Any similarities? Any differences?

We always had an ancient artificial tree with lights and glass baubles handed down to us from my greatgrandparents and grandparents (really attractive, delicate things). Sadly mostly now broken.

A small turkey (not every yesar though) followed by either a homemade or shop bought pudding (which would need steaming for about 3 hours and was generally overdone)

Leftovers plus new pots and salad was a treat on Boxing Day.

My parents only drank alcohol at Christmas or on birthdays so went a bit overboard at lunchtime and when we were in bed!

One thing I do miss is the Salvation Army walking down our road, standing under the street lights and playing carols, ditto the float organised by the Rotary club or somesuch. All very well done.

We only had one present each on Christmas day, a couple of others from Grandparents and the like, but nothing like the orgy of present giving we seem to have today. It took my nieces about 2 hours to work through everything they got on Christmas day alone last year.

too exciting and magical,and i could never get to sleep with sicky excitement.

mum did a fab job for us. i loved those late 70's/early 80's xmas's.

dad always seememd to be away, but mum, me and sis had a special day. and she always bought 4 babychams

Oooh I might buy some babycham this year

Proper Christmas stockings!
We foraged in our sock drawer for our longest socks, (I envied my older brother's football socks!) and left one on the end of our beds.
In the morning, they invariably had an orange in the toe, chocolate coins, a handful of nuts and some small toys to keep us busy until after breakfast.
One year, mine had a tiny tortoise made out of a hollowed out hazlenut shell in it. I still have it! It's survived 10 changes of address and is one of my "treasures"!

i remember babycham,my nan allowed us one on xmas eve whilst mum and dad were on the town. snowballs were a favorite aswell.

we had new nighties, we always singed them though by standing too close to the gas fire.

i alwasy got a bottle of bubble bath with a dolls head on for some reason.

My childhood Christmas is so different from the Christmas we now have.

We are a Christian family and that is what flavours our Christmas. My childhood Christmas was much more materialistic (and disappointing when materialism failed to live up to expectations.)

Loads of people (about 30) in a 3 bed semi and somehow we all fitted. Used wallpaper pasting tables to extend my auntie's dining table to accomodate everyone. I was always in the extended part of the table where it took a right angle turn towards the kitchen.

Uncles were always quite drunk (although not before dutifully assembling and playing with all toys and doing the washing up) and lay down on the mattresses upstairs for a little snooze at about 5pm before tea.

Mum and her sisters got a bit tiddly on sherry whilst cooking lunch. One uncle who was a chef always did the carving. My dad used to be a chef but as uncle was still a chef he got the job.

Always new pyjamas and sleeping on a camp bed in my cousin's bedroom.

Very noisy, very crowded, occasional arguments but nothing mean spirited. Very happy days. Many of those people are now dead or left the fold but family still very important at Christmas as all year round. Hope we can make Christmases as special for DS.

Magic.

Just thinking about those days brings a lump to my throat as Mum died this year.

always wet and rainy

we would be to excited to sleep, get up too early and consequently melt down with exhaustion by about 4pm and have to be dragged out of the hosue for a walk to stop us throttlign each other - we'd give each house points for quantity and tastefulness of their decorations

hideous rows about who cheated at which game (Monopoly was the worst)

writing thank you letters immediately after opening presents in the first flush of enthusiasm

Mum always hovered with pen and paper to write down who had given us what so the thank you cards could be written asap - at absolute latest by New Year.

Monopoly was not a game we could play in our house - war would break out.

Being a young child in the early 1980s was a lot of fun.

They were lovely.

There always seemed to be a bottle of Advocaat in the house, plus a few Babychams and Cherry B's.

I would love a bottle of Cherry B right now! Can you still buy it??

First christmas I remember I was about 6. Was the same year I realised what I had been told about Santa might not be true! We had very small presents and stockings with fruit and we had a xmas eve ritual of drawing a special sign on the window so Santa could find us.

When me moved back to the country my dad would sneak into the forest and cut down a tree. I remember going with him at least once.

We lived in cold houses without central heating and one year we had a whole fireplace packed with wood.

Some xmasses we would go to see my dad's parents which was always quite formal but we got to see aunties and uncles and cousins which was cool.
I remember that at some point my parents started a vague rota thing so one of us kids (there are three of us) would get a bigger present than the others. I got a pogo stick which I used to make holes in my grandpa's lawn

When we were in west wales I remember a lot of snow and digging out of cars or walking 2 miles to the hop for chocolate and food. Also going to a lot of late night parties with my parents who would walk us across fields in the dead of night which was really exciting.

My sister and I would hang up our wooly tight sand my brother would tie knots in the bottoms of a pair of trousers, they were filled with nuts and dates and felt tip pens.

One christmas we pu on a play and sang songs for our grandparents, we practiced for days before.

We were always poor but even now that we are all settled and fairly well off we still only spend £30 - £40 on eachother.

Always beautiful. We would decorate the tree and Mum (on a step ladder) would put up the ceiling decs. They were very important and Mum knew exactly where they went. The huge big one over the fire, and the others sort of gelled into that. We had polystyrene tiles so it was easy.

Lovely vases, covered with cotton wool and a big snowman head on top. Just scrunched up paper and we stuck the cotton wool on.

Dad always coming in at the last minute, if he could, with fab pressies for all of us.

The best bit for me was my stocking. It carried on until I was 21 and Mum died.

When I was pre-teen christmas was Magic, pressies dressing up, big lunch, playing with new toys in the afternoon turkey and stuffing sandwiches for tea

Teens - realised how stressed Mum was that everything was perfect.. timing everything so that we had enough time for stockings before breakfast, enough time for breakfast before chuch, etc.. a forced air of happiness.

DESPERATE not to do that to my boys.

We always had my gran over plus her small dog. I'd go a fetch them with my dad in the morning, dog would be sick in the car and then as soon as it arrived would wee in our kitchen. It would then be off around the house in pursuit of our terrified cat who had to spend Christmas shut away upstairs. So part of my Christmas routine was frequent trips upstairs to check on the cat. I remember all of that more vividly than everything else!

Plus in the evening playing whatever new game someone had received and the grandparents struggling to cope with understanding the rules!

Very poor, VERY few presents. Hundreds of us squeezed into 2 bed council house. Slade; Chas and Dave on the record player. Drunk uncles, advocat, babycham. Everyone sitting at odd chairs at different heights around the kitchen table.
Just magical actually

Lonely. Dad was a vicar, mum a social worker. I was an only child who came a long way down the list. Sometimes decorations didn't get put up, once I remember cooking dinner when I was probably about 12. Only way we'd have had it. Dad always fell asleep after all his hard work and I had to be quiet. Often (when he was a hospital chaplain) he and mum would spend the afternoon visiting wards of large mental hospital and I'd be left home alone. Sometimes I got to go along and play my violin to the patients.
One year we had dinner at the hosp canteen because it was free. On plastic plates and you had to queue up for it. I knew no-one.
One year my main present was a duvet - no cover for it though so I couldn't use it.

While I now rarely go to church there's far more love, warmth and family fun in our house these days.

Tree always went up on my birthday every year (3rd dec), probably a bit too early for some, but as a child I thought it magical to have the tree and all the decorations up for my parties.

Dad trying to light the big coal fire in the front room. Cant remember any of the hussle of cooking when I was small, was probably being kept busy by much older siblings while the cooking went on in the kitchen, but, I do remember that magic of waking up in the morning and going thru to see what santa had brought, there was always this distinct smell in he room I could never figure it out,but, as an adult I presume it must have been the newness of all the parcels. Lovely, can smell it now just thinking about it . Loads of selection boxes too (I hated the lion bars), and not forgetting that all important stocking with apple, tangerine and nuts.

Oh plus the snow and watchin everyone trying to ride down the hill outside on their new bikes without falling on the ice lol

When I was really little my mum would put up the decorations whilst I was in bed as a suprise I'll always remember the magical feeling coming down to everything decorated, was really special.

Decorations never went up until the fisrt weekend after the 6th, I had a sister who died of cot death but the 6th was her birthday, it must have been really tough for my mum but she always made it really special.

I always had strawberry soya milk in my stocking too not sure why.

Oh Swedishmum that's really sad, they both forgot charity begins at home....

My DSis (the oldest of us children) hated the thought of an old man, Santa or not, in her bedroom, so on Christmas Eve we would put our pillowcases over the backs of the chairs in the living room, put out a mince pie and drink and off to bed. When we got up in the morning we had to wait for Mum & Dad to get up (~8?) to go downstairs and see all the presents that had arrived piled up under the tree and our pillowcases now full. We had tongue or ham sandwiches for breakfast, sitting in the living room so we could get on with presents! (Yet still get something inside us before we found the chocolate) Pillowcases first, then presents from under the tree, with Dad's tape of carols playing in the background. Once presents opne, a wuick clear up of wrapping paper, then get dressed and go to see our grandparents who lived next door, then Dad's sisters who also lived in the same street. One of these aunts had a big family and they would still be into present unwrapping when we got there, so we would watch them, and have drinks with them before going home for lunch. Mum and Dad always had asti spumante or similar with lunch and we all squeezed in the pudding with custard and cream and ice cream afterwards! (God bless our stomachs!) Top of the Pops after lunch (while trying to avoid the washing up!) then a walk on the local heathland in the afternoon. Grand parents would come from next door to us for tea, then we would play games and watch a little TV and eat tangerines and nuts and chocolates.

That's my memory of Christmas from as young as I can remember until my grandparents died when I was 18, always the same, I loved it. 20 years on I love Christmas still, though it is a bit different now, especially since meeting DH and now we have DD. But I still love the memories of those early Christmases

Oh and me and my DSis always had new nightdresses on Christmas day to wear as party dresses. They would be full length M&S nighties, with a design on the front. With all the family living in the same street we had a party every night, taking it in turns to host. Once Christmas and the parties were over the dress would become a nightie for the rest of the year.

The build up to Christmas would start at school. The school play, making Christmas 'stuff' to sell at the Christmas Fayre, the Christmas school dinner followed by the party, and of course a games day on the last day of school. By the last day of term we would be sick with excitement. A few days to play with our mates or watch Chhristmas films on tv before the big day.

Mum would buy stamps each week from the supermarket and spend them on 'the christmas shop.' Our trolley used to groan under the weight of goodies.

On Chrsitmas Eve we would make mince pies and sausage rolls with Mum or Grandad and help decorate the cake. In the afternon Dad would take us out for a long walk to help get rid of some beans.

Up to bed at out normal time, but not before leaving out a glass of sherry, a mince pie and a carrot! And be briefed by M&D not to get up before 7!

Wake up at 4 and can't believe that no one else is awake with the sheer excitement of it all. Creep into my sisters bedroom and wake her up. She would say it is too early but lets me climb into her bed where I would fall asleep again.

On the dot of 7 run into M&D's bedroom and jump on their bed. Open a few little presents and then downstairs for breakfast.

After breakfast, we would get washed and then dressed in our finest outfits. M&D have hidden the presents around the house like a treasure hunt, so we have to go and find them.

Lots of mad ripping open of presents and fiends and neighbours coming over for a drink and nibble.

A late lunch, after which no one could move because of the vast consumption of turkey. We've all still got our cracker hats on because it it obligatory to wear them all day.

Parents and grandad wouls snooze on the sofa while we played with our new toys.

Cold meats and left overs for tea - even though no one is hungry!

Dad would carry us up to bed with a new toy firmly tucked under our arms. Fall into bed exhausted and thinking what a wonderful day it has been and tomorrow will be just as good as it is Boxing Day.

I am so lucky that I have such fond memories of Christmas.

we always listened to the carols at kings on xmas eve on the radio with my dad
Then xmas eve was always the Sunday School nativity play at about 6pm so after we had ben shephers/angels etc we came hom to put out brandy and mince pie for father xmas.

Xmas morning was the only time we ever went into my parents bedroom in the morning - dad would be in bed while we showed him what fc had bought in our stocking while mum was putting the turkey on

We always had grandparents staying, we never went away at xmas

Xmas day was church, xmas tv, always xmas top of the pops before lunch, then the Queen while gran fell asleep and then a 4 mile walk (always remember it being freezing and being carried half the way by mum was I was 3)

Xmas day night my parents went round to a friend's for tea and my gran babysat

Good times

oh forgot - coffee time on xmas morning was when the rest of the presents were opened
Me and my sister handed them out one by one and always left a big one for each other to open at the end to keep the excitement going

My mum always had a list to write what we got for thank you letters

They were magical when I was a DC and I was so excited that I couldn't sleep.
The build up started at school with gold spray and glitter and costumes. The School Christmas dinner was a big highlight as we made it special with extras, and also the Christmas party with a present from the tree at the end.
I loved the knobbly feel of the Christmas stocking but we had to wait until 7am to open it!
We always went to church and had the big dinner afterwards. My mother also dished out sweets, something we didn't get much of generally. It also involved a family game of something, with everyone taking part.

every year without fail it would be icy cold if not snowing as in scotland.

real tree. checp decorations.

paper chains. lights that never worked.

loads of soup.
small turkey with loads of vegs/pigs in blankets and stuffing.

used to love watching and helping making the stuffing.

proper stocking each filled with fruit and choco.1 proper gift from parents. things from relatives like massive box of chocs to share. or gloves.

not really any drinking in my house.

dumpling instead of pudding

Oh SwedishMum, I so feel for you!

I haven't got great memories either, really. Hope my mum is not reading this, because I bet her image of our Christmases is completely different. Mind you, it might not be, because she hardly even visits us at Christmas these days - my parents spend it in hotels or with childless friends.

I had the dubious joy of spending Christmas with a depressed mother, who was generally very stressed and/or moody (we should have got together and cheered ourselves up, SwedishMum).

I was cooped up with brother and parents in the house, with the heating not on enough (it was still on the timer for a normal working day). We had an apologetic plastic tree with lots of silver lametta strewn all over it, which we would subsequently get in trouble about for unknowingly spreading about the house. Dad was often absent for lunch as he was doing emergency callouts (he was an electrical engineer).

We ate turkey with peas, carrots, sprouts, soggy roast potatoes, sausages and bacon rolls, packet Paxo stuffing, and cheap Xmas pudding from Asda with single cream. No passion there, but at least mum cooked it.

My presents were put in a pillowcase outside the door, but they were never quite what I expected. I always felt a little bit aggrived that my relatively modest demands for things like a Tiny Tears doll were generally ignored. I wasn't spoilt, I don't think, but I just never got that present opening thrill because it was almost always The Wrong Stuff and actually not always very thoughtful.

I did always get a selection box from my (absent) Grandma, and ate chocolate until I felt sick because we rarely got it in our house otherwise (my mother was a diet freak). We watched TV a lot, and I spent a lot of time in my bedroom.

Distant relatives usually visited on Boxing Day, so we had another roast, and it was clear to me that mum was obviously putting up with them. They never saw us apart from Christmas, so they hardly knew us really. The presents were generally for the wrong age group and type of child - they kept forgetting how old we were and what our interests were.

Now I am a big Christmas rebel, so my kids get cool (if not always extravagent) presents, a real tree (although they also have a seriously kitsch plastic one they decorate themselves, and which they clearly prefer), a dead fab Christmas dinner properly cooked with all the things they like, a Christmas pudding that is suitably on fire with brandy, a Christmas wreath on the front door, pantomimes and outings, and we all have a good laugh. Much better.

I am happily pissed on Champagne quite a lot of the time (that means 2 glasses for me!) and I can't remember ever getting stressed, not even the year we all got noro virus on Christmas Day with 4 visitors ... but that's another story ...

My parents are very disapproving of 'fun' so Christmasses were always rather dull and restrained affairs.

We were allowed to open one present on Christmas morning. We weren't allowed to open any more until after Christmas lunch (at about 5pm). Even then we were only allowed to open a few. We had to keep some back to open on subsequent days, which was torture.

Church in the morning, where every other child brought a toy to show the congregation, but we weren't allowed to do so.

We weren't allowed to make noise or listen to music in case it annoyed my elderly grandmother. Had no tv.

I was always rather glad when it was over and I could go back to school!

ohdearwhatamess, this is very sad too. What do you do now with your family?

aw swedishmum and boffinmum, you had rubbish christmas's... hope u make them special with your family now? thats all you can do really.

christmas for me when i was very little was fantastic, as christmas day was always spent down at my nans house (b4 she moved to portsmouth) and i got to see all my relatives and my nan was really tradional, so it was just magical.

when my nan moved she stopped having everyone over my aunt took over for a couple of years.

then when my uncle left my aunt christmas kinda dispeared for me, we started spending it at home. mum would spend it stressed over the dinner, dad would sit on the sofa watching telly. not as wonderful for sure, i do miss them

now i have kids and my own DH christmas is magical again, we make mince pies christmas eve, the kids open one pressie b4 bed christmas eve (which is usually a nightie slippers or dressing gown)
in the morning we get up, open stockings, and have breakfast of pancakes and syrup.
we then open all the other presents, and get dressed in new outfits.
we then jump in a cab to go and see my mum, sometimes we walk depends oon how cold it is.
we have late christmas lunch at mums house more presents then home for telly and bed

christmas was always rather grim in our house. there was a horrible atmosphere generated by my mother, who was probably exhausted from work by the time christmas came, but would be really snappy to my dad and i. who was such an unsociable person, but would falsley brighten when people arrived..when she had just been spitting venom. our dogs were locked in the garage out the way and it really upset me.

she always decorated the tree her way no one was allowed to help...no special rituals or treats. presents were always things we needed (pants socks...tampax?!) and usually some horrid fright outfit..gold lame top?...shellsuit? (my mother always tried to make me look really unattractive)

we weren't allowed to watch any television over the festive period...so now in my thirties i'm becoming acquanted with classic films.

of course i now live christmas through my children

Horrid when small. A combination of Boffin and Wider's Xmas's. As a teen hostilities between M + D weren't even suspended for the duration of the day.

We have a fabulous time and I have done since I met my husband.

Boffinmum, I'm a Christmas rebel too now. Glad our kids are having a happier time of it!
My dd2 (who lost her twin at 24hrs) was very very ill over her first Christmas with bronchiolitis. Video of my parents at our house helping dd1 (then 2) opening her presents with absolutely no joy, even folding the wrapping paper from her dolls' house was heartbreaking. I realised then I never wanted my dcs to have another lonely Christmas. 13 years later we have lots of fun in our house, even if I do use too much tin foil to make my life a bit easier!

It was just more... Christmassy.

Wider - mm, tampax! I've been looking for a couple of stocking fillers for dds 1 and 2....

xmas eve; got into our new xmas outfit and went to midnight mass ( to see the huge nativity scene)followed by supper for the whole huge extended family(about 60 people) in my nana's house. then home for a cup of tea and to open one present from under the tree. someone always opened a video so we would have to watch that until early hours of the morning. we got new jammies aswell. then to bed to try very hard to stay awake and see santa.

xmas day; up about 5/6ish and wake mum and dad, all head down to open presents in turns then mum would make fry. always had a chocolate terrys orange in our stockings (still get one from mum. sit all day eating chocolate and watching xmas films, i remember one year it snowed and we watched two foxes trot up our drive and away over the fields. then our uncles, aunts and cousins would arrive for xmas dinner, about six differnt tables all squashed together, party hats and crackers, loads of noise. loved it.mum always kept a surprise present to open at the table. adults would drink and play poker into early hours, kids would play loads of board games, monoply, twister, buckaroo.

boxing day; go to my aunts in the evening as it was my uncles birthday, she had a huge party, loads of food, and cousins we hadnt seen in ages. again went on to early hours.

only hope ds has such good memories

Oh dear, I'm sorry some of you had such a horrible time.

It makes me realise why people start their own traditions type thread.

Hope you all have the most wonderful time of the year now though [cheesy grin]

I think the Tampax stocking filler is really excellent.

They would look lovely on the tree as well, methinks

Do you lot realise because of this thread, I have spent the afternoon happily internet Xmas shopping, and I have spent a lot more than I intended out of revenge for the past? I may have singlehandedly stopped the credit crunch in its tracks ...

All us kids would perform a play, written by me in November. I would force rehearsals on them every weekend until xmas and get really pissed off with my brother who refused to learn his lines and would just read off the script.

Mum always got so stressed by the Christmas dinner she drank too much sherry and burnt/undercooked everything. There was usually a row, but everything was generally forgotten when dad put on a tatty santa hat and passed round the presents.

Adults were generally asleep by 5pm so the kids would create havoc upstairs

Happy days (ish)

I have lovely memories of christmas as a child.

Always had a nicely decorated tree and my parents always tried their best (and succeeded) to get us the one main present we asked for.

We usually got up at around 7.30ish to oooohhh has he been yet? Mum and Dad would make my brother and I breakfast, which we would then try and eat in between unwrapping our presents.

My Dads Auntie and her friend would pop down with their presents and to wish us a merry xmas before we went out (they also squeezed a christmas drink in)

We would then toddle off to our grandparents house in our finery for a huge family get together over christmas and boxing day (we always stayed over). My family is italian and lunch consisted of quite a lot of courses (still had the roast turkey). Sitting round the huge table eating and drinking till late, playing games with my cousins.

Mum and Grandma being a bit giddy and realising about 9.00pm ish that not a lot of washing up had got done.

The italian grappa coming out onto the table (tasted awful) but it was sent for christmas from an uncle in Italy (or my grandparents brought it back with them) and it just had to be tried!

Cold meats, pickles, warm mince pies etc being put on the table late on even though we were full up.

We would then do it all over again with the eating and drinking on Boxing Day.

My lovely Grandma died 20 years ago (she kept the family together), we did another couple of years at my Grandads, but it was never the same, so then my Mum took over and did it at her house. Family move on, kids get married have their own families and now it is my turn. I have Mum, Dad, Grandad (now 87), brother SIL and their children not quite the amount of family that used to sit around the table years ago, but I do enough food to feed the 5,000!

I am sorry for those who do not have happy memories.

I think, as an officially festively traumatised person who has come out on this thread, that it is lovely hearing everyone else's more positive tales of Christmas, and I feel part of much happier things by proxy now! I have found it very therapeutic so thank you everyone xx

we never had people coming round all day.

beanieb - trecking across fields to go to parties sounds really warm and villagey with people getting together.

Lovely - a stocking, christmas tv, carols, the christmas floats

Christmas was generally happy in our house, stayed at home, apart from one stressful year when my mum was pg and we went to her mum's - cue lots of drunken rellies spending too long in the pub and delaying lunch so that it was all dried up by the time we got to eat it.

Main things I remember: Putting the (real) tree up and all the decs on Christmas Eve. My mum trying to listen to Carols from Kings every year and every year failing due to three noisy over-excited children. Sleeping in with my brothers (normally had my own room) as their room had a fireplace and was worried that FC wouldn't be able to find me if not. Lunch was always nice but not turkey as no-one liked it. Stockings full of cheap plastic tat. Lunch fairly early at about 1pm as my family are gannets and then a brisk walk around the streets afterwards (my DH doesn't get this one).

Since DH & I started living together we have always had Christmas Day in our own home, have been some lovely ones over the past 10 yrs. Fairly boozy ones pre-children! This year DC2 is due on 21 Dec, so likely to be a little ad hoc...

Boffinmum adn others who experienced crap times, have you looked at the children's and adults fiction section for recommendations for Christmas stories?

Sentimental for some but lovely for others

Christmas morning wasn't much of a surprise for me as I had made it Decembers mission to find all my presents hidden around the house and have a good snoop before the 25th. Why did I bother?

But I remember the local Round table coming up the street playing music with Santa on hisnfloat and that made me feel so Christmassy.

Has anyone mentioned the Charlie Brown Christmas Show? My favourite.

so Christmassy. I fancy a mulled wine

its good to hear the good and bad stories of christmas past...and its nice to hear everyones family traditions now with their own children.

this weekend dh and i made giant stockings for our two ds out of hessian and did blanket stitching in bright red tapestry wool (its the first christmas ds1 has a clue whats going on)

this morning he opened the first window in a beautiful old fashioned advent calendar and this afternoon he will open the first bit in a great playmobil knights calendar

ds1 and i stuck some cloves in clementines and put up have a look at all the christmas stuff its beautiful we got the nativity, snowflakes and reindeer!

actually this is a better link

It was amazing.

From the ancient battered cardboard nativity scene, to decorating the huge real tree, to trying to get to sleep the night before (impossible) to the ultimate - going into the lounge and seeing a mountain of gifts from Santa (as I am one of 6 it did literally seem like a mountain).

Best Xmas present ever was a trampoline for the whole family (as it was summer, we bounced on it all day and used it for years and years and years).

Food was always the same: pickled pork (kind of like ham), chicken, mounds of crisy baked potatoes and lemon cheesecake with pavlova for dessert (the only 2 desserts mum ever makes).

Left over desserts and pickled pork for the next few days.

My brothers and sisters and I are so lucky to have such nice childhood memories.

Incidentally I aboslutely LOVE all the English Xmas traditions - in many ways Xmas is much more exciting here than it is in NZ but I still loved my NZ Xmases.

Christmas morning open presents at home, then spent the moring touring various maternal relatives. Then on to paternal gradnparents for lunch with aunts uncles and cousins, finally back to maternal grandparents for christmas tea of cold leftovers and trifle. Always wondered why my mum got so stressed, now see that she was trying to keep both sets of grandparents happy, sometimes through clenched teeth.

I remember sitting round a HUGE table with 12 of us for lunch. Funny I now have the same table in my kitchen and it doesn't feel nearly so big.

Other abiding memory is grandad peeling sprouts every chirstmas eve and sneeking in to the front room to take a peek at the chirsmas cake under a tea towel.

My Dads friend dressed up as santa every christmas eve and came down the street ringing a bell with a big bag of sweets and chocolate for all the children on the street.
Getting new pjs on christmas eve.
Our Christams stocking was always left at the foot of our bed (mum and dad hoping to keep us in bed a while longer) and we all had a chair we'd choose the night before in the sitting room for our santa presents.
Going to mass on christmas morning or xmas eve and taking one piece of straw from the manger to keep in our piggy bank or purse (meant to be for good luck with money).
The tv was never allowed to be on christmas day, we all played games together.
Opening presents under the tree after dinner was always great as it was special to look forward to at the end of the day.

I loved Christams as a child, we would argue (in a good humoured way) with my dad about when the decs could go up then generally do it when he was at work anyway.
The whole family would be over and all 12 of us would be round the kitchen table with a huge turkey and all the trimmings.

But.

When i got to my teens i hated it, my grandad and 'the men' would f off to the pub whilst 'us girls' would have to stay and cook it was very sexist but i didn't relaise this untill i was about 13+ and when i did realise i hated it and rebeled.

We were showered with pressies every xmas and its the one day of the year we didn't fight with each other (my sisters and me) but again when i was older i learnt that my mum would sell all her things to give us the christmas we had.

Our xmas now isn't like that, my grandad has passed on god rest his sole and none of our houses are big enough for a big family xmas so its just dp and the kids this year but we shall no doubt go visiting the rellies in the afternoon, i like it its cozy and fun.

we always had great christmas days (still do)

there is always around 18 of us but only a six seater table so will bring in my dads paste table and the patio set.

chairs are stuck anywhere and someone usually ends up sitting on the computer chair so is a good foot higher than everyone else around the dinner table

the meal is always excellent (thanks to my mum who is chief cook) but everyone chips in and brings a bit round. i.e my uncle will get the prawns while my gran makes the trifle.

i always get stuck with buying crackers though because they dont trust me with anything more important

eating starts in the morning at my aunties where we have bubbly and blt's before trailing round all the familys houses looking at gifts and getting slightly more pished before going back to my mums to start on dinner.

i really hope my girls grow up with as many good memories as i have

Decorations up the weekend before Christmas including paper chains and sort of fold out angels with crepe paper skirts - probably a bit tatty but we thought they were the most beautiful things we'd ever seen.

Pooling pocket money with DSis and buying Mum a tiny box of Black Magic and Dad a packet of liqorice allsorts.

Carols from Kings on Christmas Eve and being Soooooooooo excited leaving mince pies and sherry out for Father Christmas (he wasn't called Santa then).

Waking up way to early - we have a photo of DSis and I in M&D's bed and the bedside clock shows the time is 5.30am .

Always getting a book in my pillowcase, and usually a jigsaw or a game, and one year DSis and I got dolls that my Gran had knitted an entire layette for. And one unforgettable year I got a doll's house that my Dad made for me, with a bright red roof. God I loved that doll's house.

Lunch was always chicken or pork, never turkey, and sometimes my Dad wasn't there - he was a policeman, and they didn't get their day off if they had young families then. But sometimes he was there, wearing a paper hat along with his uniform, because he had to go back to work. And there was always a bottle of asti spumante, and an advocaat snowball (my family were not big drinkers and a bottle of advocaat used to last about 5 years!)

The Queen and james Bond on the telly, and a raid on a selection box, then chicken and stuffing sandwiches for tea, with trifle and mince pies (never the Christmas Cake, M&D are Northern Folk and the cake is never breached until New year's Eve.

Then Morecambe and Wise or the Two Ronnies, and bed.

I loved Christmas - it's not the same now we're all sophisticated like.

When I was a child we always consumed far more sweets, etc than I would let my dc's have today! We would start off by getting up early to see what Santa had brought and then return to bed with an annual and a selection box!

It was the one time of year when we would have lots of treats in the house so we used to go a bit mad. My grandfather would buy several crates of fizzy drinks (this was in the days when they came in glass bottles with the type of lids you needed a bottle opener to open...) and there were always several boxes of chocolates/biscuits/sweets and boxes of crisps.

We often couldn't eat our Christmas dinner because we had eaten so much rubbish