How does your christmas go?

[NordicPrincess]

im thinking of trying to vary our christmas "routine" (wrong word). Usually I bath children, we leave mince pie and carot out for the reindeer, I read them a bedtime story and then put them away. Then I get out the pressies wrap them, arrange them around the tree. Unwrap them, rewrap them get excited...

christmas day i wake up early-cant sleep. take pressies downstairs and arrange them under the tree, put xmas lights on take pictures and have a drink enjoying the peace before children are up.

Here is what I am considering varying. Children wake up look at their stockings, then come down stairs and would start opening pressie. This year I am thinking of having breakfast before the pressie opening so they at least eat soemthing before the choc coin onslaught and sugar high with no real food inside. Also the later they eat breakfast the less hungry they are for christmas dinner. I am also thinking of letting them open some pressie and then some more after christmas dinner usually at 2pm. that would break up the day as sometimes they open everyhting in such as rush they just jump from gift to gift. Then im hoping for a walk after dinner and board games and maybe a film before bed, while they play about with pressies.

What do you think? am i being unkind making them wait a bit by longing out the pressie giving?

How do you do it in yor house?

All ideas appreciated :)

sorry about the typing, im bf

Christmas eve dd1 likes to have a small tea party with her cousins. We usually do this at tea time. After that is bath and they get to open a present from under the tree, which just so happens to be new x-mas pj's

We then watch a x-mas film with hot chocolate and marshmallows. Leave the reindeer a carrot or apple slice and santa a cookie and a small brandy. We put the 'reindeer dust' (porridge oats and glitter' on the doorstep to remind Santa to stop here. The idea is the reindeer will smell the oats and Santa will see the glitter sparkling.

After the gone to bed we arrange the pressie and do any last minute wrapping and/or building of toys which a need a degree to be put together.

Morning time - presents are opened first then breakfast of bacoon butties and christams chocolates.

Walk the dogs equipped any new scooters/bikes/roller skates etc.

DC then either play with their toys or go to the club with their Dad while I make dinner.

Walk dogs again.

All the family come around for drinks and a buffet style tea and the children play wth their cousins. We normally play any family wii/PS3 games we might have (this years is Dance Revolution 3(mine) Mario and Sonic Olympic Games (dd1s) and Boogie (everyones))

Everyone goes home at about 9pm. The children go up to bed and are allowed to watch one of their new dvds while they fall asleep.

I walk the dogs again and then me and Dh settle down to a film and drinks.

Their is no strict routine wrt timing. Things happen when they happen.

ER - migh be a bit unkind to eek out the pressie opening like that. How about a rule that the pressie give has to give each present to the child to open instead of them just pouncing on them? That way you have more control. I'm amazed to manage to get up and do all that before the kids are up!

What we do...

Sometime early December - presents wrapped while kids at school - takes a day just to wrap theirs! Then hidden carefully - Stocking pressies wrapped in different, less rustly paper of course

Last day of school - kids are told where pressies are and bring them downstairs to put round the tree - bit of shaking and guessing going on there so have to wrap carefully!

Night before - they are allowed to open one pressie each - normally one given by a relative/friend

On the morning - they open stockings sometime in the middle of the night, then go back to sleep. I always include something to keep them occupied - game/book.

We have breakfast - could even go for a walk/church then. then we get out the bubbly/oj for DH and myself and sit round the tree to open pressied - this part does slow down as they get older!!!
I then cook dinner while they play with new gadgets etc which we have about 2-3pm
Rest of the day we just slob!!! - Oh and I walk the dog at some point!

I remember on year when the kids were small we'd done it all bar the meal by 9am - a real let-down and an anti-climax after all the work!

maybe i could only bring dow half the pressies and the rest after xmas lunch, then they wouldnt know what they were missing?

i just dont want the day over so quickly...

Why don't you try stockings before breakfast and then once washed, teeth done etc (good for photos!) you can do bigger pressies?

Or stocking and 1 present before

Hmm im thinking about doing this too. Last year DD (then 3yo) got fed up of opening her hundreds of gifts! she actually got tired of opening them. We for some reason carried on, helping her open them.

This year i may let her open half of them, then nip upstairs get dressed and washed, have breakfast and then sit down to open the rest. Lasts a bit longer then doesn't it!

Wetend to go with the flow but I wouldn't personally hold children back form opening pressies until after breakfast. Yes I know some do thi but I just wouldn't. Could you do some kind of breakfast buffet/finger food while the pressie opening is going on (not sure how old DC's are or if this would be messy.

We tend to have Irish Coffee, Mince pies for those that like them toast, croissants on the go, its all very relaxed. We also dont eat the main dinner until much later so a late breakfast doesnt matter. DS also gets very little choccie as he's Dairy Free so its not bought by others as a matetr of course (thinking back to my childhood of selection box overload)

We have stockings before breakfast. They usually open them on our bed, and I put something like a choc-chip brioche in the stocking, and a carton of juice. This extends the time before I have to get out of bed (dh goes down and brings back tea, bless him). And means they've eaten some food before getting too choc'd up.

I am planning this year, to put a "clue" in the bottom of their stockings, that will lead them to a bigger present each. Said bigger pressie will be one with a fair amount of playing to it, to keep them busy. Then the grownups (us and ILs) can have breakfast before we all attack the presents under the tree. We tend to have the children take it in turns to fetch a present for everyone from the tree, then we all open, admire each others', and then the next child gets the next lot. That slows it down enough.

I hate ekeing the presents out through the day - the kids spend all day whining for another present and I miss half of them.

We have a large family (6 children) and have tried to modify our xmas timetable and faced HUGH opposition from all of them, so we will stick to the same routine as always. Xmas eve, children put up main tree while I start xmas dinner, older ones join in with their speciality receipies (always the same ones - someone does the bread sauce, another the chestnut and parsnip soup and there is complete uproar if no sesame seeds for the carrots) After dinner they have a gift from us and we settle down to watch a selected film in front of fire, trying to toast marshmallows etc. Then bed for younger members - usually quite late by then for them and as they are very full they always sleep well (only been woken up by excited child once). Xmas morning - stockings and panetone/croissants/what ever anyone fancies (usually still recovering from night before) breakfast, we both play with the kids all day with just a buffet lunch/dinner. Boxing day presents under the tree. Reason we spread out the gift giving is purely practical, when we tried to do it all in one hit some things got lost (as in chucked out with the wrapping) because there was just so much with so many people and also when they were smaller it was just too much for them. It's agony some years waiting for them to get to a gift you know they are really hoping for but we'll live - never have them complaining about waiting as it's what they have always done and when I suggested to my 20 year old that now they were bigger... she went absolutely mad and all the others started joining in, I suppose it's what they are use to, they like the familiarity of family tradition. Like the idea of brioche in their stocking, might borrow that idea, and I've done a treasure hunt to and they loved it so i'd definately give that a go fruitful- love the image of opening stockings in our bed, not enough room.