What do you do on Christmas Day?

[ToddlerTerror]

I absolutely love Christmas. I love the run up to it, I love the food, the decorations, the trees, even the Christmas jumpers. BUT the last few Christmas days, I have felt like they have been a bit of an anti-climax.
We tend to have a nice breakfast, then open presents, then I feel like I am stuck in the kitchen cooking and hosting until 4pm ish and then the day feels like it is over and I am knackered.
I was wondering what other people do to make the day feel a bit more special? I did suggest to DH that we have our main Christmas meal at 6pm ish instead of 1pm as then that gives us the day to do something but he wasn't overly keen.
There is just myself, DH and DD who is 3. We tend to have at least one set of parents if not both over for lunch but none of them, apart from my Mum, are interested in games.
I'm just a bit fed up of feeling like my favourite time of year is no longer magical like it was when I was a child.

I used to cook everything from scratch and felt like I spent all day cooking and then when I had my baby a light switch come on and I decided no more. Now I use frozen vegetables and auntie Bessie's EVERYTHING. Literally no fussing takes less than an hour (a parar from the meat which i do the night before) and that's all sorted.

I'm not sure that Christmas ever does feel that special as an adult! I think you can get a lot of pleasure from your child's enjoyment - peak ages 4-10 so yours may be a little young at the moment - just doing Christmassy activities in the run up to Christmas and over the holidays eg Christmas craft activities, Christmas films etc .

The day itself is hard work if you are hosting (I was generally host up to 8 people) and a lot of that was around family expectations ie lunch at 1.00! With a 3 year-old you are probably still managing timing around their sleep patterns so definitely go with whatever timing works for you. I imagine your parents are a lot more flexible in terms of timing than ours were (assuming they are probably a similar age to me).

We often used to go on a post Christmas break, say from 27th December as it was a time we were all off school/work together .

No kids here.

We have a lavish, dressy candlelight dinner on Christmas Eve, then spend Christmas Day opening presents, drinking Chambord in the morning & champagne the rest of the day, walking, having a fire & watching 1940s Christmas movies, calling friends & family for brief greetings. It's my favourite day of the year.

Food is grazing: leftover roast beef, cheese / charcuterie board, assortment of bread and rolls, crudités, pickles, olives, maybe a salad or potato salad. Crisps. Cake. All that sort of thing. As and when.

Christmas Day is too short & sweet to spend in the kitchen cooking!

Wow, lots of responses over night.

I think the key message is prepping the food as much as possible in advanced and then it doesn't matter if we have it at lunch or dinner.

Although someone did make a good point about having room to scoff cheese in the evening and that is a very good point as that is one of my favourites things to do on Christmas!

I think I am going to invest in some Christmas plates and cups to make it a bit more fun for the December month.

We have our Xmas meal xmas eve. Then, xmas day is a buffet of leftovers or something easy to cook like a whole salmon. That way, we all enjoy the day and can chat and watch children delight n their gifts.

@ToddlerTerror I was looking at Christmas crockery last year and Asda had thr nicest range. Then it was John Lewis!

Hopefully they bring it back this year as I was pleasantly surprised!

What I do on Christmas Day is very different to what I'd like to do.

I always end up having whichever waifs n strays in the family are free come to lunch which is a traditional roast about 2pm. I always cook.

What I'd like to do is bugger off on holiday, preferably a nice cruise.

I LOVE the build up to Christmas day,but not the actual day,for some reason.i hate cooking with a passion so my partner cooks Christmas dinner.i look forward to Christmas September and onwards.i think it's lovely Christmas things are available to buy.it makes it easier for people to be organised,or people on a budget to start earlier.im on maternity leave this year so I've already paid ahead of my Park account to take the stress off.this year will be selection boxes for breakfast,kids will open their presents.Christmas music on to cook(I pretend to help in the kitchen)and then sit down about 1.00pm for dinner,clean up and the teenagers will normally go on the consoles or might watch Christmas films with us.my surprise baby will be 10 month old so I'm really looking forward to seeing her open her gifts.Boxing day will be cold meats and pickles-NO COOKING 😂😂.I'm really looking forward to Christmas now you have posted this 🎅🎄

Ahhh I've read that! She has a couple actually read them all. Love them! X

I ment to type I think it's lovely Christmas things are available to buy FROM September and onwards.Got a bit excited for Christmas I think 😂

We have our proper Christmas dinner on the 23rd of December, Christmas Eve is a buffet with one side of the family and Christmas Day we have Turkey and stuffing baps with the other side.

For us it's
8am stockings with coffee / pastries
Walk dogs on beach or local woods whilst others sort ponies.
Back home for 11am for brunch , fizz, salmon , scrambled eggs , bagels ,
Presents , comfies , tv , games
Large main meal about 4ish
Then more , games , movies etc
Buffet food / snacks for anyone still hungry . Champagne / chocs on tap all day .

No children here so we do a mix of Christmas at home or on holiday.

On holiday, we usually book something to do in the day (NYC - ice skating and walk around Central Park, Reykjavik- Blue lagoon etc) then a meal out - doesn't have to be a roast, has been Chinese, stew and dumplings etc.
Evening is then spent either seeing a show or just having some drinks.

At home we like to host. DH is the chef so we prep together on Christmas Eve.
Plan for the day is - lie in, DH pops turkey in the oven then we put some music on, do presents and breakfast (toast or crumpets).
DH then starts cooking and I lay the table and get drinks etc for people as they arrive.
Dinner around 1pm, lots of present exchanges between pudding and cheese. Lots of drinks.
Walk with the dog(s) then most people go home but even with guests our plans are similar - cocktails, wine or beer, maybe a Christmas film (or a nap).

Dsis has 3 children ages 4-13 and her Christmas is very different. They do a small roast on Christmas Eve - Christmas Day they get up early, do some presents, breakfast, playing, then around 12pm they lay out a buffet of sandwiches, party food etc and the afternoon is spent with people visiting, present exchanges and everyone eating throughout the day.
It's very chaotic, relaxed and suits their family perfectly

We have a 3.5 year old. We go to the theatre on Christmas Eve and have the traditional roast at dinner time. On Christmas Day we go to the local Indian for lunch, then I tend to have a small meal for dinner, whilst the rest of the family snack

I am another one who loves December and all the Christmas activities better than the actual day.

We go for breakfast on Christmas eve with my Dsis and her family and then go to a big local park where the kids can run around and get off some energy. We bake some biscuits with DS (6) ready to put out for Father Christmas before bed. We then go to Christmas eve mass with my mum and grandparents. We then go home and have a buffet style dinner and all get in our pjs watching Christmas films.

Christmas morning DS will wake us early so we get up watch him open his presents and then we will have breakfast, usually bacon sandwiches or crumpets. We head out for dinner at 1pm and come home all full later on, get back in our pjs and watch films and play with DS and his new toys.

Depends whether you’re talking about Dec 25th or whenever we have our version of it (anywhere between Nov and Feb).

Dec 25th we wear PJs all day, watch films and play board games.

Our winter celebration is a big meal at about 3pm and pudding at about 7/8pm. Fairy lights are up all year. Few gifts for the kids and a secret Santa for the adults (although we don’t always bother.)

Honestly the best Christmas that had was when we was meant to be going to the in-laws for Christmas Day lunch but fil tested positive Covid on the 23rd so we had to make do with what we had as we also had to isolate so we couldn't get a delivery slot for food so we just had some party food in as we was meant to be out all over the holidays, was so stress free no worry to go anywhere and socialise ate our party food and just absolutely chilled out all day played games with ds watched Christmas films

For me, all usual standards go out the window in regards to the kitchen. everything is done for ease.

so, on Christmas Eve, we go to the pub for breakfast, I come home and prep everything for dinner, potatoes peeled, pigs blanketed. cauliflower cheese made, stuffing, etc. all into disposable foil trays. I boil and then glaze a giant gallon joint.

we pop to church for their crib service, come home. Eat the gammon with stacks of cheese.

Come Christmas morning we do presents, all take the dogs for a walk and then main meal around 3.30/4. As everything is already stacked in foil trays/pans ready to go I just pop in and out the kitchen to put things in the oven.

all the foil trays go straight in a bin liner, plates in dishwasher, job done.

we cut no corners, and have a fab meal and sometimes with 16-20 of us. But for me the only way it works is to eat mid/late afternoon and spend a couple hours the day before prepping with a bottle or two of champagne. Usually I’m all for reusing as much as possible. But for one day a year, the Amazon delivery of all the trays to save washing and ease fridge Tetris just buys me so much sanity

We don't just do Xmas day we do whole of December with trip to paint a Xmas bauble to go on the he tree, ice skating and hot chocolate, visit to Santa with dgc, walk to tick off items on a list in decorations eg a star, a Xmas tree, a reindeer etc. Children all get given a slightly different list so one winner emerges. Xmas card making, paper chain making, Xmas cookie baking and decorating with dhc, Xmas tree decorating, Xmas cup cake making and decorating with dgc. Taking dgc to choose gifts for their parents and wrapping them up. Xmas day we shower get up and dress in nice clothes. We all have a cooked breakfast at 9am of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, tomato, baked beans and toast because Xmas lunch will be later at 3pm. After breakfast present opening from stockings/sack whilst Xmas music playing. Then I get on with Xmas lunch but all prep done night before. Then chocolates put out and help yourself. Facetime phone calls to close family. DH lays the table with best tablecloth and crockery. We both serve up Xmas lunch but we have hostess thing that sits on the table keeping food hot it's so so useful at Xmas. We don't eat dessert after lunch as too full so we eat it about 6pm and we always have 3 desserts usually raspberry pavlova, lemon cheesecake and mince pies and ice cream. After lunch we go for a walk with dogs around a lake near to us then get back make hot chocolate and open gifts under Xmas tree mostly from each other. Eat more chocolates, nuts and other nibbles. TV goes on if a good film on. Chessboard at 8pm and more champagne.

Can't you recycle the foil trays?

Christmas Eve is my favourite day of the year. I love all the excitement. Clean house, have all the food and treats in, watch my Christmas films, new pyjamas and a takeaway.

As my children have got older Christmas Day has lost some of its magic. In recent years we have stepped right back and just focus on our own immediate family. We don't visit grandparents anymore as it was too stressful and we were just running around.. We have a relaxed day and DH always cooks Christmas Dinner, usually served at about 4pm, then it's films, games, chocolates. At about 9pm we have turkey and ham sandwiches. Usually don't stay up late Christmas night.

This year we have booked Gran Canaria for the 27th December so that's something to look forward to.

Wake up when the kids get up (they are never early) crazy present opening. No taking turns here it’s a free for all, however the DDs have naturally slowed down as they have gotten older (11, 9 & 6). DH makes brews and puts toast on or hands chocolate crepes out. Kids play until brunch around 11/12 we have pancakes with various toppings. The table is set up with a colouring table cloth crackers etc.. I go back to bed while DH is making brunch. A movie gets put on or kids just do their thing after. Dinner is around 6, new table set up with more crackers, usually games ones but I’ve found them a bit rubbish last couple of years so a board game will come out. Then it’s bed time. Older ones will stay up later.

DH dose all cooking Christmas Day, each year it changes as I buy what ever I find left in the supermarket the week of Christmas.

Last year my dds were sick so they spent most of the day sleeping.

People can get dressed if they want or stay in their pjs. I have chronic health issues so it’s a big deal for me to be able to be able to spend the whole day with my DDs, I don’t want it taken up with visitors or travelling.

We catch up with family pre-Christmas and also on Boxing Day.

Forgot to say, house spotless Christmas Eve, pizza is ordered in so no dirty dishes, kids are bathed early and everything is set up for Santa early. Then it’s a waiting game for kids to fall asleep before the pre wrapped presents come out.

We get up whenever DD wakes up. Go downstairs and then we all open our presents.

Naice breakfast, always with Buck's Fizz, then we usually go to my mums or my sisters. Maybe mine next year as hopefully we will be moving to a house with a dining room!

We normally play daft games, have a few drinks, we all chip in with the cooking and prep and then we eat after four.

Then we just mince round playing more games and maybe a bit of telly.

It's my favourite day.

I will have been working through December with carol concerts, a Christmas tree festival, crib services and midnight mass. My Christmas lunch is late afternoon and is really just a simple roast which the adult children will have prepped whilst I've been doing the Christmas Day services and hospital visits. Our family Christmas is Boxing Day when the wider family get together.

Before I was ordained I wasn't that organised, but since becoming a Revd, all my Christmas prep needs to be done before 1st December. The decorations go up the week before Christmas Day. There is something very special about the post midnight mass drink when everything is quiet and the peace of knowing that if it hasn't been bought or prepped it is now too late.