What's your Christmas Day like?

[justanothermanicmonday1]

Hi everyone,

I have a 1.5 year old and a 3 month old with my lovely DP.

We have recently moved into our new home and are having our first Christmas here which is super exciting.

I'm just looking to find out what your Christmas Eve/day is like?

Do you have any traditions that you follow each year?

Would love to hear them & get some ideas for myself.

Christmas always felt really magical for me growing up. And I really want my children to feel that way from me.

Thanks x

All of this is just lovely to read! One nice thing that we do with our small kids on Christmas Eve is go on a 'Santa hunt'. Once it's dark and just before getting them ready for bed, we go somewhere local with a good view of a wide expanse of sky, and then the kids search the skies for a glimpse of Santa's sleigh. Usually an obliging aeroplane provides a moving set of lights in the distance and they get very, very excited :)

Christmas can be magical for kids as they don't have to do any work! Always surprised when grownups say it's no longer the same as when they were little.
Christmas tradition starts early December with picking out the tree. For a while we used to cut one down but the quality has been getting worse so now just go select score it one. Get hit chocolate at the farm and there's usually a grotto for when the kids were little.
Christmas Eve is a takeaway and Christmas movies.
Christmas Day is up, presents, big brunch, then cooking for the grownups while kids entertain themselves! Dinner about 4pm and maybe a few games after then a movie and picking away at leftovers then bed.
Family mass is nice if you do church.
A friend used to go to the races on Boxing Day.

That sounds so lovely! Wouldn't fly with my toddler though. We live near Gatwick and he's far too aware of what plane lights look like 😂 He spots them like an eagle 😂

Our family are all geographically quite spread out so it's not unknown for Christmas Day itself to be fairly quiet. We try and make up for it with DS in the 10 days beforehand. We take DS to see a Christmas light trail with his friend the week before. We have another friend round for a Christmas movie and hot chocolate with marshmallows. His swimming club usually have a Christmas party and we do a Santa visit (although DS getting older and I have a hunch this year will be our last one 😢)

Christmas Day we do unpick stockings upstairs altogether in our bed. Open pressies downstairs. Bacon and eggs for breakfast. Then we do a dog walk in the woods and stop off at the village pub for a drink at lunchtime. Christmas dinner is about 3pm and then from about 4pm we usually allow the TV and watch Christmas films. Tea tends to be cheese, crackers, pickle and nibbly bits. Evenings tend to be getting stuck into new Christmas book/craft kit/jigsaw etc.

I have 3 DC, 2 high school age DS, and DD is 1. This year, eldest 2 will be with their DF, so it'll just be me, DP, and DD.

Christmas Eve morning: Start with a festive breakfast, I have an elf shaped pancake skillet, so some elf pancakes and maybe reindeer shaped crumpets and some berries. We'll probably watch a Christmas movie while we have breakfast. After getting changed for the day, we always head out for a walk to town. We go every year. Everyone's so festive and jolly, it's just a wonderful atmosphere. We usually have lunch out, and we head to the local pub for a drink. DD will go for a nap once we're home, and DP and I will probably watch a Christmas movie while prepping veg for Christmas dinner. After DD has her dinner, we'll go out again and just walk around looking at all the christmas lights. We head to my Dsis house on the way home, and DD will play with her cousin for a little while. Then home, bath and new pj's for us all. We'll watch muppets christmas Carol with DD, set out Santa's plate, read Twas the night before Christmas, and she's off to bed at 8. DM and SDF will come over for a snowball or two, and once we're we alone, we bring santa gifts down and finish any last-minute jobs while watching The Polar Express.
Christmas day: MIL comes over for breakfast, and she'll watch DD open gifts with us. We won't be eating until 4 pm this year, so we'll have a nice chilled morning and afternoon. While DD goes for her nap, DP and I will watch Festive TV and have our Christmas starter. Will eat Christmas Dinner and shortly afterwards my eldest 2 DS will come back home and they'll open some of their gifts. Once DD is in bed DP and I will sit round the tree with 2 DS with nibbles and drinks and open our christmas gifts (we open our stockings with DD and the rest of the gifts with DS 1 and 2).

We have 2 dc 15yo and 8yo.

Christmas Eve we go for a walk, have fish and chips while we watch the snowman. Then usually a Christmas movie with chocolates. I always get a picture of the dc in front of the tree. Then we put mince pies and milk out for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer.

Christmas morning we wake up, dc open their stockings on our bed. Last few years dh and I have done a stocking for each other too. Then it's downstairs to open presents while we listen to Christmas songs. The dc always sort the present piles and I live watching them open their gifts. We do it slowly taking turns so that they know who got them what.

We usually have a small but nice breakfast, maybe scrambled eggs then parents come over with the dcs presents and we have a drink with them.

We usually have Christmas lunch/dinner at around 3 then it's really just lazing around eating and watching tv and playing. We've said that we will go for a walk this year as now the eldest is a teen it's not quite so much toys everywhere.

Boxing Day is either go to family for more food or we make a trifle and eat cheese, crackers, leftovers snacks bits.

Our children are 17,14 and 9. On Christmas Eve the children do some baking in the morning whilst I clean the house, my Mum comes round with presents and in the afternoon we then go to my mother in laws house. We order a Dominoes as they don’t deliver it here and bring it home to eat. In the evening we put pyjamas on, put out our homemade mince pies for Father Christmas, watch Christmas tv and I read the night before Christmas. Christmas morning the children open their stockings in their room, we open presents in the front room and my husband does bacon sandwiches. We then get dressed and I do Christmas dinner for about 1pm. The children play with their gifts and after tea we will play a new board game and I will watch Call the midwife. Boxing Day we go to the local pantomime.

Christmas Eve we get anything that hasn't already been got out, out of the freezer. Prepare all the veg. Lay the dinner table. get all the serving dishes out and put post its in them so we know what goes in which dish. Have fish pie and peas for supper. Just before bed put full Christmas stockings on the end of beds (all adults).
Christmas Day:
Stocking opening - the rule is not before 7am but if DH and I are both awake it might be earlier
Breakfast - we don't usually do anything particularly special, most people have already eaten the satsuma and chocolate coins from their stockings anyway
Turkey in oven
Church for those that want to go - those that don't are responsible for putting potatoes/stuffing/sausages in oven etc.
Nibbles and drinks while finishing off dinner prep
1pm Christmas Dinner
Bit of a clear up, fill dishwasher etc.
King's speech
Present opening, in turn so that we can all see and appreciate each other's gifts
Lazy couple of hours watching a Christmas film or playing board games
Tidy up, lay table, get evening meal ready (smoked salmon, pate, cheeses, fruit)
Clear up
Sit around with port/wine etc
Bed!

Xmas eve was always a bit flat.. Dh usually working, the best one was when I took dd to a small 3 person Xmas show of the snow queen.
It was small theatre very intimate and brilliant.
Then we stepped out and opp was a German bakery with biscuits and cute train.

The other fab one was Disney on ice.
This year I've booked a show and dinner on Xmas eve.
We don't have any strict timing or plans ma's day we relax and have dinner later when it's dark.

I chop and prep all veg, so honey the carrots and parsnips, leave veg ready to be boiled in the pans, make the cauliflower cheese and cover up ready to go straight in the oven, make the stuffing balls and cook on the day.

Basically get everything ready to just go straight in the oven. Saves me so much stress and time on the day I can actually enjoy Christmas!

We celebrate on Christmas Eve. We have rice porridge for breakfast, open stockings and some presents that are under the tree (presents from family and anything too big to wrap). We go to FIL's for lunch and exchange and open presents there with family. Back home for our own Christmas dinner (so two Christmas dinners in one day!) - Finnish traditional Christmas food so a ham, potato casserole, swede casserole, plenty of salted salmon and pickled herrings and beetroot salad.
In the late afternoon/early evening, Father Christmas arrives (local man dressed up for hire) and gives the rest of the presents (sack of presents hidden in the porch just before he comes) and chats with the children.
Then the day is finished off with sauna.

Christmas day or Boxing day we usually go to MIL's and have another Christmas. And we eat leftovers pretty much until New Year!

Christmas Eve we;
bake the ham and the turkey.
Peel all the vegetables and put in pots of cold water.
Par boil the potatoes for the roasties.
Take the pre rolled stuffing and the red cabbage out of the freezer to defrost in the fridge overnight.
Assemble the cauliflower cheese and refrigerate.
Make the bread sauce.
Assemble the breakfast bakes (French toast bake and sausage bake)
All I have to do on christmas day is switch on the hob for the vegetables and stick the assembled dishes in the oven.

Wonderful : I get to spend the whole day with my family since I left the health service.

In all my 20 years service I only got 8 of them free on Christmas Day.

Some things I really miss about the job and others I don’t. This is one.