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.

then I feel like I am stuck in the kitchen cooking and hosting until 4pm

Are you the only one in your household doing this? Because changing that is an obvious fix.

My kids are older now, but when they were little DH and I really enjoyed delegating the childcare to grandparents, closing the kitchen door and cooking the Christmas dinner together with a nice glass of wine and no "help" from little people! That's what I'd suggest. You shouldn't be stuck in the kitchen on your own - that's no fun at all.

We do:

Stockings first thing
Walk/church
Light lunch
Presents
Dinner at 6ish or later, which segues into after-dinner games

Works well for us- you get plenty of time in the morning to get outside and to go to church if that's your thing, or do whatever else you like, all in the pleasant expectation of presents to come. You're not cooking all day and timings are easier. You don't waste the afternoon in a post-lunch slump.

Presents, croissants and pain au chocolat about 11, kids snack on chocolate mid afternoon, roast about 5/5:30pm.

This keeps some time free to actually play with the kids!

It is exhausting though.

I prefer Boxing Day!

I have 3 children (between 12 and 1), and the only way I get around not being stuck in the kitchen all day on christmas day is to be too super organised.
A few weeks before Christmas, I cook and freeze the red cabbage and also assemble and freeze the sausage and cranberry stuffing.
On christmas Eve, I chop, peel, par boil, and assemble everything. Absolutely, everything I will need for Christmas dinner will all be ready either in the fridge or in submerged in pots of cold water. Also, on Christmas Eve, I cook the turkey and the christmas ham and make bread sauce. This frees up a lot of oven space.
We will eat around 4 pm on Christmas day, and I will have worked out how long everything will be needed in the oven to cook and work backwards from 4pm to ensure everything will be ready on time. I set alarms on my phone to remind me when each dish needs cooking when. I also make use of all of my cooking appliances (oven and hob, slow cooker and Air fryer) and this made cooking a lot easier (last year mash was in the slow cooker, roasties and pigs in blankets in the air fryer, veg on the hob, and cauliflower cheese, stuffing and Yorkshire puddings in the oven) and because everything was prepped I spent less than 3 hours in the kitchen on Christmas day. And that's with all the cleaning up after we ate.

There are many different ways people celebrate Christmas Day, depending on their cultural and religious traditions. Some people attend church services, while others exchange gifts with friends and family members. Some families gather together for a big meal, often featuring traditional holiday foods like turkey, ham, or roast beef. Others may go out to eat at a restaurant or take a vacation to a warm destination. Some people use the day as an opportunity to volunteer or give back to their communities. Ultimately, how you spend Christmas Day is up to you and what makes the holiday meaningful for you personally.

for Christmas decoration you can go with

custom metal sign
metal signage

Morning at home opening presents with kids, family over for more presents at about 10:30ish, restaurant meal at 1pm usually then home to play and watch a film (usually falling asleep)

My DC are adults (they'll be 24 and 21 by Christmas)

Christmas now is much more low key and I do miss Christmas with young DC but I was much younger myself I couldn't do it now !

It's been streamlined over the years so now :

Dec 1st Hamper rather than a Christmas Eve Hamper .
They get pyjamas/loungwear (winter not Christmas) so they can start wearing in Dec.
Socks/underwear (and any scraggy ones get recycled)
Bathrobe every 2 years
Showergel/face products
Sweets+selection box but no Advent Calendars this year

I used to do a Beauty Advent Calendar for DD and put each days gift in her room but it is trickier to find things . Last year I did a gift box with nail polish,lip balm, cuticle balm, hair scrunchies ,hand/foot masks, face mask.
This for Dec 1st too.

I like the cooking on Christmas Day , it's quite relaxing doing the prep , but I do need help with the table setting and getting it all set out and the dishes cleared .

Dinner was always After Dark and Before Dr Who . So we stuck to this

No tree or candles (though I use LED ones) as the cats are vandals .

I always work between Christmas and New Year (NHS) otherwise its a shock to my system going back .
This year I;m going to book some A/L the week before to pace myself (and watch rubbish-ey films on Hallmark)

I've never fancied Christmas away or dinner in a resturant

I adore Christmas, which is just as well as I am married to a vicar and so all the home arrangements fall to me.

Christmas Eve is always a bit crazy and will be extra so this year as it's on a Sunday which means a morning service, three crib services in the afternoon and a midnight communion. The children feel like the church is an extension of their home so they are in and out all day, doing readings at the services and helping prepare all the paraphernalia that goes with Christmas at a church. Meanwhile I finish the prep for Christmas Dinner (totally agree with all the other posters that much prep in advance is key) and then cook a ham for Christmas Eve dinner when family arrive to stay. If children are a bit restless a relative is despatched to take them on a walk to look at all the Christmas lights through neighbourhood windows.

Then it is a film and bed (for me, poor DH has to do the midnight service then wind down enough to sleep).

Christmas Day morning sees stockings opened on our bed, a smoked salmon or chocolate Christmas tree and bucks fizz breakfast and then off to church (not before popping the turkey in and turning on various slow cookers). We time getting back from church to take out the turkey and put in the potatoes (par boiled the day before) and over an hour the rest of the veg go in.
Lunch is between 1 and 2 and tree presents are opened after all the clearing up is done. We spend the next couple of hours playing games and chatting before a very light dinner, some TV and bed.

Christmas is my favourite day and season of the year and it hasn't diminished, I think it's about doing what you love and concentrating on what is important to you.

I absolutely love Christmas I've already written my Christmas list of who to buy for and started buying presents and stocking fillers, glad I'm not the only one thinking about it my Husband thinks I'm mad 🤣

Open stockings
Opens presents
Back to bed
Have breakfast
Go round to my sisters for an hour
Come home and make lunch we eat about 2pm sometimes DHs sister comes and his brother comes every year.
Watch tv / dog walk

I prefer Boxing Day to be honest. Less expectation!

This, its Christmas month in our house

I do every single bit of prep I can before the day itself. Then it's literally about turning the oven on and turning the pans on. I've got timers set for everything, even to run the dish washer to pee hear the plates so they come out at the exact time. So I literally pop in an out of the kitchen to monitor things and spend maybe 20 minutes in there finishing off and plating up. And I cook for 12-16 every year! It's really not that time consuming if you work it out with military precision. I have a printed/ laminated set of instructions with the meat, timings and temperatures left blank. Once I've decided what we are having I fill in the blanks, backwards engineer the timings starting with the time I want to eat, work out when to put everything on and that's it. We today eat around 4

For breakfast we do waffles, pancakes, croissants and pop tarts with fresh fruit and orange juice. Again, very quick and easy.

Go to church
Have lunch
Watch the King's speech
Go for a walk (dad's grave and others)
Have a bit of cake

Then think about other things, until mid-Autumn (apart from this thread).

100% this.

I'm the same. All the veg are prepped and parboiled where necessary a day or two before hand.

Then on Christmas Day It's just a case of popping things into the oven at the correct times.

Dessert is always shop bought.

To my mind, they key to not cooking all day is to prep the day before and eat at lunchtime.

I totally agree with this. We always have our turkey at lunchtime, somewhere between 12-1pm and as much as possible is prepped the day before. DDs are 6 and 4.

So it's get up, something nice for breakfast. Turkey goes into oven at breakfast time.

Then present opening and once that's done, from 10.30am or so DDs play with their toys, DH tidies up, I take the turkey out to rest and get all the rest of the Christmas dinner prepped.

Eat by 1pm. DH cleans up as I've cooked.

Then the entire rest of the afternoon and evening is for chilling out, watching films, playing games, going for a walk etc. Plenty of time for cheese and crackers and a mountain of chocolate in the evening.

I agree that it's nice to view Christmas as a season rather than one day. On 1st December all of our Christmas things come out..... Christmas mugs, plates, tea towels, festive cushions on the sofa etc. It means we get the use out of them and the whole of December feels festive.

Not sure if anyone’s already recommended it, but the Calm Christmas podcast by Beth Kempton is lovely. It’s a few year’s old now but she basically counts down to Christmas from November, and shares advice on how to create the kind of Christmas you want. Plus, it’s wonderfully festive 🥰

I agree that it's nice to view Christmas as a season rather than one day. On 1st December all of our Christmas things come out..... Christmas mugs, plates, tea towels, festive cushions on the sofa etc. It means we get the use out of them and the whole of December feels festive

We have winter bedding that goes on 1st Dec.. Not Christmas but Nordic/Stag type patterns in brushed cotton or fleece . They come out every year and stay until Feb (they do get washed )
Hand towels,shower curtain, sofa cushions for Dec
Christmas toilet paper , straws
Teatowels are red/white striped so all year round

DS birthday is early Dec so we used to wait till the middle to do anything festive . He doesn't mind now .
Decorations are minimal (and unbreakable) because of the moggies

There's Christmas magazines and Nigel Slaters Christmas Chronicles too for planning and easing you through the month.

I'm going to read the full thread but would a Christmas Day buffet be naff?

I'm thinking of offering to host both sets of grandparents but also don't want to spend all day in the kitchen as my boys will be 2 and 7, so peak Christmas magic ages.

Thinking of maybe doing the full Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and inviting them to that.

Is this shit?

Christmas Day Buffet is fine if that suits your family but do give everyone the heads up beforehand .

As your DC are little they'll want to play rather than sit at the table (I know when my DS was little he had far more important things to do than eat ) .
Having the main meal on the 24th is a good plan, lots of countries do this .

There will be loads of threads on here for buffet ideas but be warned , a buffet can be more work than a roast . Getting the right balance , the plates , the extra bits like pickles , salads .
You could do all your prep the night before , even a few days before .
On Christmas Eve what about a steak pie and roast potatoes with vegetables and some prepare ahead puddings ? (Steak pie is traditional in Scotland for the 24th so I'm told)

Christmas Day - depends if grownup DCs here or not, if not then I don’t do a roast but have cold meats, salad, jacket potatoes etc.
Boxing Day - head for a beach, picnic with hot soups, hotdogs etc. Wrap up warm and get outside.
Personally I hate Christmas!

I dont cook on Christmas day. I do a Christmas dinner on Xmas eve and then we have leftovers / crackers / salad for as many days as I can stretch it. It's my holiday too and I ain't spending it sweating and rushing away in the kitchen while everyone else relaxes and plays with their new toys!

Not at all. Lots of people do their Christmas on Christmas Eve.

Thank you. I'm just throwing ideas around at the moment. I've only hosted once before and my son was poorly so I had to rush out with him halfway through dinner. That really was shit!

@ITSSSSCHRISTMASSS of course they do. I just meant to people who are used to Christmas being a certain way, would they feel like it wasn't as good as their traditional Christmas.

@FuckoffeeBeforeCoffee

I know loads of people will say "If I;m invited to Christmas Dinner and don't have to cook I'll eat whatever I'm given"

Personally I think Christmas should revolve around the DC especially if they are young enough to be enchanted by it all . Different for older ones or really tiny ones who aren't aware yet .

I'm fairly traditional with Christmas , I don't vary from what I usually cook. There are other days to go off piste .
My DMum was never into Christmas always complained it was too much effort (even though she did bugger all ) so right from the start I want the whole 9 yeards .
If someone invited me for Christmas Day then said "Oh we're getting a takeaway curry" (I'm vegetarian) I'd be inclined to pass . They can have curry for dinner (loads of threads on here people saying that would be their dream day) but not for me .