For a bit of cheer let’s have a christmas thread!
What traditions do your family practice at Christmas time which are peculiar to just your family? or Any funny Christmas anecdotes? perhaps there was a time when Uncle Frank got a bit tipsy and tried to have his way with his sister in law?

In our house we always save one present to open at the dinner table and we always watch ‘The Box of Delights’ in the run up to Christmas. Set in Victorian times with steam trains and manor houses the atmosphere is espicially Christmasy as the young hero foils the evil doers plans just in time for carols at the Catherdral…… ‘The Wolves are running Master Harker….’

We have the Massey Christmas Raffle, where the tickets are drawn out of a snowman that my 73 year old father made as a nipper. The prizes are numerous and terrible.

No rock solid traditions as such as growing up my mum worked shifts in a hospital so it varied from year to year when she was working – she’d always be working either the night of xmas eve or xmas night so we had to move the day around to suit.

One constant feature though is my late father never drank spirits …. so he had no idea how to serve them to anyone else. A gin and tonic was mixed in the same ratios (and portions practically) as lager and lime. The last boxing day we spent together he poured me a whisky at 10am that took me until 4pm to finish drinking.

Bike ride

Its surprisingly busy with walkers who are often not that pleasant

I used my first christmas in the house with the OH to invent a few traditions that i wanted to initiate.

These included champagne & bike rides and a hash brown/ black pudding based breakfast.

I ruined it the second year by being too hungover to get out of bed so these were all cancelled – she’s since worked out i made it all up! 😳

i am impressed that you have hash for breakfast then still get out 😉

New pyjamas for everyone on christmas eve. And then a family reading of ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ at bedtime.

Take my Nana to church in the morning, open a couple of presents then steal an hour or so for a decent trail run before gorging ourselves on fine wine & roast meats.

My late father was a librarian, so would buy every member of the family a book. They were given out on Boxing Day

This Christmas will be the first without him, so I’m intending to keep the tradition going

We always go for a film and meal out on Christmas Eve.
Rouge One this year.

Granddad always sang the same songs (suitably modified for our young ears), here are a couple:

It was Christmas day in the workhouse
The snow was falling fast
We don’t want your Chjristmas pudding
Stick it on the wall

The boy stood on the burning deck
His feet were covered in blisters
As he had no knickers
He had to wear his sister’s.

I now sing them to my daughters…

Mrs R & I always make time to watch It’s a Wonderful Life.

Years of mam-induced massive pressure to have the ‘perfect’ christmas which invariably always ended in stress and arguements. Meh. We poked chrimble off years ago and now me and OH just bundle off out on the bikes early doors if it’s dry and back home to stuff our faces with home-made burger and chips for christmas dinner. It’s lovely.

We used to have a Christmas Box (made to look like a house with cotton wool for a ‘snowy’ roof – all made by my dad. The ‘chimney’ was big enough to get a child-sized hand in and pull out little stocking filler gifts in a ‘lucky dip’ style. This used to come out after Christmas dinner and all the other presents had been opened.

I have continued it, but we have gone simpler with a big box wrapped up like a present, with a hole in the middle to punch through and get to the gifts.

Christmas morning usually starts with a massive argument developing, then everyone thumping about the rest of the morning in a bad mood, followed by a half arsed attempt to visit or entertain relatives followed by an atmosphere at dinner you can cut with a knife.

I know it sounds really old fashioned but the men of our house (Dad, my Brother and myself) go down the pub for a couple before xmas lunch.

We always invite Mum but she always says no. I think she’s probably happy to have some peace

Personally, I always try and go for a run or a ride Xmas morning.

Drunken Domestic Violence, not in my House obviously, but means there were few traditions from my childhood I wanted preserved.

It’s a mere 23 ‘sleeps’ until we can draw a line under this nonsense and get on with our lives.

We would only put the decorations up on Christmas eve, which seems to be fairly unusual.

Rouge One this year.

There’s a film about make-up? I shall have to tell the wife 😛

We don’t have many traditions other than pressies in PJs followed by a big dinner some time in the afternoon.

I am also very much liking the developing tradition of ‘Elf on a Shelf’ which we have done with our two girls since they were old enough to understand. I hope they carry on that particular tradition should they have children of their own.

There’s a film about make-up? I shall have to tell the wife

Yup there is a blusher follow up 😳

🙂

We always spread present opening throughout the day, seems a rare thing to do but works for us.

Christmas crackers are only pulled before pudding.

Go for a walk after lunch.

Only biscuits, cheese and cake eaten in the evening.

We always get a £1 coin and a tangerine wrapped and given as a present by my Mom.

We (OK, me, my brother and my wife) always have a dirty hangover following far to much ale on Xmas eve. This has led to a traditional trading of emergency hangover cures. This year I’m going for a heady combo of High5 Zero caffeinated tabs and 2 soluble paracetamol followed by the “kill or cure” combo of double vodka and Berocca. My brother swears by Nurofen liquid capsules and green tea.

Then I have to go outside, normally a bike ride, occasionally a run. This may, or may not result in a vomit, depending on how well the above tradition has worked.

Afternoon tradition is fresh PJ’s, a cheesey Xmas film (Love Actually is my favourite), followed by lots of Port and lots of cheese.

it’s then an early night before the most sacred of all Xmas traditions, the boxing day bike ride.

bike ride, Elf or Muppets Xmas Carol film, lunch watching Top Of The Pops, buffet for tea. Perfect

As soon as everyone is awake the kids start on the chocolate, and mummy and daddy start on the bucks fizz while we watch them open their presents.

Most surreal Christmas was one of the first with the later-to-be-mrs-steve-g, when we were round my mums on xmas day and my brother who had obviously not been to sleep at all turned up in a full batman costume to open his presents a little the worse for wear

We (OK, me, my brother and my wife) always have a dirty hangover following far to much ale on Xmas eve. This has led to a traditional trading of emergency hangover cures. This year I’m going for a heady combo of High5 Zero caffeinated tabs and 2 soluble paracetamol followed by the “kill or cure” combo of double vodka and Berocca. My brother swears by Nurofen liquid capsules and green tea.

I find a better solution is a large Buck’s Fizz.

I find a better solution is a large Buck’s Fizz.

Not for me, too acidic for my digestive system. It’s all about the balance of pain killer, re-hydration, vitamins and hair of the dog whilst also bearing in mind the sensitivity of the body in its time of need.

It’s a task that gets harder each year.

We have a naughty Elf for my daughter, each night he gets up to an act of mischief which my daughter finds funny, but he also reports back to Santa, so we can blackmail her each time she is naughty saying that the elf is watching and will tell Santa!

Slightly off-topic but going to be an interesting one this year – I used to go to my aunt’s after my parents passed, but this year for the first time ever she’s going to her granddaughter’s, so the final link to every Christmas of my childhood has gone. 🙁 On the other hand, means Mrs Pondo and I can start making our own Christmas traditions, we’ve having her family round, which’ll be interesting. Champagne whilst cooking dinner, I think, would be a nice one to start. 🙂

I normally do the cooking and enjoy a beer or two whilst doing so. My beer of choice last year was Leffe, which is rather strong alcohol wise and usually comes in smaller bottles. I remember slurring my words during pudding and promptly fell asleep at the start of the movie only to wake up precisely at the end credits. I’m thinking a less alcoholic beer this year, trouble is all the 3.something or v low 4% beers (Fosters, Carling, Green Carlsberg *shudder*) are all awful.

trouble is all the 3.something beers (Fosters, Carling, Green Carlsberg *shudder*) are all awful.

I find that Kronenburg (but at 5% still quite strong) is a good trade-off between strength and taste. Or some of the weaker IPAs can have a rather nice hoppy taste without beating you sideways.

Our santa thing is now (6 years and counting) a trip on a lickle train in the local park.

Xmas day is now we stay put in the morning for pressies, then MIL’s for dinner. We work on the basis that we have more kids, therefore the world can revolve around us 😀

Last year was brilliant. I try and be miserable throughout but it’s tough!

Sitting down to Christmas dinner on mismatched chairs so everyone is at different levels around the table

go for a ride, eat a normal lunch (cheese sarnie last year) have a beer, read book, go to bed

rock n roll

My family’s tradition was to sit around and open presents slowly, carols on the hi-fi, with breaks for mince pies, with everyone watching everyone else slowly peeling the wrapping off each pressie.

My wife’s family used to open everything in about 30 seconds, then trade the ones they didn’t like among themselves, often in front of the ‘giver’. 🙂

Which tradition should we maintain?

Wake to R4, scrub veggies to R3, Run over the fields, muck out cattle, light fires, Breakfast (Eggs Ben & Champers), Church, Lunch (Turkey/Farm Beef) open Prezzies, muck out cattle & feed sheep, open Beer, stoke fires, play games with nephews, open whiskey, watch Christmas TV.

Fairly normal for us lot.

Church on Christmas Eve afternoon. Not particularly religious family, but it’s important to us.
Look forward to a dram once the kids are in bed.
I hate the over commercial build up with a passion, & going to Church marks the real start to Christmas for us.

New pyjamas and a small secret santa present on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Day when you have a poo you have to shout ‘HOWDY HO’ in a Mr Hankey style from the throne 🙂

Not so much a family tradition but a work tradition… Each Christmas we smoke a fine cigar and burn a laptop on the last work day before Christmas.. A sacrifice to the IT gods if you will…

A run Chritmas morning, and never turkey. Beef en croute.

Falling asleep in front of the TV, just as the Queen is about to start.