To ask what Christmas traditions you HAVEN’T carried on from childhood?

[LlamaParma]

I don’t cook from scratch. I buy everything M&S ready made in foil tins and whack it in the oven on the day.

Simply because I have HORRIBLE memories of Christmas as a child and my mum absolutely stressing to high heaven in the kitchen from about 7am until 3pm, banging pots and at some point having a tantrum because “NOBODY IS HELPING”. Me and my siblings and stepdad would be and when offered to help would get told “No it’s FINE I’m FINE”. All because we’d usually have guests and she was adamant everyone would have a lovely ‘everything homemade’ meal every year. And TBF it tasted amazing and whilst we take the piss out of her now about it (when we all buggered off to Uni she had a Christmas Day Amnesty and declared it’s pizza and chips if we spend it at hers - good for her!) at the time I always wish she’d have chilled out and spent time with us, watched films, help us set up toys etc. Nobody needed homemade horseradish sauce and chicken liver pâté. The atmosphere would be awful, it was a running joke that the kitchen was a no-go area on Christmas Day, but as a result I don’t stress at all about food with my own family. If it’s crap then tough luck, there’s always Pudding to fall back on

What Christmas traditions or things have you not passed on to your kids from your childhood?

Oh and a ban on all TV. During my childhood the TV was only allowed on on Christmas Day for the Queens Speech.

In DHs house it was on all day, even during present opening (which drove me potty).

We're both happy with a middling compromise of watching things without it running mindlessly in the background.

Carried on most things as I loved my childhood christmasses. Real tree, home made meal, stocking first thing then tree presents spread out over the day, opened one at a time so you can see what everyone has.

Few tweaks now we have dc ourselves - we can stay in pj's all day (though I like to dress nicely for dinner), eat whenever it's ready, no queen's speech or carols from cathedral on the radio. Would like more family around to have it with, but at least means the day itself is relaxed.

We had quite a chilled laid back Christmas thankfully however, we were never allowed to open the presents from other family members including ones from my grandparents until Christmas day, those presents went under the tree and yet my parents insist my children open their presents in front of them, they either insist on a time and day that suits them or they rock up unannounced on Christmas day...not that I mind that much but I always find it strange they wouldn't allow me to open presents from my grandparents until Christmas day and without my grandparents being there.

The hours driving in the middle of the night from wherever we were living to the area where all the relatives are. Being made to share a single blow up mattress with my sister. Enduring hours at various relatives houses, people we’d only see at Christmas, eyes stinging from the thick cigarette smoke and watching everyone get pissed.
Being made to dress up in whatever hideous outfit mum had bought us to wear on Christmas Day. Until I was 10, she made my sis (who’s 2.5 yrs younger), wear identical outfits. Christmas for my parents was about showing off, not about us kids.

So we have always, since first DD arrived, refused to travel for Xmas day/Boxing Day, always had a chilled pyjama day with no schedule other than to relax and have fun. And that will never change!

Being a martyr about it all.

Not getting up at 6am to start prepping the food. Hiding in the kitchen with my dad all day (yes, with the obligatory swearing and slamming of doors because stress), leaving me to make small talk with old relatives.

No to the 5 course Xmas lunch.

No to the 'no tv allowed' rule so we all play board games that everyone hates and mum is exhausted from aforementioned 6am cooking so everyone is in a bad mood.

No to hosting people out of obligation.

No to traipsing to wider family on Boxing Day with another 6am start.

I hate Xmas with a passion and it's because of all of the 'sense of duty' stuff that comes with it.

Now it's basically a normal day with some pressies, I cook my favourite meal, and it's a day to relax.

My side: the post-lunch festive row about some utter trivia because my stepdad is such a miserable fucker he can’t bear to see anyone happy for too long without dragging them down.

DH mum: any kind of obligation to do anything festive because the day is ruined if we don’t all take part perfectly with an appropriate photographic record timed to interrupt whatever fun you might be having.

Our Christmas is actually pretty similar to mine growing up but we are not slavish to having Christmas lunch at 1pm exactly. We do stockings in our bed with the children before going downstairs for main presents. I suspect it is most often that traditions pass via the female side as they do more of the work….

My parents always watched the queen which we’ve ditched and carols from kings which I like to watch.

My husband was quite happy to ditch some of his present opening traditions. The process was very rigid and structured with no playing allowed until everything opened. I’ve often found that mine will get to something and just want to play which is fine by me.

I've ditched everything, I don't do it at all.

@HerBigChance

I've moved my main meal to Christmas Eve, as I like that day better.

That's what they do in Poland, apparently. Christmas Eve is the big days for them.

taking the kids to mass at midnight whilst i like going to church i like sleep lol

I certainly cut a lot more corners with christmas dinner lol

I do miss the annual christmas party were we invited all our family friends .But my mothers not around any more and i have no friends

Christmases in our house very similar to when I was growing up.

Family and Santa presents downstairs in a sack and/or under tree. Opened in PJs once the Turkey is in and coffee made.

Grandparents come immediately before lunch and present exchange with grandparents after lunch .

Never watched Queens Speech - either growing up or now. Growing up the big thing for me was Christmas TOTP. Then film on TV like Wizard of Oz. Obviously we have so much more choice now.

Board games or quiz in the evening .

Different to others, the main thing we do different is that we do go to Church! Not Christmas Day but we always go for the carol service at 6.00 on Christmas Eve. It's a very old church and I like thinking of all the previous generations who have also sat there on Christmas Eve. DS stopped coming with us in his teens.

Reading this thread has made me a bit sad to think how many people had a bad experience on Xmas day.

I loved Xmas as a child. Our day is pretty similar but kind of a mix between mine and DH's.

When I was a child we always had turkey, although DH and I are not that keen on it so will usually have a different meat and DD1 is a vegetarian so she will have something different.

My grandma had an open fire. We used to write letters to Father Christmas and then hold them in the flames so they went up the chimney. Would have been about 8 at the time. How we didn't have to call the firebrigade I will never know

Oh god, pretty much everything. We didn’t really have traditions tbh. My parents separated when I was a baby and Christmas Day was always a weird one for me as a result. I’d open presents with my Mum, she’d invite my horrible stepdad’s equally horrible parents around for dinner. She always cooked beef because it was everyone’s favourite meat but I hated it, it just tasted like a boot. She also always made prawn cocktail as the starter which was disgusting. My Dad would collect me after dinner so I’d bag up a few of my favourite gifts to take with me. I’d open his gifts at my Gran’s. Gran would cook me a second Christmas dinner which was much better because she’d make me salmon which I enjoyed. We’d watch chicken run every year without fail and then that was it tbh. It always felt a bit flat, never all that great.

I make a massive deal of Christmas for my DC now. Maybe I go OTT at times but I want them to have the fondest memories, not shit ones like me. My step-dad beat me one Christmas because I was upset that they forgot batteries for the remote control car I’d been looking forward to getting so…

I don't serve tinned peach halves on a plate with a spoonful of cranberry sauce in the middle of each with our Christmas dinner.

My DSis and DBro both still do though

I think it was a 70s Fanny Craddock thing.

My Mum used to do everything and understandably get stressed every Christmas morning. In my house DH does most of the meal cooking, and the rest of us prep vegetables etc. I do any baking with the dds.
Everything else is much the same as in my childhood, although no visiting oldies as they have all gone. The dc have stockings that they can open as soon as they wake up, all other presents are under the tree and opened after lunch,, sometimes not until the evening.
When i was small we had anything from our parents in a pillowcase at the end of the bed, all other presents were under the tree. I put smaller things in their stockings, and any bigger presents from us are under the tree.
I really miss midnight mass with my Dad. I haven’t been since having dc, as I don’t like the walk alone in the dark, (DH would need to be at home with the DC).This year my dc wanted to come with me but due to Omicron I think we won’t go.

Church, and I feel sad about that, but I tried going again and it just wasn't the same.

I haven't kept all the gifts coming from FC like some kind of bizarre delivery service. A stocking and one small gift.

DH dropped wrapping the stocking gifts. We switched to fabric wrapping for under the tree gifts.

We both ditched getting 'dressed up' for Christmas dinner. Just be comfortable.

We ditched decorating the house for Christmas during Advent. DD1 is autistic so we keep things very low key until after the schools have broken up. Tree is decorated on Christmas Eve. Decorations are kept to one room - the living room.

My dad always got so worked up about having the 'perfect day' that it always ended up feeling too mechanical. A happens at x time, B happens at y time.. etc. And he is another for insisting everything is made from scratch. Fuck that. We get up in the morning and open presents, have the meal mid afternoon, but other than that, anything goes!

As a child I wasnt allowed to open any presents (except the little ones in my stocking and they were mostly things like bubble bath, bit of chocolate, notebook and pen) until after the Queens speech finished at 3.10
Deffo didnt continue that tradition!

Messing about with a tree present on Boxing day. Enough already!

I always had a handful of nuts, a lump of coal and a satsuma in the bottom of a long sock, courtesy of my grandparents.

I've never done that.

We used to open presents all at once. I found it very overwhelming. My DC and I take it in turns to open presents and it is so much nicer being able to see the person's reaction to the presents and so much calmer! Also I used to have my stocking at the end of my bed but my DC hang their's on the fireplace - again because I prefer for us to come down together so I can watch them open them. I also think it is more relaxing on Christmas Eve not having to wait til they are properly asleep and then creep in their room trying not to wake them!

I don’t do Christmas dinner. It was so stressful in my house growing up. I hated it. We just make a nice meal instead with zero fuss.

I honestly can't remember mum getting especially stressed out on Christmas Day - as she was married to the most argumentative man in the world it probably wasn't much worse then any other day of the year.

I've never cooked turkey, instead I prefer to eat salmon.

We used to have loads of trimmings all over the ceiling, from corner to corner and the centre. I really can't be bothered with all that faffing about. Just a few items is enough for me.