Christmas just the 2 of you/Going away

We had Xmas just the two of us last year and it was amazing, we went out to our local Xmas eve, had change breakfast Xmas day, did pressies, went for a walk and then made Xmas dinner. We spent the evening with Xmas telly, wine and food.

Because it was out first married Xmas together people tended to let us off being sociable!

We did it last year on xmas day, went for a meal and drinks then home for more wine, cheese and telly-was lovely! We saw my family xmas eve and his on boxing day, we are doing the same again this year-we are selfish and we don't care!

Oh you lot are making me jealous. H has about 20 houses full of family to visit. Although we are currently planning to go early and be back on Jammies for 3pm!! Last year we had a Chinese with my mum and brother. It was amazing. Plates in a dishwasher, so much food and nibbly things all night with alcohol and cake. We had a Christmas dinner on boxing day though.

Would love a day in my pjs all cosied up with H.

I think either going away together or having Christmas at home with just the two of you would be lovely. You can do whichever traditions you want at whatever time you want. Though be prepared to pay £££ if you do go for a hotel!

We've done one Christmas with just us, though it wasn't exactly conventional - I was working nights throughout, so I got back from one shift at 9am, went to church, came home and had some cuddles, then I slept through the day while he made dinner (he had decorated the flat the day before!) and got up for a lovely Christmas dinner and present-opening before going back to work. Understandably, it was a bit lonely for him, so on boxing day he went up to his parents, and I joined him on 29th once my nights finished.

I was tempted to do it this year as Christmas is midweek, and I'm not sure I'll be able to get time off around it, but I think both our families would get a bit upset about that. Plus my sister, who lives in Germany, will be coming back home for Christmas and it would be nice to be back around the same time as her.

We're going away just the two of us over Christmas, four days up in the highlands at a hotel...bliss!

We did it last year and it was heavenly. I'd maybe have liked to go to a hotel and have someone else do all the cooking/cleaning up etc but they are mega expensive and it was nice to sit around in our jammies, open stockings in our own bed etc. No arguments, no stress, it was so lovely. I'm going to my parents this year as will be quite pregnant and need to be somewhere with a car/medical people around! otherwise I think we'd have done our own thing again.

We want to do this, might talk to OH about it. I think it would be amazing but would probably have to go away.

H would love to have Christmas just the 2 of us, but I worry that it'll end up just being like a normal day off and we won't make it special. I suppose going away would help with that though. I think we'll probably have Christmas morning at home then go up to my parents' for the rest of the day as a compromise.

We have had the past 3 Christmases just the 2 of us and its been bliss, ok the first year was a non event as we flew to Thailand on Boxing Day for new year, but the other 2 just bliss, champagne breakfast, eggs benedict drunk by 11am...opening prezzies , Christmas tv, drunkenly put lunch together without the pressure or stress of set timetable bliss! We also looked into going away but just works out mega £££

I can't imagine spending Christmas day with just my H. Horrific. ?

The risk of staying at home is that it could feel like any other day, unless you made a real effort to make it special, for that reason i'd be tempted to book somewhere.

I've spent every Christmas since I was 18 being a Mum, so i've never had a proper grown up Christmas. What do you do??? ?

Well we woke up, opened our stockings in bed. Got up and started making the dinner (having had chocolate for breakfast). Opened presents. Ate the dinner (he had roast duck and I had the veg). Played with presents. Watched Will Smith save the world on telly, and no-one interrupted or talked over it! And watched Doctor Who.

I'd love it but H is too much of a home bird. He would want to be around family. I'd go out for dinner though so hours not spent cooking and washing

Definatley thinking this..

Am thinking maybe home more than going away now.

Thanks for all your replies, really interesting to see what everyone else does/thinks!

The day being more than just a normal day off is what worried me a bit but hopefully if we do some nice special things then we can get past that.

It will upset IL's a lot I think but his aunt just doesn't comprehend that he can't be in their house. She says she'll lock the cats away so they aren't in the room, but it doesn't even help matters and it will ruin his xmas.

this is me! i am one of 5 kids, who all have kids and christmas has always been mental crazy and lots fo people milling around..i think id feel lost or missing out if it were just me and Mr as much as i love him and all!

That was they main reason we went out last year, and again this year- we don't buy each other anything 'proper' so we can justify the cost of going out easier!

I would love to do this on Xmas day, but OH would like to spend the day with his family which is only fair as for the last 3 years we've cooked for his Granny on Xmas Eve, gone to his Aunt's on Xmas Day morning then spent the rest of the day at my family's house and stayed over. Boxing Day we've spent at Granny's during the day and then got drunken with our chums. This year, we'll spend Xmas Eve with my Nana and Grumps and stay at Mum's to do prezzies with them in the morning then head over to H's Aunt's house. Boxing Day we're considering having everyone at our's now that we have a house and the room.

I would much rather say 's0d everyone' and be alone, but we have people guilt tripping us from all sides (especially Nana as the Drs think it's her last Xmas).

My mother would never forgive me if we did this. H's mum wouldn't care, he's never spent Christmas with his family since he was 17.

I've spent one Christmas away from my family, when I was 18 I spent Christmas in Watford with my exes family - it was so boring! He's an only child and the whole day was just about him - more presents than the previous year, tv he wanted to watch (Queen's speech anyone?)

He came to us the following year and I think he was overwhelmed with all the activity - I'm one of 5 kids, my mum's dad and brothers join us and the whole morning is just a present opening frenzy followed by mum force feeding everyone breakfast and older sister handing out buck's fizz (Christmas tradition don't you know?) while we get dinner going and the menfolk sit drinking cups of tea and picking at tins of biscuits while they entertain the little ones. I love it!

I work in a hotel so usually have to work at some point on Christmas day so we couldn't go away anyway but we charge roughly £100 per person per night for Christmas - that's too much for me! Always tempted to tell my mum to book dinner out though - she finds cooking for all of us so stressful it'd be nice for her to relax and let someone else do it! Maybe one day when we have space we'll be able to host it instead...

WE have done it before. I LOVE christmas so i made sure that we still had it very christmassy and it didnt turn into any other sunday!

when i spoke to my mum on the phone (she was spending it with my brother in Switzerland) i did have a pang of missing my family, it was my first xmas without my mum or any family) but it was a great, we did stokings, & pressies and made the big lunch and played board games.

We had another xmas where we stayed home just the 2 of us but we were invited to some friends for our xmas dinner. I found it weird being with someone else's family on xmas day!

we are hosting it this year so we will have all my family staying!!! and hopefully helping in the kitchen!?

Until we have children me & OH will continue to go our separate ways - Im at my parents & he is at his aunts with his mum. Me& his mum are not exactly great friends & if wasnt with her she would be even harder work for me & him. So until we have children this will be our routine.

I will always be at my parents so when we have children he will come with me.

Christmas eve we eat dinner with my parents & then go to his mums. Christmas day - we go to church together then OH goes to see his dad. He then goes to his aunts house for dinner.

I go to his aunts in the afternoon before heading to my aunts & finally back to my parents to stay over.

Mum does another boxing day dinner and OH & my brothers gfriend join us.

Boxing night is where we finally sit down the 2 of us, watch tv & have a couple of drinks. Our friends go to the pub but we like just getting time with each other.

I would hate to have christmas day just us two - I'd feel so lonely/

It must be so much easier to live near both sets of inlaws. We're an hour and a half away from each, in different directions. I'd quite like to be able to see both.

Our future plan is when we have a house, people can come to see us! Especially once we have kids. We just never anticipated spending christmas alone before we were married!!

I could never go seperate ways with OH, we are each others family now so that comes first for us. Luckily we both get on alright with each others family though.

I don't think we'll ever do this. I like family Christmas days too much.

With H's shifts he doesn't get many Christmases off. On those where he's working, I go to my parents and he joins us at some point during the day if he can as they only live 20 minutes away.

When he has Christmas off we go to his parents.

I'd quite like to do this one year (not every year) but H would never go for it. Until now, he's insisted on sleeping at his parents' house on Christmas Eve so that he can wake up there - he's 35!

Now that we're married, I'm going to insist that we wake up at our own house, have a nice breakfast and then go to his parents' house (mine last year).

It's ridiculous and drives me insane, although for the past few years it's worked on a practical level as we've taken his grandad (who lives with PIL) to a midnight church service, which is only a few minutes from PILs' house. It's made sense to stay there after getting back at 12.30am, especially if we've walked to church after a few glasses of mulled wine! It'd be practical this year seeing as we're spending the day there, but I feel I have more authority now that we're married!

This!

My parents live in the Isle of Man, and C's parents live in Ireland, so whoever we spend Christmad with leaves someone unhappy.

Last year it was with my folks, this year we are on HM in Thailand, so next year will be with his folks.

I would love to be able to wake up in our house on Christmas morning, then drive or walk to family and spend the day with them.

See, i'm one of 9, but I hate having loads of people round. I like quiet (not possible with my small people though), but i'd be bored sh!tless just being at home with my H. My happy medium, it just lunch round my mums, as i'm the only one of the kids who speaks to her. I get to spend time with my beloved Mum, and this year, my Dad. Weird!!!

oh this years going to be lovley for you having them back together, i totally forgot!

? !!!

I don't think that I would want to wake up anywhere but our house and we haven't since we moved in together (will be our 5th xmas), with the execption of a hotel or holiday mind you!

We're going away this year and I think it will be really great! We usually have to split the day between several family homes so it will be nice to just do our own thing for once.

The last 3 years we have spent xmas day with my family and then got a taxi to his parents house, had xmas night drinks and stayed over.

This year is different, we're having xmas day with his family. I'm abit put off, I get on with them but when his other siblings are there we both seem to be invisible to his parents. This makes me worry I will regret choosing to go there as I LOVE christmas and know my small family will have a completely different day without me there.

Also we have bought a house which we should be in by 1st Dec. I'd love to spend the day on our home so I'm thinking maybe do this year with his folks then next year we will be married and it qill be my excuse for been anti-social with the fam.

We have always taken turns - his parents/family one year, mine the next. Last year it was my mum's turn and usually we'd go to H's parents on boxing day but they were seeing friends - his mum was really upset that they didn't see us at christmas. The first time I went to H's family for christmas I cried as I missed my family so much! But as we all get older and I've done two christmases waay from my mum now it does get easier.

So this year it's their turn. But... H wants to go skiing over christmas and new year. We usually just go for new year to France or Italy, but we think we can get a cheap deal to the US or Canada this year, but it's not worth only going for one week.... His mum will be so upset if we miss christmas again! H really wants to go though....

I would never have said we would ever do just the two of us but actually the more I think about it the more I like the idea. Feel bad for his mum though.

start drinking at 8am.