJ all day
lovely no frills turkey
no lavish deserts

lovely dog walk
nice and chilled

I feel that I have gone overboard on gifts for the kids this year
next year I am sticking to some very small simple gifts
some very lovely neighbours dropped in lovely gifts today
they are so spoiled

have a lovely day all xxxx

This year is absolute bliss as it's just me, dh and teen child as adult dc have made different plans for christmas and I'm enjoying the peace and quiet as much as I can. Doing a picky buffet later and teen and I will relax with a movie and board game and this evening will be spend enjoying the time together.

I grew up with big family gatherings and have had the manic hectic christmases of hosting, over excited kids and all that so it's been fabulous having a chilled day today. This morning was spent having a long soak and pottering about making a breakfast buffet and have my pyjamas on already listening to Christmas music. Nobody to entertain and run about after so yes I'm all about embracing a quiet christmas

Just dh and two DCs here. They are decorating the tree now while I am out fetching rum for the pudding. We watch films and just take the day as it comes. My parents are in Australia and dhs are deceased so we do nothing with extended family. I love it.

Us! Two primary aged DC and two dogs (one a puppy) lots of presents and loads of food and just us :)

MIL and PIL over for food on Boxing Day and that’s lovely too :)

Loads of guests coming and going, house packed full of grandparents, aunts, cousins, uncles. A massive feast to feed the 5000, using every chair in the house, someone sat on a step ladder and garden folding chair because extras turned up.
Outside a bucket used a booze fridge because there's no space in the actual fridge. Every available space for sleeping is used plus blow up mattress on the floor. Not an ounce of space from all the wrapping paper and contents of the whole Argos catalogue in the living room, random uncles trying to build toys and put batteries in things. Tins of chocolates and sweets passed around. Grandpa sleeping in the corner. Inevitably some kind of family crisis, drama or falling out. Kids put to bed anywhere and the cheese comes out. Smoke detector goes off at least 3 times that day.

Those are the Christmas' I remember as a child and I bloody loved it! Ours is quite the opposite of that, and I still love it and cherish it but it's very different and much more 'low key.'

Same. My mother worked herself into a frenzy at Christmas, it was like an exam she had to prepare for and sit every year. I really don't know why - we got far too much and the mountains of food in our house were insane. She bankrupted herself every year, and my dad wasn't even that bothered, he just wanted a nice roast dinner and a few days off work chilling in front of the TV. To this day I can't understand why women set so much store by Christmas. I partly blame bloody Delia Smith, there was a certain hysteria around the 'perfect' Christmas preparations in the 1980s and 1990s.

Yes me ! 2 dc. Fairly modest amounts of gifts all round. Will need to walk the dog and cook
a simple lunch (mostly prepped tonight) and that’s it. Will watch a family movie in the late afternoon after dog walk. Done.

DD is a single child. We never have the big family Christmas but we also don't have a huge family anyway and all live somewhere else.

I grew up with just parents and my sister, we saw family on Boxing Day or when it was my mum's birthday a week later.

It's nice to have a relaxed day, sleep in now, have a nice lunch, watch a movie, read a new book, play a game. Maybe have a walk if the weather is good.

We’ll do stockings, walk the dog and then probably go out for lunch. We might watch a film when we get home. We don’t even do a Christmas food shop beyond some mince pies and Christmas cake. It feels very low pressure and I love the time with the family.

We have a low key Christmas. We have 2 DCs. It will be small amount of presents in the stocking. We don’t go overboard as they have a lot of days out during the year and long haul holidays. We spend Xmas day and Boxing Day at home just the 4 of us. We eat brunch and try. We cook the turkey to have around 5pm. We will play a few games and watch some films. We will get together with my parents and sisters on 27th.

Ours is, but DC are autistic so it makes it much nicer. There's not even any suprises or santa related activities, as they find it overwhelming. We agree together exactly what every present will be, then I buy it and hide it in exactly the same cupboard every year, ensuring I 'accidentally' leave the door open a couple of times in the weeks before Christmas. We'll go to family for lunch, but only stay a few hours, then come home for an entirely normal evening and bedtime.

(I know it sounds very humbug, but it is the format that means no one ends up having a meltdown)

Yes. I love it!

Same, I grew up just me and my mam in childhood, no other family but she went big with gifts.

My DH family did it alternating between just the 4 of them one year and the whole big family with aunts/uncles/cousin the next. He prefered the smaller at home ones.

So now its just me, dh and the 3 kids and we do the same.

You have 3 children on Christmas day in the house, it can't be that quiet 😉