We have 36 people here for Christmas Eve dinner from great grandparents to babies. Then Christmas Day is spent usually just the two of us or maybe a couple of the kids if they don’t have obligations. One son is married so spends the day with in laws. One is single and spends with friends who don’t have family nearby. Third alternates the two sides of the family. We spend the day in pajamas eating chocolate, leftovers and enjoying the peace and quiet.
^^you are so lucky. I wish we were having a huge gathering.
Both mine and my husband’s family is 5-6 hours drive from us. When D was very young, we’d ship the presents down to my mom’s, then I’d warp them when I got there, usually on Christmas Eve. Well, that got to be a pain, and some years, the weather made it difficult to travel… When D started kindergarten, we made the choice to spend Christmas at home. Sometimes, if the weather cooperates, and no one has homework to make up, :), we will drive down to see relatives the week after Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, another couple we know - she is from Scotland so also has no family here - takes turns with us hosting an informal dinner and dessert… But this year, my H is recuperating from a hospital stay, so we are alone and without guests this year…
Every year, my D and I bake Christmas cookies at night. Usually just a dozen or so, because it’s just the three of us.
I usually make a coffee cake for breakfast the next day, unless I’ve bought something else for breakfast.
On Christmas day, we open presents in the morning, and we do it the way we did it in my family, growing up - one person at a time. This takes a couple hours, but it’s much more satisfying this way, imo. (I remember the first time I saw a family with kids where everyone opened all of their gifts at once. I was aghast! lol Such chaos!) While we’re opening gifts, we play Christmas CDs or on Pandora, eat coffee cake or doughnuts and fresh fruit and lots and lots of coffee.
I don’t like to cook too much on Christmas, but I will make or buy snack or potluck-type foods the day before. I usually make a macaroni salad because that’s what my Mom always made. I always get a fresh fruit tray, or make one, and H and drink a nice bottle of wine.
We basically just graze all day, watch Christmas movies, or binge-watch a netflix show together, or play board games.
Just writing that, I realize it sounds boring, but - it is very relaxing and peaceful, and I look forward to having the day at home with my husband and daughter, and no one needs to be anywhere…
Oh we almost always stay in our pajamas until afternoon, as well. It is LOVELY.
On one memorable Christmas the four of us did church and gifts on the 24th and went skiing on the 25th. We had the highway and Breckenridge Mountain (about 2 hours away) almost to ourselves in all morning. It was grand. On the 26th we did gifts with my mom. We’ve done similar at Vail on Thanksgiving.
My husband’s family used to open up presents all at once. My then-fiancé saw how my family opened one at a time, and that year, he convinced his family to open one at a time. They continued that each year. I would have been astonished, also, to see them all ripping into their gifts at once, lol!
My extended family always opened up one at a time, and so does my immediate family. I love how we delight in each other’s gifts and how we savor it all no matter how long it takes!
There’s no way we can open one at a time. It would take days.
We’re a one at a time family too. Too much money and time goes into choosing and wrapping. Plus, we have nowhere else to be. We have coffee and mimosas and listen to music. When my son was little one year he literally took all day because he stopped to play with stuff along the way. After the first year traveling we decided never again and my parents ended up coming down for Christmas eve and presents Christmas morning and went back for Christmas dinner with the rest of the family.
I usually have a new game of some kind for the kids for Christmas (we especially love book oriented games, but I always find something). If we aren’t going out or with other family, sometimes we open the game on Christmas Eve and play it with cookies and eggnog. This year’s game has something to do with exploding kittens and lasers… 
It’s usually been just the 4 of us as our extended family is 4 states away and getting time off from work is hard for me around the holidays . We usually go to mass around 5:00 on Christmas Eve, then out to eat, drive around and look at lights, then have a Christmas movie marathon. Christmas morning we wake up early , open gifts and have a lazy day to recover from the hustle and bustle from the weeks preceding the holidays.
Many years ago when the kids were little, we found out that none of our good friends from church had extended family plans on Christmas Eve - and so we hosted a party after the early (kids pageant) service, which has now become an annual tradition with the same families! (although now it is a pre-party for the late service!) If you want to be a bit more festive that night, ask around - you might be surprised to find other nuclear families (or empty-nesters) who would like to gather for some holiday cheer. For Christmas Day, we do like a number of the other posters - very leisurely stocking and present opening, big breakfast, no formal dinner (just party leftovers.) We stay in pjs all day, pick a family movie to watch, play games. Often Santa brings a jigsaw puzzle, which is a fun leisurely activity for our hang-out day! If the weather is nice, H and I will go for a walk sometime in the afternoon.
Xmas eve we will travel to Hubbys brothers home- not something I look forward to as BIL is a boor and pompous ass and his last child has recently announced he is engaged, while DS has yet to find “the one”.
Not looking forward to having to listen to him again this year …
On xmas morning we open presents, having eggs benedict, fruit, champagne, and then we’re going to see STAR WARS!!
That nite we’ll have our traditional Xmas dinner of wild mushroom soup, mixed green salad with pomegranates and mandarins, and filet Mignon roast, mash potatoes and asparagus with hollandaise sauce .
Cant wait !
while there’s 6 of us; we dont have cousins and relatives in town. Last year we ended up bowling in the afternoon of Christmas eve; then invited two small families over from my D17 HS for soup and games. It was fun. We are bowling this year too.
It will be so different this year as it is the first Christmas and Christmas Eve in my oldest D’s life that she will not be with us. She will be at her partners home. They were with us for Thanksgiving. They will come to our house on Saturday.
For years it was my kids and my Mom. Mom died and now not all kids will be here. My oldest sister died on Halloween. We had her kids and grandchildren for Thanksgiving. They are going to my other sisters for Christmas. We all live hours away from each other.
So I guess I can’t complain because I had all kids, S’s gf, D1’s BF, niece, nephew and grand- what ever they are called, for Thanksgining. Christmas Eve H and I, maybe S, will go to church. D2 probably won’t. We used to drive around and look at lights. Probably won’t. Will get up, open presents and have a family breakfast with just 4 of us. Will be different and quiet.
intparent, exploding cats is fun!!!
We gave DIL a set of the tame game and of one of the gross one. She mixed them and taught us how to play (she is a game wiz at reading instructions).
So fun.
Our Christmas is a small gathering these days. In Texas, we had grown foster kids and their families, grandparents, etc. In London, it is just the four of us. This year, we’ve invited an American college student who can’t go home to join us (he’s basically our “foster” son all year round).
On Christmas Eve, we are all going to sing at a local prison’s Christmas service and deliver cookies to the guards and personnel. Then a quick Christmas drink and singing at our own church’s service. Then home for chili (can’t find tamales in London and I’m way to lazy to make from scratch) and opening presents.
Christmas Day features cinnamon rolls in the morning and stockings. A big lunch around 3pm - followed by Christmas Day tv and board games. In Britain, all the most popular shows have a Christmas day special - the final Downton Abbey, Dr. Who, Sherlock, etc. Not a terribly exciting day, but fun cause we will all be together.
Thank you all for sharing you traditions, I’ve read every single one all the way through. I would be lying if I said that DH and I are not sad, as out Xmas Eve has changed to this quiet day from a family filled party atmosphere day… My boys feel it, although they don’t really say much. I don’t show my sadness to them, but have addressed I know it’s different, but we have to make new traditions and even that will change when they start getting married.
Reading your posts have made me realize that many people don’t go all out on both days, some not either day. I am so grateful for many things, so will be mindful of that. I just know that my attitude, along with DH’s will set the tone for the day. Perhaps a movie, then my big dinner, then church. Or something else. When I try to get their opinion, I just get an “I don’t care”. Sigh.
Here’s our typical Christmas Eve. (My kids are 12, 15 an 17)
Once everyone is out of bed and dressed, our first stop is to the local fire and police stations, where we drop off a platter of wrapped candies as a thank you for all they do.
Then we come home, have lunch, and the exchange presents. (Not the “Santa” stuff, but the gifts they’ve bought each other, and a small gift from us. ) When they were little, this meant that the cheaper gifts they got each other didn’t get outshadowed by the Santa stuff.
I spend the afternoon working on whatever I’m bringing to my sister’s that evening. It’s my immediate family, with the kids and some grandkids-- about 38 at last count. Sometime my kids want to make a dessert, sometimes not.
We make 4 pm mass-- in the gym, not the church. Going to the church means we’ll inevitably give up our seats to some less abled person who arrives at 3:55. Going to the gym works out better for us. We’ll see the church in all its Christmas finery on Sunday morning.
Then it’s home, load up the car, and head off to my sister’s.
We live far from both extended families, and we don’t travel during the holidays, so it has always been just our immediate family for Christmas–9 of us, though, so still enough for a crowd. We usually have salmon chowder for Christmas Eve, then we go to midnight mass (which involves leaving very early to get a seat/listen to carols before mass). When we get back from mass (about 2:30am) everyone digs into the Christmas cookies–silly, but I usually eat and announce “The First Cookie of Christmas” (like in the Polar Express, “The First Gift of Christmas”). Everyone goes to bed except Santa (me) and Elf (D#1), who then put presents under the tree/stuff stockings. H and I try to sleep in, while younger family members try to get everyone up early to open presents. Our rule is that no one opens any presents until everyone gathers around the tree (usually 9-10am), and we take turns opening them one by one. We plan to have ham for dinner, but most years our Christmas dinner is postponed for several days. Everyone is snacking all day on Christmas treats, so no one really wants a big meal, and I’m too tired to cook. We just sit around in PJs all day, play games, watch old movies, etc. Some of my siblings have to organize their Christmas around both extended families. I don’t envy their holiday schedule running from place to place. Ours is relaxing. No pressure. All my kids (11-27) are home now–the oldest 4 traveling long distances to get here. I know this won’t be happening forever, so I am savoring it now.
Thank you for posting this. We are in a very similar situation - we used to host a big, crazy Christmas dinner with people from both sides of family. Now, due to a few deaths, an estranged brother and aging relatives who don’t travel it will be a much smaller gathering - my nuclear family and my husband’s parents. I’m very thankful for what I have, but my heart aches for how it used to be. The first year I spent the whole day just trying not to cry…now (three years later) I’m sad, but adjusting. My kids don’t seem to mind and are pleased with however things turn out. We do have a big holiday gathering with my husbands family the day after so maybe it’s just the calm before the storm.
Christmas Eve is dinner and church. Christmas day will be presents, breakfast and getting everything ready for dinner when my in-laws arrive. Fortunately they are wonderful people who adore my children so it will be nice. And, I think since they are the only grandparents my children have we have learned to value that time.
Sadly, I’m glad when it is all over and my self-imposed pressure to have a magical Christmas passes. Although, I am constantly reminding myself to be thankful for the people I still have in my life rather than being sad about those who are not, for one reason or another.
We alternate holidays with my sister who lives nearby and will be there on Christmas. On the years I don’t host Christmas, we usually have non-Christian friends over for dinner on Christmas eve but this year it will just be the four of us (one kid lives far away and won’t be here). I am swamped with work, so will work on the Eve day. We all go to church (reluctantly for the kids I must say). I am kind of looking forward to a quiet evening, maybe with games or a movie. We had 20 for Thanksgiving!! At my sister’s on the Day it will be quiet as well.
The day after we are hosting a annual dinner for old friends which will be very fun.
I, too, mourn the days of Christmas past with little kids and Santa and lots of people around. I mourn my parents and the aunts and uncles who are almost all gone. I am also aware that things will probably change even more in the next few years as we may have to share our kids with significant others (and I hope that happens for them!!).