We don’t do Christmas Eve or 1 Dec boxs. The Advent Callander arrive on 1 Dec with the Elf’s and new pjs & slippers if I buy them.
Stockings I bought when our oldest was born and had names put on, now we have 3 DCs and none of the stockings match and the younger 2 don’t have personalised ones. They stay down stairs and just get what ever fits shoved in them.
For some daft reason I went and bought initialled sacks, again non match as they all wanted different ones. I don’t like them. I like lots of presents around the tree so the sacks detract from that, but now we have them I don’t know how I can get rid of them.
Our traditions have evolved, nothing I ever thought I would do has really happened.
We stay home at Christmas, the five of us, we never go anywhere and I’m happy no one comes here. I like it just being us and the day taking its own pace. Matching pjs for the DDs has become a thing. I always buy big sizes so they get a couple of years wear out of them.
Breakfast is casual, ready made crepes, toast cereal. It’s all eaten during or just after unwrapping which is a free for all in our house. No taking turns or waiting all day. We then do brunch around the table which has now become a tradition of pancakes, spreads, fruits. This has been at our DDs request. Christmas dinner is about 5-6pm, basically a fancy roast. We tried various foods but now stick to what our DDs like with a simple dessert. No mad rush getting food orders in or buying fancy stuff unless DH and I really want it. Christmas dinner is what ever we get in a normal shop Christmas week.
The rest of Christmas Day is very relaxed.
All table settings are child friendly, I get a couple of colouring table clothes each year, my DDs love them. I’ve also got washable place mats they can draw on and colour. DDs now set up the table for brunch and dinner. Crackers have always been fun games ones, though the new cardboard ones are pretty crap. We still have some plastic wind up santas and snowmen we got in crackers about 6 years ago that race across the floor every Christmas.
Last year I bought a box of Christmas jokes from tescos. One of our favourite parts of Christmas is all the Christmas jokes. Also if you have Alexa, Santa will tell you a joke each day.
Christmas Eve the house is ready, I don’t want to do any cleaning or cooking on Christmas Eve. The day is about relaxing and getting ready. We put the Santa tracker on the tv so my DDs can see where Santa is. Christmas movies are watched, early baths, putting out raindeer food and the Santa stop here sign. Carrots, cookies & milk etc.. We don’t even attempt to get presents out until we are 100% certain the DDs are out of it. Dinner is pizza takeaway, again DDs choice.
Presents get pre wrapped so they can just be put out. There might be an odd one that needs wrapping.
Any family gathering are done before 22nd. We do do a couple of Santa visits and I try to fit one in on the 23rd where we will go out afterwards for a meal. This is pretty much are cue we are almost there, no more visits or activities, just us home for a few days enjoying the atmosphere and spending time together. I have chronic health issues and have missed a lot of things with my DDs which is why we make sure we are ready early and I can have the downtime I need to be able to spend quality time with them. Last year was the first time I took my then 6yo to see Santa, every other year I haven’t been able to, which is one reason I book more than one visit so I have more than one chance.
Elfs, if your going to do them make sure your in it for the long haul. We are very dedicated in our house and now have dozens of them. We have Santas ones that arrive on 1Dec, these aren’t elf on the Shelves, they are plush ones, although some elf on a shelf and elf mates have turned up over the last couple of years. We also have a collection of plush elf’s that are just cuddly toys that come out each year. Our mischievous elf’s don’t do bad things but can get a bit naughty, movie nights eating pop corn and spilling it, getting in the snack draw, racing in Barbie’s cars etc..
Our Elf’s bring things throughout December, it might be a Christmas craft book, other Christmas crafts, Christmas hair accessories for school, flashing light necklaces to wear for the Christmas disco. It’s not every day, but it’s a nice surprise when they bring an extra gift. One year they brought matching Elf T-shirts as we surprised our DDs to Elf the musical.
Advent calendars, our DDs pick a basic chocolate one then get a bigger one on 1Dec. It wasn’t intentional but it just evolved into them thinking Santa sends them with the elf’s. Good ones we got after 1yo were VTech Toot Toot went well with a play set we bought our dd for her first birthday, Rubber Ducks, Peppa Pig we had a few of these and they work well with peppa pig toys. We’ve kept almost all of them which have been put away in the attic with the peppa pig playsets. We’ve had all sorts over the years, play dough, polly pocket, barbie, makeup, jewellery, toiletries, Lego..
DDs have their own Christmas trees. I love my Christmas trees and very protective over them, so very selfishly I bought my DDs their own so they leave mine alone. I don’t tend to throw away Christmas decorations, I collect different themes. My DDs have an abundance of decorations they can use, they have a whole load of frozen decorations, Star Wars, Harry Potter, princess. If I come across something that can be repurposed as a Christmas decoration I keep it. We have an entire box of old McDonald’s soft toys that hang, one year they did an entire tree in them. I still get an odd extra added to my tree which I grin and bear from my youngest but on a whole they leave mine alone 😂
Each dd has their own special decoration for the tree, each is different and relevant to them.
In the early years Santa brought everything, over time the DDs learnt we also bought things and as they get older and find out the truth they understand that it was all us. I’ve never understood getting my knickers in a twist about Santa getting credit for something I did.
Santa list is 4 items. We tell our DDs that everything they pick Santa talks to us about so forget about the pony we don’t have room. Santa lists are locked in early, once posted they can’t change them. I want to make sure I get the main wants so I may need time to get money together or find the right gift. There is nothing worse than running round in the run up to Christmas trying to find that one must have gift. They get way more than 4 gifts but everything else is extra.
I like to be done by 1 Dec so I’m not dealing with crowded shops or crazy gift finding. An odd thing might pop up but it’s not a big deal if everything else is done.
For some it’s equal budget over quantity. For me it’s quantity, as long as piles look even I’m happy. Some years one will have more than the others spent on them, but for me it evens out over time. There was no way I was going to leave my dd with a single Switch because it cost so much when her sisters had massive piles of presents just because theirs weren’t as expansive, ones main gift as £20 and the other had mainly charity shop toys. This year her list is very cheap while my 2nd oldest now wants her own switch, and youngest wants the whole of Smyths toys! so it’s evened out.
Have fun and enjoy, I love Christmas and the best part is making it special for my DDs.