Hey Lovelies, 

Christmas Day is often a manic time for many of us. However, over the past few years, me and my family have had a few quiet affairs. A fact I have grown to love! 

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely miss the madness and mayhem of our old big family Christmas Days. Yet, it is quite nice to be able to relax a bit more now. Since the pandemic and the death of my dad, it’s mainly just been me and my mum at home on the day. 

We don’t rush around or go over the top. We just take the day easy, with a few visitors along the way. There so, I thought it would be nice this year to give you a little insight into what we get up to on the 25th December…

5am - I like to wake up early, especially on Christmas Day, to start getting ready for the celebrations. Normally, I get up around this time everyday and head straight into the shower, before getting dressed, however, on Christmas Day, I normally head into my mum’s room. We then have a snuggle in her bed and chat about what we fancy doing on the day. 

6am - Both of us get up and start getting pampered for the day. We like to buy a new Christmas jumper every year, which we will have laid out the night before. We also have an early morning stocking, which we can find on the ends of our beds. These are often filled with snacks to have over the festive period, as well as books, socks, magazines and joke gifts too. 

8am - Once we are up and ready, we head downstairs, where my mum will have a coffee and stick on her turkey. We then prepare our breakfasts and enjoy them together in our dining room. 

9:30am - Around this time our first guests or visitors start to come round. We have spent Christmas Day with our neighbours and also my brother and his family the past few years, but we have a pretty open door for everyone to pop in and say hello. 

12pm - After everyone has gone, we normally pop out for a little before dinner walk. Mum and me love going around this time, as you can start to smell the dinners cooking and glimpse little pieces of Christmas cheer going around. 

2pm - Normally after our walk, my mum will start to feel a bit peckish, so dinner preparations begin. Due to it only being the two of us, we don’t have to spend all day getting stuff ready. Last year, we cooked dinner and cleaned as we went, which made it so much easier. By the time we sat down to eat there wasn’t a drop of mess in the kitchen. 

3:30-4pm - Dinner is served! My mum will have the full Christmas dinner plate, with turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables (including Brussel sprouts) and bread sauce. I am a vegetarian, so I don’t have the meat, but my mum has been really good at helping me stay calm and find something that my anorexia won’t stop me from having. Normally, I have a stuffed butternut, which is filled with stuffing. It’s been so nice to have a proper Christmas dinner with my family after so many years of avoiding it. 

5pm - Dessert time! I’m a bit of a fruit lover, so my mum will often prepare me a selection that I have with a little bit of jelly if I can manage it. Mum normally has a special selection that she has gathered over the weeks. Recent years, this has included roulades, ice creams, profiteroles and cakes. I do still demand though that she has to buy a Vienetta. It’s a Christmas tradition! 

6-8pm - After dinner we take to the living room or in the case of this year a bedroom to snuggle up and watch Christmas TV. I may even spend the evening building a LEGO set if I have kindly been gifted one. We will have normally changed back into our Christmas PJs at this point. Ones we have given each other the night before in our Christmas Eve boxes. We have sometimes not done a morning walk and gone out in the evening instead to see the lights, but we have started doing an earlier one now. This allows ultimate cuddly time. 

8pm - Mum has always put a buffet out in the evening, but with just us two, she normally finds a few snacks to enjoy. I’m a sucker for a hot chocolate or warm Ribena on Christmas Day evening. 

9-11pm - Whilst the day may have been quiet, we will often stay up and chat for a bit more, toasting my dad and grandparents, before heading off to bed. We tend to go up a little early and do our own things for a bit, as we like to go on a long Boxing Day walk to visit my dad’s grave. 

And that’s it! For the past few years, we have spent Christmas like this and as I say I really like it. I’m definitely an introvert and due to my anorexia, anxiety and autism, I can find it all quite overwhelming having lots of people around for long periods. Our simple Christmas Days are perfect to me and I can’t wait until the 25th this year to snuggle up and spend it super cosy again! 

What does your Christmas Day look like lovelies? 

Joey X