Family Forum / Parenting / Mothers / December 2004

Presents first thing (if I ever get around to buying them), no
breakfast, just a fruit platter and some breakfast bars and juice, like
they'd wait anyway.

Sparkling Brunch at around 10/11:00 for Graces birthday, just us. Cake
an birthday present time.

Dinner at my place with mum comming, just us, low key, very relaxed and
calm is my goal. Most of the food is easy to prepare, salds, just need
to heat up the ham etc, or is pre cooked the days before and just needs
defrosting and re heating so I should be spending little time in the
kitchen and mor etime out with my family.

Andrea

Just us, like always :-)
E will wake us up early I'm sure, and we'll have fun watching her open
her gifts.  Probably sit around in my nightgown most of the day ;-)

Nan

Our Christmas is always fairly laid back and relaxed.  We don't have a
hot dinner (I refuse to be slaving away cooking and cleaning in the
kitchen while everyone else relaxes).  We do have a cooked b'fast -
croissants, bacon, ham, eggs etc.   We used to have to do all the
family rounds, but now that Dh's parents have seperated his dad will
stay with use Xmas eve and his mum is going to his sister who lives 4
hours away.  We're just about to settle on our farm, so I suspect that
we will be spending some time out there.  

That's it in a nutshell.

I'm going to sit around and mess up my computer.

   We will have a HUGE Christmas Eve party here at our house that will run
till about 1 or 2 in the morning. It is a party for everyone in my grandma's
family. Seeing that my grandma just passed away recently, we KNOW she would
be so proud and honored to see us carrying on the party. Last Christmas Eve
was the first time we had hosted it. My grandma's brother had hosted it
every other time for a good 30 years or so- even from the nursing home!
(well- he didn't really host it...his kids did all the work but it was at
his "place") We went a year or two without it after several deaths but it
irritated me because that was usually the only time I would see these people
so I asked my parents what I could do to make it happen- after talking to my
grandma and grandpa, they decided we would have it. :) They remind me often
that they bought this house because we never were able to entertain and they
want to entertain. So- that will be LOTS of work!
   We will go to mass at 4pm on Christmas Eve and somehow get back in time
for the party to start. I think it will mean a few of us sneaking out early

around more on Christmas morning.
   However, we are also hosting Christmas brunch at our house for my mom's
side of the family and they will all come around 11am. At least we will have
time to do our own presents and clean up the wrapping paper mess before they
come! We like to host it because my grandparents' house (now just my
grandpa) is very tiny these days so it was hard to feel comfortable. Not
only that but it alleviates the need to feel "fair" with both sides when we
are hosting- we will just host brunch every year for that side of the
family. There will be the cousin/cousin gift exchange as well as the adult
gift exchange. We just pull a name from a cup since there are 18
grandchildren and 12 adults.
   We will have Christmas dinner at my other grandparents. It is always
amazing to walk into her house and see tons and tons and tons of presents
flooding out into the living room. It's funny because my grandpa's mom is
still alive (and living on her own at 97) and she doesn't remember much of
anything-like that my grandpa is her son- but she DOES remember that my
grandpa is "that man" with the huge tree and tons of presents. Lol. We will
have another cousin/cousin and adult gift exchange done the same way. There
are 18 grandkids on this side as well and 14 adults. I always LOVE Christmas
dinner at my grandma's. For one, I feel so comfortable at my grandma's
house- even moreso than my own! I would rather be alone at her house than at
mine. :) I love just sitting around with the family and telling old stories
and jokes and laughing until we cry which is how it is with that side of the
family.
   The good news is that we don't have to travel! My grandparents live just
up the street from us (something like a 4-5 minute walk although it is
uphill) and everyone is coming here for everything else. My mom's parents
USED to live on this street before moving to a house based on 1 floor when
they realized caring for a larger home for just the 2 of them was a bit
ridiculous. My dad's parents, however, refuse to move as they LOVE their
house. Who knows though, my dad's dad is 75 and still works. In fact, he
works for my dad. Lol.

   Anyway, too many details. It sounds stressful but it's really not at all
since we get to host. After we get the house cleaned for the Christmas Eve
party, everything else is a breeze. Just stay home and give lots of smiles
and greetings! :)

-Kara
[who will be looking forward to Christmas MUCH more come Thursday morning at
11am when she is completely finished with her finals!!!]

Christmas is at my house this year..  My parents and sister and her DH will all
be coming to our house on christmas eve as they want to be there in the morning
to see the kids open their presents..  We will probably have hot dinner on
Christmas Eve (roast pork with all the trimmings) and then have ham, seafood,
leftover pork, salad etc for lunch on Christmas Day..

After lunch we will be all in the pool (weather permitting) to try and work off
some of what we ate..

It sounds lovely Sue :)

It will just be the 3 of us this year - that will be good for me, lovely
 though it is spending it with others.

Christmas Eve its the childrens Mass. Katherine is in the nativity as an
Innkeeper (she refused to be an angel - I think shes fed up of being
typecast lol) Then its home. We will watch santa on norad and have a
nice dinner (I might try some cooking some of the Polish food I used to
have as a child)

Christmas day, K will have a small stocking while we wake up, then its
downstairs for presents and breakfast. It will be a family day of
playing games (and watching the Queens speech) We will have Christmas
dinner at about 5pm (close to our normal time) Turkey, chipolatas,
stuffing, lots of veg then christmas pudding. Accompanied with christmas
crackers (the pulling - go bang sort, for those non who are non brits)

Sarah

AP's mum and dad are travelling down from the Gold Coast to spend Christmas
with us. This will be the first time her dad has been coaxed back to Sydney
since he moved up there over ten years ago, although he may just want to get
out of the rain :o)

Smallish family and friends Christmas in the new house, around 10 people in
total, but we're going the whole midwinter comfort food route, with a ham
the size of a small car and a turkey that's straining the freezer. How I'll
feel after a major dinner blowout in forty degree heat remains to be seen!

We have the TV tuned to the Special Events radio station, blasting out some
Christmas madrigals right now. The tree is decorated and lit, the lights for
the columns of the porch are lying in a majestic heap on the floor of the
garage, and we have our tables already to be set up in the games room.
Positioning the tree in the lounge/diner was tricky, due to AP's insistence
that it should be visible from the games room, but we got there.

Have a good time all
R

DH and I will exchange gifts after the kids go to bed on Christmas Eve.  
I'm sure the girls will get up early and open their gifts.  I'll pop some
crescent rolls filled w/ chocolate that I have rolled out the night before.  
My MIL and FIL will arrive around 11 or so, dinner will be on the table around
1.  Our dinner will basically be a Thanksgiving Day dinner as DH and I are not
much for ham.

If the kids start feeling housebound we will go for a walk.  

Before I had kids, I would go to a movie on Christmas Day ... somtimes I would
go to 2 or 3 :)

~Kat

Well, Christmas isn't made for single childless people, so that's why it
has long ceased to be my favourite time of the year...to say the least

to my parents'. Basically that means I have no other option than to
spend it at my parents'. We have two Christmas Days here, so that means
spending two evenings there.

First Christmas Day we'll be using the gourmet set and roasting meat,
fish, veggies and fruit on that (having dinner in someone else's house
shouldn't mean you're still making your own dinner, right?). I have no
idea what's for dinner Second Christmas Day. Have asked, but not
received an answer.

There'll be no presents for me. SIL (who will be spending First
Christmas Day at my parents' with my brother and the kids) is against
presents, as is my mother, and frankly I have no say in the matter.
Buying myself a present is rather too pathetic, even for me, hence no
presents.