[Josy]

Do you have any traditions or plans for over the Christmas period? if so what are they?

We spend Christmas Eve in our own house and have a nice dinner then we have soup at midnight (I have no idea why lol) then open our presents.

When we were younger we used to get made go to midnight mass..

Then Christmas day we spend at my inlaws, opening more presents and then our Christmas dinner gets delivered in.

Boxing day we have another nice meal either at a restaurant or in a family members house, depends what gets planned.

Hogmanay we have home made steak pie or stew just before the bells then we open and close the door to let the old year out and the new one in

New Years day we spend at the in laws again, have dinner then we let off lanterns in memory of our loved ones afterwards.

So yeah mostly dinners, eating, more dinners and more eating for us over the Christmas/New Year period

[Kyle]

On the night of new year my Dad always insists I stand outside with a bottle of Whisky and wait for new year before knocking to go back in and shaking everyone's hand and taking a nip.

[Josy]

Originally Posted by Simple Minds

On the night of new year my Dad always insists I stand outside with a bottle of Whisky and wait for new year before knocking to go back in and shaking everyone's hand and taking a nip.

Ah so you are forced to be the first footer

[Kyle]

Originally Posted by Josy

Ah so you are forced to be the first footer

Something like that never asked him what it's all about mind.

[Niamh.]

Christmas Eve, i usually spend the evening wrapping Christmas presents for the kids cos I'm pretty disorganized

Christmas morning the kids usually wake us up while it's still dark so Gav lights the fire first thing and we all open our pressies

The rest of the morning I'm usually preparing for Christmas dinner/cooking christmas dinner.

Close to time for Christmas dinner I'm usually getting stressed about having everything ready at once while having a cup of mulled wine to calm myself

Eat dinner, watch Christmas TV, drink and eat more for the rest of the day.....usually a traditional Turkey sandwich around 9pm

[Ammi]

..I kind of broke away from traditions a few years ago because as the boys got older/had girlfriends etc, they were sometime spending the day elsewhere or at least some of it..so rather than sit moping about how it wasn't the same without them, we just changed things and started doing new stuff...we don't even have turkey anymore/not that I ate it anyway...

..but this Christmas, I'm going to bring a few 'traditions' back in that we always put our tree up before my OHs birthday in mid December, so I'm going to do that again, which is much earlier than the last few years...

..the boys used to open their 'Father Christmas' presents first thing and then we opened the ones around the tree after lunch..but we're eating on Christmas Day evening this year, so we'll open our presents in the evening after that, then it's usually board games/lots of cheating/drinking for the guys...and on Boxing Day, we always had an 'open house', so we're going to do that again..and people just usually help themselves fairly much to food/drink etc...as much as I love Christmas, the decorations usually come down on the day after Boxing Day.....hmmm, we might even go out on New Year's Eve this year......

[Niamh.]

awww i think after the kids are grown up we'll probably change some traditions too Ammi, new traditions are good aswell

[Jemal]

Christmas Day, big dinner with whatever family is around. Mainly cause i have family all around the world so its not always a packed dining table. But still good nonetheless.

Boxing Day dedicated to the footy fixtures.

New years eve/ New Year's Day i go out with my mates, do abit of partying and go on the pull for a couple ladies I guess. Gonna be doing this for another few years yet.
Cause i know when I get older all this won't be an option you know?
So just having fun while im young.

So i guess thats the only traditions i can think ive been doing over the past years.

[Livia]

This will be my first Christmas on my own since... well, you know. And honestly? I can't WAIT! My brother and his wife have brought my nieces up for the last couple of years and as much as I love and adore them, as much as I would die for them... I'm just not used to the *******ING MAYHEM that they bring with them. The noise... the hysteria... the piles and piles of pink plastic stuff on Christmas morning... Anyhoo, this year I will cook dinner for my parents, we'll have a nice quiet time then they'll go back to their house and I'll stay in mine with sloe gin, some scrummy stuff to eat, some herbal smoking mixture and I will veg out in front of Doctor Who. I've also got the complete set of James Bond films which I intend to watch from the beginning. The family arrive on 27th, by which time I'll be ready for them.

They're all up for Hanukkah though, well for the weekend that falls in Hanukkah. I have ear plugs.

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

awww i think after the kids are grown up we'll probably change some traditions too Ammi, new traditions are good aswell

..yeah, the thing is that if you get too stuck in the old ones, it just makes you nostalgic for when they were younger, instead of enjoying a much more relaxing but different Christmas and it would also make them feel pressured about where to spend their time, which is hard when you have a partner's/girlfriend's family as well..it's just nice that they want to spend time with both and don't mind eating two dinners...

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Jemal

Christmas Day, big dinner with whatever family is around. Mainly cause i have family all around the world so its not always a packed dining table. But still good nonetheless.

Boxing Day dedicated to the footy fixtures.

New years eve/ New Year's Day i go out with my mates, do abit of partying and go on the pull for a couple ladies I guess. Gonna be doing this for another few years yet.
Cause i know when I get older all this won't be an option you know?
So just having fun while im young.

So i guess thats the only traditions i can think ive been doing over the past years.

....that's something for the young ladies to look forward to then, Jemal...it has to be a 'couple' though..?...one wouldn't do ..?...

[MTVN]

Kind of varies each year, sometimes we go up north and visit family up there and sometimes my granny from up there comes down to us, or we might also invite some friends round for christmas lunch and stuff

Do always go to the local pub Christmas eve though which is always jolly, then go there again in the couple of hours it opens on Christmas day and leave my Mum to get the lunch ready. Rest of the day normally spent lounging around watching the box

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Livia

This will be my first Christmas on my own since... well, you know. And honestly? I can't WAIT! My brother and his wife have brought my nieces up for the last couple of years and as much as I love and adore them, as much as I would die for them... I'm just not used to the *******ING MAYHEM that they bring with them. The noise... the hysteria... the piles and piles of pink plastic stuff on Christmas morning... Anyhoo, this year I will cook dinner for my parents, we'll have a nice quiet time then they'll go back to their house and I'll stay in mine with sloe gin, some scrummy stuff to eat, some herbal smoking mixture and I will veg out in front of Doctor Who. I've also got the complete set of James Bond films which I intend to watch from the beginning. The family arrive on 27th, by which time I'll be ready for them.

They're all up for Hanukkah though, well for the weekend that falls in Hanukkah. I have ear plugs.

.....you make me want to come to yours on Christmas evening..I can't this year because that's when we're having dinner but if it's a lunchtime thing next year, it's a date..ok....

[Natalie.]

Christmas Day - Open presents then mess around with what we've got, have Christmas dinner. Sometimes family comes over, then watch tele/drink on night

Boxing Day - All family go over to my Grandparents house/I sometimes go to the footy if we're at home.

New years eve - Sometimes go out, sometimes stay home. I prefer being in on nye though or at someones house. As long as I have drinks I don't care and new years day we have family over again.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Livia

This will be my first Christmas on my own since... well, you know. And honestly? I can't WAIT! My brother and his wife have brought my nieces up for the last couple of years and as much as I love and adore them, as much as I would die for them... I'm just not used to the *******ING MAYHEM that they bring with them. The noise... the hysteria... the piles and piles of pink plastic stuff on Christmas morning... Anyhoo, this year I will cook dinner for my parents, we'll have a nice quiet time then they'll go back to their house and I'll stay in mine with sloe gin, some scrummy stuff to eat, some herbal smoking mixture and I will veg out in front of Doctor Who. I've also got the complete set of James Bond films which I intend to watch from the beginning. The family arrive on 27th, by which time I'll be ready for them.

They're all up for Hanukkah though, well for the weekend that falls in Hanukkah. I have ear plugs.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Kind of varies each year, sometimes we go up north and visit family up there and sometimes my granny from up there comes down to us, or we might also invite some friends round for christmas lunch and stuff

Do always go to the local pub Christmas eve though which is always jolly, then go there again in the couple of hours it opens on Christmas day and leave my Mum to get the lunch ready. Rest of the day normally spent lounging around watching the box

I always went down the pub Christmas day before we had the kids, shoved the turkey in and let it do its thing while I had a few shandies. Neither of us go now

[Drew.]

Most traditions are on the build up to Christmas rather than the day itself.. The day itself always changes now, one year we'll have all the family round and the next we could be with our neighbours having a big Christmas dinner/feast.

[Stu]

I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year. It's always my favorite time of year anyway but I feel I'm in a much better head space to fully appreciate every nuance of it this time. It's going to be a total bum out come January [personified in my head eternally as being an ugly court jester prancing around going "Oh come on guys cheer up it's me, January!"].

I love getting drunk with my relatives because they're all like me split in different ways. I'm like a family 'best of' compilation which is a terrifying burden to have to carry but the drink always lets good conversation flow and I find I enjoy that all way more than getting drunk with my own friends who I increasingly feel older than with each passing second.

Christmas Eve I usually try and drink a bottle of blue Aftershock whilst crying like a ****** over Fantastic Mr. Fox and Mouse Hunt. Then Die Hard. Everyone usually gets a call during Die Hard.

Christmas Day I've been too hungover to enjoy fully the last few years but this year I'm going to try not to do the dog on Christmas Eve night [even though it IS a better day] so I can ebb some festive thrills out of it. I don't do the presents thing anymore but this year I do have the English edition of Depeche Mode Monument coming out which is this collectors coffee table book big enough to knock out a child with that details the bands history etc. Should be great flicking through that over the drinking, accompanied by Christmas specials. Love them. Bottom is the best one, obviously.

New Years Eve is horrific. I think only emotional sadists and hipster mafias who always feel a big need to be 'out' get off on it. When 12:00 AM hits my brain goes in to this weird sort of EastEnders mode where I see everyone toasting each other in slow motion, Jools Holland's nasal circling the plughole of my mind, those kind of carol songs in the background like when someone gets whacked in the Christmas soaps ... it's a really surreal feeling. I will have had a great time all December, I'm really, really drunk and I know the first few months of the new year will be complete **** because they usually are.

It's got this weird anticlimax feeling to it if you're out and if you're in I don't think there is any worse a feeling than seeing everyone on TV or outside the window have a great time of it, no matter how much you claim to not care

Xmas 2013. Have a good one, mother****ers.

[Gstar]

Food, Food, TV, Eastenders, Food, Family and more Food

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Stu

I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year. It's always my favorite time of year anyway but I feel I'm in a much better head space to fully appreciate every nuance of it this time. It's going to be a total bum out come January [personified in my head eternally as being an ugly court jester prancing around going "Oh come on guys cheer up it's me, January!"].

I love getting drunk with my relatives because they're all like me split in different ways. I'm like a family 'best of' compilation which is a terrifying burden to have to carry but the drink always lets good conversation flow and I find I enjoy that all way more than getting drunk with my own friends who I increasingly feel older than with each passing second.

Christmas Eve I usually try and drink a bottle of blue Aftershock whilst crying like a ****** over Fantastic Mr. Fox and Mouse Hunt. Then Die Hard. Everyone usually gets a call during Die Hard.

Christmas Day I've been too hungover to enjoy fully the last few years but this year I'm going to try not to do the dog on Christmas Eve night [even though it IS a better day] so I can ebb some festive thrills out of it. I don't do the presents thing anymore but this year I do have the English edition of Depeche Mode Monument coming out which is this collectors coffee table book big enough to knock out a child with that details the bands history etc. Should be great flicking through that over the drinking, accompanied by Christmas specials. Love them. Bottom is the best one, obviously.

New Years Eve is horrific. I think only emotional sadists and hipster mafias who always feel a big need to be 'out' get off on it. When 12:00 AM hits my brain goes in to this weird sort of EastEnders mode where I see everyone toasting each other in slow motion, Jools Holland's nasal circling the plughole of my mind, those kind of carol songs in the background like when someone gets whacked in the Christmas soaps ... it's a really surreal feeling. I will have had a great time all December, I'm really, really drunk and I know the first few months of the new year will be complete **** because they usually are.

It's got this weird anticlimax feeling to it if you're out and if you're in I don't think there is any worse a feeling than seeing everyone on TV or outside the window have a great time of it, no matter how much you claim to not care

Xmas 2013. Have a good one, mother****ers.

I enjoyed reading that, I've always hated new years Eve as well

[smudgie]

When the kids were little it was up a dawn, open the presents, then either get our posh tags on or cook the dinner for between12/18 people depending on whose turn it was on my side of the family.
Boxing Day was for the kids day to play with their new toys/games.
Mammy having a well earned rest with a glass of something warming in her hand and he feet up.
New Year we would have hubby's. family for dinner.
Somewhere inbetween, hubby took the kids to a panto and I had a few hours to myself.

All changed now, the family is dwindling, kids are all grown up and for the first time ever are both living in their own places..whooohoooo.
Daughter will get up here Boxing Day, weather permitting, and son will spend Christmas day and Boxing Day with us.
First time ever, hubby is on night shift both Christmas Eve and Christmas night so we are having a simple meal of roast gammon with trimmings Christmas Day thena big Christmas dinner later in the week.

Hoping to get up to Carlton Bank or Sutton Bank for New Years Eve, you can see the fireworks for miles and miles.

[Jemal]

Originally Posted by Ammi

....that's something for the young ladies to look forward to then, Jemal...it has to be a 'couple' though..?...one wouldn't do ..?...

Yes of course amz
To be fair, one would do

[mizzy25]

Mine has changed over the years due to family members dying etc
when I was a kid gran used to sleep over xmas eve in the spare bed in my room as ny sister had got married by then. Then id get up on xmas day have breakfast open presents and eat. As I got older and left home when mam and dad and gran were all alive me and my partner wud go for xmas dinner, then on boxing day everyone wud go for a buffet dinner my sister and her kids then there kids too, new years eve when I was a kid my best friend from a family of 8 they always had a huge party so I was allowed to go there. when I was older I wud go clubbing then to my sisters for a party, the tales I cud tell about those new years lol
since everyone died and my mam was left she wud come to us one year then my sister the next, one year we went out then we also took mam out, she sadly passed away last oct so last xmas is a bit of a blur but I know I went to my nephews on boxing day and I was bitterly cold so im not doing that again in a hurry. Normally I work over the xmas period (not xmas day or boxing day) but this year ive decided im having the week off for the 1st time in a lot of years. Oh aye and I used to go to Newcastle xmas eve afternoon and get totally mortal it used to be brill but that's died off now. the only thing I do every xmas without fail is watch the wizard of oz, if that's not on then its not xmas on anhd I have to have xmas cake and snowball with a cherry lol
ok so this year:
xmas eve - prob last minute tidy up for no reason as nobody will be coming to mine, my bitch is due her pups on the 10th dec but shes not having them here, so I may go to see her and the puppies.
xmas day il b up @ 6.30am to feed the outdoor dogs, then il take my presents to bed my partner will prob go to the other bedroom for more sleep lol but I will open presents. then il get up about 8am walk dogs, have breakfast, text everyone, walk more dogs till about 11.30am feed dogs he will be starting on dinner by then. So it will be a case of setting the table watching tv and waiting for dinner, then we will eat and watch tv.
boxing day walk dogs and eat and we think the greyhound racing cud b on so maybe go to that.
the fri after boxing day plans to meet friends for afternoon drinking and maybe eating.
new years eve no plans il prob b in bed by 10.30pm