Tell me what you do and where you go on Christmas day

[Potatoooooo]

I'm interested to see what people do with their Christmas days.
Is it the same traditions year after year or do you do something different every year?
Do people stay at home or do they go to family for dinner?
Are you the type of person to have loads of people over or have a very intimate Christmas?

This year it will just be me, DH and DCs at home for Christmas day. It will be different for us because Nannie passed away in September and she used to come to us for Christmas day.

The plan this year is-
Stockings and coffee in bed.

Then bagels and bacon for brekkie.

Family come round at 10ish and all open presents watch DS get excited open his presents etc.

Have a coffee break, start cooking roast.

Veg on sofa and eat chocolate for a few hours and then dinner at 4/5pm, more family arrive at 8pm for games/cards when DS is in bed.

Drinks, more chocolate/nuts etc be sick from so much food then bed!

Well this is what I'm hoping anyway!

Our Christmas will be different this year as dh has fallen out with his sister.

So we will get up when DS wakes up about 7 and DS will open his stocking and Santa presents.

Then we'll have bacon and sausage sandwiches as per tradition but at home.

Then we'll open our presents to each other.

Hopefully dh's parents will come round at some point (they'd be welcome do Christmas dinner but they like to have it on their own).

My family (parents, sister and family, brother and family and youngest brother) will arrive at about 2pm and we'll exchange presents including secret Santa.

We'll have a light afternoon tea at 2:30ish and the Christmas dinner at 5:30ish.

Then we'll have games etc in the evening.

Once DS is in bed we'll probably just have a bit of christmas TV.

Oh yeah and we'll definitely have a little walk in the afternoon as all of the kids are getting outdoor presents.

Our Christmas is still evolving this year.

We know that DH, DD and I are staying in a cottage near where DH and I both grew up.

We know that we will go to mass somewhere locally in the morning.

We know that we will have turkey next door to DH's childhood house (his DB's house) at lunchtime. We don't know exactly who will be there, as his DSis has a relatively new baby and wants to stay in her own house, and has invited DMIL and DUncleIL (and us) up. DMIL has not said what she is doing yet, and DUncleIL will only go there if DMIL goes (and probably only then if others went too).

We know that we'll go to my childhood house in mid-afternoon, for presents and more turkey in the late evening. I know 1 DSis and family will not be there, 1DBro and family has yet to get days off cleared, but the rest will be there.

We will then probably go back to the cottage late in the evening, as unlike other years, there won't be spare beds to crash on in DM's.

And we will host DD's birthday party there on Boxing Day, for whoever is still around (lots are travelling to other family or back home overseas and not all plans are fixed yet).

Myself and my DS stay at my mum and dad's on Christmas eve, we wake up when he wakes up (though last year I did have to use the bathroom VERY LOUDLY when he wasn't awake by 7:30). Open stockings on my parent's bed then go downstairs.

We watch him open gifts then open our own. Then breakfast whilst dad puts the dinner on.

Dinner around 1-2 when my brother arrives with his girlfriend, after that we exchange gifts with them.

Then usually comatose on the sofa whilst DS plays with his toys, followed by much turkey-grazing and left over pigs-in-blanket snaffling.

Then DS goes to bed and we play board games, drink port and eat everything else we couldn't shove in our faces earlier 😅

Oh and of course we make time for the Julia Donaldson/David Walliams/Roald Dahl programme.

Go and see family, but we are going away (for the first year!)

I love reading about everyone else's Christmas days! Ours this year will be

Open Santa presents with DH and DS (2.5) when he wakes up
Quick breakfast, everyone washed and Christmas jumpers on.
DSD (19) will pop over to get her gifts and we'll take the annual family 'embarrassing Christmas jumper' photo
MIL, FIL, SIL, BIL and nephew will call with more presents and to see DS.
Once they have all gone, start dinner prep and wait for my parents and brother to arrive (more presents!)
Eat dinner, all sit down for a while and try to recover/have a coffee/play with presents etc.
Send family home, do bedtime with DS, put on new pyjamas, sit down with chocolate and watch tv til we fall asleep!