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Original poster

To hate the idea of Christmas Eve hampers?

307 replies

leobear · 15/10/2013 14:57

I know, I know.....Scrooge! But surely the magic of Christmas Eve is the simplicity of it, and the anticipation of what is to come. A hamper is really a big box of presents, and feels to me like overkill. But maybe I'm just a misery guts!

OP posts:
Bluestocking · 15/10/2013 22:04

I love the word "naff" and am on a crusade to rehabilitate it!

nickelbabe · 15/10/2013 22:06

we started doing new pjs for christmas eve when dd was born.
except, dd got to wear pjs that she hadvalready been give.n.
and
we go to midnight mass.

not sure how well that will work this year.
yearr 1- 2week old dd slept all the way through.
year 2. dd arrived asleep, woke up crying halfway through and then fed to sleep under my surplice.
it'll probably be a bit noisier this year.
tha kfully., dd normally wakes up for her middle-of-the-night surge at around half 11.....

DuckToWater · 15/10/2013 22:19

I had never heard of a Christmas Eve hamper before this thread.

To me the words "Christmas" and "hamper" conjure of a selection of slightly off biscuits, crap wine, chutneys made of improbable combinations of produce, some glace cherries, York fruits and chocolates in the shape of a snail, sorry, I mean a sea shell.

I hate Christmas food, apart from smoked salmon and chestnuts. By December 27th I am craving a raw vegetable detox and something that requires movement, outside.

BlackeyedSusan · 15/10/2013 22:23

boxing daay presents are those presents that you left at the back of the wardrobe and forgot to wrap send to santa and will be grown out of by next birthday or christmas.

marriedinwhiteisback · 15/10/2013 22:33

FGS. What's wrong with a ham joint, good wine, midnight mass and a good slurp of Father Christmas's single malt from the side of the hearth once the dc are asleep Grin.

Oh yes and to top the lot of you I had contractions one Christmas Eve and got the baby at 2.47am on Christmas morning. Hampers my backside - I got my best present in a bassinet. Grin

Threalamandaclarke · 15/10/2013 22:50

marriedinwhiteisback your post is oozing with references to your expensive tastes. Well done.

marriedinwhiteisback · 15/10/2013 22:53

Confused what the feck are you on about marmalade

soontobeburns · 15/10/2013 22:55

I must admit I long for a Christmas Eve hamper and plan to start one along with more traditions.

As I child and more so a teenager we never had traditions. I cant remember any Christmas Eve and Christmas was about opening presents and playing with them along with dinner, boredom and feeling upsetbecause I over.

Im still living at home, no DC but I want to make it special and full of traditions and memories. For me this means bubble bath, new pjs, hot chocolate and a Christmas movie on Christmas Eve.

If this makes me spoilt or working class [which I am] so be it. Christmas over the last few years has morphed away from presents to family and tradition.

I can't wait to have DC if it ever does happen so I cant start and pass down these little things that I never had.

TigOldBitties · 15/10/2013 22:58

Latara of course you can, and you should. I include myself in the hamper.

Thats why the elf always brings mums favourite chocolate, bath stuff and brand of pyjamas while everybody else gets standard stuff Grin Its only fair as I did go out and buy it all.

itsonlyme85 · 15/10/2013 23:00

I kind of do a christmas hamper Blush
Well i put new pj's for all of us
A christmas dvd
Some cookies i made with the kids earlier in the day
And hot chocolate
By Christmas Eve everything is prepared so we all sit on the sofa and watch the film. I do go to my mums for dinner though so i have it easier then some. My mum and dad always did it with me so now i do it with my kids. Dont ask why but i do find it quite chilled out and enjoy it.

FrightRider · 15/10/2013 23:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DoubleLifeIsALifeHalved · 16/10/2013 01:15

I get v busy on Christmas eve but then Christmas day and boxing day onwards feel really miserable and empty, so I wonder if a hamper would work on boxing day, same things in them, just a nice snuggly experience stuff... Or maybe is too boring in comparison?

I like the idea of stretching Christmas to the 12 days and doing a little something nice on each day & spreading presents for ds over the days - he still gets present saturation very quickly... 12 days is a long time though.

Hummmm... Ideas to make a lonely post Xmas period nice?

Ragwort · 16/10/2013 08:18

The word 'snuggle' is enough to put me off Christmas for life Grin.

Do families with teenagers carry on the hamper tradition and 'snuggling' - I can just see my DS's face if I offered him new pyjamas and a night in with a new DVD Grin.

Threalamandaclarke · 16/10/2013 08:23

I love Boxing day Double
Leftovers and pickles. Mmmm. The true meaning of Christmas Grin

Marriedinwhite I guess you mean me, rather than marmalade (looks similar on screen). I found your post amusing. Was it not meant to be? Sorry. It was just the Nigella-esque "good wine" and the references to single malt and the nod to the open fire that made me smile.

FrightRider · 16/10/2013 08:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Threalamandaclarke · 16/10/2013 08:25

nicklebabe you need to have a word with Fortnum and Mason about that dodgy hamper Grin

Editededition · 16/10/2013 08:39

My DC's are in their 30's ....if they are here they (and partners) still get new nightwear although it has tended to move away from pj's towards big comfy t-shirts - or sometimes dressing gowns.
We never do the Christmas movie, but always have Christmas music on at full blast through the afternoon, while prepping for the evening, and for next day - dancing around the kitchen is fairly standard at some points, and DSIL has proven a master at drums on the table with wooden spoons Smile.
We always go to a 4pm church service as a family ....and then it is a social evening, sometimes hosted by me, sometimes by others, but its always a get together with those we are closest to and it has been the same way for decades. Sometimes the parties are large, sometimes smaller, but always they are a laying down of work and 'got to do' and a move into 'this is Christmas'.

As late teens, the children would head off into town for drinks with other friends at around 10'ish. Not an issue, we were all still up at around 7 the next day. These days, they just help tidy up and then crawl into bed braced to be woken by their own DC's at 5'ish (revenge, as a granny, is soooooo sweet Grin

Why would age change any of this? sometimes its been a little flexible (the teens quit going to midnight mass with me when they reached drinking age, but reverted in their mid- twenties) but the rituals are just as precious to the next generation as they have been to me.

NCISaddict · 16/10/2013 08:43

My teenaged (and older) Dc's stay in on Christmas eve, the difference is that they drink beer and come to Midnight mass. I love Christmas even more now they're older. Haven't got a DVD player so we'll have to make do with the Christmas channel. We have a single friend who's moved into the area staying this year and she's a bit of an abfab type so I predict a riotous evening after all the sprouts have been peeled.

Now I'm off to buy the slippers I linked to up thread (have NC'd) for my DS. They should keep his toes safe from puppy teeth.Smile

niminypiminy · 16/10/2013 08:52

New pyjamas? Never heard of this before. Seems like madness to me. What is wrong with the pyjamas you already have?

Sparklymommy · 16/10/2013 08:53

Christmas is all about tradition. And being magical.

Christmas Eve my four always have two wrapped presents: new pajamas and a Christmas book. They have a bath, put on the new pajamas, have the storybook and snuggle up in clean bed sheets. Myself and my mum always go to midnight mass, and I am considering taking my oldest this year, although will probably just take them all to the christingle as she still believes in Santa and I think midnight mass could ruin that for her, as we put out presents before going.

MadeOfStarDust · 16/10/2013 08:56

Working on Christmas Eve - in the madness that is retail....

I expect I will come home about 8pm, shower and collapse on the sofa and be fed ham egg and chips by hubby/MIL whilst the kids (11+12) whinge about wanting to watch some totally unsuitable crap on the telly, til some ridiculous hour ....

Hampers for Christmas Eve..... what normal person has time for all that...

PrimalLass · 16/10/2013 09:03

We do new pjs but that's about it.

I don't wrap on Christmas Eve because my (usually lovely) MIL ruined it for me 3 years ago by saying about 100 times that I had bought too much and that we should put some of it back for later in the year. It wasn't much but all came in lots of cardboard so looked lots. I thought she would have enjoyed being part of the wrapping but she doesn't get that privilege now. I do it all with a bottle of wine and Love Actually when OH is out at his Christmas do (so he can't moan either Grin).

We also get a takeaway as there is no way I am cooking. A very festive chicken kebab.

meandbumpy · 16/10/2013 09:05

It's Yuletide and Christmas for me too so lots of celebrate at once!

I love a new set of PJs on Christmas eve and if I can afford to get myself a new set of sexy undies too, which is both a gift for myself and dp!
Although with DC1 expected in December the undies tradition is probably doomed

Also, Rudolph pie!? - equally horrified and delighted!! May have to adopt that one!

Birdsgottafly · 16/10/2013 09:06

"What is wrong with the pyjamas you already have?"

They aren't new and don't have, reindeer, penguins wearing bobble hats, or snowmen on.

Why not shower and put your Christmas PJ's on?

And what constitutes a normal person, I used to do 12 hour shifts, my DH could work Ito 18 hours a day( probably added to his early death) so then I became a LP working just above Min Wage working 12 hour shifts.

You shop, you see things ( for the three month 24/7, build we now have to Christmas and you buy what fits in with your theme, simple, really.

freddiefrog · 16/10/2013 09:09

We've always done new PJs on Christmas Eve.

We used to wrap them and leave them on the kids' beds while they were having a bath. We used to tell them that Father Christmas sent a scouting party of elves ahead of him to make sure they were all getting ready for bed.

Once they spotted those packages on their beds they knew the big man was on his way.

We also watch a Christmas film - by tradition it has to be Elf for the hundred-millionth time followed by a lively rendition of The Night Before Christmas once they're all in bed.

They no longer believe in Father Christmas, but we still do new PJs and the beer/mince pie on the mantle piece.

It's just a bit of fun. No, there's nothing wrong with the PJs they already have, but I'm pretty sure a frivolous new pair of PJs once a year isn't going to ruin my kids for life

We've also continued with a tradition that my Mum started when my brother and I were kids - we leave a welly boot out by the front door on New Year's Eve and some mysterious being that my mum never elaborated on fills it with sweets.