Christmas QOTD: How do you spend the big day?

T

Tracyfish

New member
No matter what holiday you celebrate this time of year there's always the actual day on the calendar that you make plans for. I am both blessed and cursed by having almost all my immediate family and my husband's all in the same town. This creates the Christmas Day marathon where we rush from house to house all day long.

While I love seeing everyone that day, it's also very hard on my little guy who doesn't get to really play with any of his new toys that day.

So how do you spend the big day?
 
Awww....when the kids were younger we did the Christmas Day marathon so I feel for you Tracy. For the last 7 or so years though, we now just spend all day Christmas Day at home in our pajamas! DH and I cook a big family meal similar to Thanksgiving cuz our kids love those foods. We all nap and just hang out. It is super, super nice!!!!
 
On Christmas day the girls of course open their things here, then we go to my mom's where my dad's side of family comes over.
We see his mom either before Christmas or after, depending on everyone's schedule. Then the weekend after Christmas we usually go to my aunt's house to see my mom's side of the family. Dave has to work on Christmas so the girls are really bummed he is going to miss everything.
 
We use to do all the running around when I was kid and I hated that.

Since I was in the military for so many years, we didn't have any family around to worry about.

So, I started cookie Christmas dinner on Christmas eve, Christmas morning we have Gingerbread Waffles, after we open gifts, then we stay in our new Pj's and have a Christmas movie marathon all day. Starting the A Christmas Story while I make breakfast, Elf, Christmas Vacation, etc.

We really love it and this year my inlaws are actually going to come to our house to join in the tradition. Of course, they might not always, but this is the way Christmas works with us and I refuse to be out running on Christmas Day.
 
We stay put. Our families are so spread out there is no running around possible. Every other year we spend Xmas with my parents in FL. On alternate years sometimes they come here, sometimes they visit my brother & sometimes they are on a cruise & just give us a call.

The routine is the same everywhere - a quick bite of breakfast, then gifts, then brunch followed by playing with the gifts & watching movies until football starts & then xmas dinner - ham at my parent's place and roast beef at mine.
 
I love the little arrangement we have. Our family is all very close. We go to my IL's on Christmas Eve for dinner and then we go to my parent's house on Christmas Day. It works out well since the girls are still fairly little.
 
We spend it at home, just us. Not going anywhere, no set plans, we just go with the flow and have a nice relaxed family day on xmas!!
 
Tracy - my husband was the same way growing up, and still remembers ....

Our family is split by distance, so if we stay home for Christmas, it's morning together at home with the Christmas story, presents and Jesus' birthday cake, then off to lunch @ my Dad's and spending the afternoon there.

If we go to DH's family, it's a typical day...wake up, sing happy birthday to Jesus, read the Christmas Story and open presents (we do 1 gift at a time there to draw it out and help make it more special), have breakfast & Jesus' birthday cake, play games, listen to music, hang out, eat, repeat, and repeat again. If anyone, people come to us since we're the big group. It's a wonderfully, relaxing day.
 
We celebrate over three days.

The 23rd is a fondue at my inlaws' place and we open gifts and watch a movie. It's a quiet and fun night.

The 24th is at my house. We start the evening at 8:00 p.m. Many people come over: friends, my family, and DH's family and we have a gift exchange.

The 25th is always in DH's family. We each have turns to host the big dinner. Last year was ny turn, so about 30 people came over for turkey. This year,we are going to one of my Dh's cousin. We play games or sing songs after the dinner.

On the 26th, we relax! lol! :p
 
For us it all depends on whether or not hubby has a long weekend off of work...if he does, we go to my mom's house (about an 8 hr drive away). If not, we just hang out at home.
This year, we're heading to Houston on Christmas Eve, and will stop at my grandma's house on the way to have a family Christmas Eve dinner. Then we'll be at mom's for a few days before heading home. We might go to the beach for an afternoon, and DH and I will hopefully get away for our once-a-year date night (stinks having family so far away).
 
Going Crazy!!!! :p
We wake up early and open our gifts, then we have the whole day to visit my mom and her hubby, my dad and his g/f, my sister and her family, my MIL, and my FIL. (they're divorced too, so that's 2 more separate visits!) So we don't really have a minute to relax! But this year will be soooo much easier! My mom has to work on Christmas so we're going there Christmas Eve, and my MIL (who lives out of town now) will be coming up the day after Christmas. It'll be a little easier!!!
 
This will be the 3rd year that we host Christmas for my husband's side of the family. We have the one and only grandchild, so I was able to convince everyone to come to our house... also it's nice that the great-grandma's aren't sitting home alone on Christmas. Oh... and it's really casual... I make appetizers type foods and we have shredded beef sandwiches. It's out and they can eat whenever they please.
 
We have Christmas at home with the kids when they wake up. Then we go to my mom's for Christmas Breakfast and then go to the cemetary. If it's a year when my dad is working, the kids do their stockings and we hang out until Dad gets home and then do Christmas there. Christmas dinner is at my aunt's and Christmas there as well.

It's a long day but I wouldn't change a minute of it for anything. :)
 
We get up, stay in our PJ's, open presents and just lounge the entire day. When we are at home.

When we go home for Christmas, its a free for all, we never know!
 
We do Christmas Eve day at my parents for our family gathering there, then we are home all day on Christmas day. It was a a little hard for our families to get used to - but it's worked out so well for our kids.
 
we alternate years with who we spend Christmas with... this year it's with Mark's family. We always go to the Christmas eve services wherever we are and then we have our big dinner on Christmas day.
 
Normally we open gifts, then later my ILs come to get the girls and bring them to see my niece then DH and I meet up with them at their house for Christmas dinner. This year we moved so we'll be doing stuff at home then going to my parents for Christmas dinner and my ILs will be coming up to see us on Boxing Day (the 26th).
 
We do Christmas eve day at the IL's and end the day with Christmas Eve service at church. Christmas morning is at home opening presents and then we head to my mom and dad's mid-afternoon for Christmas with my siblings and their kids. It's a crazy two days but we're so lucky to have all of our family close so that we can all get together. :)
 
Tracyfish said:
This creates the Christmas Day marathon where we rush from house to house all day long.
Click to expand...

This is exactly how it is with our family too...

On Christmas Eve we go to the Children's Mass and then come home and the kids get to open their new Christmas jammies and watch a Christmas movie and leave out cookies & milk for Santa and the kids go to bed. Then I get to stay up and finish wrapping presents and get everything laid out. Christmas morning the kids wake up and we open presents and then have breakfast and go to my grandparents to open presents with my Mom & Stepdad and eat lunch and then we head to my Dad & Stepmom's and open presents and usually eat dinner and then we go to the in-law's and open presents and then eat some more! So our day is super busy with lots of presents and food and running from place to place! So to make up for it we spend the day after in our jammies and the kids spend the whole day playing with all their new toys, unless the kids (or DH lol) have gift cards or cash to spend then we might venture out for a bit to see what kind of deals we can get.
 
A couple days b4 Cmas, we have my hubby's family dinner and present-opening. We used to do it on Cmas Eve, but that night got too hectic. On Cmas Eve, we lead one of the four services at our church. My family also stops by my Dad's family celebration (his parents and siblings and all their kids, etc.). Then Cmas morning we open presents here, then go to my parents' for Cmas breakfast and present-opening.
 
It depends, DH is a paramedic so he has to work a lot of holidays. We just roll with it every year. We always make it work, my kids don't really know it any other way so they're good at adapting.
 
as horrible as it probably sounds, i refuse to travel on xmas day. we prefer to have that time for just our little family of 3. i remember (quite vividly) the chaos of traveling all over as a kid, spending half the day in the car... and the quick opening of presents on xmas morning, only to go somewhere else where we couldn't play with anything we had just opened. not fun! so i don't want it to be like that for my little guy. he is/was the first grandchild on my side (dh's family is all on the west coast, so they're not really in the picture). my brother's son was born exactly six months later and thankfully he feels exactly the same way. so we all stay home. :p we celebrate with my family -- parents, siblings/SIL, grandma, etc -- some other time, usually the following weekend but it just depends on everyone's schedules.
 
We split holidays between DH's and my family. One gets Thanksgiving, the other gets Christmas. This year we will be at my parent's. We wake up and open presents and stockings. Then we eat tamales and blueberry muffins. Chill around until lunch time and eat whatever the feast in that year. This year it is Italian food. And then naps.
 
Christmas Eve we go to the in-laws for dinner & presents. They are only about 15 minutes away. Then Christmas we have breakfast and open gifts at home then travel to my parents house which is about 1 hour away.
 
We did the traveling when I was a child too. Fortunately, the distance was minimal (five minutes, tops, to Grammy's house) and we were able to play with toys and such. It was expected that each of the grands would bring one of their new toys to show off and play with with the other grands. It got better when Christmas got moved to our house. Woot!

When Andrew and I met, we spent the first Christmas with his family. The following year we traveled to my family. That continued until Christmas 2007 when all plans were derailed by my MIL's diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma. Instead of going to MI for the holidays, we stayed home. We opted to stay home last year as well, and are doing the same again this year. It's a little lonely since we're both so used to large (40+ people) family gatherings, but we're enjoying the low-key aspect of it all.

The kids get up around 8:30 to open their stockings, then we have breakfast. After clean up, we open tree presents and follow that with phone calls to the Omas, Grandma J, and Grammy. Then it's just do what you please for the rest of the day. :thumbup:
 
we aren't lucky enought to have big lovey dovey family, lol. my husbands brothers are all pissed at him or each other or something stupid, lol. my mil isn't going to have any money for anything this year. at some point we'll probably go to my moms but probably christmas eve. on christmas day we'll probably stay home. i'm thinking of making a ham, just a small dinner for us. i remember when i was a kid we'd go to my grandmas and everyone was there. i miss that. when grandpa died it all sort of stopped. we're a sad bunch, lol.
 
We either have our own Christmas in the morning and head to one of our family's places fo rthe rest of the day. OR we have the day to ourselves. Last year I had my parents over for dinner b/c they didn't have anything going on that day either.

THis year we'll be at my ILs... Christmas at grandmas in the a.m.; Christmas at the ILs in the p.m. THen we'll sleepover and move them to Cleveland the next day. How festive, huh? Ha!
 
I live across the state from my entire family and work jobs that don't get holidays off. So I have to celebrate whenever I have off. This year, we are doing Christmas with my dad's side of the family the weekend before and with my mom's side New Year's weekend. Christmas day will be spent at home playing and hanging out. I am not sure when he is going to his dad's side of the family, if at all, his dad is not happy with his family right now (course, is he ever?).
 
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