All those people who are having in-laws/parents over on Christmas Day...

[Misfitless]

what time do you ask them to arrive, and what time will you be eating your Christmas meal? Oh..and what time do they leave? TIA

All arrive late morning for lunch at 1pm. They both go home before the soaps start, Christmas never gets in the way of their tv, so about 7 o'clock.

11/12ish they arrive on Christmas Day
Lunch 3ish
They leave after lunch on Boxing Day

Then a day off....

Then ILs and BILs/SILs/ nephews 28/29, then my sister and family here on 4th.

Not only are DPs staying for 5 nights, we also have a friend of theirs staying for a night now. He is DDads best friend and lives about 90 minutes away from us, DPs live 5 hours in the opposite direction so it seemed churlish not to invite him.
To be fair we know and like him anyway and he gets on really well with DS. We will also have friends and DHs family popping in so it won't be quiet by any means.
This is the lengths I will go to so we stay at home so DCat does not have to go to cat prison over the festive period :o

My mob (11 in total plus us 4) arrive around 11ish. We have drinks and nibbles, dinner at 3 and are usually still at the table at 6. Then clear the table and play cards ( chase the ace & Newmarket) until the small hours.
Have never turned the tv on on Xmas day. Dh found it weird at first my now enjoys it. Dc's love getting together with cousins and playing the card games.

I set a table up in the kitchen with the cold cuts, pickles and bung some part bake rolls in the oven. Everyone helps themselves as and when the greed takes them.

Most years my teetotal mum drives them home in 2 runs sometime around 2am. Last year my sister and her boyfriend stayed on the sofas as they were too squirty for the car ride home.

Boxing Day we head to dh's family for Boxing Day party nibbles, lots more drink and more card games. Last year all of the men woke up with their fingernails painted as they had drunkenly agreed to let dd practice on them.

Squiffy not squirty

I'm so jealous of those with local family
we're having my inlaws from 22 dec to 26th
it's just too long and I know I'm going to go stir crazy and drink too much gin
if we go there it's a 6 hour drive
only good thing is next year they won't be invited

BIL & FIL only come for breakfast on Christmas morning, about 11ish.
Stay for about an hour.

I can't stand fil, can't abide the man so that's enough.
We then shut & lock the door and graze all day, Christmas dinner at 5ish. Lovely.

The masses (seriously, there will be over 30 of us) will descent on us at noon. Many of them will of course be late but dinner will be at 2pm (ish), they will stay until whenever they want, which based on last year, the last person who wasn't sleeping there left at 4am!!!

Those who are staying arrive on christmas eve and stay as long as they want.

Some genuinely funny and quite shocking posts, thanks everyone.

Have had a laugh reading through all of these. Cat prison ! And Sleepyfergus having the ILs' dog over for Christmas .

I'm torn between wanting Optimusic's, Misbeehiving Christmas and
Baileys.

Have a good one everyone.

PS - Forgot to get my DCs advent calendars...that's how shit I am at the whole Christmas thing!

We have my mother over for christmas lunch. we pick her up around 11am, open some presents then eat- take her home around 4pm. It would be later but she is teetotal and extremely anti- alcohol, she would be very frosty if she saw OH or I drink a glass of wine with our meal. OH and I like a glasss of something on christmas day but we hold off until she has been dropped off at home again.

We visit the out-laws on boxing day but it's a short visit, a light lunch of M& S ham and salad. My MIL is the embodiment of Hyacynth Bouquet from Keeping up Appearances, and ten times worse since she received her OBE, she has a huge photograph of her receiving her award from the queen in her sitting room and we have to listen to the story every boxing day.
Luckily we only see her once a year.

msmiggins .

MIL will come the Sunday before Christmas and leave the day after New Year.... but it is lovely to have her here... She is a "muck in and get it done" type...

I will be working Xmas eve and she will get all the veg/spuds etc ready for Xmas meal whilst I'm out.... and probably do the stuff I am too lazy to do - iron the tablecloth etc.. whilst entertaining my 2 dd's and the dog... and get DH organised wrapping pressies..

I realise I'm a very lucky ducky!!

I can't believe these guests who just arrive at whatever time they want; my parents always check very carefully (almost to the minute ) what time we want them to arrive and what time they should leave.

Misfitlesss - can your really just not say to your parents 'we would love to see you at 1pm on Christmas Day'.

Can you say you are planning on going to Church/for a walk/to the neighbours for drinks and that you won't be home until 1pm (or would they arrive anyway ?).

msmiggins goodness, I don't think I could eat my Christmas meal or any meal without a glass or two of wine . Can't you disguise it as ribena or something?

I am humbled, my whinging about MIL and SIL2 pales into insignificance compares with some of your crosses to bear.

*compared

It would be later but she is teetotal and extremely anti- alcohol, she would be very frosty if she saw OH or I drink a glass of wine with our meal

This is the first year I won't be having people stay for years. In-laws live 40mins away now so are just coming for the day - I am so happy

Like wordfactory, I like to be ready before guests arrive and at least look as though I'm in control.

I imagine they'll come at around 11am, I'll give them coffee and encourage them to take dc's for a festive walk whilst I kick the aga and watch the temperature plummet as my roast potatoes take 3 hours to colour.

Lunch will be around 2'ish - champagne and canapes around 1'ish.

We open presents later in the day so probably after lunch.

I imagine they'll head home around 7'ish - will offer cheese and biscuits around 6.

Well that's my plan anyway.

we go to church (11am service) together anyway and they will come back with us afterwards.
DH is in charge of food as usual, I'm expecting to either take one f the kids to A&E or tend to a sick child as it is the tradition in our house!
(fx for neither though, I'll be 11 weeks pg and at the height of morning sickness I hope I'll be the "sick" one this year - tick!)

lunch will be 1pm-ish, then watch the Queen's Speech, opwn presents etc.

I don't expect them to go before 10pm - it will be FIL, MIL and FIL's sister btw and I'm looking forward to the annual Scrabble tournament!

MsMiggins- it's your house and you are an adult. Drink what you blooming well like.
Maybe warn her in advance that you will be having a glass or two of wine on Christmas Day, so she has time to get used to it before the day.

Thanks for the sympathy guys, truth is I usually have a sneaky G&T in the kitchen while I am preparing lunch ( cooks perks) it's my poor OH that has to avoid alcohol until he takes her home.

Excusetypos- it doesn't work like that. yes I could put my foot down but she would get a severe hump for days. Alcohol is evil and dangerous in her eyes, it's just not worth spoiling the day. OH and I enjoy a sherry or two in the evening.