Only Children and Christmas

[Ceesadoo]

How do you find the holiday season and particularly Christmas Day with ‘only’ one child? I have one tiny perfect sleep stealing son who will be four months this Christmas. For various reasons I think he will be our only child.

My SIL is pregnant with her second child and my child will have at least 2 cousins but they live abroad in Europe and I’m not sure how often we will be able to spend Christmas with them.

Christmas is magical whether you have siblings or not, right?

DS is 5years old and we do a magical Xmas. I come from a family of four and remember Xmas as one huge bickering argument. With DS we get to go out and see decorations, Father Christmas, Christmas fairs.... he does have cousins who live far away and if we can we spend time with them, but when this happens they all get over the excitement of being together really quickly!

It’s fine, just enjoy the family you have.

Ps Christmas Day is great, he gets to open and play with his toys. He gets both parents playing with him AND he gets to choose films and dessert.

I find it fine. DS has a great time. I'm nervous of there being a Christmas morning just me & him. The last 3 years my best friend has stayed with us Christmas Eve so there's been 2 grown ups and DS. His birthday morning is always just me&him and it's fine so I don't know why the lack of another adult at Christmas bothers me so much!

Growing up I was an only so it was just me&my parents. I loved it! All the gifts, no one working, great telly, good dinner and grandparents round in the afternoon!

Christmas is magic for kids whatever the set up.

My son will be 4 this year and is an only. We have family round Xmas day in the afternoon but morning on our own.

It's really nice I think. We can open DS presents with him and focus on playing with him/putting stuff together. Then family come in the afternoon so it's busy with lots of attention for him.

This year, I am working up to the 22nd so I have booked a Santa visit for the 23rd and we will also look at lights/decorations.

Christmas eve will be Xmas film/leaving things for Santa.

Not sure yet about boxing day.

I love having everyone Christmas day but genuinely enjoy the peace on the other days.

I am one of 3 and at times found Xmas quite overwhelming as a child/teenager as it was so busy all the time.

You can start the advent book tradition without it descending into a fight over who unwraps the book that night. I go so sick that I didn't do it last year. Since they are older I've got a not called Christmas and plan on reading a chapter or two per night.

We have one ds together and also do has dss who is 13. Hes only here for the morninh so ds will be alone for most of yhe day and tbh if 13yo was here all day hed be upstairs playing on whatever new game he gets sp for all intents and purposes ds will be the only child.

I think its nice they get more attention, more choice etc. We will have time to play with him and not be torn between two children.

DS1 was an only child until he was 6, he still had a ball every year

We have a 7 year old DS and I used to worry a little about Christmas day too but to be honest it just keeps getting better and better as each year passes. As everyone has said previously, we get to spend all our time with him, playing, watching Christmas TV etc. We are both off work for nearly two weeks and the rest of the holiday is really busy. We go and see Santas we meet up with friends and their children (my son's friends too) a lot, we go to Christmas markets, go to the cinema to see the new movies that are released at Christmas, go sledging at our local indoor ski centre and loads more. So on Christmas day it's nice just to have a quiet day with just us and grandparents.
I'm one of three and money was very tight when I was growing up. My Christmas memories are of presents and not siblings. Children love Christmas so much that a lack of siblings will not be noticed!

My only is 15y.

For many years we spent Christmas Day at home just the three of us and we all loved it. It was a lazy day - PJs, not getting dressed up, doing our own thing, eating when we liked and what we liked, etc.

Last 3 or 4 years we have gone out to a friend house for lunchtime nibbles and then home again for own meal etc. This year we are actually going out with said friends for a meal too. These are family friends with children a similar age to Dd who all get in very well.

We do family stuff on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.

Dd has always loved our Christmas Day together and it took some persuading originally to even go to friends for an hour or two, though now she also loves that aspect of our day.

It’s always been special and magical for us even with just one child.

Oh and my DH's brother, wife and 2 boys stay in LA and are visiting for Christmas this year (we go and stay with them every summer for two weeks so my DS is fairly close to his cousins) and staying at his mum's close by. However my DS doesn't want to see them until later in the day on Christmas day- he would like Christmas morning with just us as usual, lazing around opening presents. I took some comfort from that!
When I chatted to my friend a few years ago about my worry with this he said to remember that children 'do not have adult thoughts' so not to project any worries on to my DS. Christmas is completely magical for children.

I am an only child and I loved Christmas growing up. We saw family and friends around the Christmas season but also a lot of time just me, parents and Grandma. Definitely nothing for you to worry about.

We have just one dc - dd who is now 12. Alternate years are spent with her cousin, who is the same age, otherwise it's just us and her grandparents. (All of her other cousins live abroad and don't celebrate Christmas anyway.)

Christmas has always been magical, and dd loves it, whether her cousin is around or not. I have never once felt that she misses out as a result of not having siblings around. She is really close to us and to her grandparents, and it's just a lovely family time.

my son is 13 . Just two of us, no cousins or relatives of similar age to him. We have built up lots of traditions and we have a great time. Special evening with music and sweets to put the Christmas tree up. He has an advent box/nativity thing which he has had for years.
We spend the weeked before Christmas with nanny and grandad. when he was younger we did a special Father Christmas thing, now he is older we have a weekend away, this year to York and we will meet up with friends. We have special friends that we have breakfast with on Christmas eve, and we go to a panto with them at some point over the holiday. We always do something on Christmas eve afternoon, cinema, theatre, rugby match. Then we go home and snuggle down for two days. Christmas movies, board games, walk to the park. I don't even do 'Christmas dinner' we have lasagne. Its lovely to have a few chilled out days just the two of us. We will meet up with friends over the holidays so neither of us are isolated. Its just a lovely family time.

@Ted27 Your holiday season sounds perfect.

@Brokenbiscuit Wonderful. ❤️

@SquigglePigs Thank you. Very comforting. Do you have children yourself?

@Hulababy Sounds very magical indeed.

@Wellhellothere1 You have really put my mind at ease. The way you described your Christmas season, it sounds magical.

I'm an only and had wonderful Christmases. DH is one of three. There were so many arguments over what belonged to whom MIL used to write their names on their selection boxes and contents. I ate my choc when I fancied it.

I am an only child and lived at home until I was 23. Christmas at home with my parents was perfect and I cherish those memories or us three doing exactly what we wanted - more like what I wanted! It being relaxed and chilled and lovely x

It works for us! There are so many lovely things to do at Christmas now, which weren't around when I was a child, that its not hard to build up traditions.

I think you can have good and not so good Christmases for lots of reasons. I have 2 brothers, I don't have particularly fond memories of Christmas when I was growing up, we were too far apart in age and there were lots of problems within the family.

Fortunately me and my son get on together really well and like doing the same things. And we have lots of friends who are as much family as our relatives, so we are not isolated and have lots of fun times and great memories

@CarcerDun Thank you. Your festive season sounds just lovely. And you’re right.

@bakingcupcakes you’re right! Thank you.

Ceesado, no I don't have children of my own yet - just a Godchild and children of friends around. Still lots of opportunity for little ones Christmas magic!!

I'm an only and our xmasses at home with my parents were always wonderful and magical. DS I think will be an only. He's two and this is the first year he's getting excited about everything!