What you do on Christmas Eve? Share with McDonald’s - £300 voucher to be won

[EllieMumsnet]

Whether Christmas Eve in your household is the calm before the storm or the storm before the calm, it can be a great day to just spend some quality time with family and/or friends. Christmas Eve is celebrated in a whole host of different ways, with traditions varying from going for a long walk, to having chinese takeaway for dinner, to even guessing what the presents around the tree are. With that being said McDonalds would love to hear what you and your household gets up to on Christmas Eve.

Here’s what McDonald's has to say: "“We know it’s a hectic time of year for families, so if it’s a quick coffee when you’re out shopping or popping in on Christmas Eve for some free Reindeer Treat carrots, we are here to help you get #ReindeerReady on your way to Christmas 2018!”

Is Christmas Eve a time where you stay in your Xmas pj’s all day and watch films? Perhaps you like to go to you the pub with friends and family? What about going for a winter walk around your local park? Are you still prepping the presents and dinner for Christmas day? Do you and your family host an annual Christmas Eve party? Or maybe you have a traditional Christmas Eve breakfast, lunch and dinner that you look forward to all year round?

Whatever you and your family gets up to on Christmas Eve share it on the thread below and everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!
MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

Christmas movies (usually the Polar Express), they watching Santa on an app on my phone, we go out for a Happy Meal, and go down to the grandparents to say Happy Christmas and give some gifts. Then its carrots and cookies for the reindeer and the big man, and bed for 8 - a glass of sherry or two for mum.

I'm in charge of my church's Christingle services, on Christmas Eve I make sure over 1000 people get their Christingle Orange in one of three services across the afternoon.
It's hard work, very hectic, but it's a fab way to get people into Church at Christmas, and really sets off Christmas for me.

Being a vicar Christmas Eve is busy time as not only do I have the Christingle in one church, Crib service in another and then midnight mass, there are always last minute preparations for Christmas Day services too.
However, we try and take the morning to go for a walk as a family or if it is raining do something festive inside.
After the crib service the kids tend to find that the elves have been and left them new pyjamas and a book to read to help them stay in bed whilst I'm getting ready for midnight mass!

And McDonalds, no festive pies again in your Christmas menu? How disappointing! We always used to make a special trip just for them.

Sit at one end of the kitchen table helping DD at the other end with her marathon wrapping session, glasses of red at hand! Help find Baby Jesus to add to her lovely nativity scene. Last year I happened to have noticed him in the kitchen, he was Our Lord of the Cutlery Drawer. Bite carrot DGSs put out before they went to bed, SiL drank Santa's whisky and DD are his mince pie. Go to bed happily knowing that morning will bring a red sack at the foot of the bed and an early wake up call by 3 teenagers with strong voices and kazoos: WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! 🌠

We usually stay in PJ's til lunchtime, then the excitement gets too much so we will, if it's nice walk the dog around our local reservoir, if the weather is too harsh, we will run off steam at the local play gym. Then it's happy meals all round, and tucked in bed for 7.00

Make cookies for Santa, little family walk then bath and new pjs before tea(dinner) and a movie all together. Then DH reads DD her bed time story while I start putting out presents. Even on the most exciting night of the year she wants a story for bed so works great for 'playing Santa'.

This year is our DSs first Christmas so it's extra exciting to see how he reacts and if DD let's him play with any of his toys or not!

We have a mostly lazy (pyjama) day on Christmas Eve, DS (11)and I stay in and do last minute tidying and have nice snacks and watch Christmas films . DD(20) and DP go out to the shops - usually to buy my Christmas presents. In the early evening DS and I go out and help "Santa" give selection boxes out to the children in our estate. Then home for Chinese, Prosecco and more Christmas TV in our new Christmas Pyjamas. DS also has a sleep over on his big sisters floor on Christmas Eve so he can make sure she's up super early on Christmas morning to see if Santa has been. [santa]

I do a lot of kitchen prep on Christmas eve. Broken up in the middle of the day by the now- traditional lunch of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs which will be shared with the DC.

Dinner is always ham with baked potatoes and cabbage, followed by mincemeat tart with clotted cream.

Children's church service (ideally with puppets).
Chippy tea.
Christmas jim jams on early (including me and DH), then mince pies and a generous brandy set out for Father Christmas, small people to bed early.

Christmas Eve is usually my time for last minute panic. Everyone else is "relaxed", husband and the grown up children enjoy a beer or three, the smaller children go mad with excitement, pausing only to bop each other on the head or scream loudly about something not being fair. I always end up staying up past midnight wrapping presents and stocking fillers while watching Die Hard but I'm not fool enough to try and creep into small people's rooms any more to fill stockings so they stay in the living room where Father Christmas ahem can easily access them by somehow squeezing himself down the chimney and out of the (horribly middle class) log burner.

For the last couple of years we've started a new tradition of getting new comfy pyjamas and Christmassy duvet covers. We usually forget to sprinkle the reindeer food or leave carrots for them or a snifter for FC but we might remember this year. The kids get hot chocolate before bed if they haven't bopped each other too much.

Christmas Eve is almost as important as Christmas Day in our house. It’s a day for staying in, unless we have family to visit, playing games, doing crafts, baking, I usually prepare Christmas dinner, and then in the afternoon into the evening we have a buffet and do Christmas Eve boxes which include pjs, hot chocolate etc and then a Christmas film before bed

We watch a film, get some snacks and have a quiet evening in, we leave carrot for reindeer and mince pie and milk for Father Christmas

Usually going to work, wrapping presents, visiting friends, last minute shopping. The evening is reserved for a family meal. Often I enjoy xmas eve more than xmas day.

We don't do a lot on Christmas eve. It is normally quite a chilled out day. We go for a nice long walk and come home for toasted sandwiches, soup and hot chocolate followed by a Christmas film or two. The kids have a nice long bath or shower then leave a mince pie and carrot out. When they've gone to bed we bring all the presents down from the attic. We have a normal lunch on Christmas day so there is no prepping required. We don't go anywhere near the shops - if we don't have it we'll live without it for a couple of days.

Usually out for some lunch and a drink and a walk aroun maybe some last minute shopping.

Then up to my parents for a few days with the rest of the family, finish wrapping presents then Christmas Eve night we have turkey sandwiches, lots of sweets and alcohol!

My kids get new pjs and snuggle up together to watch a film in the evening.

I try to yet all of the organisation done before Christmas eve because I want to spend the day having fun with my children. Usually we spend the morning finishing any chores and doing arts and crafts. In the afternoon we go for hot chocolate and come back to the Christmas hamper that our elf has left. Then the children have a bubble bath and put on their new pyjamas courtesy of elf. Then we watch a Christmas film and have popcorn and more hot chocolate and then dinner of some description. I'm still trying to find our Christmas eve Dinner tradition. We used to have Chinese takeaway but I hated the leftovers in the fridge over Christmas. We moved onto gammon with Mac and cheese but our children complained about the gammon so I'm still looking. Then after dinner we do portable north pole and Norad and finally The Snowman. Then it's mince pies, milk and carrots and to bed for the children, followed by prosecco or mulled wine for us.

This year DH has to work in the morning which I'm panicked about with 2 children plus a newborn. So I'm going to make sure all chores have been done pre Christmas eve then will make mince pies with my 7yo and 2yo (ready rolled pastry and mincemeat from a jar) - apart from putting them in the oven i may leave them to it. I also plan to get some Christmas craft stuff from poundland. Lunch will be mussels, fries and crusty bread - easy to cook with a newborn, in keeping with the tradition of fish and no one will complain. Then we're going to head to the garden centre for hot chocolate and cake, followed by our usual traditions. Dinner will be a picky buffet this year. Again, easy to just bung on the table - bread, pringles, party food, cheese, pate and pickles etc. Then maybe a cheeky port before bed for us.

I try to get as much preparation done for the big day so usually it’s a quiet day watching movies in front of the fire. We are old school and track Santa’s progress on the radio (or internet). Get the kids off to bed early and then some mince pie quality control! Love Christmas Eve!

Normally go for a long, chilly walk in the morning, followed by a stop at the pub for lunch and a mulled wine! Then back home to finish wrapping presents (or buying them).

But this year will be different as I am helping out at the homeless shelter on Christmas Eve. Giving something back.

We put the Santa tracker on my phone and watch his progress across the globe at various times of the day. We usually have a lazy morning, I take the DS out for a spot of lunch, whilst the presents are located from the array of hiding places, wait for last minute deliveries from Amazon and Halfords (bikes ) then we will watch Home Alone with popcorn - it's our go-to Christmas movie. The we TRY to sleep before the big man comes !

We go out for an early dinner with friends and their children and do our present swapping. We make sure we're home nice an early, and in lovely fresh pyjamas, we watch a film, read a Christmas book and have some hot chocolate! Once DS is in bed, we get all the presents out and get an early night, ready for the big day!

Lazy breakfast. Husband takes the kids out with him to collect the turkey, choose a gift for me (usually something colourful and hastily selected in Boots!) while I stay home prepping enough food to feed an army. Usually I manage a cuppa in a quiet house with a friend too, before they return with crusty cobs, ham and scratchings from the butcher as well as the rest of the goodies.
Mid afternoon, brother and sister in law arrive with niece. There will be some sort of Christmas related crafts or baking, before tea, baths, reindeer feeding, stockings and snacks left out for Santa. (Santa tires of mince pies and sherry and often opts for a poppadom and a beer). Bedtime, wine/beer, relaxing before cursing ourselves for it and rushing the last minute wrapping and stocking filling. A later than ideal, happy but slightly squiffy night. Every year

It’s got to be a family walk in the woods, with a stop off at the pub, and then home for a film in front of the 🔥

In case anyone had missed it, you may have an early start on Christmas Eve as the space station is passing over us at around 0730!!

We chill out having snacks and watching films. The kids get to open some small Xmas Eve presents, I come from a country where we celebrate and hand out presents on Xmas Eve instead of Xmas day so this way we do half and half Xmas.