Aibu to stop this multiple Christmas day madness?

I can understand them wanting to celebrate Christmas with the kids, but imo the roast dinner for Christmas day is the part that little children enjoy the least! I do Christmas pasta for my DC1, because they prefer that.

The stocking thing, yes - seeing little children opening presents is very cute. But I'd cut my arm off before starting a tradition that my kids got three Santa visits!

We have started a tradition that PIL comes to visit when we put the tree up and decorate the house, and my parents accompany us for our trip to see Santa (usually at a farm park or other attraction), and the kids always have much more fun at these times and they're more relaxed. I always find Christmas day itself a bit of a let-down, there's no way I'd want to do it 3 times over when there's so much other fun Christmas stuff to do.

If inlaws are hosting Christmas eve I would leave them to it - let them cook the roast.

If it's just you dh and kids (and anyone else involved in 1 of the other 2 days) Christmas day then I would ditch the roast. Do Pizza or something and make the most of the time with the kids with stocking etc. Make ginger bread houses or whatever Christmas stuff you'd like / the kids would enjoy.

Have your roast on Boxing day...

When I was a kid we’d do two, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, alternating between which set of grandparents ‘got’ Christmas Day. Full Christmas dinner etc and exchanging presents with that side of the family on each day, and Santa would always leave an extra stocking gift for each of the grandchildren at the Boxing Day house, I have only great memories of those Christmases.

Fairly normal here as well. Although not Christmas eve, but it can run a whole week between all our families. Gifts are exchanged when we see them, so santa done at home and family gifts at gatherings. I find this helpful otherwise kids are just overwhelmed with too much at the one time. I could have Christmas and full on dinner for weeks. Although I'm never hosting so might feel different if I was.

If you’re the one with littles, then yanbu to put a stop to a full on three days.

and if I were you, I’m not sure I’d be hosting a sit down dinner on Christmas Day.

I know lots of families now, that might do their one big meal on Christmas Eve and have left overs and party foods the other days.

Tradition is what you make it OP.

3 Christmas days is mad. Iv never heard of anyone doing that. All the people I know who work Xmas day just finish work and heat up their Xmas dinner that was put to the side.

There’s no way I would want Xmas dinner x 3 or 3 Christmas days.

Back in the day we used to have Christmas Day dinner at one house, Boxing Day full Christmas dinner at another then the same at New Year. Getting a Turkey from work seemed to be a thing and they all needed eating.

When I was little, we had Christmas Day with one side of the family and Boxing Day with another. Santa left presents under their tree for Boxing Day (in addition to Christmas). It was bloody brilliant!! We never questioned it. I always felt sorry for the kids who only got one Christmas 😂😂😂

Absute madness. I long ago stopped trying to please everyone. Sometimes I dont celebrate at all because I dont feel like it.
Last year DS and DIL asked on xmas eve if ghey could spend xmas here. Id done no shopping or decorating in anticipation of a nice 3 days off work on my own.
I said sorry no I need 2-3 mo ths notice brcause I work full time.
I wont people please any more you dnd up pleasing nobody.

No. Make christmas eve and boxing day events but special in their own right. 3 Christmases is madness

We often end up having two or three “main event” meals over Xmas (though usually a bit more spaced out). Perhaps 2 of them might be full on Xmas meal, but we generally coordinate to mix it up a bit with different meals. But they’re all “full” days with presents for everyone there, snacks, drinks, general celebratory air. I do love Xmas dinner so would happily have it twice but possibly not two days in a row!

We did Asian flavours roast pork for the Xmas Eve meal with family (a bit like the banh mi roll ) https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/246029/pan-roasted-5-spice-pork-loin/. - still a roast but diff flavours and lots of crunchy veg.

Fairly normal in my life I think.
When I was a child my brother would often go to his dads so we would do a second Christmas with him, before or after.
This year, it's DSC a few days before Christmas, me and DH on Christmas Day (& he wants the full works) and Boxing Day with my DD & her family.

Santa only ever brings the stockings here though, so the children always knew other presents were from us or family.

I love roast dinners, but I couldn’t eat them for 3 days in a row.
Having 3 Christmas days in a row would spoil Christmas a bit for me - we do different things on the 3 days.
Can’t the individual family’s do their own Christmas days/roasts on their chosen day and you all meet up together for buffets etc on different days rather than the set Christmas ones? Or is it that they all want to experience Christmas day with your children? It sounds very full on.

I used to do something like this until it got to be too much (we hosted Christmas Day and the day after Boxing Day … but we had roast beef on the day after Boxing Day).

The thing is, although there are twelve days of Christmas, each of those used to be far more low key than the one Christmas Day now.

Oh I love multiple Christmas'! I like the presents being done over a few days, the excitement and there's less of a sudden anti climax after Christmas Day. I also love a Christmas dinner so that helps lol.

This was a regular occurrence for us when the children were younger. Less so these days and I miss it.

We see family and friends over the 3 days but we don’t eat a full Christmas dinner each day and stockings and Santa etc is just at our house.

I suppose no one is missing out on getting a Christmas dinner though, which is the difference I assume here since people are working.

I probably wouldn’t bother cooking a big dinner on Christmas Day if I’d had one the day before. Especially if you have little ones and it’s just you. I’d just get nice easy food I could shove in the oven. Then I could either do a roast dinner on Boxing Day if I was hosting or do something different, party buffet? Curry? Will someone be disappointed to not get a proper Christmas dinner because I wouldn’t mind personally.

Yanbu, I can’t stand it either. We’ve need asked to the IL’s Boxing Day for Christmas Mk II - the same food, routines, zzz, as it’s our year to see my family this year. We are popping in quickly - I don’t want another Christmas dinner and neither do the DC, they want to be home and play with their new presents.

Change Boxing Day to a buffet - still super festive and you can do things like mulled wine but you’re not poking down your third roast turkey in as many days 🤣

Pretty normal in my family. Dinner and -resents on Christmas Eve - continental style. Then Christmas lunch with immediate family and, finally, a big party on Boxing Day with extended family which includes small children so there is another lot of presents. I love it and we don’t buy mountain of presents in any case. So everyone gets their main gift on Christmas Day in their respective family units and the rest are stockings and sweets, mostly.

If its just your immediate family Christmas day, why not change that menu?

Sounds fairly normal to me, but we spread them out over about a week. So our own Christmas, then a Christmas dinner/presents etc with my side of the family, and the same with my husbands. It would be too much for 3 consecutive days though.

I take it you’re not the one working Christmas Day OP? 🙄