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Been thinking about this and what about Christmas I could change to make it better.
If I could have Christmas my way, only kids under 18 would get store bought gifts. Everyone else would get home made gifts or gifts from a thrift store.
Because they would all be gifts from the heart.

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Great ideas guys! Mine would be me and hubby snowed in at an adorable little cabin, in the Adirondacks. With fresh snow glistening, and drinking hot cocoa, watching all our favorite xmass movies, Rodulf, then Elf, and Christmas vacation
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This is a great question! My perfect Christmas would be spending it with my daughter and us taking a trip or just hanging out and having fun by baking cookies, watching movies and playing with our pets and whatever else makes us happy!
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I feel very lucky my Christmases have been really really nice, Christmas Eve at my mother in law's with my husband's beautiful family, sometimes with performances by my talented nieces with my MIL accompanying them on the piano.


Christmas Day is at my house, my dad helps me with the prime rib, I love making the sides, my sister in law brings her famous anisette cookies. Even when my mom isn't feeling great, she still feels comfortable enough to join so far. I know all this can change on a dime, so I'm grateful for today. My best friend's dad just went into hospice after a bad stroke so I'm definitely feeling that our time is so limited.


For the past several years for both families we use the "draw names" app and stay within the budget. It works great. There's no drama. My father in law, rest his soul always loved watching "It's a Wonderful Life". I crochet so I try to make something personal for whoever's name I have drawn in addition to whatever gift they have put in their wishlist.


I love seeing my nieces and nephew's grow into young men and women. And now there's another baby, a great niece for me, great granddaughter for my parents. My niece on my husband's side is expecting now as well.


Some years we don't celebrate Christmas on Christmas day if that works better for everyone and it's fine.


Our tree is filled ornaments from trips my husband and I or myself and my girlfriends have taken. I love taking them out every year and reliving those adventures.


I'm kind of surprising myself as I write this because I've always been kind of a self described scrooge but in actuality my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are pretty dang good 🥰


We don't go crazy and I think we all really take the day as an opportunity to be with one another. We have many years of the family photo we take every year with my family, it's fun to go back and look at those.

I wish everyone peace this holiday season.
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We laid down the law after several awful Christmas Days during which I was treated not even as a hostess, but more like hired help. I recall serving dessert, going into the kitchen to serve myself, and returning to find my in-laws stacking their dirty dishes at my place setting. Nobody waited - they just hoovered the food. One year my FIL had a full blown temper tantrum, then stormed out and vanished for hours. All because my husband refused to fix his computer. Said he wanted to enjoy the day, so he’d try to fix it Boxing Day. No - FIL wanted it worked on NOW!

Husband and I hated how, as kids, it was rush rush rush off to someone’s house or to get ready for the arriving hungry hoard.

We have a relaxing family day of brunch (still in pjs), presents, games and the grand meal. Our kids are still single but we have had a girlfriend and boyfriend join us. They seemed to appreciate the calm as well.
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My perfect Christmas would look a lot like the ones of my childhood. Looking forward to the reasonable number of presents, enjoying cookies and candy, Christmas Eve church services, lunch at my dearly loved grandmother’s home with all my cousins, seeing the presents my friends received, just all of it…..as Chicago sings….old days, good times I remember…
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Same as every year, my brother and I spend Christmas together, sometimes friends who have no one join us.

We have a theme, this year Hawiian, last year Greek, we both like to cook so it works out well for us.
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Me and husband in Mexico on a beach. Maybe someday.
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Mine would magically transport me back to 1971.....
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My perfect Christmas wouldn't exist.
The Grinch would have taken it all, leaving us only with the tree to gather round singing.
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Its funny you ask this. I've been thinking about this a lot lately too. Thinking back to when my kids were small and those Christmases and even the ones when I was small (and carefree)

Unfortunately, we've had several years of difficult holidays - between my FIL going into the hospital 2 days before Thanksgiving in 2022, trying to punch my DH because we couldn't physically take him home for Christmas 2022 (we brought it to him, but he had NPD and he was very insulted that we didn't move heaven and earth to take him home), Thanksgiving 2023 he was in very bad shape in the SNF, and then 4 days before Christmas 2023 he passed away, and this year for the holidays my grandmother is on hospice. Geez, it sounds like a sob story.

We've done our best to make the holidays as happy as possible in spite of the circumstances.

But if I had to think of the perfect Christmas, I'd probably just say one that isn't laden down with a cloud looming, or an undercurrent of anger or fighting. Just peaceful and slow and happy.

I don't mean to make that sound like a pity party. I just miss those Christmases where we baked cookies and had hot chocolate and watched movies and things were just calmer. And there wasn't a constant sense of urgency over everything.
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