How do you celebrate Christmas?

Dear users, dear authors,
How are you celebrating Christmas this year?

Josefa, that’s a good question. If things turn out the way we suspect, then it’ll just be my husband and me at home alone, like last year, because I see a major lockdown rapidly approaching. I’m still hoping it’s just a mirage, but I can’t quite bring myself to believe it yet.
If we’re still allowed to visit, we’ll be at our youngest daughter’s house on Christmas Eve—which I really, really, really hope happens, especially for our youngest granddaughter (11), who’s hoping for a Christmas like the ones before the pandemic, with both sets of grandparents and her parents. I can’t and won’t risk catching anything, because with my severe asthma and the other health issues I’m dealing with, that would be a total disaster for all of us

Best, Inge

My husband and I will be spending Christmas alone. The tree is already on the balcony—still wrapped.
Our children and grandchildren won’t be coming.  Because we’re sick. My husband has asthma. I have various autoimmune diseases. Our granddaughter has a vascular disease that can lead to a stroke. Since my daughter lives under the same roof as her in-laws, we’re avoiding everything we can.

Best regards 

Well, ACTUALLY, the plan was to celebrate Christmas Eve either with my mom and my grandma... unless my mom doesn’t want to (she was widowed fairly recently, and I don’t know if she’ll feel like celebrating much...), in which case we’d celebrate with my in-laws.
Then on Christmas Day, we’d do it the other way around.
Or we might do both together, if that’s not too much for my mom.
On Boxing Day, we always go to a restaurant with my father’s family (my grandpa and all my father’s siblings with their kids, etc.—over 30 people in total).

But I’m guessing we’ll end up celebrating in a small group… Boxing Day will probably be canceled again anyway, and even if not, I want to keep it as small as possible. My father, who has heart disease, hasn’t had a chance to get his booster shot yet, and I really want to spare him from getting infected.

I have no idea… We’ll see. I suspect this will be the second "unusual" Christmas. 

We had actually planned to celebrate Christmas Eve with the kids, my mom, and my father-in-law. We’re all vaccinated, and my mom and father-in-law have already received their booster shots.
We’re hoping that today’s decisions won’t throw a wrench in our plans, since this will unfortunately be my father-in-law’s last Christmas. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September. Since he’s 91 years old, has already had heart surgery, and the cancer has already metastasized to his lungs, he’s not undergoing any further treatment. We’re all just hoping that he’ll still be with us for Christmas.

All in all, it’s going to be a very sad Christmas :-(

Let’s see… On Saturday, we were still wondering if my husband’s sister-in-law and cousin might come over after all.
But my husband—who also has occasional asthma, even though he’s not that old yet—would prefer to be even more cautious again, regardless of the guidelines, because of Omicron and because our protection against infection is dropping again right now.
It’s only been four months since our second shot, so no chance of a booster yet.
Right now, I’m feeling a bit defiant—like just letting it all slide and not even bothering to cook anything special. Well, I’ll still bake some cookies, and I already have the presents, after all. At least there are no pandemic-related concerns about watching my traditional Christmas movie, “Hogfather”^^

The plan is for the family to get together for raclette on Christmas Day. There are only six of us now—we’ll all have had our booster shots by then—and we have a really long table, so we won’t have to sit so close together.
On Christmas Eve, we’ll have a cozy evening at home by ourselves; in the past, we always used to go out for goose at a restaurant on December 26, but we’re skipping that again, so it’ll be another cozy evening at home by ourselves.
And now we’ll just have to wait and see what actually happens.

Just the two of us, as we have for the past few years.
Which has nothing to do with COVID-19.
No big fuss.
A few decorations and some delicious food.

We’re also celebrating just the two of us now; since my mother-in-law has passed away, it’s just my husband and me left.

...I’m really not in the mood to celebrate this year....
My son is coming over—he lives really close by. He’s vaccinated, and we’ll take a test, too. Then we can sit together for a bit and chat over Christmas tea and cookies.... I’d really like to keep “everyone” else “out of it” somehow.... They have soooo many contacts, whether it’s school, preschool, or work.... it’s all way too risky for me. Even if everyone’s vaccinated, they can still spread it...
Even though it’s really hard—my nephew is 4 now, so Christmas is going to be a lot of fun... But it’s no use.
If only everyone would just show some restraint.... Or if there were at least a medical solution in sight....
Apparently, for a lot of people, going on vacation, browsing Christmas markets, and strolling around the nearest big city is the most important thing in the world. “Quick, one last time before everything shuts down again....”
So, we’re keeping Christmas very low-key. With raclette for two, three at most...

It breaks my heart to read about what Christmas has become for some people. But honestly, things aren’t going to be any better for me either. My children and grandchildren live far away, and it’s difficult for me to visit them because my health isn’t the best. We’re all vaccinated—except for the children—but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Still, I wish everyone a wonderful Advent season and a blessed Christmas, in the hope that things will eventually return to normal.

Pretty much the same as last year. I’m in the Altes Land. On Christmas Eve, he’ll go visit the kids. We’ll open presents when he gets back.
We haven’t made any specific plans yet—it depends on what the kids have planned. He’ll have to go along with that, and so will I.
Right now, they always want to visit Dad and Grandpa just when I’m there or when I’m planning to go. Then I’m left out again and have to go home or stay home. If I were to be reborn, I wouldn’t want any children.

Aren't you able to celebrate with your children?

My kids think they don’t have a mom anymore.