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

DC 13, 16 & 19 up at 4am opening stockings. Downstairs at 6am for main presents under the tree. Get ready and put lunch on while looking at everything'Santa' brought. Family arrive at 12pm, dinner at approximately 2pm then games later and nibbles until guests leave approximately 7pm. Pjs on and chill x

Wake up 8ish, kids open stockings on our bed.
Shower, dressed, breakfast (bacon sandwiches)
Presents
Friends house for drinks 12-2 (turkey in oven before we go)
Back at 2, make rest of food
Eat 3/3.30 ish
Relax, drinks
Cheese later

7am the kids will wake us and we'll open presents.
8am DH and I go back to bed
11am church
After church I prepare dinner for us , and the in laws.
We'll probably eat at about 4.
Then we slob about for the evening, watching movies and eating chocolate
Should be a lovely day.

Stockings
presents
rushed breakfast whilst getting ready
meet family at chuch
psrent’s for Christmas dinner
clear away
kids have presents from grandparents, aunts and uncles.

Christmas tea in the evening
tree presents then home.

Dinner Christmas Eve so Christmas Day.
get up about 9ish.
breakfast scrambled egg smoked salmon
open my books 007 novels the Tudors
chill out with books dvd
buffet bits cooked 1ish
nibbles
dvds
call the midwife.
buffet bits as wanted.

Stockings in bed any time after 6 (young kids that wake early!). Then downstairs to open presents taking it in turns. Freshly baked pastries for breakfast. Playing with new things whilst I get organised with dinner (hopefully will have most of it prepped Christmas eve!). Snacks out on table. Family arriving about 1:30 and dinner for 2. Then playing games and putting on a Christmas movie (think it will be Jack Frost).

We have 2 christmases- before my ILs passed away and post that time.

Before

Dh picked his parents up on Christmas eve. When they arrived home we had drinks by the fire. The Dcs opened the presents from people outside the family. I usually made fish pie and before going to bed we sorted out the treats for Santa and the Reindeer.

Christmas morning

Me up super early to start the cooking and get some time to myself.
Children up
breakfast of croissants and salmon and champagne
DH and I cook while PILs paly with children
lunch
snooze by fire and tv
supper

booze and snooze.

I loved it.

Now they have passed and it is just DH , I and the Dcs. very quiet. I start cooking later. More tv. No huge chats by the fire with sherry. We have not yet found a nice rhythm.

Loved it when PILs were here.

Chaos this year but good chaos. Going away and have adult kids over plus family and friends. Oh will be cooking from early doors but there'll be lots of bucks fizz and wine, a dog walk, present opening, mid afternoon naps and an early night hopefully (not a euphemism).

I can’t imagine eating a massive meal so early! We have always eaten at 3 at the earliest- usually nearer 5! Surely you have to be up cooking so early if you eat at 1pm or so?

still up at 4am at those ages?! I’m holding onto the teen years for a post 5am Christmas Day start maybe I shouldn’t hold my breath!

Wake up whatever time the DC wake up, some years this is around 5am-6am and it her years its 7am-8am.

No stockings so straight downstairs to see if Santa has been.

We wrap paper over the doorway into the living room so the DC can burst through it.

We all open our gifts together.

Breakfast is whatever everyone wants. DC usually have selection box because you can have chocolate for breakfast at Christmas, DH and I usually have a bacon sandwich.

Everyone chills out, plays with their presents, potters around, gets dresed at some point. Either DH or I takes the dog out and some of the DC might tag along.

We have our Christmas Dinner whenever it's ready, anywhere between 1pm and 4pm depending on when I get around to start cooking it. DC usually drift away part way through so DH and I have a glass of wine together at the table while they go do their own thing.

We do some more chilling out and pottering, if DC got any games we play them or we build Lego models or put playsets together.

In the evening we put pyjamas back on, we get out snacks and sweets, and we watch a film. DC are allowed to stay up as long as they want.

Boxing Day family come to visit but Christmas Day is just for us.

Mad morning with kids opening their pressies. Hopefully ice skating outside if weather permits. Down to BIL's early afternoon. Probably sleep over there. Home in boxing day. Spend the rest of the hols recovering

We wake about 8 and have coffee and crossaints. We open pressies and then walk the dog somewhere nicer than our normal walk.

Once home I'll prep for Christmas dinner , aim for 3pm, but usually ends up closer to 4pm! Our guests tend to arrive from lunch time onwards so we have drinks and nibbles and I prep and chat, once we've had dinner we all veg out on the sofas and watch a film or two depending on what's on the telly. Some of us will prob nod off. We always forget about pudding and cheese and crackers because we are so stuffed from dinner.

Boxing Day we spend it on our own making up for not eating pudding the day before.

Stockings in bed
Light breakfast
Walk / Church
Showers & change
Champagne and blinis
Presents (about 12 at this point)
Lunch prep
Lunch (1.30)
Coffee and pudding
Queen's speech
Washing up
Change into comfy clothes and watch telly
Champagne and smoked salmon around 7.30pm

Kids wake us up bringing stockings into our bed (they hang them on the outside of their bedroom door Xmas Eve) and they all open them together
DH goes down to make a brew, make kids drinks, switch tree lights on, let dog out and brings tea up to drink in bed while kids play with stocking stuff
Downstairs and straight into play room where Father Christmas leaves his presents, open, play, but batteries in etc
Into living room for presents off us, open, play, but batteries in etc
Breakfast & bucks fizz
Get ready
Long walk with dog & DHs sister, husband and their dog
This year we’ll be going to my Mums around 2ish
Presents there
Dinner around 4
Board games, drinking, dancing, general merriment until usually around 10/11pm depending how many drinks I have 🙈
Home and all into our bed with an Xmas film on to fall asleep to (usually doesn’t take long 😊)

Christmas Eve - church for me - then home for fizz and a buffet - older 2 go out-out

Christmas Day

Wake all three up by 10am!
open stockings
Their dad comes over
Tree presents
They go to dads/his parents
I get dressed and start prep
12ish my parents arrive - as do kids back from Dads
Drive in tandem to hotel to dump their stuff/car and drive back
Fizz open - nibbles out and presents opened
I carry on with dinner - serve it about 1pm
Sit and chat/wash up
More booze
Cards Against Humanity
Tequila often appears
then we go to my friends next door for more booze - and party games
Older two help my parents stagger to hotel - I stagger to bed
Boxing Day brunch - parent's off home - kids off to dads for a few days
Collapse in heap with more fizz

Wake up and go downstairs around 7 - 8am.

Breakfast croissants, cream cheese, salmon.

Everyone sits around opening presents and stockings while eating breakfast.

Around 11am family visitors arrive and more present opening.

General faffing around during the course of the morning putting various Christmas lunch items in the oven. Drinking Bucks Fizz helps with this part of the day.

12.30pm ish Christmas lunch

Sometimes there's an after lunch walk around the village.

General chat, lazing around and playing with presents.

Film watching and King's speech watching.

Turkey sandwiches/tea drinking/alcohol drinking/people nodding off in front of the TV.

It's generally a pretty relaxed, enjoyable day.

Stockings in bed
A long drawn out champagne breakfast

Presents !!

No meal but party food and fizz
Film, board game, snooze

Cheese board and puddings in front of the tv

My Christmas day is really informal 😁

9-10am DD arrives and we start opening presents - coffee n chocolate
12.30 DD leaves to spend rest of day with her DP
1-1.30 DS DP and I eat Xmas lunch (obviously I’ve been on/off cooking during morning but as I prep as much as possible on Xmas eve no great hassle
3pm ish relax with a drink
4.30/5 go over to visit DM who will be with DB and DSIL (DP goes to see a friend as he and DM do not get on!)
7.30/8 go over to DD home for evening party (might sleep over or not depending on taxi situation or if one of us has not had a drink)

Last year - kids Christmas
8am - wake up, downstairs open presents from us/Santa
9:30 - full English breakfast
12:30 - family start to arrive
15;30 - open family presents
18:00 - Christmas dinner for 19
21:00 - kitchen disco

This year - no kids Christmas
9:00 - coffee in bed (probably sex before!)
10;00 - eggs Benedict
10:30 - long dog walk
13:00 - get dressed up
14:00 - walk to my parents
18;00 - Christmas dinner for 4 (my parents and my partner - the rest are at their in laws)
21:00 - kitchen disco

Boxing Day (on a no kids Christmas)
14:00 - all family congregate (the 19 + some friends)
18:00 - buffet
21:00 - kitchen disco

Watchnight service at church on Christmas Eve. Get home well after midnight, so no early start on Christmas morning.
I go down when I wake, to clean out and light the log fire and put the tree lights on, ready for my adult DDs and their partners to come down.
Breakfast of hot croissants and Buck’s fizz while opening our presents together.
We all pile into the kitchen to make the different turkey stuffings (plum + ginger, and apricot + chestnut), and wrap the turkey in its “pyjamas” - streaky bacon rashers soaked in whisky.
Lunch is a buffet with quiches, cheeses, salads etc.
We then put the turkey in a very low oven and drive into the hills for a walk round the local loch for an hour or two, admiring the stunning views across to the Cairngorm mountains.
Coming home, we peel a ton of spuds, turn up the turkey and roast the spuds in duck fat with chopped rosemary from the garden. When almost ready, about 6pm, we heat up the spiced red cabbage and apple mix that’s been defrosting from the freezer, then it’s all hands on deck to make gravy, carve and serve.
We always pull Christmas crackers and play daft games such as Boticelli while eating, and knocking back the best wine we can afford. Nobody likes Christmas pudding, so we have home made chocolate chestnut log, iced in Nutella, for pudding.
After dinner everyone slumps round the fire, and either watches tv or plays board games until bedtime. There may be occasional raids on the kitchen to pick at the turkey or collect chocolates…

Up about 7am - 7.30am.
Walk the dog. Usually a lovely, peaceful walk with just the dog and me.
Back home about 8.30am to find others up and drinking tea.
Present opening.
Break midway for coffee and to kick the lunch cooking off.
More presents and then a bit of milling about, cooking lunch, looking at presents etc.
Lunch about 2pm
Queens speech. Kings this year.
A cheesy film and a snooze.
Board games.
Evening tv interspersed with people helping themselves to leftovers, cheese and biscuits etc.

My mum stays over Christmas Eve with me and DD (17). Wake up at 7ish, straight downstairs to open presents, selection boxes for breakfast (classy)! Spend some time chatting, looking at our new stuff, radio on in background. All get washed and dressed at 10ish then off to my sister’s at around 12. More present opening with Dsis, BIL, little niece and nephew. Sister’s in laws arrive soon after, more present opening. Everyone helps with Christmas dinner, one person peels potatoes, another preps sprouts etc, we all potter in and out of kitchen while others play with the kids. DD always takes herself upstairs for a bit of downtime when she needs it as she finds social gatherings a bit overwhelming.

Dinner at around 4pm, dessert at 5ish, crackers, jokes, table games, music. Followed by cocktails, dancing etc. Kids to bed by 8 then adults play board games, maybe do a quiz. Cab home at around 11pm, we drop mum off at her own house on the way back to ours. All followed by a lovely lazy Boxing Day, just me and DD in our pyjamas eating leftovers all day. I can’t wait!

@NameChangeLifeChange

My 19 year old is the most excited x

Up whenever DD6 is awake, this has varied over past years from 7am to last year waking her up at 9.30am and stocking. Normally we go for a walk but we're eating out this year, so my mum will come over for about 11am and we'll do presies. Then out for lunch 12.30pm. Late afternoon we'll get home and have a little chill out and open any presents that haven't been opened. Then evening is drinks, cheese and games.