What do you do on Christmas Eve?

[GrumpyWombat]

I’m determined not to be still shopping by then! Not visiting family…. Want to do something fun and festive that doesn’t cost £££. Two teens and a 7yo.

We go to the local cathedral for the Christmas service. Such a community feel and always full. Then out for drinks afterwards, to a local wine bar, catching up with friends, beside the log burner.

When DC’s were younger, a long country walk, ending with ‘coffee and cake’ (hot chocolate for them) in a local indie cafe.

Go to work until lunchtime then
home,pizza ,nibbles and some cocktails/baileys 🎅🎄

We have a party, sing carols in the village square and come back and party some more. Friends drop in and out. .
The morning is spent cooking and cleaning.

As little as possible really - not sure if the local church is doing anything.

Also relief as the preparations are over so it's time to relax and stay warm for a couple of days.

Watch Prep & Landing.

Just hang out, drink cocoa and relax.

None of us are social butterflies. Although previous years we’ve had friends round with their children.

Cinema to watch mufasa with the kids this year. The home to eat cake and track Santa on the app, probably watch another movie

We give the kids their Christmas Eve boxes, go for a walk, order a Chinese for dinner, get our festive jammies on, play a board game then settle down and watch a Christmas movies before laying out our stockings/carrots/cookie ready for Father Christmas then all get an early night.. then when the kids are fast asleep Father Christmas comes, enjoys a nice booze drink while filling the stockings.. chews mankily on a carrot, sprinkle a ton of glitter everywhere and go to bed 😂

Christingle at the local church. So festive and Christmassy.

Going to the theatre with DS. It was a little tradition my parents started with me and this year is finally the Christmas my DS is old enough to sit through a show so I can't wait to do it with him.

Depends. Most years we have a pre Christmas dinner at in-laws but this year a lot of us are working so we had our dinner today.

I'll be working until 3pm on Xmas Eve so DP is in charge of tiring out the kids, not sure what he has planned?. We'll have take away pizza for dinner and we'll watch National Lampoons. We'll also be checking the Santa app and we'll make sure we leave cookies out for him and a carrot for the reindeers (we also chew off the end of a carrot @AEP123 😂 )

Sometimes when they were smaller and couldn't sleep I used to take them for a "Santa spotting walk" before bed. May do that this year if they aren't showing signs of being ready for bed. We have a few really festive houses close by so we can do a little festive circuit in our PJ's and coats.

Skating and lunch in town. We do have to get a couple of things but no big deal. Then home to do some cooking and float about drinking wine and listening to Christmas music.

Christmas movies, a drive around when it gets dark to look at the lights. Pick up a chippy on the way home and eat watching another film.

Working. 👍

Every Christmas Eve DH takes the older DC to meet his friend for breakfast then in the evening we all go to a local pub with my family from about 6pm. This year there will be 17 of us (on Christmas Eve last year two of us announced pregnancies so there are 2 newbies at the pub this year!)

Start counting down the time till Christmas / Boxing Day is over and I can go home.

Some of these sound lovely!

Both DH and I are working, then 3 hours on the motorway to very elderly relatives.

Every Christmas with them is a bonus now.

NC because outing my location!

We usually go to a walk through Christingle in town at the big church but they can't do it this year as BBC are broadcasting the Christmas Day service from there!

So I think we will spend the morning pottering, making pannacotta and trifle for Christmas Day, maybe play some Mario Kart or something and then in the afternoon hopefully it will be dry so we can have a little walk or trip to the park.

We do something I saw online which I think is an Icelandic tradition (or so the internet told me!) that we exchange gifts of books on Christmas Even and spend the evening quietly reading and eating chocolate. Not sure if it really is Icelandic or what but I like it!

Walk into town for our veg, see what delights the cheese monger has on his stall, coffee somewhere. Then home to prep Christmas dinner with the girls, with Norad on one of their laptops, Christmas music, and a few drinks.

Then mince pie, carrott & Bailey's left out for Santa, & chill.

Not sure when presents will come down this year - I have visions of the kittens helping to unwrap them 😊

At the moment looks like an early shop for fresh groceries, probably around 7am. Quick hoover and bathroom clean. Then coffee and Xmas cake with DH, crash out time on Internet or reading. Early afternoon guess we'll go for a walk, then play a game. DH adamant meal will be easy and he's thinking ready meals. I'm thinking a bottle of wine will be easy😂.

Make Tiramisu for Christmas day dessert. Cook the ham. Go to the pub.

We had all sorts of plans for this year but all iv done all day is shop, cook/prep and clean like a mad woman 🤣. Christmas day is manic so it's an early night in preparation. Once kids are in bed it will be trashy tv in bed with a box of chocolates and a baileys.

Today we've been into town , had a walk in the park ( and let dc run off steam) .Then we went to one of those festive tipis that are popping up everywhere for some mulled wine ( and juice )

When I was a child , I always went to a carol service, but I've never taken my dc to one.