What's one of your all time favourite Christmas moments? ....

[yummymummy3010]

It can be ANYTHING!

Mine is being snuggled up on the sofa, with the fire and all the tree lights on and watching a nice film.

I also love everything about Christmas Eve, all the excitement! (To me Christmas Eve is more exciting than Christmas Day)

The School Nativity plays!

And most of all, seeing my Children's faces light up when they come home to and see the house looking like Santa's Grotto. And last but not least, seeing their faces on Christmas morning!! :)

[GrownUpNow]

Christmas Eve. All the family together, the excitement, new pyjamas and singing up to bed. Frantic wrapping with a glass of cider and Christmas tunes and quietly bringing presents to put under the tree. Trying to sleep but being far too excited for the kids.

Love it!

Close second is sitting together as a family to eat the Christmas Day feast, then playing silly games and laughing ourselves silly as we all get merry on wine and the kids flake out from too much food and chocolate, early mornings and over stimulation from trying to play with every new toy they got.

[FeelMyWraith]

All of it. Christmas Eve in particular. We go for a frosty walk, pick up mince pies from the bakery, scan the skies looking for a sleigh, listen for bells, tell stories etc then home for hot choc, new pjs, bubble bath, books etc. I love putting dd to bed and then coming downstairs to set things up for the morning.

We have a big Christmas dinner hosted by my Mum each year with a house full of excited children and mildly pissed adults and last year my Mum was a few weeks post cancer diagnosis. She'd still done everything as normal and we were all a bit subdued over dinner. DD had a Christmas wish to make. She was 3.5yrs old and piped up 'I wish for Grandma to get better'. It was the most touching bit of any Christmas ever. Because it was all any of us wanted. She had major surgery on January 11th, the same day I found out I was pregnant with now 5wo ds and this year I'm looking forward to Christmas more than ever with a Mum in full remission, a new grandchild for her to coo over and no need for wishes.

[Magneto]

My favourite Christmas memory is when we began to learn christmas carols in school assembly, like the coca cola advert it used to mean Christmas was really on it's way!

Christmas shopping in the dark with all the lights and carollers and the wonderful atmosphere!

And I have a tradition I didn't realise I had until just now...dh and I got together at around Christmas time (we were 16 and there was a whole big "does he fancy me or not" saga that went on from the 10th of December (yes Im that sad I remember) until boxing day when we became "official") but during this time he tried to woo me by showing me the Mr Bean Christmas episode which he loves but I had never seen! I thought it was daft at the time bun we have watched it every Christmas eve since and it brings back such lovely memories

[Tinkerisdead]

I love christmas and ive got so many great memories of christmas from my youth. But since being a parent, last year on christmas eve dh introduced dd to the snowman film. She was only 2 but they danced in circles like james and the snowman when they go to santas party.

It was the moment i realised dh had started to enjoy christmas as he's always been a real bahhumbug scrooge.

[KatharineClifton]

A few years ago when my children were small, my sister turned up at the door one Christmas morning after a night of partying. She was like an explosion of happiness, wearing a party dress covered by a nightie she had been given as a present with a bottle in her hand.

What made it so special was that my sister had been ill for over a year, and desperately unhappy, and had only over the previous couple of months started recovering. I'm welling up thinking of it now. She did go have a lie down not after :)

[wahwahwah]

My sister and I used to put up this bloody huge fake tree that mum had. It was about 10 feet high and we used to tie all sorts of things to it to see how long it would be before mum noticed toys, dolls, ornaments... were missing and dangling off the top of the tree. Never failed to amuse us!

[minsmum]

when we were kids my brothers and sister were in bed trying to get to sleep but too excited as we could hear bells ringing and were sure it was Santa. My Uncle & aunt were visiting. They had bought us a budgie & its wasn't till I was in my twenties that I realised that the bell was in the budgie cage

[PersonalClown]

After I've wrapped all the presents, just sitting in the dark with my drink of choice and enjoying the twinkle of the tree lights.

Just knowing that the hard part is over and the delight of Ds' face is to come.

[KinkyDorito]

Dark and tree lights for me too. It always has been. I remember being about 6 or 7 and my Mum had bought me 'Sprockett's Christmas' (Fraggles!) from the school book club. I woke early one advent morning, sneaked downstairs and sat and read it by tree-light. I used to love twirling the baubles as well as they were hung on long pieces of cotton.

Christmas has always been wonderful and I am praying that it runs smoothly this year as DD will be 1 year into chemotherapy with another 18 months to go. We've had a really rough time this year. We are going to have our first ever Christmas at home, so I want to make it super special.

[Kingsroadie]

Also sitting in the dark with Christmas tree lights on. Decorating the Christmas tree with carols on, Christmas eve children's service (well, we used to go to midnight mass but intend to go this year as our daughter is nearly two) - can't get enough of the carols - any carol concerts! Christmas eve and playing the same music every Christmas at my parents' house. Generally anything and everything about Christmas and am extra excited this year as I think at 2.1 she will be a lot more aware.

KinkyDorito - very sorry to hear that about your daughter. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and sure you will make it very special for her.

[Saltire]

Sitting down on Christmas Eve, with a glass of something alcoholic and knowing that everything is ready for the next day.
Also a few years ago when DS2 was about 5/6 he had asked for a Buzz Lightyear and a Bullseye from Toy Story. I got the bullseye from Ebay (from the USA) and as long as I live I'll never forget the look on his face when opened it, he was actually crying! He's 11 now and still has bullseye in bed with him!

[Bucharest]

(tell this tale every year)

I remember being about 6, and walking home from my Gran's with my Mum, it was Christmas Eve, one of those frosty clear nights, and I remember looking up at the stars and virtually exploding with how fantastic life was. That it was Christmas Eve and I was 6 and who knew what tomorrow would bring.

The following day I got a pram, with twin dolls (lord knows why I insisted on twins, a boy and a girl) and mini furniture- a wardrobe, chest of drawers and cot for these dolls, that my Grandad had been making in his shed for months. Aunty Marjorie up the street had knitted the clothes for the dolls, and it was just the best Christmas ever. Probably didn't cost very much, most of it was homemade by people who cared, and it was just the best!

[ThePumpkinKing]

Ooohh, KinkyDorito I've just bought a second hand copy of Sproketts Christmas to add to our Advent book collection. I used to love the Fraggles!

I remember twirling baubles hung on cotton too .

I like going to Midnight Mass, or the 8pm Childrens Christmas Eve service. And lighting our Christmas candle at 6pm on Christmas Eve.

And I sometimes sit in the dark and take my glasses off, so that when I squint at the tree the lights go all soft-focus and blurry .

[LaurieFairyCake]

"It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve - my SIL/MIL/DH and Dd.

With a full table of cheese and chocolate that people can help themselves to.

Everyone cries at the end.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Bucharest - that's the most beautiful tale of a perfect moment

[catwithflowers]

Lovely Bucharest. Brought tears to my eyes

[FrightNight]

The fizzy feeling you get in your tummy on Christmas Eve, when all the best bits are still to come. On Christmas Eve I shall be forever 7 years old.

[LordOfTheFlies]

That feeling you get when everythings done and the shops are shut so if you have forgotten anything, you have to do without it.

Watching the soaps (don't know why, their Christmases are always traumatic)

My DCs will be 12 & 9.6 at Christmas. We do all the traditional Christmassy things and though there is a sense of "We're not babies anymore", they still get into the whole Christmas thing.I love hearing them trying to quietly trying to open their stocking gifts in the early hours.DS sleeps in DD room on Christmas Eve (he always grumbles but secretly he likes it, they chat into the night)
Though now they are too old for Christmas Eve dressing up.And too old really to see Father Christmas.

I'm cherishing this before they become terrible teens.

[MackerelOfFact]

Waking up on Christmas morning and moving my feet to discover a heavy, scrunchy bundle laying on top of them. Presents!

Pulling crackers with my Grandad and him doing silly things with the gifts inside... attaching them to him glasses, putting them on his head, putting them in the food.

Walking home as the evenings draw in an peering into everyone's warm, cosy houses and seeing the Christmas trees, cards and decorations inside.

Boxing Day morning when you wake up expecting an anticlimax but quickly realise that Boxing Day is actually just as good as Christmas, the food and drink and games and festivities are still there, except you actually get a chance to really investigate your presents.

[WinterIsComing]

I remember being about four and sitting on my toy box looking up at the pole Star. My baby cousin had just been born and, "when a child is born" was on the radio all the time. I don't know why but everything seemed so magical and I was so thankful for it all that I started crying.

Still can't listen to that song without weeping to this day.

[mrsm123]

as a little girl waking up 3 or 4 times during the night of christmas eve to my stocking still empty at the end of my bed and then the moment when i wake up and its full and bumpy and i can hear it crackling when i move my feet. ah!
then you know hes been! and your living room is full of toys. the best most exciting memory as a child.

thank you for making me re-live that moment, good thread.

[mrsm123]

ps i have just read everyone elses posts and i am in tears. lovely and some sad.

time to put computer away for another day lol x

[wfrances]

my all time favourite christmas moment was having my son late one christmas eve,( would like to add practically pain free and very quick)
at the time he was born we were the only ones there,so we were put by the massive christmas tree , there were choirs visiting the wards and christmas carols being sung.
during the night we had a visitor,both me and my son had christmas gifts.
i dont think it could have been more perfect.

[Changing2011]

When my brother and I were little, I was about six, him three, our parents bought us a slide for the garden. It was deep snow and I remember creeping down at about 5am to see my mum and dad playing in the snow on the slide! They got divorced a couple of years later so I like that memory of them happy and excited together before the kids got up.