To ask what your Christmas day looks like?

[TheLostNights]

We seem to do it all by 2PM and just wondered what others Christmas days looked like

7am earliest DH & I will go downstairs 😂

Present opening

Breakfast

Phoning relatives to say thank you and Merry Christmas

1pm My Dad and PILs arrive

Gift exchanging & opening

Champagne

2.30pm BBC1 animation

3pm King's Speech

Board games

5pm Christmas dinner

7pm Bath, stories and bed

8pm Cheese & port/sherry

We do stockings, breakfast, church, cook lunch/watch something, eat lunch (usually around 2.30ish), presents, games, graze on leftovers. Our children are older now, but it's been that way since they were born.

After many, many years of hosting both days for all the family, my partner and I have the best Christmas now. Not better, just different. It's always just the two of us, we get up when we want, all food from M&S, easy to prepare and delicious. Dress for comfort, no one to please but ourselves , it's bliss. Boxing day we see family.

Stockings
Breakfast
Church for those who want
Walk
Light lunch
Presents
Playing with new things/lounging about/cooking
Earlyish dinner (the main meal, 6ish)
Games

We found having your main meal later paces the day better.

7am stockings in bed
1pm lunch
When lunch and all washing up done so we can fully relax we do the tree-present unwrapping, we take turns.
At some point in the day we walk the dog on the beach, with a wee dram by a campfire too.

We have no DC so it's just the two of us.

Lie-in until about 9am or so - normally coffee in bed too.
Feed the animals, breakfast and presents.
Long dog walk around 10.30-11am.
Back home, then I start cooking lunch,
While lunch is cooking, we watch Christmas films/a film series, drink Baileys and generally just relax.
Feed the animals before we sit down for lunch.
Then DH does all the clearing up/washing up.

The afternoon/evening is spent napping on the sofa, watching movies and snacking on various leftovers or fridge specials

Breakfast, presents all opened by about 8, watch TV/play til family arrive, have Christmas dinner then everything's done by about 2

In my family growing up we never really had big traditions; our family is small and seemed to get smaller so we would mix it up year by year, a couple of times we splurged on a hotel break. Other times my mum and I travelled to one of my siblings houses.

I was always envious of the big extended family gatherings going on in other houses.

Now I have my own LO, she is peak Santa age and I'm so excited about Christmas.

We will stay in ours Christmas Eve and look for something local to attend. Christmas morning we will get up early for presents, light the fire, put on music / TV and have a long luxury breakfast then go to the beach for a Christmas swim. Then back to ours to get into nice clothes and go to my mum's for dinner around 4pm along with my sibling.

We live an hour away so will get LO into pyjamas and head home (I don't drink so am designated driver) at 8pm. I'm really looking forward to it.

Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning begins like every other morning, feed dogs, make pot of tea and drink it. Take dogs out for ten minutes. Breakfast, shower, proper walk. We open our presents. Lunch is smoked salmon and a good cava. Do odd bits for dinner, ring family. Give dogs their Christmas dinner and we eat about 6.00. It works for me and DH and Painlesspups.

Open stockings then go to inlaws for breakfast 9-11ish. Home and open tree presents. Dparents come for a drink 2-3.30ish. Dinner 6pm.

Absolutely 😳 that people don't eat Christmas lunch at lunchtime

8 am - kids are allowed into our room (they’re usually awake from 6 ish)

they bring their stockings into our bed and open them together.

9 am - DH starts breakfast, I get the kids to tidy away all the wrapping paper in the bed and get ready for breakfast

10 am - breakfast (we are a continental breakfast family so it’s freshly made croissants, nice juices, breads, jams etc.)

kids can open gifts from us after breakfast is cleared away.

11:30 - DH takes the kids to the Christmas church service while I start cooking dinner, they will often stop at the park on the way back home unless it’s pissing it down too.

14:00 wider family arrives, usually at least 10, average is 15

15:00 - dinner is served

16:30 presents and games

19:00 - cheese and crackers

We then play games and enjoy each others company until most leave at around 21:00

We always host so it’s the same every year!

Wake about 7.30am…. Livestock and dogs fed first

inside for 8.30am, stockings with croissants and coffee/Buck’s Fizz.

then it’s watching the BBC animation such as Zog.

walk some dogs, or ride horses, open a couple of presents, cook the main lunch and if anyone wants it, they can cook scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for brunch.

main meal is about 2.30pm. Afterward it’s back outside for animals.

the evening then passes by in degrees of laughter as we get gently pissed and open all the presents, play with said presents and eat sandwiches.

DC in bed for 9.30pm, then I drink brandy and watch an unchristmassy film.

It depends really, we've done all sorts of things. But this year probably:

9am ish DH will bring up tea and bacon butties to bed and ds(16) will get in too and we'll open a couple of small things after eating
11am eat trifle
1 ish eat party food and open the rest of the presents
Keep eating party food all afternoon, take dogs out at some point, possibly a cycle if the weather is OK.
6pm more trifle
More party food

We will have a roast lunch another day, but party food won the vote this year.

Probably have to wake teens so the day doesn't disappear .
They will bring their stocking to our room to open.
Then I'll see to pets & make cuppas.We might have bacon sandwiches for breakfast.
Present opening next.
I'll get ready & pick up my older daughter & my mam, & we will go to the crem. We lost my dad in October so we will visit his grave & my baby grandson's.
Hubby will have been getting on with dinner while I'm out. We often have 12-14 for lunch, but it's just mam & my adult son joining us this year, so just 6. Lunch is usually about 1.30-2ish
I'll clear the kitchen & we will watch TV.
In the evening both my older daughters come with their families & we have nibbles, drinks, & play games.
Then I'll play taxi dropping people off, & taking mam back to the Care Home she moved into with dad just before he died - not looking forward to that part. They used to live round the corner & I'd just walk them home. I'm 54 & in all those years there were only 5 Christmas's I didn't have dinner with my parents.

Christmas morning the girls come into our room with their stockings. Sit on our bed and open them. They are 23 and 17. ( I know! But we never stopped!) we all go downstairs at 10 and open Santa presents first ( we haven't stopped that either!) then we open a few presents whilst eating breakfast and drinking Buck's Fizz. Sometimes we have a visitor on Christmas morning. Walk the dog. Then start preparing dinner at 1 ish. We eat at about 4 ish. Watch films. Eat copious amounts of pudding, cheese, drink lots. Play a game or two then I usually fall asleep!

We've always done Christmas day just us and the children,.we see family other days.

8am stockings in our bed

Head down for breakfast, we just do normal breakfast but with the addition of croissants etc.

DC get to open one present before church.

10-12 church.

Home for lunch (party food) and then proper opening of presents we all take it in turns eg DH opens one of his, I open one of mine, DC1 opens one then Dc2 opens one and so on.

Ringing round relatives to wish a merry Christmas.

Queens speech, well Kings this year. With a glass of fizz

Normally eat main meal around 5.

Try and get children in bed 🤣

Then it's cheese and wine time!

Wake about 8
Stockings
Breakfast - croissants, pastries
Dinner prep/play with stocking stuff
Couple of presents each
Go for a walk
Champagne at about 12
Christmas dinner at about 1.30
Rest of presents
Look at presents, phone family, watch TV etc
Cheese and crackers
Games and drinks

We've always done Christmas day at home.
Breakfast is between 9 and 10.
11 walk with extended family, then back to theirs for hot chocolate and mince pies.
Back home for around 1230 and I'll start cooking.
Dinner is usually around 4ish.
Presents are opened after dinner. We've always done this, even when the kids were little.
Board games at around 8ish if we fancy.
Overall, it's a very chilled day and I love it.

7am stockings and eat our satsumas
put Turkey in oven
nice breakfast (but we don't do anything particularly special)
Church
finish off cooking/have drinks and nibbles
1pm Christmas dinner
clear up
King's speech
present opening
Watch some telly/play with toys/take kids out to let off some energy!
get evening meal ready (smoked salmon with brown bread and butter and lemon, home cooked ham and fresh rolls, cheese and biscuits, fruit - people just eat what they want, no fixed courses)
Eat evening meal - this can take a while sitting and chatting
put kids to bed/clear up
Veg out with chocolates/drinks

Get up around 9ish. DH is normally up already as dinner is his domain. Kids usually need to be woken up as they’re lazy teens. We open presents and Then gradually all get showered and dressed. SD usually arrives around 12pm along with SIL and BIL. We eat about 2pm. After everything is cleared up we usually play a game and have drinks etc. it rarely changes!

DC instructed not to wake me before 7am.
Open presents
Put Turkey and gammon in the oven
Pop to cemetery alone to lay a wreath on Dad’s grave
Come home, help DH finish assembling toys.
Extended family arrive about midday, open bottle of fizz.
Remove meat from oven and keep warm under foil and tea towels, cook potatoes etc.
Serve dinner approx 2:30pm
Afternoon spent watching films, playing board games.
Party food buffet in the evening.
Dip in the hot tub once the kids are in bed.

stockings after 7
breakfast
Turkey in
parkrun at 9
cook
guest arrive around 12
dinner about 1
the King at 3
presents
light supper
guests disappear 7 or 8 ish.

We don’t do the same thing every year.

This year we’re having presents and breakfast, then going into central London for a walk along the river and maybe a stop at a pub, then back to my parents for dinner at 6pm.

Last year we were away by the coast, I cooked and we ate at 2pm and went for a walk on the beach afterwards and then home for telly & drinks.

I like switching it up a bit each year.

I also like to get out even just for an hour.

(And we definitely don’t watch the Queens/Kings speech!)