I originally wrote this last year but for some reason, I never got round to posting it. This is what my Christmas has looked like for the last few years but with COVID-19 around this year, it's going to look very different. My mum is vulnerable so my mum, brother and I have decided that I won't visit at all this year and we'll have a virtual Christmas instead. My brother is mum's carer and so he lives with her, but think that missing one in-person Christmas with all three of us is worth it for the many more we will get all together in the future.

Read on for what I'll be missing this year but looking forward to next year!

Christmas Eve

I head up to my Mums in the afternoon of Christmas Eve if I'm not working but if I am working I head up after I have finished work. Once I have unpacked some of my things we will generally have a brew and a chat, or eat our evening meal. My brother has generally written out a list of what needs doing over the next few days. Things like getting the turkey roasting tin out of the cupboard above Mum's bed along with the Christmas table cloth and whatever else we need from in there for the next few days.

We will often have something new but tasty for tea. One year we had salad peppers cut in half and roasted with pesto, feta cheese and cherry tomatoes. It was so yummy that I made it often after that, although I've not made it in a while for some reason. After we've washed up and put the pots away we will set the table for the next day with the Christmas table cloth and the centrepiece etc, as well as prepping things for tomorrow like the vegetables and my brother will put any finishing decorations on the Christmas cake.

Once all the Christmas Eve tasks are done we will head into the living room and have a Christmas drink while playing a game or two of Trivial Pursuit. I bought the Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit questions a few years ago for something to do in the evenings when there isn't much on TV over these few days. It's the only time in my life when I have beaten my brother at a game! This year I got Harry Potter Cluedo for something different to play although my brother might dig out his original version as well.

Then we get into our pj's and have supper, which is usually hot chocolate and a piece of toast before heading to bed and hoping that Santa leaves us some presents under the tree while we sleep ;D

Christmas Day

The last few year's I've not slept well at Mum's as it's my old single bed and I'm used to a double bed now, I'm also used to waking up early for work. Therefore I'm usually the first up and headed down for breakfast, once we've all eaten I'll head for a shower and get ready. Then I'll wipe up the breakfast pots or put them away while my Mum and brother get ready. At this point, we get the turkey crown and any veggies that need doing at the same time in the oven.

Once we're all washed and dressed and have a brew, we head into the living room as neither my brother nor I go in there without the three of us there :) So we both see the tree for the first time and Mum can get our reactions to seeing if Santa has left us any presents. We will listen to Christmas music while we open the presents from Mum as the programs on the TV are distracting and not really what we like to watch.

Then we check on lunch as the turkey crown is usually done by the time we have finished opening the presents from Mum, so it's time to finish making lunch and serve it up.

I am vegetarian but there's no space in the oven for something separate for me, so I do have a bit of turkey. Definitely no Brussel sprouts though on my plate though! Pudding is the obligatory Christmas pudding with a white sauce that is flavoured with either brandy or rum, depending on which my mum got that year. When the pots are washed and put away we head back into the living room with a brew each to open more presents. These are the ones from me to my brother, the ones from him to me and then both of our gifts to mum.

Depending on what time it is by then, we either watch something on TV, watch a film or play a game, before it's time to make tea which is a buffet-style one. In the evening we will watch a DVD or a film depending on what's on the TV that night, my brother likes Dr Who so he'll sometimes watch that if it's on.

Boxing Day

I'm generally the first up again and after we're all fed, washed and dressed, I pack my case as much as I can first thing so that it's done, then we just chill and sit around chatting for a few hours watching TV and drinking brews. After lunch, I will finish my packing which includes my presents and any leftover food Mum is sending me home with, as a Mum's can't send a child home empty-handed :)

I will head back to mine mid-afternoon where I unpack and put my case away as I'm back at work the next day. I then chill and watch TV, watching Christmas editions of shows I may have missed while at Mum's like Call the Midwife and Victoria.

For the last five years or so I have bought myself a few Christmas gifts so this is when I open them. It started as I wanted to reward myself one year I think it was for completing a round of CBT, (Cognitive behavioural therapy) which I believe that time was EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) light therapy treatment. So that year I bought myself a Kindle Fire and wrapped it up with a few other things and put them under the tree when I got home from Mums.

My Boxing Day tea is usually a buffet tea of the leftovers mum has sent me home with and I either find something to watch on TV or put a DVD on. Then it's time to prepare my breakfast of overnight oats and make sure my lunch for work is also prepared.

What are some of your family Christmas traditions?

Comment down below.