What is Christmas morning like in your house?

[slipperypenguin]

What is the typical Christmas morning like in your house? If you have children are they up super early? Do you open presents first thing or get food first?

For us DS7 and DS5 will grab their stockings from the hallway landing and bring them in to open in our bed as we wake up. We have DD1 who just turned 1 this year too. In recent years they have slept til around 7.30 but they are both at very excited stages this year so who knows.

We then head down stairs after making sure the fairy lights are all on for a nice festive glow and the boys open their gifts from Santa and family, in between several
Cups of tea and bin bags to
Collect the rubbish!

Grandparents tend to turn up around 8-9am and have breakfast (for some reason we have a tradition of French toast) whilst the kids play with their toys

I have always come down first to check he’s been.

This made me smile - my mum said the other day that when we were little she felt a weird excitement on Christmas morning when "he'd been!"

Usually woke around 6.30/7 by the youngest. I go down and turn all the Christmas lights on. All their gifts are from Santa and are laid out (not wrapped) in the living room.

Then we spend hours building etc and have breakfast in between.

I can't wait.

DDs a teen now but it has always been get up and open stocking and anything that didn't need carting to my parents such as underwear, clothes gifts of books etc.

We get dressed and go to my parents for 9:30.

My mum does bacon and sausage rolls and a cup of tea for hreakfast then we open the presents.

Sit around munching chocolates and helping mum in the kitchen, play with toys or games.

Then a new board game after dinner.

@Ljc1985 we are pretty similar to you - it always amazes me that people are shocked about waiting until after lunch for presents but we do...
Wake up, stockings all together in bed.
Slowly get up, have breakfast (something a bit special).
Do the food prep / ring family (unless they are staying with us).
Go to church (some years) or watch the telly.
Have canapes
Lunch at around 2-ish
Queen's speech
Christmas tree presents in the afternoon
Watch Christmas telly
Late supper of cheese and biscuits (because although we always buy a cheese course we never have room at lunch).

DS9 is a very early riser anyway, but on Christmas morning he is under strict instruction to not wake us up until 6:30. He will keep himself occupied with the stocking Santa leaves at the foot of his bed. As soon as the clock strikes 6:30 he comes running into our room to show us what was in his stocking.

Around 7ish DP goes downstairs, flicks all the Christmas lights on and puts the kettle on (we tell DS he is making sure Father Christmas has gone, not sure he’ll fall for that this year though!) then we all go down, DS opens his gifts and when he is happily playing with them me and DP will open ours from each other.

Then I make breakfast which is always bacon sandwiches, frozen pastries and pancakes with fresh OJ. Have a quick whizz round tidy up then gather all the gifts from under the tree to go to my sisters where to see her and my nieces, my other sister and parents.

1 DS (8)

He's never got into that 'waking up at 4am' thing at Christmas. So we can usually make it to 7am.

Usual Xmas excitement of stockings and presents in the morning. Sitting around in PJs playing with toys for a bit.

Family dog walk for an hour at 11-ish and stop in the pub on the way home for a glass of wine and say hello with neighbours (village pub so very much local hub.)

Home and cooking from 1pm.

Dinner mid-afternoon.

Christmas film around teatime and then obligatory grazing on food through the evening.

DS in bed by 8pm. And more chilling out with telly in evening. Sometimes neighbours pop over for a glass of wine.

In-between Cmas and New Year days usually peppered with family and friends visits. Cheese, mince pies, wine, chocs etc.

Dcs wake about 8. They bring stockings through to our bed and open them. We get up and make breakfast/ tea etc. then all sit in living room and all open presents together. Youngest gets to unwrap everyone else's. Dcs allowed to eat chocolates they get. Once it's 12pm adults can start drinking!

Mine are both “informed” secondary age kids and despite this it will be the same as every other christmas morning 🥰 7am wake the parents, christmas music on and switch christmas tree and fairylights on, stockings and present opening downstairs, toasted teacakes and mugs of tea/juice (DH tradition), bin liner for wrapping paper, investigate gifts and play games, washed and dressed, bacon rolls and more tea late morning (my tradition), off to grandparents (nearby), home for christmas dinner around 4pm and hopefully have adult DSC over to visit (turkey cooked day before for christmas eve turkey buns (DH tradition), so just tray of roast veg, tray of pigs in blankets, and tray of roast (par-boiled) potatoes to go in oven). Great fun and fairly chilled.

For the past couple of years, DD6 has been waking up around 5am (and has been waking up at an average of that time since 1 Dec this year to find out what's in her advent calendar so I dread to think what time she will be awake on the actual day this year 😴).

I keep her in bed with me until about 6.30-7 (usually watching something) so she doesn't disturb DS4 or DH then we go wake them up if not awake already.

Downstairs and they open stockings before breakfast, then main presents afterwards.

Leisurely morning, maybe a little walk, then a snacky lunch, playing with toys and a film in the afternoon, then finally dinner around 4/4.40.

DD is now a teen, but when she was smaller, she tended to sleep late for some reason (bad sleeper normally but we have a super chilled Christmas Eve routine). So we tended to wake her about 7-8am and all go down together.

Turn on the kettle and oven, once 1st coffee in hand - walk into the sitting room together and see what was in the stocking.

Back to the kitchen to turn on the radio, make a proper pot of coffee and throw some pastries into the oven (from either the fridge or the freezer). Squeeze some oranges.

Sit and enjoy breakfast. For about an hour of peace and calm. DD has some breakfast with us, but also raids the chocolate and single-portion packs of cereal in her stocking as she explores the new toys.

Then showers, nice clothes, going to mass, visiting a few relatives nearby before cooking our own turkey.

If we have travelled "down home", it depends on whether we've managed to rent a house locally (in which case, very similar to above), or need to stay in either my or DH Parents' house (in which case - much less relaxed). But we still have to do mass etc by mid morning and then visits to relatives. (Nowadays, if we are in our own house, we don't always go to mass anymore but go for a walk instead).

My kids are only with me every other christmas morning. On the years they are here it is usually up early and let them open stockings . When all family are up and ready we do presents .
This year they are at their dads. My parents are staying over so we will prob have a nice leisurely get up and something nice for breakfast and do presents with kids when they are back.

I am ALWAYS awake before my children and usually last until around 6am before I start coughing and flushing the toilet 😂.

They are 12 and 7, 12 year old is a non believer and 7 year old has been asking some questions this year so I think this might be the last one we get with her believing.

They will open their stockings, and we’ll all go downstairs so they can open their presents. Husband can usually be found wandering around with a bin bag to collect the wrapping, bringing my coffee and finding batteries while giving me “the look” because there’s always a gift or two he doesn’t know about.

Breakfast is usually croissants and fruit, and grandparents will come over about 9am ish. Dinner at my mums this year so we’ll head over there around 1pm and be home around 5pm and relax on the sofa in front of the TV in our PJs.

The children will come into our bed to open their stockings (even though they no longer believe at 10 and 12! ). Then downstairs, lots of tea, light Woodburner, tree presents interception with toast/croissants if wanted.

We started having Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve when they were young, so we could both be present for building lego/playmobil/ playing games etc. Kids have decreed that they want this to continue - it is only ever us for Christmas Day in any case. So we have a big roast on Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day is leftovers, ham, cheese board, chocolate and so on.

So we’re with the kids all day- still lego building but also playing computer games /watching TV and we will also go for a beach walk at some stage too. Hopefully by mid afternoon we can be collapsed in front of the TV!

Christmas morning is very exciting! I just can't wait

Ours are now 7, 5 and 2 (almost 3) and it's a bit of a whirlwind. Regretfully last year I put the stockings at the foot of their beds and they woke at 4am 🙄plus it was really fretful putting the stockings in and the oldest jolted up several times foiling my attempts to put them out.

This year stockings are going back in the little hallway between their bedroom and living room and I'm hoping they'll be worn out and sleep through. Once they are up though it's opening the stockings while I make me and DP a festive hot drink and grab the bags for clean up. We do move on straight onto tree presents but I might see if I can change but I'm not sure how that will go down! We then basically just potter round, helping the DC with their new things, putting on a Christmas movie and playing. I'll start on and off going to the kitchen to sort Christmas lunch. I'll also do my makeup and hair in the morning as I always get new makeup and stuff on Christmas

My DC seem to wake up earlier every year despite getting older (the older three are 10, 11 and 12!), last year it was 4:30 . They open presents under the tree first which usually takes 45ish mins then they sit fiddling /playing with them for an hour or so before anyone is hungry enough to eat breakfast. I usually make oven baked breakfast pastries for breakfast which we all eat at the table.

Dh and I sit in the living room looking at the pile of presents under the tree, eat chocolate for breakfast, and wonder how early we can reasonably wake the teens up. Oh how them turns have tabled

I normally go to my parents' now and it's just the 3 of us. Same ritual every year. Nobody surfaces until 10.30/11am. Dad is usually up first watching the news, I get up and make teas/coffees. Then Mum drags herself up like it's the worst day on earth. We have breakfast and open presents which is usually crossiants. Then we start prepping Christmas dinner.

(We don't gift each other crossiants, we have crossiants for breakfast!)

The children get up at 7 (and not 1 minute earlier) they open stocking in my bed then head down stairs open Father Christmas gifts but no others… they are for later. Have panettone fir breakfast around 9 then rush around getting ready to visit different families (which we all hate 😕 but do out of love)

It's fairly calm in our house. Our boys are now 16 and 9 and have always been late risers lol
I usually get up before everyone and have a lovely cup of coffee in front of a Xmas movie before everyone else gets up lol

Boys bring dad down stairs lol I make myself and OH another cup of coffee and the boys have a drink. They're too excited to eat at this point. We open stockings first then presents whilst we have Xmas songs on in the back ground.
We then munch some chocolate, Me and OH get changed first whilst the boys enjoy their new presents. I start cooking dinner whilst OH makes sure the boys are changed, toys are out of boxes, batteries put it, gaming set up etc.. Love it 😊

@user1471453601 i love that story! How sweet of the clubber neighbours and how nice of you!

Mine are weird children.
Every year they wake up sometime after 10am. Even worse now they are older teens and adults.

So it’s me listening to music. Drinking copious amounts of coffee. They always want to properly wake up and have food and drink.

Finally get around to opening them.

If friends haven’t slept over usually arrive in the afternoon. Meat in the slow cooker. We all sort out the veg whilst drinking. Unless we are having a take away.

so relaxed and chilled out day.

Mine are 6 and 4. We get woken early by our oldest who has already woken up her brother and they are super excited he has been (he leaves a gift on the end of their beds). They open their gift with us on our bed, then we go downstairs and drink strong coffee and open our stockings. Then breakfast (easy, cereal toast etc) at the dinner table with Christmas music. More strong coffee. Then after breakfast we do tree gifts, but I keep a couple behind for later in the day. By that point it is probably 9ish maybe? Time to get the turkey in the oven while the kids play.

Just DH and me so not that exciting - we'll get up 9-ish and make a start on Christmas dinner; open the small number of presents we'll have after dinner and before the Queen King's Speech then probably watch a film or play Scrabble.

Stockings
Dog walk/feed horses
Breakfast
Church
Presents
Christmas 'lunch' at about 3
Boardgames
Telly