What do you do on Christmas Eve?

[Keepingitsimple101]

I know some people will be working but does anyone do anything special?

We usually go for a walk then have a takeaway.

We are all ready for Christmas Day with presents wrapped and food shop done.

We go to the pantomime and then for a Xmas curry.

We go swimming, then to a café for hot drinks and people watching.

We are having Christmas at my partners parents on Christmas Eve as we are at my parents Christmas Day so it will be Christmas dinner and presents! Then my partner will go to work mid afternoon and DD and I will do home where I will try to calm her down

When I did bar work I used to love the day-time shift on Christmas Eve for similar reasons. Everyone would be in a good mood, regulars would bring in friends/partners/relatives, it was too busy to get bored and people would give loads of tips in the form of 'one for yourself' which we could put on a tab for us to either drink later or take the money.

That's a long time ago now though! This year, I've booked annual leave on Christmas Eve as we have to drive 250 miles to collect my mother and then drive 250 miles back to bring her to our house because she can't drive and can't cope with public transport 🙄

Nothing special during the day but we have our Christmas dinner in the evening, open 1 present each and play a board game after dinner. Then on Christmas day we open the rest of the presents, have family over for a couple of hours and order an indian takeaway once everyone has left.

Mines been the same for nearly 2 decades. We go to the cemetery to see my dad and brother in the morning, pop into a cafe to have hot chocolate and donuts, back for a quick sandwich, prep xmas dinner, open xmas eve boxes/bags, takeaway with a bottle of champagne and film, put presents out, shower and bed. My kids are now young adults still living at home so join us for drinks and film if they are home.

With all 3 adult DC elsewhere and all parents dead,DH and I will sit and look at each other until we get bored and then go to bed. Sorry if that's not very festive cheery but its our reality this year.

One of the better Christmas films as we have been binging on the rubbish ones. Chinese takeaway and do all the Christmas wrapping once the kids are in bed

Christmas Eve morning we always go out as a family for a breakfast: when the children were small this was breakfast with Santa, but our youngest is 12 now, so we're well beyond believers! So, we now go somewhere very lovely, but much more grown up.

After that, we wander through the little shops next to where we go just to look at last minute bits, and occasionally into Waitrose if we haven't managed to find something we want for the big day.

Then home, where it is a legal requirement to watch Muppet's Christmas Carol. Previously, we would get back to find a Christmas Eve box but, again, as the children have outgrown it, this year we are just leaving some selection boxes out for them. We also always try to play some board/card games in the afternoon.

Dinner is always a party/finger food buffet. I think I prefer this to actual Christmas dinner! DH and I are off to M&S tomorrow to spend vouchers on picking the party food up and then Sainsbury's are delivering all the normal food bits for the week on Christmas Eve this year, so we'll be unpacking that too.

We'll probably find a slightly more grown up Christmas film to watch with the DC before bed, then all go up early because we all get overexcited still.

I love Christmas Eve; easily my favourite day of the season.

Visit my DM in her nursing home

Collect all the Christmas food

Make dinner

Watch TV and put the presents under the tree.

Make mince pies and sausage rolls
walk the dog
finish wrapping gifts
5pm crib service at church
pub
sausage and mash at a friends house
home to watch NORAD track Father Christmas across the globe and a Christmas movie!!

Take dog for a walk, then home home for Christmas movies which will consist of Home alone, the polar express and then the Christmas chronicles. In that order. Chinese for dinner. While we track santa.

When at work, there was the scramble to make sure that all the children in care were OK in their placements, had had contact with their parents, etc.
That all the care leavers living independently had somewhere to go for Christmas dinner so they weren’t alone, that they had Christmas presents, etc.
That all the children with their families who were struggling had Christmas presents and food.
That there were clothes, toiletries and toys ready for the inevitable Christmas Eve/Day admissions to care or admissions to the Women's Refuge.
Since retirement, Christmas Eve has been a lot less frantic, although I know that my colleagues are still dealing with these matters.

These days, last minute tidying, putting up the tree if I didn’t manage to get it done for Solstice. (the DC do this, if they are with us), ditto the greenery for the mantelpiece.
Then going to the evening carol singing and hot chocolate on the village green. (I never made it home in time when I was working)
Then a few friends round for drinks and nibbles.
I like to have a late night wander under the stars, too.

Yes this is my kind of Christmas Eve! Don’t really get to properly relax until after Christmas dinner

Prep the veg and dress the table in the morning. We always visit our local garden centre- all their Christmas things are 50% off so usually pick up some nice bits for the following year. Have a festive hot chocolate and a bit of a walk. Then in the evening, M&S buffet and festive films!

Christmas Eve is always chilled for us. I always FaceTime my DM in the mornings. Sometimes my DP has some last minute wrapping to do.

Then DP and I will watch Christmas films (always It’s A Wonderful Life) and have a charcuterie board and picky bits for dinner.

Listen to some carols, light the fire, have a glass of sherry (only time I ever drink the sickly stuff 😁) whilst prepping for Christmas Day brunch: first time in 30 years it’s just the two of us. Then Chinese takeaway and a ghost story on telly.

DH and I will take kids into town to look at the lights, go the local musuem and have a nice lunch in a cafe.

Then I need to wrap all the gifts, do my Christmas ham and have a well earned glass of red wine and some cheese.

We will take the dog for a walk to the beach and have a drink somewhere. Then we watch The Snowman and the Snowdog and The Polar Express and make pizzas. I’ll have a baileys or mulled wine and we’ll hope our DS is asleep before 9pm! I debated maybe going to a kids church service this year. We have never been before but not sure if it will be unfair on him!

I live in Spain so the main event is an evening meal on the 24th and Christmas Day is kind of an after thought. Then there is the three kings on the evening of the 5th January and 6th January is like UK Christmas Day.

DH was an only child of older parents who are now dead so it's just us and our teens
We have a sort of roast if I have managed to get someone to bring my bisto before Christmas and then kind of repeat it on Christmas day. Otherwise DH makes some other dish, probably pork.

Sometimes I work on Christmas Eve, DH does if it's a week day but can usually leave early.

We’re having a Christmas Eve breakfast, mainly to get our sons out of bed and ready for work/travel 😁.

We’re then travelling down to my parents, first time since pre covid that we’ve actually properly gone away for Christmas. They’ve either always come to us, or we’ve gone to them for lunch etc

Always watch Carols from Kings. Bizarrely I have developed a tradition where I must drink a bottle of lager and packet of ready salted crisps whilst I watch!

I’m taking the kids to soft play at 9am so DH can collect the Christmas food orders from M&S and Waitrose, then we might go for a walk down the coast and be back in time for SIL’s Christingle service at 3pm.
then tea time, kids bath, put out treats for Santa and read the night before Christmas together before they go to bed.
DH and I will have some party food nibbles for tea and an earlyish night

We don't do anything specific but always try to keep the DC occupied. Last year I invented a reason to walk to the pet shop which killed an hour or so!

This year we're going swimming, to their favourite pool which is a good 45mins away. By the time we've done that, come home and had baths (they usually ask for a slime or jelly bath which keeps them busy for ages, but they're getting a bit big to share now!), it's practically dinner time.

Hopefully the swimming will make them nice and tired

we have our main Christmas meal on Christmas Eve night (fish fest!) and have always done gifts that day too. Christmas Day for us is mainly spent visiting.

We've had years we that one or both of us have had to work over Christmas itself but somehow (in almost 30 years!) have always manged to both be at home on Christmas Eve.