It's just hubby and me now so it is quiet here. All the kids and grandkids come on Christmas Eve day and go home early to settle everyone in. Then on Christmas day we go visit each of them to see what Santa brought them. Fun but long day...

Softball, growing up, my Christmas was exactly like yours and we kept that tradition with our kids till they were past the believing in Santa age. From then on the kids helped deorate the tree on Christmas Eve. No kids now, not even grandchildren, but I resist decorating till 3 or 4 days before the big day and it all comes down and is put away on New Years Day, just like when I was a kid.

Great topic!

As kids: We were allowed to help put up the tree Christmas Eve--to 'help Santa'. We also had a fake fireplace Dad had made so we could hang our stockings. When we got up in the morning, we'd be raring to get to the gifts .... BUT we were lined up at the top of the stairs, youngest to oldest, and had to march THROUGH the living room--seeing all the treasures, to the kitchen to eat a bowl of cereal before opening our presents. My parents weren't being mean--not exactly--my dad had to run over to pick up my grandparents (they didn't drive) and we had to wait for them and the aunts to arrive before getting busy on the gifts. Afterwards, there would be a big breakfast for all the guests, but we kids only wanted to play with our toys, so I guess it was a good idea that we'd already had a little cereal.

When DD was little? Like you, I put the tree up ahead of time (generally the Sunday before Christmas). I used to have her put a pair of wooden shoes by her bed, for the Wise Men to leave gifts in. There would be a few little things she could open as soon as she woke up, things to play with and maybe munch on. She, too, had to wait for her grandparents and great aunt to turn up before opening the 'real' gifts and stocking. Then we'd sit down to an extravagant breakfast. I should say a word about Christmas Eve--when DD was younger, we used that evening to visit older neighbors who were home alone, and to go out and see Christmas lights. When she got to high school, she was working at a restaurant, and ALWAYS volunteered to work so those who had small children could take off. DH and I always went there for dinner and took a bunch of treats for the staff who was working (I know--coals to New Castle, but they enjoyed it). We try to reserve Christmas Eve for doing something for others--I always make strings of cereal to hang on the outside bushes and trees for the birds).

Now? DD is grown and has her own place. We do minimal decorating. Not so much age-related as the fact that we're living between 2 houses until DH retires. We'll sleep late, DD will turn up at some point and we'll open our gifts, eat a breakfast of hot mush and maybe some cinnamon bread, and watch The Christmas Story until it's time to pop dinner in the oven. Very laid back and quiet.

Kinda quiet now that the kids are grown and gone. We have Christmas over here Christmas eve with the grandkids which is really, really nice! We are ready for a quiet Christmas morning. Santa likes to sleep in too. (smile)

Just me! Quiet!

I replied on the Real or Fake thread before I saw this, so I'll just add a note here.

I'm glad to know that other families did similar to what my parents did, by leaving the presents to be from Santa Claus.

Being the youngest in the family, and the last to get married, there were several Christmases when my siblings each had their own families and living near by, so on Christmas day I would go with my parents to visit each family for a while, then in the evening we all gathered at home for Christmas dinner.

Now, it is harder, with everyone's schedule to get together, but the local ones decide among themselves on the time, and as a group, we still have a Christmas day dinner at my house. We also play games and do the Dirty Santa thing. This is the highlight of my year.

Sue

Different now but when a kid followed the "One Man's Family" radio show Christmas routine.
Everyone up in the morning and one took a present from under the tree and called out the name then in turn they picked one etc.No tree Christmas eve but it was up in the morning.
When I had my family the tree went up erly so we could all decorate it and put the presents around. In the morning we opened gifts then later in the day went to sisters house to see what they got etc.

In our families no one put any gift away for at least two days. We each had an area under the tree where our gifts were neatly arranged. I guess so guests could take a look,
It showed that every gift was appreciated.

Just the 2 of us here. I usually work on Christmas Day, DH watches TV.

I'm with family on C. Eve to open gifts, etc.

When our kids were little and even now when they spend Christmas eve and morning with us, we had/have to wake them both up and drag them out of bed to open presents. Every year it just amazes up that they were never excited about Christmas morning until they started to open gifts.

Jodi-

Christmas morning here usually me cooking and cooking. This year since Christmas is on Sunday, I plan to go to church and then come home and cook and cook. Then the food will be taken to Amber and Mike's and our children will join us if possible. No tree up this year or decorations at our house.

When I was growing up our tree was put up a week or two before Christmas and we always opened our gifts on Christmas Eve. We never went anywhere for Christmas. Never had company either.

When our kids were little we had 3 Christmases we took part in. Christmas Eve at my folks, Christmas morning at our house with our kids, and Christmas afternoon with his parents. We seldom had a real tree growing up. I always worried if we would have lights for our tree as my Dad would have to work and work with them to get them working :), you know one bulb goes out they don't light.

Sue

Max (my Yorkie) and I'll be with him all day long.

Nothing goes on here except for putting away the Christmas decorations. I never saw grandparents, aunts/uncles, or cousins on any holiday because they just weren't around. Both hubby's family and mine always did all our gathering on Christmas Eve (including a buffet), we continued with that, and so have our kids. Going to the church Christmas program was the highlight, and we go to another church for that since ours no longer has a program. None of us have ever paid any attention to New Year.

Odd ducks, you might say, but Christmas Eve celebrating is the way we grew up doing it. By the way, our kids were probably among those who told yours that there's no such thing as Santa Claus because we told them from the start that it's Jesus' birthday. We told them not to taunt others, but I heard my son tell his friend once, "There's no Santa, you dummy!" Both kids were warned about that, I swear. They even spilled the beans about the tooth fairy!

Hubby and I go down to Speedway for a hot dog for lunch. It's the only thing open. Does that count?

As a kid, my brother and I would get up early for gifts... wait impatiently as my parents got their morning coffee first. The tree was always up a week or two early. We'd usually go to see my Mom's parents later on Christmas day.

These days it is fairly calm Xmas morning since we just have 1 daughter and she is in college. Everyone sleeps in. We'll have some coffee then open gifts. We always go to my MIL's house after lunch where all of DH's family will join us.

Oh, and DH always makes frosted cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. The kids really look forward to those! But not enough to get out of bed willingly it seems. LOL

Jodi-

When our kids were little, we had a different routine than we do now. We always did presents Christmas morning, and our big dinner was on Christmas Day. Early on, I discovered that opening the stockings (which I worked on all year to fill with cute goodies)quickly paled to the big gifts under the tree. So the following years, we had dinner on Christmas eve, then baths. While they got on their pjs and came downstairs, I finished cleaning up the kitchen and DH would light the fire in the living room and put on some Christmas music. Then each child was given his bulging stocking to open. I always had a chocolate Santa and a Christmas pencil for each one. But otherwise, the tiny toys could be the same for each or quite different from the contents of the other stockings.

Then on Christmas morning with carols playing after an early breakfast, we did the tree gifts. I would have put the tree up with helpers a week or so before Christmas, and I would put the presents out as they arrived or as I wrapped them. In the afternoon, my sister and her DH would arrive for a mini gift exchange and the preparing of the Christmas feast.

When I was little there was no Xmas till Xmas morning. My mother baked and I guess she had decorations around but never a tree until I walked down the stairs that morning. Santa brought the tree and decorated it. How dumb WAS I? Relatives arrived and we had a big dinner and then traveled to the next town and visited other relatives. When my kids were little, the tree went up weeks before. We all went to the tree farm and picked it out. We opened gifts and went up to my parents' house for dinner and more gifts. Now we go to DD's house because it's more conducive to entertaining. I roast a big chicken and we have sandwiches, cheeses, cookies..all day in a buffet like setting. I like this because we just had the big sit down dinner four weeks before. We all go to church Xmas Eve. Sadly Xmas does not mean very much to me any more. It's just unnecessary work. I'm a Scrooge.

It's just Jan & I here, so on Christmas morning I stick my head out long enough to look out the window..See the snow and cold, and I tuck my head back under the covers to continue my hybernation.

Jan was an only child and her Mother & Dad have both passed away and all my family are over 600 miles from here, so it's just the two of us.

Somewhere around lunch time we get up and finish cooking our holiday feast, then we sit back and discuss all the things that we intended to buy for Christmas, but had already purchased throughout the year, because we needed them at the time, not three or four months later....LOL

By example, in August our refrigerator died and Jan was in a tizzy because she simply could not figure out how to fit a new one into our budget....

I sat back and thought a bit and I said, "I got an idea, how about we get one time and I will pay the bill out of my money, rather than the household budget, and we will call it a Xmass present." At 9am the next morning we had a new fridge delivered and yesterday I tied a big red bow on the handle."

We do go through the pretext of exchanging a few stocking stuffer items, but in truth, as far as big ticket items go, we either have them or don't need them, so whats the point?

As a kid my Christmas was exactly like softball's and lily's and those are some of my most treasured moments that come to mind every year and warm my heart. Just comin' down those steps and turning the corner to see the tree all decorated on a platform with the train and village underneath was just magical! When I think about how my parents were able to pull all that off...it still amazes me to this day. If I had one Christmas wish...it would be to go back in time and relive just one of those very "special" Christmas moments...oh yeah!