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Family

  • Yvonne C Lam with her daughter, next to an illustration of a decorated Christmas tree

    The Christmas that went wrong: My grandma was so shocked by our tree that she destroyed it

    On seeing it in the dark, my Vietnamese grandmother was convinced it was Buddha himself – and that she had died and passed into the afterlife
  • A photograph of Mike Gayle next to a Christmas tree, plus an illustration of a steaming gravy boat

    The Christmas that went wrong: I ended up in A&E with burns from my mother’s gravy

  • A photograph showing Jessica Fostekew dressed up fancy to eat a burger, next to an illustration showing a cat nabbing a cooked chicken

    The Christmas that went wrong: We went into last-minute lockdown – and I had to spend the big day with my ex

  • Bella Mackie in hospital, alongside an illustration of jelly

    The Christmas that went wrong: I had a massive abscess and spent my first ever night in hospital

  • Fanny Johnstone on Christmas Day in 1980

    The Christmas that went wrong: A piglet set our presents on fire

  • Two cars colliding

    The kindness of strangers: on a stressful day, I reversed into another mum’s car – and she told me not to worry

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Opinion

  • Becca Bland

    Family tensions can run high over Christmas. Here’s how to make things easier

    Becca Bland
  • Xinran

    In a Japanese restaurant in west London, this Chinese woman felt truly at home

    Xinran
  • Silvia Saunders

    I had strict rules to keep my British and Italian lives separate. Then I learned the joy of being both

    Silvia Saunders
  • Jenny Sinclair's golden retrievers Monty (left) and Earl

    Two puppies at once was a terrible idea. But Earl and Monty stole my heart

    Jenny Sinclair
  • Jill Filipovic

    It’s time for a new approach to dealing with Trumpy relatives during the holidays

    Jill Filipovic
  • Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

    The joy of making your own Christmas traditions – from salad to Boxing Day carbonara

    Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
  • Michael Rosen

    My shirts reeked of onions; my father hated the ‘phoney Tudor windows’. That flat will always mean home

    Michael Rosen
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Advice

  • Alone-01

    Ask Annalisa Barbieri
    I’ve started full-time work and it’s non-stop – when do I get some time for me?

  • Woman lying back in bed looking happy while a man leaves the room

    Sexual healing
    I’m having the best sex of my life – but I can’t climax until my lover leaves the room

  • It’s time for you to reclaim your life and your sense of self

    Ask Philippa
    My husband left me last Christmas. How do I get closure?

  • A customs declaration form CN22 inside a Post Office

    Consumer champions
    Are Brexit rules making it hard to post kids’ books to Ireland?

Love & sex

  • Miranda July in Los Angeles

    ‘This book is my bible!’ The women who read Miranda July’s All Fours, then blew up their lives

  • Couple smiling at the beack at sunset

    The moment I knew: he arrived at our wedding with a garbage bag full of marigolds

    Getting married was a legal formality for Hayley Hogan and Ivor, who had already been together 17 years. Then on the day, something shifted
  • Amara and Mateo

    This is how we do it: ‘We make videos of ourselves having sex, to watch when we’re apart’

    Amara and Mateo’s sex life was fun first time round, in their 20s. Now it has to be scheduled around childcare and the families they have left
  • BlindDate 21Dec for web Joe & Alison

    Blind date: ‘He looked like a cross between Andrew Garfield and my primary school crush’

  • Manuela and Ian crossing the Atlantic from Bermuda to Plymouth on a friend's boat in June 2018

    How we met: ‘I knew we would sail the world together one day’

  • Sean Fallon and Fiona in 2023

    The moment I knew: ‘I’d never seen anyone eat a whole chicken like that. She was also the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen’

  • Judge illustration 14th Dec - WEB

    You be the judge: should my girlfriend stop asking me to buy her flowers?

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