Alternative Christmas day ..what would you like to do different

I've had so many changed Christmases that it's hard to say what normal is.
I grew up in Bradford (some of you may have guessed ) so coming to NZ was the first time I'd experienced a hot Christmas. It took years to get used to that.

How I missed the pre-Christmas anticipation and looking round gaily decorated shops for the ideal gifts. Carol singing, well wrapped up, street to street, or door to door. That just doesn't happen here.

It's also far too hot, usually, to go shopping in crowded malls and stores, so I do most online.

My son and I used to spend every Christmas Day together and it was just lovely, we'd laugh and discuss things and pick at delicious foods.

But I decided to change that. When he moved in with his partner and her son, I suggested, after 2 Christmas Day gathering at my house, that it was best they have their own family day on 25th and come to me on 26th or whenever...this year it was 24th and we had a wonderful time.

My reasons may seem a little bizarre, even morbid to some but that's not the way I see it at all.
If we'd continued meeting at my home, when I drop off the twig, it'd spoil that day for them.

I wouldn't want that, so to start a new tradition of their having Christmas Day as 'just them' seemed sensible.

I'd love to go on one of the 4-day cruises they have here for Christmas but that's only a dream.

If l could afford it l would go away for Christmas every year. The best Christmas l have had for many years was in Scotland with 3 lady friends. We had a fabulous time.

We did a special meal at an indian restaurant last year as we were just 2, and I would definitely repeat. I am not a lover of Christmas food

I like to spend Christmas with my DH and children who are in their late twenties and unlikely to want to keep this up forever. I will miss it when it is gone. This year it was the perfect day.

Late to this but I'm just home from my fifth Solo Group holiday abroad, third one in Italy. My son spent the holidays with his girlfriends extended family so every year for the past 5 years, since my marriage broke down, I've planned holidays away. I spent the first Christmas in Tuscany, the second in Venice, the third in a ski resort in Bulgaria. Last year was Zagreb, Croatia. Yesterday I flew back after a few days on the Amalfi coast. Lots of companies now offering solo traveller holidays. It's a super way to escape the food and telly boredom as a single person.

We had our first Xmas living in Spain and it was a big non event, as I was still getting over a cold I had had for nearly three weeks, hubby was starting with a cold and even our poor dog has been diagnosed with chronic bronchitis!

We had no tree, no decorations, but we got up, opened our pressies, got showered, had a glass of awful champagne, hubby cooked lunch, then we just watched tv, read or went on iPads then an early night again!

Hope we will be better organised next year!

Definitely do without the traditional Christmas meal. No need for all of that food. Would like to go away somewhere quiet, in the countryside or the seaside where it would be less commercial with little or no tinsel and lights on display. Considering how many churches are having to be sold off through lack of support, the lengths we go to at this time of year is just hypocrisy. No problem at all with Santa, but again shouldn't it be for children, after all us adults know the story.

As soon as I return to England from living abroad (??) I will spend Christmas Day volunteering at Crisis or another
homeless charity. Much more satisfying than a big Christmas lunch !!

I've always had all the family here for Christmas lunch. (One time, as many as 13 extra people to cater for.) However, this year I found it quite hard, with only 7 of us to feed. Not just all the cooking, but the clearing up, once everyone had left.
We have decided (reluctantly!) that next year we will go out to a restaurant for Christmas lunch, and come back to the house for a few tipples and just relax. Ahh, sounds good to me.

This year we had our big Xmas family meal on Christmas Eve one of our DDs was working Xmas day.It was lovely to just have smoked salmon and scrambled egg brunch and walk the dogs to the pub and eat leftovers.But still hard work hostingjust brought everything forward by a day.Weve had a house full for 6 days.DD and her boyfriend and dogs go home tomorrow but then another relative arrives Saturday for 3 nights.
So I've informed the family I want a sabbatical from 'doing' Xmas .The day at the coast coming home to lasagne sounds perfect.And if we have a big family meal on another day a big turkey and ham pie made in advance.

Merrilynn I think that can be called an elegant solution. Lovely that it made your son happy.

One of our local pubs throw their doors open on Christmas Day to anyone who would otherwise be on their own, and serve a full Christmas dinner, booking not required, just roll up. It's now become an annual meet up for some people, and some have become friends. The Sunday Times magazine carried an article about it last week.

Having thought about this, I now think a lovely alternative Christmas, would be if our family could all go to a certain hotel we like and have two days there, meeting up for meals but doing our own thing for the rest of the time.

Years ago when I was just a slip of a girl, my then boyfriend and I would go youth hostelling in the lake district. One year, I climbed Hellvellyn on Xmas day. Can't sa8i enjoyed it overly much. Maybe that's why that relationship didn't last very long. I'm afraid I'm a bit of a traditionalist. I like being at home with my daughter's and grandchildren at Christmas.

Sounds a Wonderful way to spend Christmas day

Don't suppose it's that alternative - but I have cooked Christmas dinner for the last 45 years and this year I didn't - also I haven't been away from my home since I was 19 and this year I did - so it was an alternative for me

Best alternative Christmas ever was eating ready roasted chicken and salad and a bottle of good red in the back of our campervan in Queenstown, NZ. Van doors open to let in the sunshine. In the morning we'd been up the mountain trying out the luge and later in the afternoon we went on a Lord of the Rings 4x4 safari. 12 years later we still talk about it.

To everyone wanting to help Crisis or another homeless organisation at Christmas, but have OHs or family who want to see them on Xmas Day itself, the homeless organisations are usually overwhelmed by helpers on Christmas Day but they usually have vacancies before and after Christmas, also with setting up or closing down the centres. Still vacancies for helpers for the next few days if you look online.

For several years, my parents and I helped at lunch for the homeless at our local RC church on Christmas Day. It was good to help, and I was frankly horrified by the number of homeless or lonely people in our very middle class little town. Certainly put any of my own worries into perspective! ✅

We usually go see other family and my grandchildren before christmas anyway as most of them live in another county. Id also like to help out at a homeless shelter or some such to give out lunches.maybe after we've been abroad as my youngest will be older then.

I plan on going abroad for christmas next year with my two youngest sons who will be 16&21 by then,so its a more mature christmas now for them.

For the first time in 40 years we were on our own on Christmas Day, DD and DS both going to their respective in-laws. We did our alternative Christmas taking jam sandwiches (posh strawberry and champagne jam) to our favourite seaside and then returning home late afternoon for lasagne in the evening. We really enjoyed doing something different.

I'd love to go away. Hoping our son follows through with gap year plan to teach English in China. We'd go there. Ideally would go somewhere warm short haul

Bizle: lots of towns now do Christmas lunch for people on their own. And no expense spared either....Maybe you could enquire now for next year? Get your name down.

B1zzle sorry to hear your loneliness, hugs to you.

I hate cooking.... but am surprisingly good at it and have cooked Christmas dinner for varying amounts of family for 46 years without a break....it’s never seemed stressful until this year ...when everything went ‘tits-up’. It all worked out in the end , but that stress is still lingering... my blood pressure is high ( despite the pills)...and my normal heart rate of 62 has gone up to 80 and refuses to come back down! I just wish that someone would invite me to Christmas dinner next year. The thought of doing it all over again is already starting to make me feel down!!!

This year, being the first Christmas without my dear father, I booked my adult son and myself into a local hotel. The rest of my children celebrated together interstate but my son suffers from physical and mental illness and doesn't like to be away from home for too long. This way he could relax before we went to lunch, at the hotel eat what and as much as he liked, and then we had less than a 5 minute drive home. The cost for a stress free day was worth it, especially when he thanked me and said it was the best Christmas Day he could remember.. (I have now joined my other children for a belated Christmas).