I come from a close, rather large-ish family. Christmas day for me is usually a cocktail fuelled shit storm of screaching aunties, mental cousins, men cooking meat, too much food, intensely competitive card games and embarrassingly enough the day usually ends with a weird loungeroom disco where we all dance like we’re Beyonce’s backup. There’s rarely less than 25 of us and it’s fabulous. However Mr Smaggle and I have often fantasised about sneaking away and having a little Christmas, just the two of us. It’s not a huge stretch for him because he comes from a tiny family with no cousins but I suspect it would be rather strange for me. There’s so many people who spend Christmas alone, with one other person, with their tiny immediate family or even with just a few friends so I thought I’d throw together a list of lovely things to do for Christmas when you don’t have (or won’t be around) a giant family.
How To Celebrate Christmas When You Don’t Have a Giant Family
Why don’t you…?
Make a big fuss with table decorations? Make beautiful place cards? Have a giant vase of fresh flowers? Get a gorgeous new table cloth? Really put on the ritz?
Plan activities? Start the day with cookie decorating? Have a serious game of Monopoly in the afternoon? A stroll around your suburb? A Game of Thrones marathon to doze off to at night?
Ditch the turkey or other giant chunks of cooked meat that will go to waste after Christmas and get creative with your meals instead? Make decadent tacos with different toppings? Fancy oven pizzas? Serious nachos?
Go out to a restaurant for lunch? Have a long, lazy indulgent meal and then head home for an afternoon snooze?
Start traditions? Have a treasure hunt where you hide gold coins around the house for your litter of loved ones to find? Have an after dinner dance off? Champagne cocktails with breakfast?
Dress up? Really make the day special by wearing your favourite duds and making a super special effort with your appearence?
Stay in a hotel? Why not leave your home for a few days and stay somewhere fancy? Perhaps in the country or by the beach? Or even overseas if you can manage it?
Volunteer? Visit hospitals or nursing homes to hang with people who don’t have any family? Serve food at a shelter or help out at a pet sanctuary with walking the dogs?
Have a picnic? Head to the park with a yummy basket full of treats and sparkling drinks and spend the day reading, playing bocce and snoozing under the trees?