What do you do on Christmas Day?

Remove all ads!

I am wondering, what do you actually do on December 25th?

For me, most of the hype and events happen before and after Christmas Day. Before it, there's the partying after exams, decorating, buying presents for people, getting together with friends, and the family tradition of dinner on Christmas Eve. After it, there's Boxing Day/Week sales to do more shopping, and generally more gatherings or relaxing time.

But on the actual day of the 25th, what's there to do? Most of the stores and facilities are closed. Restaurants remain open, but some have special Christmas menus that are complete rip offs. My family usually just stays home, making it look like any other weekend in the year. I assume others are spending time with their family, but is that really true? I suppose some people still go to work. I heard someone say it's the best day of the year to go skiing too.

(By the way, I am aware that I left out all religious implications of Christmas - don't condemn me for that! )

 

Eat, drink and be merry! And all three in ridiculous proportions without any conscience (As everybody knows there are no calories in Christmas food )

 

Drink dangerously high amounts of caffeine, smoke till all earthly senses have left my body, and try to stop my brain from spinning at 10,000 RPM 24/7.

I'm going through a not too pleasant period ATM, so for me, so this year, f*** Xmas. The time off is more than welcome, but forget about festivities for me this year.

Now excuse me while I go scrooge and brood.

 

Same thing I do everyday: try and take over the world.

 

We have a regular xmas lunch with some distant relatives and an xmas dinner with my dad's siblings and parents. The same goes for my mother, but the stuff for her side happens on the 24th.

 

Well, one year I did go skiing on Christmas Day. That was in Whistler. Santa was skiing there too.

But this year, we will spend the morning opening presents with Harbourboy Jr, before being joined by the wife's family for some food and chaos. My parents will come over on Boxing Day.

 

Nothing special. Christmas Eve is where it's at. All the nice food, the traditional TV shows, the feel of it all... One thing we won't have though is a christmas tree. Kinda don't need one without any young children.

 

Interesting that you do stuff on Christmas Eve. I never do anything on Christmas Eve, other than last minute shopping. Christmas is the main event because that's the main day. Doing stuff on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day is like having your birthday the day before or after your birthday. What's the point?

 

I spend it with family. It's nearly exactly the same every year. All the family converge on someones house. The women are in the kitchen cooking, drinking wine and firing out enough chat to bring down a battleship. The blokes sit in the living room drinking beer, watching the Christmas TV, talking about football and complaining about how crap Christmas is. Then we all sit down to the excellent meal (pigs in blankets... mmm...). After eating, the women take their wine into the living room whilst the men clean up and wash/dry the pots and drink more beer. Later is a kind of salad with dips and biscuits, then After Eights. By this time the older members of the family have fallen into a drink and food induced sleep and the rest, more than a little drunk, start to spout some blithering blethers.

Boxing day is spent hungover and watching all the football.

You can set your watch by it here!

 

Christmas Eve was the night of nights at our house! All the children in the family opening gifts, All the men-folk a little boozed up and taking great joy in seeing all the happiness they have brought to their family. The older women congregate in the kitchen to talk about how awful life has been the last year. After a bit to eat we would go outside to shoot fireworks or snowball fight or sleigh ride. After everyone was tired out they would gather thier loot and head home to rest up for the Christmas Day Feast! Ah, what a wonderful time of the year. That was when my Grandfather was alive. In the years since his death my grandmother has slowly made Christmas Day the only day that the whole family gets togther, (although I still insist that most of the family show up on Christmas Eve night, the Oldman may be gone but I am still the strong rightarm of his will and as long as I live Christmas Eve will be the night that we gather in his honor). Now days on Christmas Day I sit my old bedroom up with chairs because after the Christmas Day Feast! that is where I retire to and all of the younger men and women congraegate around me. The older women and sadly the older men sit in the living room to talk about how awful life has been the last year. The reason that the younger men and women congraegate around me is that I am a life of the party kinda guy and I tell them how they have made me proud in the last year or how they have been a disapointment, but especialy how much I love them! This year, gifts wil be a bit sparce because I have not been able to work or help the rest of the family in any ventures, and we have just lost some very loved members of the clan, but, I have a feeling it may be better than any of them think. It may well be one of the best years since the passing of my Grandfather. There are alot more Children in the family now and that is always the best part of Christmas and some of the family that gave up on a big Christmas gathering after my Grandfather died are starting to enjoy big family get togethers again are comming. So It my just start being the night of nights and the feast of feast again!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

 

Family, good food, presents. I'll get drunk I guess

 

Christmas Eve supper, then Shepherds' Mass at midnight. Then I'll visit my family on dad's side or stay with maternal relatives.

 

For me it begins at church (midnight mass hurah!!) - probably wouldn't be doing too much sleep anyway
Then sleep, and in the morning the presents from Santa get opened. We go to my Grandma's for lunch and usually have a few crayfish at home for tea. Boxing day is always for cricket!

 

On Christmas Eve we go see a pantomime (tradition picked up while living in England). On Christmas morning we read the story of the birth of Christ and then open presents. Then I make breakfast for everyone and we just spend the day together as a family. We will have a huge feast later that evening.

 

A slight deviation from the normal scheme this year as we're in a new country

Midnight Mass is in the Cathedral at 10pm this year for some bizarre reason and it's Jack's first attendance at Midnight Mass
Hubby will get up at 5am to fetch his mother so that she's there in time for Jack getting up at 6am to open his presents. After the present opening, we'll cook Christmas dinner and watch TV. Then we'll play with Jack's toys, followed by sandwiches for tea and more playing with toys/TV

 

Presents, Christmas dinner, laziness and alcohol. Perfect day.

 

My family's Christmas is so predictable that it is almost scary.

On Christmas Eve I go over to my parents house and we travel together to my Grandparents' house which is about an hour's drive away. We have a tourtiere for dinner and sit around for the rest of the evening talking and watching movies. When we wake up the next morning we have the first wave of present opening that being my parents, my brother, our dog (yes she "gives" and receives presents too), my grandparents one of my Uncles and I. We then have Coquille St Jacques for brunch. Around that time my Aunt and cousin come in from Toronto on the bus and my father picks them up from the bus station. We then have the next wave of present opening. Sometime after that my other Uncle, Aunt and Cousins drop by and we have the third wave. After that we sit around the house all afternoon talking, nibbling on goodies, trying out the gifts etc. until it is dinner time. We have a turkey and a ham as well as several veggies and salads. My Uncle and I each get one of the turkey legs. After dinner we sit around and talk, watch movies etc. until we go to bed.

 

Interesting that you do stuff on Christmas Eve. I

Indeed. Christmas Eve is nice, since it feels kind of cozy because it's dark outside and you have candles indoor. The big tradition in Sweden, that I'd say most people probably do, is to watch a special christmas cartoon show, with Jiminy Cricket as a host, showing great classical cartoons with Donald Duck and many others. It's so great, because you only get to see it once a year.

 

The family usually comes over to my house, its the biggest in the family. We all give our presents in the morning. After that we have dinner, then in the evening we all watch the christmas tv and have a sort of buffet. Chicken, wedges, crisps that sort of thing.