We usually stay home and watch a Christmas movie, go to church, have a fun dinner, open 1 gift then kids go to bed and DH and I get all the present under the tree - its relaxed and I like it!
This year some friends invited us over and I have mixed feelings - part of me thinks it would be fun to go and the other wants to just stay home.
What do you do? Are you happy with it?
grapefruit / 4085 posts
It depends on the year.
Sometimes we gather with family that day in addition to Christmas Day. But every year we take M for a drive to see the lights and then watch a movie. This year we're cooking for the next day and will have a simple dinner at the diner before seeing the lights. Really looking forward to it!
GOLD / wonderful pea / 17697 posts
We're usually at my BIL's house. We bring a Christmas Eve box...PJs, Twas the Night Before Christmas book, a Christmas movie to watch, hot chocolate and popcorn. Baby girl is due on Christmas Eve (but a c-section a week early is looking incrasingly likely) so as long as I'm not in the hospital we'll be staying home (but doing the same thing with the box). I love Christmas Eve, but it's a big family night for me. When I was a child we would drive around and look at the light displays, and then go to a midnight candlelight service at church.
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
We spend the day at my parent's house. Usually do Christmas with them, but this year my brother has to work so doing another day. Then we help them get ready for that night. Whole family, like 40 of us, all meet at church and then go back to my parent's house for dinner and gifts. We get home late.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
We stay home. Drink hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies. DH and I always watch Love Actually after LO goes to bed on Christmas Eve. One of my favorite holiday traditions!
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
We have to work, so usually just getting home to eat and go to church.
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
There's usually a Christmas Eve service at church. I missed last year's since DD was just born; and since it's still too late for DD's bed time, will be missing it again this year.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
My friends usually host a Christmas Eve brunch in the morning, so we go to that, but then we stay home and relax the rest of the day!
GOLD / wonderful olive / 19030 posts
We go to church in the afternoon and then head to my parent's house for dinner and gift opening.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
No. We used to have to go to our neighbor's house on Christmas Eve. I hated it as a kid and I won't do it now that I'm an adult with a family. On Christmas Eve day we go to the morning kids service (for now) and then go out to lunch. After that, we take M home for a nap, we do some prep for Christmas and then we go looking at lights when it gets dark outside!
nectarine / 2210 posts
In Louisiana on Christmas Eve they light bonfires on the Mississippi River. It's to light Santa's way as he travels down the river on his boat pulled by alligators, according to Cajun tradition. We've gone a few times, but didn't go last year since dd was only a few weeks old. I'd love to take her this year though assuming the weather is good.
pomelo / 5678 posts
My Aunt hosts Christmas Eve every year. She has all the aunts, uncles and their kids (our cousins) over for lots and lots of food and presents and being together, games, whatevs. So, yeah. We'll take LO and hand out gifts.
nectarine / 2878 posts
We are hosting dinner this year for both of our immediate families on Christmas Eve. We have small families so it won't be chaotic. We plan on letting the kids watch Christmas movies and decorate cookies for Santa. I cannot wait!
pomegranate / 3272 posts
We host my parents over for dinner so that we don't have to worry about our LOs' bedtimes. We go to the early 4 pm mass and then come home to finish dinner. We can put the kids to bed as necessary and not feel rushed. I love it.
grapefruit / 4903 posts
My mom's family all get together for Christmas Eve, so we usually do that. We used to do midnight mass, but we're on a break from that while our kids are this age.
grapefruit / 4545 posts
Growing up we always went to my Grandmas Christmas Eve and did a big thing there. The next morning my Mom usually hosted the family - but it was the same family as the night before.
Once I was with DH we started meeting his parents for midnight mass after my family gathering.
Now - our family gathering has fizzled (no need for two holiday celebrations with the same family). This year we are thinking of taking DD to Build-A-Bear to build her own Christmas gift, then having dinner at home followed by a movie for DD and then bed. DH and I will watch a movie after she goes to bed.
We may make the build-a-bear a tradition but have her donate it more years than not....
grapefruit / 4988 posts
The last few years, we have been going to MIL or SIL's house to do dinner and gifts with DH's family. We tend to do Christmas day with my extended family.
As a kid, we used to go into the city, have a nice lunch and look at the lights and decorations. It was relaxing and I really loved that and miss it. But I realize now that we were only able to do that because my parents avoided all extended family on Christmas.
pomegranate / 3032 posts
I'm Italian and in my family we celebrate the feast of the seven fishes. We laze around most of the day, put finishing touches on the gifts, deliver cookies and cards to our neighbors and get showered and dressed. We go to the 4:30 mass at our church and my inlaws usually join us there. Then we (me, hubs, LO) drive to my aunt and uncles house for the feast. My grandmom and aunt cook all kinds of fishes and seafood. Raw Clams, shrimp cocktail, fried shrimp and scallops, crab dips, flounder, smelts, baccala cakes, crabs & spaghetti, Calamari, and side dishes. They've had up to 50 people for a sit down family style dinner in years past. After dinner, we clean up and the kids open presents and the adults exchange pollyanna gifts. Then dessert..... We usually get home around 11pm, we'll put LO in her crib and start putting the presents under our tree. This dinner is probably a bigger deal than christmas day or thanksgiving to most of my family .
pear / 1737 posts
We hang out alone for the day and then spend the evening with immediate and extended family at a Christmas Eve party usually. This year we are going to my parents' house and I am pretty excited because it will be more low key.
GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts
We always go to my in-laws for the holiday and they live about 3 hours away by car. I think last year we went to a candlelight eve service with close family which I really enjoyed. Before that we'd gather with the big extended family, but everyone wanted to scale back last year b/c there's just too many people now.
I hope we do the candle service again 
nectarine / 2173 posts
We spend the evening with family. Some years we go to church. Generally we are trying to see both families do we spend Xmas Eve with one and Xmas day with one or both. The last three years we've gone to a drive through Xmas light display with my parents and then had dinner at home afterwards.
honeydew / 7622 posts
My moms family gets together. There are 4 siblings, 9 cousins, and over 10 kids in the 3rd generation. Not everyone always makes it since some cousins live out of town but it's usually 25+. I love it! It's my personal longest lasting family tradition.
pomegranate / 3521 posts
We celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve (at midnight) we do a huge late dinner and opening of gifts at midnight (we normally don't make it that late). Christmas Day is normally a relaxing day with a late breakfast and lots of lounging/snacking/playing with toys.
coconut / 8079 posts
We spend the 23rd and 24th at the ILs' house and drive home on Christmas Eve so we can have Christmas morning in our own house. I would love to have a quiet evening watching Christmas movies so we may have to do that earlier in the week.
honeydew / 7504 posts
@Miss Ariel: That sounds so cool!
In the past we spent the day at my parents', then went to a party at Hubs' aunt and uncle's house. But his aunt and uncle stopped having their party, and my parents are in Florida for the winter, so now we go to church and then back home for a quiet evening with just our family. After we get D to bed, we finish wrapping gifts and have a glass of wine and watch a Christmas movie.
cherry / 220 posts
We go to Christmas Eve mass at 4 then go home, we put on a Christmas movie, have finger food/appetizers as dinner and fondue as dessert, and then decorate Christmas cookies for Santa before the little man goes to bed. It is simple and I love it.
persimmon / 1458 posts
My husband and I decided even before we got married that Christmas Eve would be just the 2 of us and in the future just spent with us and our children. We make a whole bunch of appetizers for dinner and just stay home. After the kids are in bed we wrap presents and put them under the tree. Our town also has Santa come around on the fire truck and they come through our development which the kids love.
apricot / 287 posts
We usually are with DH's family on Christmas Eve. They have the extended family get together for late lunch at DH's aunt's house, then go to the Christmas Eve service. Afterwards DH's immediate family has dinner and does presents and I go to sleep as soon as possible (which normally ends up being about midnight...) because we have to leave early the next morning to drive to my family, 3+ hours away.
This year we aren't traveling to family and I have no idea what we'll do on Christmas Eve, aside from a church service. But we'll probably just have a nice dinner, watch a Christmas movie, and enjoy a relaxing night together.
pomegranate / 3658 posts
I really like to go to church on Christmas Eve but it doesn't always happen. Typically if we're with DH's family we stay in and watch A Christmas Carol and everybody gets a little drunk on homemade limoncello. This year we'll probably stay in and watch Christmas movies since LO goes to bed at 6pm.
nectarine / 2987 posts
@youboots: I'd think we have the same family, except the numbers aren't quite right.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
Growing up we always did Christmas Eve dinner with my dads side of the family, and Christmas Day with my moms. Everyone was within an hour and a half of each other and my dads side had always been bigger on Christmas Eve than Christmas, so that worked out really well! Now my family tends to get together on Christmas Eve then go to respective in laws on Christmas Day, but we live far from both sides of the family so it's one or the other for us.
This year, baby 2 is due a week before so we will be home the whole time. It's the first time I'll be at home for Christmas since I lived at my parents house.
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