AIBU to wonder what people do on Christmas day?

[BurntToastSmell]

...besides have arguments of course

So far, me and my little brood are:

Church in the morning.
Open Christmas presents.
Crimbo dinner at the pub.
Errr... now what?

We don't have any family close by.

I don't want Christmas day to resemble the boring ones I remember from my childhood; Sitting in front of the TV with a glum feeling of anti-climax.

Suggestions anyone?

If we waited till the afternoon to open presents the dc would just keep nagging or knowing them open them while we are slaving in the kitchen.
It is a more peaceful day getting it over and done with :o

DS is 2 3/4. We like to have a breakfast that takes a bit more time than usual... sort of a Sunday affair with lots of bacon, grilled mushrooms, that sort of thing.... while we open our stockings and see what Santa Claus brought. That actually is quite enough for our child, because he's only small and Santa Claus doesn't bring sweets, only little toys and pencils and things in the stocking.

By the time all that is over with, we're dressed, and he's played with the small toys, it's time for lunch and nap...

In the afternoon I'm busy with the dinner and DS and DP usually go for a walk or play in the park. DS opens one or two presents and then it's bedtime. DS opens one or two presents a day until they're gone. We found it was too overwhelming to try and get him to open all the presents on one day... he just refused to! So we now have a "12 Days of Christmas" sort of thing, and he enjoys it more that way anyway.

Wake up at our house and open presents from eachother (just me and DH)
Then go to my parents house and have big Christmas morning breakfast

Open family presents

Go for Christmas Day walk

Christmas lunch

Relax playing with everyone's new toys and presents

Leave there and go to DH's parents and have supper and presents and drink the night away

Oh, thank, goodness you are here Trills, I was feeling all lonely

We're Swedish so we'll already have had our presents etc on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day will be for:

church for the only family member who ever makes it out of bed (=me)
repeat of Christmas lunch (buffet so just as good second day)
dancing around the Christmas tree
walk
tea and cakes
games
big turkey dinner (to acknowledge English roots of some of the party)
guessing games
lighting the candles in the Christmas tree and singing carols

Ours loosely follow this routine:-
Be woken up by excited screaming children with stockings,
Beat the dcs off if too early (kidding) or head downstairs to have breakfast,
Dc's dish the pressies out and the tearing commences, I throughout try to keep track of who bought what so I can thank them later,
Spend the rest of morning/ early afternoon fighting packaging with which the dc's pressies came in (i swear packagong was made my satan!!!),
Make Christmas tea, eat it, clean up after it,
Play with dc's, take photos, chat with family etc,
Dc's go to bed happy, dp and I drink alcohol whilst putting up birthday decorations and prepping food ready to celebrate ds's birthday on Boxing Day!!!
Is it strange I'm tired thinking about it

I wanted a bit different sort of Xmas last year. Got my sister to arrange a sort of low key mystery tour for us all.
DS2 ended up in hospital for 3 days right over Xmas.
Too scared to plan anything out of the ordinary this year!

It was just me and DD last year (she was two then) and the morning was opening presents, breakfast, playing with presents. Then we snuggled up and watched a film. Then xmas dinner. Went for a walk and to feed the ducks. More playing and a snack dinner. Then another snuggle watching a film before she went to bed with just the xmas tree lights on. We had a really nice day. Christmas is about chilling and eating for me :)

Wake & open stockings
BIG cooked breakfast (it needs to last us a while)
Church
Open prezzies and play with them
Start cooking multi-course x-mas feast
xmas feast circa 5pm
Topple into bed slightly inebriated when can no longer eat or drink another thing.

All food will have been prepped the day before.

So - up and into the lounge for stocking presents with tea & coffee (usually pens/book/small toy - they're tiny stockings!).

Then breakfast. Was thinking the usual baked things (croissants etc) with Buck's Fizz, but dh gave me a breadmaker the other day so may have a fruit loaf ready to eat by 8-9ish.

May do tree presents after breakfast or may do them in the evening, depending on what they are. Pack food into chilly bin / bags / picnic rucksack & head for beach. Spend day eating, chatting, playing with kids, come home late afternoon and chill out with tv, more food & games, rest of presents.

Boxing Day - rinse and repeat! (without present opening though)

Not working this year for the first time in aaaaages :)

Even as a child we opened the majority of our presents after Christmas dinner - 4pm ish. Stocking at the end of the bed in the morning, & 1 santa pressie downstairs, then the rest in the afternoon. We grew up with it & certainly didn't thing M & D were 'evil'! It was fab having it to look forward to. And yes, I have continued the tradition with my own children who also seem very happy that way! Love Christmas - bring it on!!

Stocking presents
Breakfast
Play in garden, paddling pool out, etc
Smallish lunch for the dcs
Open big presses
Friends arrive
Have barbecue
Kids to bed
Drink more

May have board games at some point this year, eldest just getting to be right age for them

We are having our first ever Christmas at home just me, DH & DC and although I was a bit reluctant at first (thought it would be too quiet & do like my Christmas traditions ) am really looking forward to it now. We will:

Be woken up by DC for stocking opening in bed
Breakfast (bacon, eggs, croissants) & kids will probably watch a bit if tv whilst we drink coffee & wake-up!
Prep lunch, Open a couple of pressies, kids play
Pub to meet friends for drinks whilst lunch is cooking
Lunch around 2 probably nearer 3
After lunch open rest of pressies whilst drinking some bubbly then play with toys or a game
Tea, cake & a film
Kids bath & bed
More booze, games or tv depending how pissed we are
Late supper (cold meats, salad, French bread etc) before falling into bed

My Christmas day goes as follows:

• Wake up at stupid o'clock
• Not be allowed to open prezzies until EVERYONE is up
• 1st glass of sherry
• Wait for everyone and put TV on (usually a halfway through a kids film)
• have breakfast (just a biscuit - must save room for dinner)
• Everyone finally up - sit in a circle while one person dives under tree to distribute gifts
• Frantic unwrapping, huge waste pile in middle of room
• 2nd glass of sherry
• Dad starts making dinner (turkey already cooked night before and microwaved at last minute!)
• 3rd & 4th glass of sherry
• Stay in PJs all morning and fiddle with gifts worth fiddling with
• Dress up nice
• 5th glass of sherry
• Dinner is served, tastes great but you can't see it because of silly paper hat slipping over eyes
• struggle to consume xmas pudding, every year I forget that I don't like it
• 6th glass of sherry
• Retreat for a snooze
• Queens speech (stifle giggles with cousin entire way through)
• Brisk walk (only if snowing)
• Watch a schmaltzy Christmas film (with 7th glass of sherry)/snooze again
• Cheese, crackers & mixed nuts for tea (with a snowball)
• Watch another film and perhaps another after that
• Trip over whoever's had the most sherry, to get to the sherry (8th glass)
• Bedtime, anticlimax sets in. Wonder if we should have gone to church

We open presents waaaaay before breakfast. Five am is not unusual.

DC will be 13 and 10.6 this Christmas.

Sort of wake at 6.30 am to hear the DC open their stocking gifts-they think they're being so quiet and secret but they're not.

Wake at 7.30 ish. Coffee.
Feed and sort out the guinea-pigs (last winter they were in at night, out during the day, in their Pighouse)
DC burst through the wrapping paper over the door to the sitting room. Mass Opening of Presents.
Coffee and toast in the sitting room, TV.
Set the table nicely (CBA doing it the night before )
Bath and dress. Make-up, hair done (just for effect)
Start cooking dinner (last year took 3 hours but I've got a TV in the back room so I can watch the soaps).
Bring the guineas in for a cuddle. They get a plateful of Christmas veg to keep them busy.

Dinner when it gets dark, candles lit.

Dinner must be finished before Doctor Who- it's the Law
I watch my soaps to see who's having a rubbish Christmas (all of them).

In between I'll talk on the phone to family.
Load up the dishwasher and let it gurgle away while DH scoffs brandy and I eat chocolate (I don't drink, he doesn't eat chocolate)

Drift off to bed.

Christmas Day is a lazy day. Christmas Eve and the week leading up is busier.

Same here chub then the kids play with them all day

Stocking and prezzies
breakfast, dc's play while me and dh recover on the sofa from the early start
Go to My parents about 11ish for lunch
Home about 5 ish when we all slump on the sofa and watch all the Christmas soecials

This year it'll be

All in one bed for stockings
Dc play on bedroom floor with whatever they got while dp or I make coffee.

Shower and dressed

Breakfast and presents

BBQ

Beach

Home to bath, pj's, Bed for dc then wine and nibbles with tv for dp and I.

We are usually on our own too although might be inviting a couple of dear friends (a mother and adult son who are normally on their own)

Xmas has always been a bit of an anticlimax for us too, neither of us had good Xmases in our childhoods, so this year I've got lots more crafty bits, we are going to do some kind of DVD hamper or advent thing with lots of family cartoons/movies, a wii game, etc.

We will be at home to start off with

Get up whenever DS does (7ish) and open stocking.

Go downstairs to see what Santa has brought for DS.

Chill out watching silly tv and start drinking

Go to my mums (nice walk - hopefully in snow) and continue lazing and drinking

Have big multi course Xmas dinner

Open family presents about 5pm when my sisters fiancé arrives

Get dressed in nice clothes, do hair and makeup and round to the neighbours for a party (with a buffet)

Drink until we fall down.

Boxing Day is reserved for hangovers and doing fuck all

"OldGreyWiffleTest Because it's evil making kids wait all day looking at their presents."

I agree. I don't get it either and I hate the assumed moral superiority of waiting so long to open them.

Last year (and this year the plan is the same) we were at my Dsis's. Kids got up - about 8am - and opened stocking presents. Then everyone got dressed and had breakfast. Buck's Fizz and pressie opening. Then all hands on deck to prepare lunch - with more champagne. Lunch about 2pm, then dsis, dbil took all the kids for a long walk - whilst dh and I had a snooze. Then more wine, board games with the kid, playing with pressies etc with a movie on. Then later on, Wii/Xbox Singstar, Rock Star, Lets Dance drunken shenanigans which continued after we remembered to send the kids to bed. Much more fun than the 3 of us our own where it tends to be a bit dull....

We have Christmas Dinner (turkey) on Christmas Eve (around 6ish), followed by lighting the candles on the Christmas tree and opening the presents, then the kids playing with their presents while DH and myself chill with a bottle of wine until late. The DC can stay up as long as they like. The youngest normally falls asleep somewhere curled up on a sofa.

On Christmas Day DS and myself get up early to get to his choir rehearsal and at 11 DH turns up for church with the other 2 DS. Afterwards there is wine and christmassy cakes in the church hall, then we drive home and chill some more.

We play games, we're on the phone a lot (almost all relatives abroad), on skype and we go for walks with the dog.

On Christmas day we eat leftovers from Christmas Eve plus some easy to cook stuff.

All Above assuming we get the house ready, at the moment it is a building site with no kitchen, only partly rewired and a leaking roof above the box room (it rained down the ceiling today - a ceiling that is freshly replastered because it fell down - we know why now). All our decorations are in the garage anyway, the electric garage door refuses to open (was connected via upstairs sockets ?? which we lost for good in the rewiring process), the side door only opens from the inside (don't ask).