What is your family tradition at Christmas?

[OMGhelp]

Our family Christmas tradition, (started by me because I am too lazy to do the 5am Xmas morning stint) is that the kids bring us breakfast in bed. When they were younger, 4+, it was bowls of grapefruit (prepared the night before) and a glass of orange juice, as they got older it progressed to juice, grapefruit, cereal toast and tea, in bed with all the kids. We still do it even though the 2 eldest are 21 and 20, it a bit of a squeeze. At the same time they get to pick a (minor) prezzie each out of the pile for one other member of the family (the major prezzies are labeled so that they don't get picked) with the youngest getting to pick the two for Mum and Dad extra. So we get to open 1 prezzie each to stem the flow whilst having breakfast in bed. (Luxury).
Once we have finised breakfast we all get washed dressed, etc. and go down stairs, where we take turns opening a prezzie to drag out the prezzie opening time to over an hour instead of a quick 10 minute blart where nobody has time to give or receive thanks, or appriciate what they have received.
So that is how I start my Christmas morning, how is your 'TRADITIONAL' Christmas organised?

Breakfast, presents, church, lunch...

i am woken up by DS shouting at me "is it christams time now?"

this wakes DD up. i say "it will be once we have gotten dressed" so we go and get washed and teeth brushed etc etc.
they then go to their wardrobes and open the doors to find a new special christmas outfit. (for Ds this is is normal clothes with a christmas stickoer on it as thats about as much as he can handle)

we then go downstairs, whilst i am asking them what are we going to find downstairs (DS can't handle surprises so he has to be prepared as much as we can without ruining it all for DD)
so they tell me there will be presents and toys etc.

we go into the front room and he gets really excited.
they are allowed to open all the red presents. then we have breakfast.
then they can open teh gold presents after we have eaten.

Wake up
Downstairs in pj's for stockings
Washed/dressed
Breakfast (proper breakfast, laid table etc)
One present
Church
Remaining presents (although the girls seem to get overwhelmed so keep some back for boxing day)
Lunch
Sleep
Games
Buffet style tea if wanted
DVD/games
Bed

getting drunk.

guess it's going to be a different Xmas this year .

no telly, at all.

Wake up early and open most of the presents in our PJs with a cup of tea in the front room. Then everyone gets dressed while I put the turkey on and get breakfast started (we usually have eggs, toast, fruit salad). Then I get dressed and we have a lazy, festive morning, with Xmas films, carols, Irish music (this year we will start a new tradition of actually going to church, though, as DH has rediscovered his faith...) Me and my sister are mostly in the kitchen with a glass of champers getting things ready, while 'the men' (my dad and husband) keep my son entertained. Then lunch (always a seafood / salmon starter, then turkey & trimmings and pud). After lunch we usually go for a walk in the park and then come back and settle down for a lazy evening - leftovers or lots of cheese, buscuits and chocs infront of the telly. We don't do the whole party game thing, really, although DH always tries to get us involved in some sort of naff game of charades or something, bless him! Boxing day - family day out to the races at Kempton.

I put something to eat (e.g. a cereal bar) and a carton of juice in DC's stockings, so they can have a snack while opening stockings (in our room). Santa leaves a box of otherwise banned cereal (eg cocopops) to say thank you for the mince pie and sherry. Bowl of said cereal after opening stockings. Then we open the main presents once everyone is dressed. Canapes and something fizzy at lunch time (tho DH ALWAYS has a bacon and egg butty then goes to the pub for a quick pint with associated pals. Might sound sexist, but his day too and something he did always with his Dad and brother so happy for it to continue, esp as he preps the veg before he goes!) Christmas lunch c. 3pm. Have a break before the pudding, so rarely eat much in the evening.

Christmas eve, DS gets a present of new pajamas (a tradition copied by me from someone else I know because it's so great) to wear to bed. In the morning, you open your xmas stocking on the bed (mini presents), then breakfast.

Late morning you can have visitors for coffee and buns - my mum's tradition which I am quite into. Then present-opening around the tree. Then a walk followed by snack lunch. Afternoon spent playing and preparing xmas dinner which you eat at about 5 or 6pm.

we have a gathering at my aunt's place christmas eve - cousins, their partners, aunt and uncle - another aunt and a couple of uncles and our lot - big dinner. My dds run around like mad and eat too much and get spoilt BUT they are able to have fun with extended family.

next morning - allowed to open stockings - then breakfast - usually smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, bucks fizz for dh and I.

then finish opening presents

get dressed

go to mum's for lunch.

Usually in the lead up to Christmas read night before Christmas - AUssie version of course.

This year we have aussie jingle bells to sing and aussie 12 days of christmas to read over that time as well.

they get pjs in their stocking ready for christmas night.

from we were small - we would get up and santa wouldnt have been to our house yet - so we had a big breakfast together and just as we were finishing - he would have arrived. we all were in our front room - kids with hot chocolate, grown ups with port.
we open our presents in order of age - so youngest first to open all their gifts so we ooh and ahh over each one. after gift opening - we made our thank you phone calls and all decamped to teh kitchen to help make lunch. we all had a task allocated.

now we are adults - we still all head home to mum and dads for xmas and continue these traditions.all the git opening taks about 2-3 hours now - we spend ages lookng at al the gifts, saying thanks and generally savouring it. with plenty of refills of hot port!
this is the first year with a bubba in the house again - so there is such an air of excitemetn already. have just booked our festive ferry trip - travelling home for xmas.

Christmas eve is my favourite - DH takes DDs to church on christmas eve for the special nativity mass where the children can dress up as characters from the nativity. I stay home alone and wrap the last of the pressies with a glass of wine and carols from King's on the TV. In the evening we go to friends who have a humungous and very beautiful house where we have a huge festive gathering - food from Fortnums and free-flowing drink. There are always lots of children running like mad things fuelled by bags of chocolate money (which I will usually see again later...) We stay for an hour or two, and then home to new jammies, hang stockings and go to sleep (hopefully)

Unfortunately, DH will always have to do some work on Christmas day, but I try to persuade him to keep it to a minimum so we can enjoy the day together as much as possible.

When we were little we used to put out a pillowcase at the end of our beds which would be full in the morning. We opened our presents upstairs.

Since my children have been born we've always had presents downstairs by the tree. Don't know why it changed but Christmas was always at Grandma's and that's what she decided.

Xmas Eve we go to the cinema in the morning. It's usually pretty empty. We had years of HP etc which was handy. In the afternoon we go to a Christingle children's church service- didn't last year because they were all "too old", but with new DD we will revive this tradition.

Christmas morning we go downstairs in PJs (well I get dressed but Grandma and the kids don't) once everyone is awake. Someone hands out presents so that everyone has one each to open, though DH and I run out long before the DCs (and grandma). I keep a note of who got what from whom. Then we tidy up the paper and have breakfast/ get dressed.

After dinner and the Queen we play games (Totopoly, Cluedo, Jenga, Cranium) until the decent TV starts in the evening.

Boxing Day we go to London if we're at home.

As an aside, we don't have our actual Christmas dinner until Boxing Day as our elsest is a Chef and works about 10 hours on Christmas day to allow those with children to have the day off, so we now have the family meal on Boxing Day. But as he is the Chef he doesn't have to be at work until 11am, one of the KP's will have the oven lit and the joints in the oven hours before he gets there. This is also working out well for my daughter (20yrs), who wants to spend part of Christmas with her boyfriends family over Christmas and we have (ever so graciously) agreed to her going to their house for Christmas dinner.(Its makes us out to be really cool parents, but it actually falls in nicely with our plans).
The idea of going to the cinema on Christmas eve is a really good one, I will see if our local is open then.

oh and we all go to my dads on christmas eve (my brother, SIL and us lot) for chinese. Then we play games, dad babysits the girls and we all head down the pub before the midnight mass.

Not sure if that plan will work this year though as DS is due in 3 weeks so will be be about 4 weeks old at christmas!

DP's family all go round to his grandmas after dinner his family from the usa come over too so there is loads of people,
They all bring a presant can be anything nice not nice weird big small then they play a weird game where you all keep swapping presants if you get an anwser right you can swap yours with sombody elses? then at the end you all open them and see what you ended up with.(i think thats how it works it goes on for hours apparently we got out of it last year saying we had to go to my mums)

that was ment to say apparently, we got

OMG! Which one? We have so many now.

There's the christmas tree one, the turkey one, the long walk on Christmas eve afternoon one, the new tree decoration chosen by everyone each year, the wreath one, the stocking present wrapping on Christmas eve after DCs are asleep one (at about midnight), the presents after lunch one, the 'tree' present one, the buying parents dog a new toy and letting him rip the paper off with his teeth....etc. Then of course there are DH's own idiosyncratic ones - the going out with mates for a quick drink and not coming back for hours so missing the Christmas eve walk, the one where he sits in dour silence at my parents house, the one where he wraps one of the sodding stocking presents on Christmas Eve and then says he knackered .

And my mothers traditions, of failing to realise that a 14lb turkey needs more than 2 hours to cook but conversely sprouts and roast potatoes don't. And her charming little tradition of managing without fail to by DH a seriously crap present that no-one who have ever met him would think he'd like.

Ah the joys....

LOL OrmIrian.

I hope that this year the DD (20yrs) doesn't irritate the DS2 (10yrs) so much that he throws a glass of wine all over her, and I go off to bed for a cry and sleep.

DH always reads "The Night Before Christmas" to DD's as their bedtime story.

Stockings by the fireplace in the dining room, these can be opened before breakfast.

After breakfast, into the living room for proper present opening.

Do like the idea of going to the cinema on Christmas Eve.

Our xmas has changed this past few years which made me quite sad.

I has however given us the chance to make new traditions that hopefully the kids will remeber when they are older.

We deffinatley have mum and nan round for xmas lunch but we have no dining table so it will be an on the coffe table jobby!

I hate people who make kids wait for proper breakfast ect before pressie opening becuase it used to annoy the hell out of me as a kid when dad would say, no brekkie first!

We are a very xmasy family though we have loads of decs and sweeties.

take away xmas eve and veg prepared that night and turkey since nan insists on buying a 14lb one!

Oh i love xmas i can't wait!

Christmas eve,set out all Santa's pressies an a different chair each,I remove all packaging,build anything that needs it and put batteries in.only wrapped pressents are from friends and family...Think I'll start the new jammie idea this year!
Christmas morning,waken ds1 (9) let children go down stairs with us behind them,DH has already been down and turned Xmas tree lights on!Video kids checking out their new toys,have a really relaxed morning then go visit grandparents and family,and home about 3,dinner on,wine opened and feet up!
Can't wait,just have to start my shopping now!

charlee - you must hate my family then!!!!

Open stocking presents on our bed
Get dressed/ breakfast
Play with stocking presents
Open a few tree presents
Christmas lunch
Open rest of tree presents
Play with presents
Maybe go for a walk depending on weather

We also read "The Night before Christmas" as Christmas Eve bedtime story.

Charlee - at my parents Christmas day brekky is traditionally a tongue or ham sandwich. I think this stems from us wanting to gert to the presents as kids, but Mum wanting us to have some breakfast before getting to sweets. A sandwich could be taken to the living room with the pressies without making too much mess, but cereal bowls make a right mess if they get knocked over amidst the excitement