to want to open xmas presents one at a time with lots of oohing and aahing rather than just diving in and having it over in 2 seconds

[morningpaper]

DH's family just pile in and rip it all open

We have to open one present at a time and savour the moment

He says we are poncy and middle class

Who is right?

We don't rip, we sit together and help the DC open a present one at a time and we stagger over 2 days. Presents from us lot on christmas day and presents from Grandparents etc on Boxing day.

My DC are still too young to have more than 4 presents in on sitting.

I love Wired for Sound

The only Cliff song that grates is that christmas one where he is going on about kissing the kids goodnight and snuggling up with a woman in front of the fire because it is SO far from Cliff's real life (or indeed anyone's real life) that I want to stuff a bauble in his mouth

It will all be neatly done and dusted by the real highlight of Christmas Day comes along... The Doctor Who special, of course. At 6pm.

Talking of which, SURVIVORS ON NOW

We're rippers! The kids just dive in and rip the presents open in a frenzy anything they don't want gets put aside with the wrapping paper so we can either a) give it to someone else as a 'next christmas' present or birthday present or if they really are crap, they either get thrown or put in a sack ready for charity shop.

The rest of the day is spent pigging out on chocolate, turkey and 9 times out of 10...arguining.

twentypence DH's family all keep wrapping paper and reuse it, but you get to keep the paper than came around your present.

One of those weird things I really love about DH is his bag full of used wrapping paper and those fancy present bags. He also has a box full of old Christmas cards that he cuts up and we use them as tags.

I know, it's really quite lame, but thriftiness is quite sexy in its own way ;)

Oh MP, MP, MP.

Unreasonable? No.

Excessively mature? Yes!

LOL @ Christmas albums

A woman in work mentioned to me the other day that she had put on her Christmas album and it was the first time that it had ever occurred to me that people (and not just shops) owned such things. I don't often go shopping but even I'm sick of all the Christmas songs by Christmas Day.

I love proper Christmas carols - Once in Royal David's City is my favourite.

My favourite Christmas song to hear in the ships is the one about the cavalry "wish I could be hoooooome, for Christmaaaaas, dooo doooo doooo dooo"

Please, not Cliff! 'Mistletoe & Wine' makes me want to move to Saudia Arabia!!

I love carols (esp. Carols from King's College on Xmas Eve). My favourite is God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen!

I really like 'Merry Christmas (War is Over)' by John Lennon.

Sorry - comepletely off-topic.

My name is Acinonyx and I confess I own 4 Xmas CDs (including the unmentionable above track) which I have started playing. One is a set of 3 though, so technically it's only 2.

Wired for Sound MP?

You are joking? Because if you're not I shall have to shoot you.

I LOVE TALL SPEAKERS

CASETTE IN MY POCKET AND I'M GONNA USE IT

I quite like that song about God that Van Morrisson and Cliff sang together.

Everything is wrong with that song: Van the cranky man, cliff richard and jesus. But somehow it's just all so right.

Don't know why it reminds me of Christmas other than that every time I hear Mistletoe and Wine I wish I was hearing the other one instead.

Good album that.
Avalon Sunset
Was palying tonight

Does everyone sing:

Christmas time
Mistletoe and wine
Children swimming in pits full of brine...?

Or is it just in our house?

Urrghhh! I cannot believe anyone would voluntarily choose to listen to Cliff's Christmas songs. They are just appallingly awful. We don't really listen to music at my parents. We have tried to buy nice carols for them, but none of them have been bearable really. My parents don't do non-classical music...

dh and I have a tendency to get out his Now That's What I Call Music Three, and reminisce about how old we obviously are now