What are your plans for Christmas?

Expect it to be much as normal as DS and family alternate between us and staying home and having MiL and that side of the family with them. This year they are staying home, so Christmas will just be our bubble household, us and DD and, possibly a friend, which would make 4 people from 2 households. Currently well within the rules.

The crunch arises on 28th December when son and family come down to us. Friend will have gone home but will DD stay or return home. If she stays we will be 2 households but 7 people.

Like most families we have traditional ways of spending Christmas, but it won't be the first time these have had to be ditched to cope with an unexpected situation and it certainly will not be the last.

No plans. One daughter is working in the NHS Manchester so she will not be able to come. My two other daughters and spouses are working in big offices and their children are in school with hundreds of other pupils. Therefore could be infectious.

Our normal Christmas is usually hectic (for me!) with family visiting/staying and sometimes we visit people too. Trying to please everyone is often exhausting and expensive! I am secretly hoping we can just be at home on our own with no guilt! Does that make me a proper Scrooge?

I can't imagine this year's Christmas being any different from most of the preceding twenty.

I'm estranged from what's left of my family so there will be no family Christmas. Even when I was a child, Christmas Day was an immediate family affair; both of my parents were late children so my own grandparents (the three I knew; my dad's dad died the year before I was born) were very elderly people even when I was little; they lived a long way off and we saw them once or twice a year at most.

I have friends of course, and at one time they would all invite me to spend Christmas with them, and I would decline politely and with regret. You see, I have established my own Christmas tradition, and I like it. I loathe the run-up to Christmas with a passion, but I love the almost-perfect peace of the day itself.

It starts with a lie-in. The phone is switched off, the doors are locked.

Then I have a full breakfast, a hybrid Scottish/English one but only of the best ingredients: Waberthwaite Cumberland sausage, dry-cured Ayrshire bacon, best Stornoway black pudding, fried duck egg, boletus (ceps/porcini) mushrooms, tattie scones to mop up the egg yolk, and (this is important) fried, sliced Christmas pudding. All washed down with a dry martini, the one and only occasion when I drink at breakfast I should add but it's a special day.

What happens after that depends on the weather. If it's bright and sunny I'll go for a walk, carefully arranged so I'm home before it's fully dark. I might, and did one year, start Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelung playing without interruption (14 hours without intervals and breaks between the four operas so start it at 10am and it ends about midnight). Or I might have a schedule of films to work through. For dinner I will have a duck – I hate turkey and when I have catered for larger numbers in the past I have always done the more traditional and much yummier goose, but that's far too much for one whereas a duck is perfect for one, with leftovers for tomorrow. This will be served with roast potatoes, mashed butternut squash and cavolo nero, without a brussels sprout in sight (I have eaten very well in Brussels on several occasions and I have never once seen a brussels sprout there – the Belgians have more sense. I loathe the things). It will be washed down with a nice bottle of Argentinian Malbec or similar.

Feeling sorry for me being on my own? Don't. I'm gregarious the rest of the year but at my time of life this is my excuse to spoil myself rotten. And the great thing is, Coronavirus can do nothing to ruin it!

Absolutely none! I really envied DD and SiL in Thailand who spent last Christmas out on a ride in the countryside and had pizza for Christmas dinner! This year we can do whatever we like - no,pressure to visit relatives or have them here, no obligation to go anywhere or do anything. Even have pizza for Christmas dinner!

It's all up in the air. I will have lunch with my divorced daughter and her children. I have 2 sons as well who live in the area. I will drop in to see their little families, at some point during the day. We usually have a family lunch together, during the week, but family politics and Corona, may not allow it this year.

I often host with half a dozen staying over. But who knows this year?
I love Christmas but I’m trying not to think about it in case the bugger Covid screws everything up.

Isn’t it early October ?
Does everyone have it all rigidly planned every year ?
I am allergic to it personally.

I’m really enjoying reading your replies ?
LadyStardust - not Scrooge like at all, probably what a lot of people will be ( secretly) thinking ?

LadyHonoriaDedlock - your Christmas Day sounds absolutely wonderful ?

No plans. Will most likely just be the two of us due to covid, so pretty much a normal sort of day. I will feel sad remembering happier Christmases in past years but also grateful I have dh to share it with. Here's hoping Christmas 2021 will be much better.

Que sera sera this year.

These days the Christmas period stretches for the whole week until New Year so it will be possible to see various family members over the course of the week rather than it all concentrated on Christmas day itself.

I think though that there have been hints from the government that the restrictions could be lifted temporarily to enable larger family groups to get together.

I guess they anticipate that too many people would ignore the regulations anyway.

We are seeing two offspring and their families Christmas day and the others either Boxing day or sometime during the week.

Like Jennifer I also suspect there will be some relaxation of the restrictions over Christmas so larger extended families can come together. The problem is if they say Dec.25th/26th only, that doesn't allow for relatives travelling and staying over.

Far too early to think about it. Who knows what rules will be in place. We just need to concentrate on not spreading the virus so that all our loved ones are safe, plenty of time to celebrate when we have a workable vaccine.

Possibly the same as last year, if allowed. Seven of us, including my 4-year old Granddaughter, all staying at ours from Christmas Eve morning. Last year we had the main festivities on Christmas Eve as elder son had to be in London for work Christmas Day afternoon. Daughter would stay until the day after Boxing Day, and younger son is staying with us currently anyway. But we’ll see!

'Plans for Christmas' seem quite trivial in the middle of a deadly pandemic.

I just feel so relieved that I've reached an age (66) when I'm 'guest' at a daughter's house for the day.

In the past, it was a cooking and cleaning marathon of challenging proportions!

Actually, plans for Christmas are about all we have to look forward to and at least take our minds off a situation where we have no control.

Every dreadful situation breeds its own humour and its own diversions because we cannot cope with thinking constantly about dire matters without light relief.

So the turkey has been ordered, some Christmas presnets have been bought and DD and I have discussed the new Christmas decorations she bought yesterday.

I'd better look for a grocery slot!

Had a chat with extended family and we have all decided to stay home for Christmas because of the risk.

All except son’s MIL who was widowed last year and is on her own. They will have her stay for a while.

The rest of us - offspring, grandchildren, sister, nephew etc will be in our respective houses chatting over social media etc.

I’ve ordered a turkey crown from my farmer as well as accompaniments to be delivered 23rd December. I’ve ordered our gluten free Christmas Cake from my favourite cake maker.
Chocolates will be ordered from local chocolate shop.
Might order a good bottle of fizz -

The next thing is to sort our television viewing. Can’t think what at the moment.

We always go out Boxing Day for a good walk - might meet up with all the family members and dogs then and after back to our respective homes for in our case cold meat bubble and squeak and trifle!!

Ive made no plans this year, in fact none of our family have. It's impossible to plan a few days ahead in these strange times. One of our children had planned a weekend in the Lakes starting this Friday, a birthday celebration that won't happen. We have several Big Birthdays this year, with many cancelled trips, get togethers and so on.
If nothing else, we will meet out doors to walk our various dogs and pick the various children up when they fall over.

Well like most others no idea.. we were all here last year (both DDs , partners & DGC) making 11 of us..so that won't happen! It would usually be DD1 turn to go to her husband's family ..also local .. but they would be over 6 people too...
I am lucky as we all live close by so it will be different but we will see each other at some point over the festive season. I have already ordered Xmas dinner delivery from Cook... so whoever is here will be fed!

No plans as yet but Ocado delivery slot booked so ready for anything.

Our family will decide what to do nearer the time. We all feel it’s too early to make meeting up plans as it’s pure speculation at this point. It is what it is this year!

I like the plan you have for Christmas LHD Well, apart from the music ... too high brow for me! But the rest sounds perfect.
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Absolutely zilch. I'm dreading it. Planning to hibernate and wake up at the end of March.