Anyone else spending Christmas and/or Christmas Eve alone?

[Ponderer]

I suspect for the most part I will be alone this year. Things are not really great with my 21 year old son right now and I have drifted away from family years ago and most friends as well.

I was just wondering if anyone else was spending the holiday alone and what you would be doing as far as food or traditions or anything else you care to share?

I have somewhere I could go Christmas Eve, though I am opting not to, so this is not about a pity party. I am just working on wrapping my head around being solo this year and feeling like I am the only one. It is a complex internal situation I suppose. Hard to explain.

[NicJean]

My poor DH has to be in Philadelphia the week prior, and driving home on Christmas Eve. My plans for the Eve, are to drive north (about an hour), to see my Dad and StepMom for a soup/bread dinner. My sister and bil will be there too. After the meal, we are heading to chuch service, then home. Responding to Dad and "mom's" invite was wierd "yep, I'll be there, but I don't know about my honey." Christmas - no plans, no visitors - probably sleeping will be the order of the day, with movies and popcorn on the couch.

[Incognito]

I appreciate your candid and thoughtful post, because very few people really reveal those innermost feelings. The truth is that family and friends can & do drift away, somehow or another, and we can be left with a void that is sometimes hard to fill. And dealing with that on the holidays is particularly challenging for those of us who spend it alone.

I'm looking forward to 2 weeks off work, and being alone for the holidays. My kids are too far away to travel anywhere in the winter, so we always phone each other on Christmas Day and talk.
I've got a turkey lined up, and hope to get a pumpkin pie baked early and frozen. Then cook the veggies late afternoon, and have a nice Christmas supper alone. Carols on the radio, maybe a nice walk to view the Christmas lights a time or two, some Christmas movies, and some favourite crafts. Phone calls from family. Just relaxing and enjoying the time.
I really need this break.

Life is as it is, and if you want to make it different, make realistic plans and go for it; but if it is the way you like it, just relax and enjoy what you have. All those standardized greetings: "As we are surrounded by friends and families on this Chrismas day....etc. etc. etc.", are just not real for many of us. It got easier for me to deal with the loneliness once I realized and accepted my own reality.

I don't socialize much in this town...too many cliques, and not having the schedule to accommodate regular outings. That used to trouble me, but after 14 years here, I'm actually glad my life turned out differently. My only unfulfilled longing is that I'd like to play board games with somebody sometimes, but I guess I'll have to wait for retirement and the seniors clubs for that.

Be Happy.

[Ponderer]

Incognito...thank you for your response. That does help me and I suspect I will read it many times.

That is exactly what I need to do...accept my reality and make it a positive and beautiful thing for me. I definitely have much to be thankful for.

I have been planning on making a Turkey as well. I am fortunate to be off at noon on the 23rd and not back to the office until Jan 3rd. That is a lot of time off for the low low price of 3 vacation days. I do that every year to get the biggest bang for my buck.

I miss game nights....wish I was closer and could pop over to play some of them with you once in awhile! :-)

[dcompton]

It is sad that so many are alone on the holidays, for whatever reason, when they would prefer to have family and friends with them.

I guess my case is different. I am happy as a clam when I am alone and when I was able to start having quiet holidays by myself it was delicious. My friends eventually learned that when I declined the invitations, I was sincere and really did prefer to stay home alone.

I'm off for a stretch at Christmas too. As for Christmas Eve and Christmas, I'll spend them like the other days I'm at home, cooking ordinary meals, entertaining myself with hobbies and reading, and maybe listen to some Christmas music. It's not reliably very cold at Christmas here, but I can hope, because then it's especially cozy to be inside. For me it is a relaxed, lazy, peaceful time of freedom from work and obligations, a time to be savored.

[bookwormpeg]

It's tough to be alone when you really would like someone there. If you really want to be with people, volunteer to visit a nursing home on Christmas day. I hope you have a wonderful day!!! Hugs...

[Lady_V]

I won't be alone for all of it, but... it comes in shifts.

It is the ex's weekend, so Diva leaves on Friday. She will be home with me on the Eve from 10am-4pm. OldMan is working (even though it's his day off) so I will be alone from 4pm until whenever he gets home... usually around 9.

He works the 25th, so I will be alone Christmas morning until Diva comes home at noon, and then it will be the 2 of us until he gets home from work.

It's the first Christmas morning I will be alone. My friend in PA figured out what's going on, so we are going to eat breakfast together via Skype so I won't feel so alone.

[wunsagin]

I'll pretty much be alone too. Dh has to work Christmas Eve, gets off 6am Christmas morning. Then he'll sleep most of the day. My girls will spend the day at their dads, they're older. and we haven't set a date yet to get together.

[jacqueline]

there have been many, many holidays i have spent alone. sometimes they have been hard and sometimes they have been quite relaxing and happy.
Christmas and Thanksgiving a few hours of the day are spent with my family and generally i'm always alone the rest of the day. most of the time that doesn't bother me, but some years it has. guess it's where my head is at that certain year.

[ladykemma2]

it's a very "loaded" holiday. i have spent the last few chirstmases alone, and rather enjoyed it. to be sure, it is my least favorite holiday.

i make a special dinner and i have a tiny tree. i watch christmas dvds and birth of jesus videos to remember what the holiday is about.

[Ceashels]

Prior to being in a bell choir, I would go out people watching on Christmas Eve. It kept me entertained till the stores closed then I would come home and crash.

Christmas Day was typically spent with my Mom and Brother, baking cookies and drinking wine.

These days, the cookie baking has been replaced by board games and the wine has been upgraded to whiskey.

[gottadance]

I've been alone on MANY holidays and a couple of Xmases or Xmas Eve and how it goes depends on how I'm feeling that year. Sometimes I'm able just to enjoy the downtime, not working. To chat on the phone, do projects, stay in my pjs and indulge in good food and movies. Other times I do feel very sad and alone. One Xmas eve I just walked down to the local church for its service and it was nice. If I'm alone I don't cook a big meal for myself, but I stop at this one restaurant and they have some delicious pumpkin pie and dips, etc., that I buy the day before so I can sit and indulge on Xmas.

I have some family locally, although I'm not super close with them, but my close family is all over the country, so we don't always see each other at Xmas. One thing my mom reminds me is that we make a very big deal of the Christmas "season" when really it boils down to one day (and Xmas eve). In one day it's all over and then you go on with your life.

This year, my bf and I are rocky, because he's not sure he wants kids and I definitely do. We've broken up once over this issue, but we're still talking. He wants me to come to his family's Xmas, but I feel a little weird about it given our situation. I just don't know what to do. But if I'm not with him, I don't know what I'll do. Maybe drive to my aunts for Xmas. I'd much rather be with my bf and his family if I felt my bf and I definitely have a future, but with that up in the air, I need to think it through.

[stinkbug]

*Raises hand* Won't be the first....or the last.

[onencgirl]

Been there a few times. I found I enjoyed the quiet and the extra sleep.

[frugalfranny]

I have spent some alone and looks like it may be that way
this year.

I will relish the 'down time' this year as it has been a little hectic with 'family things' going on..........haven't decided about a meal.

I just make the best of it.......depending on what I want to do.
Sometimes I fix a very special meal........other times it is
just soup. The good part is that I get to do EXACTLY what
I want to do..........when I want to do it. I will usually get
a couple phone calls from friends with wishes.

Have always wanted to volunteer somewhere but just haven't set it up..........and this isn't the year I want to start.