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

Up about 9 ish, bucks fizz and presents.
Breakfast and general arseing around til some family arrive about 1pm for an hour.
Cooking/drinking then dinner about 3pm.
More arseing around til about 6pm then I go to my best friend's house and get into new pjs and have a drink and dance.

I’m working so up at around 6.30am, let my son open his presents with a brew. Get dressed and go. Home around 2.30pm, put the turkey in, shower, pjs and chill out watching Christmas movies. Bed early coz I’m back in work on boxing day.

Just the two of us here, so get up when we fancy (probably between 9 and 10), coffee on, maybe a Bloody Mary or a Buck's Fizz poured too, open presents, calls / messages to thank family, breakfast, get dressed, maybe a walk on the beach depending on the weather, home, wine open, cheese, cold meats, crackers, pickles spread out, Christmas films or Tv on, grazing, drinking, maybe a card or board game later, more calls with friends and family.

If there's a Christmas Day Parkrun, all of the above but with Parkrun first.

DH is European, so we do the big family meal on the 24th. The 25th is just us.

Well no kids in family so a lie in, lazy breakfast, walk, cheese and soup lunch, presents and TV, then Christmas meal in the evening

Presents from 7am - strict rule for kids not to get up before that time.

meal prep/dressed
put plastic monstrosities together and install multiple million batteries.
bacon sandwich
kids play/husband cooks/I probably open a bottle of something late morning and potter about ‘helping’ with cooking or collecting rubbish.

we do canapés from about 1pm and dinner around 3pm and it’s usually 3 courses so takes a while with breaks and charades or similar.

Then everyone relaxes/watches TV/plays. Clear up a bit later, do multiple dishwasher loads and curse husband for being such a messy cook.
stop drinking after lunch for fear of falling asleep too early in the day - restart again after 7/8pm with a baileys or snowball.

despair at lack of space in bin.
book tip run for the next working day for all the present detritus.
eat leftovers and trifle and watch crap on TV. Fall asleep early despite best efforts/good intentions.

I love Christmas but Christmas Eve is my favourite day if I’m honest - the anticipation of what’s going to happen the next morning from kids is fab.

Our best year, we had alone.

5 presents after breakfast, 5 after lunch and 5 after dinner. We are what we wanted when we wanted, dinner was at dinner time and we all helped.

Won’t happen again, family have never let us forget it. Sigh.

so, usually it’s:

stockings on waking

breakfast

presents from tree

play time / tidy up / showers etc
family descend around 12
spend the next 2 hours in the kitchen missing out
eat
mountains of washing up
Chocolates / dessert / games
more tidying
kids to bed
finally sit and relax.

Christmas Eve will be a big one in our new home this year and more people staying over.

Buffet for ten, gingerbread house making competition and some good company.

Then bathtime and Christmas pjs for DD4 preparing Santa’s plate of goodies and sprinkling reindeer food, reading the night before Christmas with nine adults indulging her every Christmas whim.

It won’t be a drinking night- we’ve all learnt from that in previous years and struggled all day long.

Christmas Day will be 7am wake up ( hopefully later if a later night to bed on Christmas Eve) and then down to open presents which usually takes a few hours as DD4 Opens a couple at a time and then goes and plays.

Breakfast will be eggs and pastries.

Then DH will head into the kitchen not to be seen again whilst I navigate combined family politics or literally lively political discussions from very different sides of the fence.

Dinner around 2pm

4pm film/ trivial pursuit ( I normally disappear at this point for a nap)

7pm Cheeseboard and nibbles.

Bathtime and bed for DD.

and then I will have a nice cocktail.

Our new neighbours are also hosting so we may merge for evening drinks.

I’d really like to host a really big Christmas to make it a lot less intense with our parents.

Your Christmas sounds perfect

DS is a teen now and me and his Dad alternate years but we spend Christmas with my parents and siblings anyway.

We all go to the pub Christmas Eve and I will stay over at my parents. The rest of the siblings are local.

Champagne and pastries for breakfast.
Bird goes in the oven.
Open presents.
Do all the phoning round of grandparents/aunts etc.
Get the Christmas music on and get dressed.
Do more cooking, open plan downstairs so it’s social.
Lunch about 2:30.
Drink too much, eat too much, sing and play games.
Sit down in PJs with chocolates and a Christmas film about 8, then bed by 11 because we’re all pissed and full and exhausted!

Just DH, DD (22) and me. All rather quiet and boring sedate.

DD plans to cook this year's Christmas dinner

Thankfully we won't be having to endure another big "family" Christmas this year or ever again. Me, DH and adult DCs will wander down to a restaurant in the village around 1ish. Have a relaxing lunch, no idea what's even on the menu. Then take the dogs for a walk on the beach. Go back to our holiday home and chill. Our first year doing what we've always dreamed of and not so much as a bauble in sight.

My kids are teens now. So they get up 10sh for present opening. I try and get them enthused about french toast for breakfast - traditional for me but my son is usually on a strict regime so depends how much he's relaxing it over Christmas! If my daughter eats a big breakfast she'll struggle to eat a big meal later on.
Then I cook - aiming for about 3-4pm. Then a few games and a movie. We plan on watching Home Alone Christmas Eve (I'm collecting my son as he's working so won't be back home til 8pm) so maybe Home Alone 2? Somewhere in there the dogs will get walked.
I'm a widow and my parents have passed away and siblings live abroad so it's just the three of us.

Mine is really boring! My parents always worked Christmas and then so did I

Live alone so will get up
Probably do a spin class
Breakfast then long bath
Drive to meet my dad
Meal at Indian restaurant 4pm
Drinks with friends from restaurant after
Drive home
Watch Netflix/Christmas film
Sleep!

Kids stocking first thing in PJs with a cup of tea.

Get dressed
Breakfast
When they were younger we went to church and they were in a nativity play
Now we do midnight mass so no church on Christmas morning.
Long dog Walk
Bottle of bubble and nibbles by the tree and Christmas present opening
Christmas dinner mid afternoon
Relax - read / play board games / watch TV. We always have a large puzzle out for anyone to have a go at when they want something to do.

A light supper for those who want it.

@caz198917 did you miss the bit about disappearing DH and hours of parents and in laws??? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I wish we could just run away to the sun.

but we have to make the most of it so the more the merrier!

We always have Christmas at my MIL's or she comes to us as my parents don't celebrate Christmas. Everyone showers and gets into their nice but stretchy Christmas Day outfit. We have Buck's Fizz and bagels with smoked salmon & cream cheese, followed by opening presents.

Then it's a bit of dead time, where everyone relaxes/eats christmas choc + sweets. Eventually we venture out of the house for a dog walk up the hill to the pub for a couple. Then it's back home where I finish off Christmas dinner. We eat about 4-5, starter first then the main. Then we watch Christmas tv such as strictly before putting the baby to bed. Finally, it's Christmas cheeseboard and lounging around until you're dropping off.

Probably do a spin class

Are any gyms open on Christmas Day?

I have a peloton so I can do one from home

Up around 7.30/8pm
Bacon butties
Presents
Me in kitchen from around 10am
Lunch around 2pm
Maybe a walk
General eating, drinking and Christmas telly

Don't find xmas day morning very relaxing.

DH wants to open presents around 7am as he's been up ages by then, so we do half without DD.

Prepare veggies, stuffing.
DD aged 21 doesn't get up until around 10.30am, but I want to see her open her presents before I collect my DM (my DM will talk over the whole thing and likes attention).
Have collected DM around 11.30am for many years as this used to work for us, and she clearly doesn't want it put back, so rest of present opening is a rush.
DH starts cooking (and drinking to help him relax for DM's arrival!) while I'm out and DM clearly wants to open presents immediately on arrival.
We do eat fairly early compared to most - 1pm (I have my lunch any time between 10am and 11.30am depending on working pattern and DH often before noon, so we're used to early eating).

The joys!

The only thing that's set in stone in my day is parkrun at 9am 😃

7am: Wake up. Open presents. Followed by breakfast
10am: Church
12pm: Family arrive or we arrive at theirs
2pm: Lunch
3pm: King’s Speech followed by dessert
4pm: Games/chilling
6pm: Snack on all the leftover crap/chocolates. Then everyone goes home. we watch a Xmas movie with the kids.

Thats generally how it goes

In our house is: Me, DD23, DD21, Twin DD's 19 & DS8

This will happen:

5.30am - (Thanks Menopause) I get up
7.30am - DS8 will surface and come downstairs, he will open his stocking
8.30am - Oven goes on, food out of the fridge
9.00am - DS will have to go and wake the girls up
9.30am - Girls will appear downstairs
10.00am - Turkey in oven
10.15am - Start opening a few presents
11.30am - Will send everyone upstairs to get dressed for guests
12.00pm - Cooking
1.00pm - Dinner ready
1.30pm - My sister and her husband & nephews arrive (1 hour late as usual)
1.45pm - Sit down to eat
3.00pm - Finish eating and start opening rest of presents
5.30pm - Sister will leave
6.00pm - Start the mammoth task of clearing up the kitchen, wrapping paper etc
7.30pm - Board Games
8.30pm - Bed time for me and DS
9.00pm - Can't sleep as girls are drunk and being loud/dancing
1.00am - They finally decide to head to bed
5.30am - Wake up and see all the empty alcohol bottles from the night before

.................

Eating and drinking my own body weight, in shortcut.

Stockings
Pootling
Christmas lunch
Presents under tree
Pootling
Bed