What is your 'normal' Christmas?

[Dinoteeth]

Just being curious?
How many people will you be eating with? Is it always the same host?

Do you hand kids (neices/nephews/grandkids) gifts or do they magically appear overnight?

Dinner will be with 8 people or 10 people two haven't decided yet.

My Santa brings a couple of things, but he is also a bit of a magical courier who delivers stuff over night.

Usually we have a get together at my mum's house just before or between boxing day and New year's.
Just have the one nephew at moment so get his pressie to him early.

Otherwise it's just the 6 of us at home for the main event. Oldest being 13 and youngest are 5 year old twins - family members don't seem keen to come round 🤣

We love it though. We can slop about in pyjamas and eat chocolate for breakfast and enjoy the carnage.

Other half cooks dinner so I just sit on the floor with the kids enjoying trying to put toys together/bagging up recycling/sipping bucks fizz ☺️

It's usually my house as I have the most space (not much.. standard 3 bed semi!)
I have four children but one is overseas and two are medics so sometimes they are both here Xmas day, sometimes one, sometimes neither ..they will appear for a couple of days when they can!
I usually have: Mum, brother (and now wife and baby and dog) DS2, This year DD1 (doctor and sadly just in the process of separating so really want her with us) DD2 when she's off shift plus her dh and our toddler grandchild. DD1 will stay overnight with DD2 as local, the rest will pitch up and we shuffle around rooms and someone ends up on the sofa!

I cook, quite happy to do so as long as no one gets in my way .. I just see it as a bigger roast and don't stress. 4 of us are veggies so cook a variety of meat and non meat options.

We have a rota for pressies (as it was getting silly) and each buy for two people, max £50 each, plus our partners. However the toddler will no doubt get an enormous amount of tat (DD2 has requested small things if anything) ditto the baby.
It's crowded, noisy and lovely. We all get on well so not stressful even with an extra dog here.

I tend to find chaos stressful but once a year, I enjoy it (and then love the clean up after they have all gone!)

I live in the US and my closest relative, my sister, lives 1500 miles away. Her children are all scattered around the country. Both our parents are deceased and my husband's family are all in England. I spend my Christmas with my husband and three children who are now adults. I also have three grandchildren but they've moved away.

I do go to Catholic Mass and I specifically enjoy the Spanish-language one at 7am because it reminds me of my childhood because my family is Hispanic.

I live in southeastern Texas and the weather is quite warm (70F/ 21C) at Christmastime so we have a cookout for lunch. I was thinking that this year we all travel to the Gulf coast and enjoy
our lunch on the beach. I was thinking of steak skewers, a rice salad and other fixings.

I only have one tradition: I give all my children and grandchildren a stocking each. The stocking has one small wrapped gift, like nail polish/lip gloss/small card game/silly patterned socks/small book/pens, etc... I'll also add some boiled sweets, nuts in their shell (walnuts/pecans/Brazil nuts) and an orange. My mother was a first generation American (and poor) so Christmas was a very foreign concept to her parents. The stocking with one small toy, sweets, nuts and an orange was a luxury. She continued this tradition with me and my sister to remind us how far we've come. It's why I do it with my children and my grandchildren.

Because my children are older, their gifts are more practical. They're dual citizens and their two passports each need to be renewed. I'm giving them the money to do so as a gift. The US one is around $150 and the UK one has to be done from the US is $150 so $300 a kid. It's not glamorous but it's costing me a lot of money. My grandchildren will be visiting after Christmas and they'll be getting scooters 🛴and helmets from me.

That's pretty much it.