Do you have any special ritual for Christmas morning at your house?

Is there a non-stop rip-a-thon into the gifts?

Is breakfast on the agenda or do you just eat goodies all day?

If you cook, are there special foods you make?


When I was little Christmas day went like this:

We were allowed to get up as early as we wanted BUT we could not wake our parents until a certain time. It as OK to sit and stare at the gifts until wake up time but no opening! Once mom and dad were up we could get down our stockings then we had a big breakfast. After breakfast was over we got the presents. When we were very little, mom and dad opened the gifts from one another after we went to bed so there were just the ones from us to them and the ones Santa brought. Usually the smaller gifts were opened first building up to the biggest/most wanted gift last. Then we had the whole day to play with our new stuff. We didn't go anywhere Christmas day so we could stay in our pj's all day. Mom would heat up leftovers from the big family Christmas eve dinner if we wanted them but if not, we were allowed to just eat cookies/other goodies all day.

Now that we're all adults we all sleep as long as we want(we all stay over at mom and dad's)but are usually up by 8. We open the gifts that we bought for one another then have a big breakfast which always includes pillsbury cinnamon rolls and sandwiches made with peanut butter and sausage. After breakfast we open the "santa" presents. Then we have all day to play with our new stuff, usually in our pj's all day. If someone gets a movie we watch it providing it is something that is mostly agreeable with everyone, we play with new video games, etc. We usually make a nice big prime rib dinner later in the afternoon since we no longer have Chrsitmas eve family dinner leftovers to nosh on. But we still graze on cookies/other goodies all day too.

So what is Christmas like at your house?

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I am from an Italian family so we always had our Christmas big celebration and present opening on Christmas Eve. We were so impatient! We had to wait until after dinner and every year the adults said "Maybe this year we should wait until after dessert to open presents" Same corny joke every year!
On Christmas Day we spent time enjoying our presents and then went to Zia and Zio's for leftovers and new food.

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We're German, so we opened our presents on Christmas Eve after dinner. Christmas day the kids get up and open their presents from Santa and their stockings. We get ready and go to Mass, and after I host a brunch. After that it's mostly just relaxing and playing with our new toys. Sometimes we've even gone to see a movie on Christmas day.

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do you mean that you eat peanut butter on the cinnamon rolls? Or do you mean that eat sandwiches made of sausage and peanut butter? I'm curious--I've never heard of combining peanut butter with either of those.

As sad as this is to say, I don't remember any set traditions.
We got up, opened presents, ate breakfast. Sometimes we went to visit family (and always up the block to my Grammar's house), sometimes family came to our house--and sometimes we didn't do go anywhere or have anyone over.

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I get up about 5:45 and take my shower and get dressed. We get the kids up about 6:40 to open presents. While they oh and ah over the opened presents, I fix breakfast and we eat a big breakfast about 7:10. I clean up the kitchen, finish loading the vehicle with what wasn't loaded the night before and we leave about 8:05. We go pick up my parents and make a 2 hr drive to my brothers house arriving at 10:30.
We've been doing this for 11 yrs. When my granny was living we celebrated Christmas at my parents house as Granny wasn't able to make the drive.

On Christmas Eve, the kids get to open two gifts. They are always pj's and a book. DH reads Twas The Night Before Christmas to the kids while in their new pj's....then off to bed to read their new books and get some sleep.

The kids usually come into our bedroom and wake us up (we pretend ot be sleeping if we aren't still)...then rush into the living room and see what Santa left and open the other gifts as well. We have huge cinnamon rolls and fruit for breakfast then usually snack all day. We don't go anywhere to visit family, so it is very relaxing. We stay in our pj's all day.

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We don't do anything overly special on Christmas Eve. The kids like it being just Mom's bday.

On Christmas we all get up, the kids get their stockings, then we eat breakfast, get dressed, then the kids open their presents. We do them one at a time per child. Since we are so far away from family we do it like this, so I can snap pics for everyone. My parents are usually with us, so after the presents are open my parents have pick up duty, getting boxes and paper out of the way, and I start on dinner. While dinner is cooking we watch Miracle on 34th street (the original) Hopefully we will get a call from DH ( only thing I'm asking for!) but sometimes the holidays are bad since the networks over there get overloaded.

Next year will be different though, we will be much closer to family, and we will have to run the "gauntlet!"

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Nicole

Great tradition!

Wow, a Christmas Baby! Was it kinda sad having your BD so close to Chrismas when you were a kid?

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Mary

Growing up, I'll admit I felt cheated. Everyone would always give me my Christmas presents and say, by they way that's your bday gift too....Now I don't care, if the kids would let me the day could pass with no notice.

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Nicole

Growing up, we had a big get together on Christmas Eve at my grandmother's home with aunts, uncles, and cousins. We exchanged presents after the dishes were washed -- oh the torture. I think our mom and aunts were in the kitchen drinking and devising new ways to make us suffer, but they'll never admit to it. We went to midnight Mass and then home to bed. We opened presents at home in the morning.

After grandma passed away, we started a new tradition of opening gifts after midnight Mass and then staying up half the night and sleeping late on Christmas day.

Today, my little family spends Christmas Eve at the home of some good friends. No more midnight Mass for us. We go to 5pm Mass on Christmas Eve. After the party, we come home to find that Santa has left PJs for the kids and a note that they should get to bed. The kids open one other present and then DH reads "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and I prepare Catt's yummy breakfast casserole (it sits in the fridge overnight). I found that delicious recipe on the MC food board.

The kids wake up early and check out what Santa brought but they have to wait for us to get up before they can open anything. The rest of the day is busy as I'm usually packing for our 700 mile trip to visit my family the day after Christmas.

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Cecilia

"We must love them both--those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject. For both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in the finding of it."
Saint Thomas Aquinas

Ah quiet unfortunatley very quiet. Just my DH & I - no gifts (tight money) to oepn. So I'll make a nice breakfast and we will watch movies until its time to go to Dad's house.

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Laura
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We will spend christmas eve at my moms house/ I will go early to first go to the cemetary to vist my brother Sonny with my parents and brothers. Then I will go back to mom and me and 2 other sister in laws will cook all the fish and pasta and salads. We are catholic and only eat fish on christmas eve. Me and my dd;s do not eat meat or fish so we will have the pasta and salad. Then we will rest for awhile and then have dessert and then open up gifts. Go to midnite mass and then home. I am tired all ready..lol.. Peace and stay safe in this holiday season. Catherine

Marylink, we eat sandwiches made from peanut butter and sausage. We get maple sausage patties, fry them up and make the sandwiches on toast. Oh, and only creamy JIF peanut butter. They're pretty messy since the pb gets runny. Also very good done with bacon instead of sausage, but I prefer sausage.

The cinnamon rolls just get that icing that comes in the tube on them.

But I can see how my sentence was confusing, my high school english teacher would faint dead away if she saw that mess, lol!

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Wow, targetgirl, PB & Sausage?...that sounds really icky. I could stomach pb on the cinnamon roll....but with sausage? Is that a regional thing??

cj/

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Sausage is yummy with syrup and pancakes. So, just might be yummy with peanut butter. I will have to try that some time.

We always had a big get together christmas eve when I was a kid. We ate way to much and exchanged presents with the aunts/uncles/cousins/grandparents. We spent christmas day hanging out/having dinner with the other grandparents.

We kids got to get whatever was in our stockings when we got up but under NO circumstances were we to wake up the parents before 7am!

We aren't close to family now so we mostly just hang out at home, stocking/wake up rules are the same here though!
We always have cinnamon rolls for breakfast, with either hot chocolate or milk/juice.

Rather quiet here since it's just the hubby and I. Family is spread throughout the states. We usually open our gifts in bed (our own little tradition). Might make some cinnamon roll for breakfast or eat something that we brought to save time. I'll cook dinner and then if it's nice we go for a ride and look at the lights that people have put up. Of course there is the mandatory call to family members!