What are your plans for Christmas?

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.

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!

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!

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?

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.

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.

We are supposed to be hosting Christmas Day for ourselves, DD, SiL and GS, with DS and DiL joining us for Boxing Day, but with things as they stand, a lockdown here is on the cards, so who knows what Christmas will look like? We will hope for the best and plan to the worst.

We have quite a laid back Christmas. Whether our small family can meet, depends.
One thing I have done is book my Waitrose Christmas delivery slot. They seem to be going quickly.

It wasn’t our turn to have the whole family this year, so I feel sorry for the in-laws, who were supposed to be hosting the big family groups. We were expecting to be on our own on the day itself anyway.

As it happens, one of our DDs presented us with DGS6 during lockdown and has invited us and the baby’s other grandma to theirs for Christmas Day. We’re not allowed to meet in private homes or gardens in this area right now, but if by great good fortune six of us are allowed to get together again by then, that’s what we’ll be doing.

Again if it’s allowed, we’re hoping to spend time with the other AC and DGS separately over the festive period.

If we’re still in “special measures”, we’ll be meeting up a few at a time for yet more long walks.

Ni idea yet, we are 6 but being wary even now, as Grannynannywanny said, hopefully all well and employed, that will do.

We've always gone to family on Christmas Day and they all come to us Boxing night. In our area, the group of 6 is no more. We are currently not allowed to mix with any other household. Unless things change, we will be here on our own throughout. Still hopefully it's just one year. We'll have to put up with it.

DH and I always go away at Christmas and have an alternative Christmas Day where we have the family over. This year DS and DDiL are making DH and I along with DGS Christmas lunch on the 13th and on the 19th I will have DD, DSiL and DGS for Christmas Day lunch before we go on holiday on the 23rd.
I think this helps my two children to have fewer issues of whose parents they spend Christmas Day with as far as I am concerned it is just a day which can be celebrated when you want as I am not at all religious.

I will be on my own. I don’t drink and on strict diet so might treat myself to some pot roast beef. I eat turkey 3/4 times a week so a change would be nice. Will probably face time family. Didn’t put up a tree last year so might do one this year.

Lovely post GNW if we have all that, it’s self indulgent to mind things aren’t ‘normal’.

I’ll just be happy if we are all in good health and my AC and spouses still have secure employment. So many families are already facing the future with a loved one missing from the table every day.
I’m not going to fret over whether normal Christmas festivities are likely to happen. It’s too far away to contemplate for now.

I have already ordered our Christmas Dinner for 2 from Cook. I’m absolutely certain there‘ll still be strict restrictions then. We generally go to DD’s. We’ll use Zoom - probably have breakfast and some present opening together and play some games later like charades and others I’ve yet to sort out as suitable. DH is making Christmas cakes for us and DD and I’m going to make mince pies for the neighbours in lieu of our annual party. I’ve started thinking about presents and my theme this year is going to be gift subscriptions delivered over say six months eg tea, beer, chocolate, magazines. I’m seeing it as a challenge

It will be just the two of us for Christmas day but family members will visit on other days over the holiday period. We can't go to them because of the rule of six and even if it's scrapped DH won't feel safe going into an area with a higher infection rate than ours.

Impossible for anyone to make plans at the moment. Everything is on hold.

My daughter and I spoke about it today. There are 10 of us who usually get together on Christmas Day at one of our homes - we all live quite near each other. We'll probably do it over the 2 days. I feel very lucky to have them nearby, we all support one another.

Same as usual as our children and grandchildren live abroad, so will only exchange virtual hugs and kisses as always.?

I’ve got a feeling we’ll be in another national lockdown, or at least the same restrictions we have in place now ( rule of six ) with strict local lockdowns.

I have no idea either. So I've ordered enough frozen food from CookFood for any eventuality and because it's frozen it won't go to waste.

No plans as yet because we don't know what the situation will be then. I will have my elderly mother over though, whatever happens I will not allow her to have Christmas alone.

No plans here either. We usually have Mum over for the Turkey dinner at lunchtime, the all go over to DD's for a buffet supper and the evening.

Doubt that will happen, so the best we can do is hope we can at least still have Mum over.

Not making any plans atall. Will wait and see where things are nearer the time!