Christmas Eve to Boxing Day - talk me through your plans and traditions

[Poppins17]

We’re two adults and have one dog.

we live close to my parents who we see regularly and my sibling and partner are coming up for Christmas.

Christmas Eve we’ll most likely have a leisurely morning, which will include sausage baps, a nice dog walk, shower and get ready. I will likely make some homemade sausage rolls and mince pies. Early afternoon we’ll head to my parents when my sibling will be there, and we will watch some tv and chat before preparing the tea. We always have hot roast pork sandwiches on Christmas Eve which we’ll have with my sausage rolls and little mini sausages. We’ll likely head to our local pub for a few drinks before heading home. We’ll go back to ours when we may watch a film before heading to bed.

Christmas morning we’ll have baked croissants and jam, and open our presents in our pjs. We’ll take the dog out and get showered and ready for the day. We’ll then be at my parents from mid morning until around 10pm. We usually have lunch around 1pm. We’ll play board games in the afternoon, head out to walk the dogs, and then have some Turkey sandwiches whilst watching tv on the evening. We will go back to ours to bed.

For Boxing Day this year we are having brunch at my parents followed by a trip to the cinema to see Wonka. We will come back to our house for an evening meal where we will have roast gammon, jacket potatoes, slaw, salad, macaroni cheese, then a fruit salad and cakes for dessert.

It’s likely we will play more games, and watch more tv.

My sibling is going home on 27th, so we probably will have a few days on our own from then, as we aren’t back at work until 2nd January.

Id love to hear your traditions and plans.

I love to hear how people celebrate Christmas too. Your Christmas sounds really lovely and cosy and full of traditions @Poppins17
Here's ours:
Christmas Eve day is getting general ducks in a row re. prepping food and last minute dash for present shopping and then wrapping, non-stop Christmas carols.
Christmas Eve night: all is quiet, we lit candles everywhere, have a little fancy food, fancy drinks, more Christmas music, aaaand just as we're half falling asleep, a mad dash to midnight mass which is always a faff to get to and always so nice once there and chuff-making. We leave music, all the lights (not candles obv.) on, so that we get to see our Christmassy house and get that fuzzy feeling when we get back. Quick fancy food, more drinks, open some presents and bed, or games and then bed for those who have the energy. One (safe?) candle on a window sill left on all night.
Christmas Day: lit candles, get dressed in our fineries, have breakfast and drinks, open presents, even more music. Final preps for lunch, table set up. Another faff getting to Christmas day service. Back at home first guests arrive more drinks and nibbles, more presents, more candles, more music, more lunch prep until everyone is here and then finally, at aiming for 1h30/2, lunch (long). Then optional (not optional for kids) longest walk we can manage before dark, then it's more nibbles, chocolates, sandwiches, drinks and games until people either drift away or go to bed.
Boxing Day: like Christmas day minus church and at someone else's house.

Just obsessed with candles and music really.

I always cook a big boiled gammon ham on Xmas Eve with mashed potatoes, carrots and peas. This has the bonus of having cold ham you can offer to cut for people once they are fed up of turkey. DH and I put on a Xmas film to watch by we finish off the wrapping gifts on Xmas Eve. Xmas morning this year there will just be me, DH and Foster Son because my youngest son moved into his own home in August. I cook a big breakfast at 8am of 1/2 fat sausages, scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and baked beans. We have fresh orange juice with the bits in and fresh coffee. DH will walk the dogs while I am cooking breakfast. He'll load up the dishwasher and get it on. He will cook his lentil loaf. We are going over to my youngest sons for Xmas dinner. I am paying for the food shop but he is cooking and has banned me from the kitchen. I will sit and drink Prosecco and eat a few chocolates . DH will act as his assistant peeling and prepping the vegetables. DH is vegetarian. We are taking a buffet warmer to keep food hot. DS has never cooked a turkey crown and a beef before. That's what we will eat for Xmas dinner. We will eat at about 3pm. Before we eat we'll facetime my DD and DGC too ask what Santa brought them and my eldest DS and his gf to wish them all a merry Xmas. After Xmas lunch we'll pop back for our 2 dogs and all go around the lake for a good walk. We'll drop them back home after and give them a treat and they'll snooze for a couple of hours. We'll open gifts then and play board games or possibly start a jigsaw puzzle. Our Foster son is getting Yahtzee so I expect we'll be playing that. We never eat dessert straight after Xmas lunch because we're all stuffed but we have a selection of desserts at 6. This year profita rolls, lemon cheesecake or raspberry pavlova with ice cream. I drink but DH won't as he'll drive us home. We will go back to our house about 7. DH will walk dogs again. We'll both drink more wine once we're home and watch another Xmas movie. MiL and BiL usually facetime us about 8pm. Bed about 10.30pm. A similar lazy day on Boxing Day. We'll only go out to walk our dogs. We eat leftovers for an early lunch about 12.30pm and have a buffet for dinner about 4pm. My youngest son will come over for the buffet. He and DH usually go for a drink together afterwards. I'll tidy up and watch a movie with Foster Son. We might play a game if he wants to. On 27th we are dropping dogs over to my youngest sons and he will care for them for 2 days whilst we visit MiL and BiL with their Xmas gifts. MiL has her Xmas meal on 27th because BiL works on Xmas day so she has a ready meal Xmas day and goes to a friend's on Boxing day. We'll walk along the sea front if it's not raining. On evening of 28th we're all booked in for a meal out at the local restaurant. On 29th we'll visit my eldest DS and gf on the way home with only a small detour. He will cook for us. We've already exchanged gifts with my eldest son and gf, also with DD and DGS's because last weekend we had our annual fake Xmas together. It was only weekend I could get all my DC and DGC together for a Xmas meal I cooked and took DGC climbing on Friday night and to a paint a Xmas bauble on the Saturday morning with eldest son and his gf too. These will now be fired in a kiln and I will go to collect them on the 22nd. We'll stay overnight with eldest son and go home on evening of 30th. We'll collect dogs on the way home. A very lazy 31st before DH and I go out for dinner on 31st December to see the new year in.

Both sound wonderful @Anyonyond and @caringcarer ☺️

we are a family of 5, my dd is 20 and sons are 11 and 8.
christmas Eve: some sort of walk with the kids and dog, invite any family but may go just us. I always cook my turkey on Christmas Eve, so put that in then go to local carols. Do the whole Santa mince pie thing even though I don’t think we believe any more… 😢
Christmas morning- presents for dc, stocking and main. Everything comes from FC. Rip everything open in minutes (not a true mumsnetter 🤣) we have a puppy so she will need a good walk somewhere. I’m cooking for 13 so I’ll do a fair bit of prep on Xmas Eve and will do the meal for around 2.30/3. Dh and I will do our gifts to each other at some point.
My family will arrive, late. They are hard work. They don’t help. I’ll drink quite a lot to get through the day…. ! Meal, presents for the dc, bit of Christmas telly and a light buffet dinner. None of them are big drinkers really.
Boxing Day- I fully intend to veg out in my pjs and chill, play with the kids, take my doggie out.

We’ll do a few activities in the week between Christmas and new year, then see dh’s family on nye.

Completely low key, not even having visitors or going to see family.
Only thing planned is taking soup and hot dogs in flasks to the beach on Boxing Day for a long dog walk.
Bliss!

Christmas Eve everyone will have a lie in. I’ll be up at my usual time, lights and heating on, candle on and coffee and a Christmas movie in the quiet. I can’t wait. A Sunday morning is my favourite time of the week when the house is silent. Everyone up and then all hands on deck to tidy the house. No plans on CE afternoon yet. I am not sure what we will do. DS will likely want to see his girlfriend for a few hours though.

CD, just us in the morning and for lunch which will be around 1 pm. Presents open, chocolate and champagne for breakfast. We then have an open house from 3 pm onwards. That lasts until about 9. In fact everyone has taxis booked at 9 so I am quite happy with that. We do drinks, snacks, cheese boards and pudding. Music on, kids on VR/playstation or watching TV/playing. It’s fab.

Boxing Day will be quiet as this year we are back to work on Tuesday 27th. Likely a house tidy, more food, a couple of drinks in the afternoon and an early night. Possibly a walk depending on the weather.

Oooh I love threads like this!

We're having a small stay-at-home Christmas this year, just me, DH and teen DS. We had a very large extended family Christmas last year - we promised autistic DS a quieter one this year.

Christmas Eve we're going out for breakfast. Then back home for a day of prep and chilling. In the evening we are having a cheese board and bits and pieces from the deli, with lots of red wine (coke for DS). I'll spread it all out on the table and we'll graze on it while we watch a christmasy film.

At bed time we'll put our stockings out in front of the fireplace - we all have one in this family - and as soon as DS has closed his bedroom door DH and I will fill them and follow DS to bed.

Christmas morning I'll be the first one up, and off to church. I'm really looking forward to this bit of the day, a quiet coffee by the light of the Christmas tree with everyone else still asleep, carols on classic FM, and stockings and presents all ready for later.

We'll open our stockings and have brunch when I'm back from church - DS will have emerged from his bed by then. Brunch is DH's department, I think he's planning smoked salmon on sourdough toast, with banana bread on the side! Then at some point we'll open presents, go for a walk, and play a board game.

Christmas dinner is my job - I love cooking it! We'll eat it around six by candlelight. Then probably watch a film together.

No firm plans for boxing day. We'll probably do a traditional boxing day walk and eat leftovers.

We are doing things slightly different this year as my lovely husband is deployed so just me and our 3 DD’s as we live over 500 miles away from family…thankfully the girls are all tween/teens now, a great help and lots of fun so I’m still really looking forward to it.

Christmas Eve a north pole breakfast (yes they are all teens and tweens and yes they do all still this insist this happens) table set with tacky Santa plates mugs, table cloth (which I use every year) lots of maple syrup, whippy cream, candy canes and hot chocolate and nothing of a lot of nutritional value, when Santa Clause is coming to town comes on they know it’s time to come down.

We are then doing a yard ride out with the horses, tinsel, reindeer ears, carols, back to the yard to do the ponies secret Santa presents and mulled wine and mince meat pies.

Have a table at our local Chinese booked at night which will involve a walk across the moors (very excited about this, we normally just get a take away) and this year as a bit of fun (and a nod to my own childhood) if the girls get to keep their Christingle candle/orange light all the walk back they will get to open a little present each.

Shower/baths the Christmas fairy (yes we still do this too) will leave some new matching PJ’s out, a mandatory picture in front of the tree, stockings and sacks left out and off to bed….though I’m not sure how much I will push bedtime this year, we might squish in a Christmas movie!

Christmas morning, they are not allowed through before 7am but I secretly love waking earlier and listening to them giggling and the excitement building, they still all also insist on sleeping in the same room which makes me laugh.

I am a little bit worried about timings as normally DH and I are a tag team with horses, checking “if he’s been” lighting candles, fire, carols etc” I think we might do stockings, pause do a Jammie run to the yard, give horses breakfast, throw out and of course check if Santa has remembered to fill their stockings, and then back for sacks and bigger Santa presents.

A little bit down time for me while piles are formed in their bedroom, friends are called, new stuff is tried on, bath bombs are used…
As much a I love that they still very much enjoy the traditions and fun of their childhood, this part makes me smile too as such typical teenage routines, that I remember doing when I was their age.

Eldest two DD’s are on the starter which for us is a relaxed but large tray of Bellinis topped with smoked Salmon, crab, Parma ham etc, prawn cocktail in baby gem lettuce leaves and little tarts, everyone is dress up and we sit and enjoy with some nice bubbles and open family presents under the tree, we take it in turns and the whole thing feels very grown up and lovely…

We eat our Christmas dinner later, sometimes even 7 with the usual crackers, silly hats and Christmas music, the girls also get a present at the table, sometimes it’s something fun but nice and other years it’s a main present, this year it’s a Dior Lio oil and new phone for them all.

After dinner games, more fizz, dessert if anyone can fit it in and maybe a little down time for me!!!

Boxing Day traditionally for me was always another big day as was my dads birthday so we would either host or go to visit family for a party and often it would end up later, bigger than Christmas Day…

It has been taken down a notch in this house but it’s not a total slump day, usually a relaxed start and then a ride and then back for a walk across the fields to our village pub for a pint back home just as it’s getting dark for my favourite meal on Christmas time, baked ham, crusty bread, sausage rolls, piccalilli/pickles, cheese board, left over pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, Brussels with chestnuts and bacon etc etc…

Followed by games, sing songs, quizzes.

Love all these🎄✨
It's nothing, just a little dust in my eye.

Sounds wonderful Dingdong

Our plans vary each year depending on what day Christmas Eve is (as sometimes DP is working although not this year).

On the morning of 23rd DD and I will go to pick the food order up but we’ll stop off at M&S cafe first and have a Christmassy treat. That evening I’ll put the ham in the slow cooker covered in apple juice and a few spices and hopefully we’ll wake up Christmas Eve morning with the house smelling of Christmas spice.

Christmas Eve morning I’ll glaze the ham off and finish it off in the oven, then slice it once cooled. We’ll have a normal breakfast. During the morning I’ll make mince pies (Mary Berry’s frangipane mince pies). Lunch we’ll have the Christmas ham in bread rolls with salad. Afternoon I’ll prep the veg. Between 5-6 the rotary club come round with the Santa sleigh so we’re on watch for him and then we’ll go to the chippy and bring tea home - we’ll go the slightly longer way to see the amazing decorated house a couple of roads down. We’ll have the mince pies as pudding, saving one for Santa. Then DD will go to bed and we (DP, DS and my dad) will prob watch a film and have a drink.

Christmas Day morning, prob get up about 7 and do presents. If anyone wants breakfast they can have cereal. Then at 10 we’ll have pastries, fruit, juice, and then open the champagne. PIL will probably arrive about 10.30 so we’ll do presents again then. A cinderella film (with Lily James) is on BBC1 at 11am for a couple hours so I’ll probably watch that in the kitchen, DD may watch it with me or she maybe on Roblox online with her friends and DS will be on his Xbox again probably online with his mates. Aiming to start lunch at 1pm, hoping to be finished by 3. The original Italian Job is on in the afternoon which I’d like to watch. Tea will be pizza, cheese, meats and crackers or bread. May play cards in the evening (we’re not into board games).

Boxing Day we’ll have a cooked breakfast and spend the morning finishing off tidying up from the previous day. Lunch will be buffet/picnic type foods (including leftover ham and turkey) then PIL will head off home. In the afternoon DP, DS and my dad will probably watch whatever football is on and DD and I will (weather permitting) go to the park for an hour just to get out and get some fresh air. Dinner will be something oven ready and then at 9pm I’ll be settling down for Death in Paradise (don’t care what anyone else is doing).

I love these type of threads and everyone's Christmasses sound lovely.

Christmas Eve
I'll get up early and do some cleaning and prep. We'll go for a lunch of cheese, bread and pickles at the in-laws. In the afternoon we'll walk to church for the family service and probably stop off at the pub on the way home. We're having friends and neighbours coming for supper (23 in total) in the evening so we're making a huge chilli with rice and nachos. There will be cocktails and champagne and lots of singing. Kids will get some new PJs before bed and they'll lay their sacks out in front of the fire. They're 18, 16,13 and 11 but we'll still do it!

Christmas morning
They're allowed to open one present without us and then it's a pile into our room to open stockings. DH will go downstairs and light the fire and make me coffee and we'll all go down to open presents.

We all head out to my BIL and SIL for smoked salmon breakfast and champagne and then go for a decent walk with the dogs.

Get home and I'll start cooking whilst kids mess with their new stuff or watch Christmas TV. Family arrive around 5 and we'll have Christmas dinner at six. By 10 we're all done for.

Boxing day
We'll head for a walk with family and then everyone will come to us for leftovers. The afternoon will be spent recovering and generally doing nothing.

I love Christmas and all our traditions. It makes me feel warm inside.

Christmas Eve: DH will be driving down to get his mum and bring her back to ours to stay 3 nights. The DC are going out with their dad for the day. I'll be at church in the morning, then shifting rooms around to get a room ready for MIL, wrapping the DC's presents and doing fridge Tetris when the groceries get delivered. In the evening we're going to our local English Heritage place for their light show, then back to ours for dinner. That will be a candle-lit shepherd's supper: indoor picnic with warm bread, hummus, cheese etc. We'll watch The Snowman and Father Christmas and I'll take the DC to midnight Mass. Stockings will be miraculously filled during the night.

Christmas Day: The DC will be up at the crack of dawn to open their stockings. DS will stay in bed, surrounded by chocolate coin shells and playing on his Switch. DD will bounce into our bedroom, sit on me and chatter loudly while opening her stocking and making a mess. At some point I will then get up, make breakfast (croissants, fruit and orange juice is our tradition for Christmas morning) and start prepping for lunch. My family will arrive anywhere between 10-12. We'll exchange secret Santa gifts and the kids will open their tree presents. Lunch will be served at 1230-ish (toddler DN can't go longer than that). We'll play some games, chill out and we'll have a cheese board tea with whoever's left in the evening.

Boxing Day: no plans. This is a chilled day so will tidy up, clean and potter around. Might go for a walk if it's not raining.

December 27th: we'll all take MIL home, taking her out for lunch on the way. DH, DC and I have a tradition of doing some sort of activity today. Last year we did the Tomb Raider experience (really fun). This year we're going into Stratford for the Horizon of Khufu VR experience. Looking forward to that!

Christmas Eve - the first morning that we'll all be at home together for the first time in ages (DC are all at uni).
So a lazy start, with a brunch fry-up.
Finish decorating the Xmas tree - DC have to hang their own baubles collected over the years.
Forest walk, then home for tea and mince pies.
Board games or a movie.
Dinner is usually a Chinese delivery.
Stockings hung over the fireplace, treats left out for Father Christmas (who may come before the last of us are in bed!)

Christmas Day - another slow start, open stockings and gifts, with coffee, juice and pastries. FaceTime family.
Beach walk.
Cocktails 🍸 and nibbles
Prepare lunch for about 4pm. I've pre-ordered most of it so should be stress free - duck, veggie wellington, small turkey joint.
Play games etc.
Big fat sandwiches if anyone is hungry.

Boxing Day - late breakfast, then off to football match and ice-skating.
Slow-cooked gammon, egg and chips for dinner.

We are a family of 4 with primary age DC.

Christmas Eve varies, but this year going to West End to see Pantomime and look around. DH always cooks jerk ham with egg and chips and we have cold cuts throughout the holiday. Evening, the kids get a new teddy and PJs and a bath bomb. They have a bath, put the PJs on, have some photos taken and then we read T'was The Night Before Christmas, put the snacks out for Santa and then they go to bed. When asleep, we bring all the wrapped gifts down to put under the tree, eat dinner, watch TV and have a few drinks.

Christmas morning they wake us up early and open their gift from Santa, which he leaves on the end of their bed, on our bed. Then downstairs for coffee and stockings, followed by breakfast with lots of Christmas music, followed by tree gifts. This year we will go to my parents for lunch so we'll then chill/play/watch TV until leaving for theirs at about 11am. Christmas night - booze, cheese, movie.

Boxing Day - spend the day in onesies playing games, reading books while the kids play with toys, watching TV and eating loads of lovely food.

Also love these threads.

Christmas eve.
Last minute food shopping/tidying up in the morning. We have a
late afternoon Christmas eve party at home, very busy. I get food/drinks/house
ready while listening to Carols from Kings on the radio. After our party we all
walk up the pub for Christmas carols and FC arrival.
Christmas day.
Kids have stockings in bed, then go downstairs for breakfast. We
eat breakfast in the dining room, not the kitchen as usual. Kids have a present
of new clothes on their chairs. Breakfast is pastries, fruit salad, yogurt, juice,
coffee.
Then we all get dressed and ready for the day.
Move to living room and opening presents under the tree. We
always do one present at a time. The youngest picks the first tree present and
gives to whomever it's for. They unwrap it, then choose the next present and
give it to whomever that present is for and so on.
We have a little break from opening presents to walk to church.
Back from church for more present opening this time accompanied
by champagne and maybe salmon rolls or panettone or something.
Lunch time, again in the dining room not the kitchen. Traditional
Christmas lunch with a starter first, more champagne/cava and Christmas
crackers. Every year we're all too full up for pudding, so flop in front of TV
for a bit/ do a dog walk. A few hours later we're ready for Christmas pudding
then more TV followed by cheese and biscuits in the living room.
Boxing day.
Organised sea swim (yes really!) followed by pub lunch then home
to flop for the rest of the day.
Depending on the days Christmas falls, we might get a Parkrun in
there as well.
I love Christmas!

Christmas Eve - Dp is working this year so it will be just me and ds (2) until he gets home. We will bake and decorate cookies for Santa, watch a Christmas movie or 2, do some Christmas crafts and I might take him to soft play if it’s not too busy 😋
After dp finishes work he will come home and get changed and then we will go to Toby Carvery for tea 😁
When we get back from Toby Carvery we will open our Christmas Eve boxes and put out the milk, cookies and carrot for Santa and his reindeer then dp will do bath time with ds (there is a LUSH Santa bath bomb in his Christmas Eve box) whilst I fill their stockings and bring the presents down and arrange them in the living room for the morning 🤗

Christmas Day - We will all open stockings in our bed and then we will go out to visit and exchange presents with parents/grandparents and have breakfast at my parents house. We will hopefully be home by 1/2 and then we will open our presents 😊 Whilst ds plays with his new toys we will make buffet food which we will have for tea and probably watch a movie 🍿

Boxing Day - We will go to the LUSH sale to stock up on bath bombs for ds and then we will go home and play with ds and his new toys/ds will most likely still be unwrapping presents and get a takeaway for tea 🍕

We’re going to stay in on the 27th so ds can have a full day with his new things/continue unwrapping things and dp can relax before he goes back to work

Christmas Eve I’ll pop over to mum and dad’s and prep the veg and cook the turkey. We’ll get the four kids (DS12, DS11, DSD14 and DSS12) from their other parents late afternoon and head over to our neighbours open house for a few drinks. Then back to ours for a picky tea and a few presents under the tree to open which are Christmas bowl and mug sets, a hot chocolate bomb and a little statue that they can paint, so they’ll do that, we’ll watch a film and send them upstairs to bed… DP and I will then sort the piles and the stockings out and head up too

Christmas Day - imagine up about 09:30, DP will walk dog over to get his mum and then presents for the kids before a big fry up. Bit of chill out time then the 7 of us will walk over to mum and dad’s. My brothers and sister, their partners and kids will all be there bringing the total to 20. We’ll do presents again and then have dinner about 5 - my little brother is doing starters - soup and Brie and bacon topped potato rostis. Me and mum will do the main, with help from everybody when we need. After dinner we’ll drink and chat, the kids normally stick a movie on in the snug and the middle generation sometimes head up to the games room to play pool.

We’ll walk home probably quite late and quite tipsy and fall into bed.

Boxing Day will be a chilled morning and then drop kids back to their other parent, then back to mum and dad’s for dinner of leftovers/buffet with best family friends. Siblings will at in-laws so maybe a slightly quieter day but probably still end up in a kitchen disco! I can’t wait!

This is so interesting that people have actual plans for those days? I'm just excited for two empty weeks to do whatever we fancy.

Christmas Eve: food prep in the morning, strip and change beds, hoover and mop. Always have soup for lunch on Christmas Eve, then sit down to watch Raymond Briggs Father Christmas with a hot chocolate. Maybe a drink at the village pub then a buffet for dinner. Dc have baths with Christmas bath bombs and get into pyjamas then mince pie etc out for Santa, read Night Before Christmas and then bed. Once they're in bed, presents put under the tree and then I have a glass of port and watch the Ghost Story for Christmas on BBC. Fill stockings and then bed.
Christmas Day: dc get up and bring their stockings into our room, dh will go down and make drinks, feed cats and put on the tree lights and then we all open stockings together on our bed. Downstairs for breakfast and Buck's Fizz and then we open presents together. All get washed and dressed into Christmas jumpers and go to PILs for more presents and cups of tea then home for Christmas dinner followed by lounging I for a bit and then a Christmas special or film with leftovers before bed.
Boxing Day: I get up and make dessert to take and then we all get showered and dressed into fancier clothes to go to my parents for more presents, lunch of cold meat and chips and a buffet in the evening.

I love our Christmas, the little traditions we've made over the years. Usually on Christmas Day, before going to IL's we would visit my best friend's parents who live over the road and take them a present but my friend's dm died recently and her df is very frail and confused, I don't think I can face it so I'm giving a present to my friend to give to her df to avoid getting emotional on the doorstep.

DH and I and two DC- 13 and 12. Until recently we lived overseas where Christmas is ( very) secondary to Chinese New Year and even Thanksgiving so we never really established that many traditions as often went away. However, FWIW

23rd: Christmas Parkrun and parents arrive
Christmas Eve: probably just a walk and then DM and I will go to midnight mass in the evening. Will do some meal prep and last minute shopping.
christmas Day: kind of just normal stuff- stockings, presents, lunch, games and a film. DHs family will come over as well so 10 of us.
Boxing Day- sea dip first thing, coffee and a swig from the hip flask to warm up. Boxing Day buffet ( different family coming) and, the most unmissable thing…. George VI Chase and associated sweepstake.

We honestly don't have tradition or do the same thing each year. It all depends what we fancy and what others are doing. This year we'll not do much xmas eve apart from having a tidy and going to see some lights locally. Xmas day it's just us 4 so a nice lunch of a big cheese platter then a walk and pub with friends. Boxing Day is lunch at MILs so we can get the traditional roast. After that we'll just try and relax till New Years and then on NYE it's drinks at a friends house.

Dh is working away flies back on Christmas Eve
Dd is working 9.30 til 2.30
Going to have a tidy up and take the dog for a walk then in the evening having nibbles and a cheeseboard
Christmas Day will have pork pie and toast (a traditional breakfast for us on Christmas Day) and fresh coffee open some gifts then take the dog for a walk.We are going to my mil’s for dinner and will call in to see my Dm and Db on the way.In the evening we’ll just relax at home and have a few drinks and probably sandwiches or any leftovers from Christmas Eve.Dd’s boyfriend is spending Christmas Day with us so he’ll stay over.
Boxing Day we will have a lie in and I’ll do a cooked breakfast and we’ll open more gifts (we always save some to open on Boxing Day one of our traditions I’ve carried on from when I lived at home ) then we are going to my fil’s for tea.

Christmas Eve we will go to sils and swap presents with dh’s family. Their parents used to get them very hyped up before Christmas when they were little and even in their forties they will still be over excited about the big day 😁
Then I will come home and cook the Christmas ham and make the traditional fruit salad for the morning. Might have an evening walk to look at the lights or if the weather is good head to the park. We will have an evening meal of the ham, cheese, breads, salad, jacket potatoes before settling down with a film.
in the morning we will have stockings on our bed and then head down for breakfast and tree presents. Breakfast is always fruit salad and pain au chocolat, with coffee and orange juice. At the same time dh will be getting the turkey in the oven and we will start with a bucks fizz. A bit later my parents will come for lunch and we will exchange gifts and generally relax, chat and eat.
Boxing Day we will be at my parents along with the in-laws for a buffet and games, as they are all good friends. Happy times.

Such a lovely thread - two DD 10 & 13. Our traditions are mainly Xmas eve and Boxing Day as we rotate location of Xmas day

Xmas eve
Morning swim
Fish pie lunch
Elves visit with pjs, hot choc and a game (now from Nintendo)
The same friends arrive after Carols from Kings and shortly after the elves. Fizz and cheese
Fall into bed shortly after children

Xmas day
Fizz and Breakfast of croissants / choc
Either host lunch or go somewhere
Small tree present on return before bed

Boxing Day
Eat cheese on sofa