Christmas Eve is a day full of excitement and anticipation when you have children. I remember as a child I would wake up on Christmas Eve excited for what the day had in store. My children spend Christmas Eve pretty much the same way I did as a child. It is a family day. A day to start the celebrations and get cosy and festive with the children.
We will have a slow morning with a family breakfast, plates piled high or something like sausage sandwiches. Erin will have a bubbly bath so that she doesn’t need one later in the day. Anything that helps the morning pass because she will be itching to do ‘stuff’. Then we will go for a walk and drop off any last minute presents that still need delivering.
Once home I will start prepping for our Christmas lunch. The children will decorate the table which they take great pride in. We pull out all the stops and make the table look beautiful.
Mid-afternoon will see us heading off to church for a children’s nativity service. I don’t think there has ever been a Christmas Eve where we haven’t been to church. Even the older two see this as very much part of Christmas. My sister in law will invariably turn up with my nephews too. The excitement between them is tangible. Up until this year, Erin has enjoyed dressing up, usually as an Angel and getting involved in the retelling of the nativity. We will chat with friends about their Christmas plans. I will see people that I was childhood friends with but now live further afield. Those that have come home to see their parents, many bringing a new baby or stories of what they have been up to all year.
Next, it will be a quick visit to my parent’s house for a cup of coffee and a mince pie. We will be home at about 5.30/6pm and it is time to snuggle down and get cosy. For us getting cosy means putting our Christmas Eve pajamas on and snuggling down under a blanket. A box of chocolates and cups of steaming hot chocolate will appear for the children and I may have a lovely crisp glass of something fizzy. We will watch some festive TV, again usually something feel good that will make us laugh.
Many families choose now to have a Christmas Eve box complete with their new pyjamas we don’t do a box as such but during the afternoon I will pop new pyjamas and a sweet treat on their pillows. They will find them at some point during the day!
For the last few years, Erin has slept in with Chloe as she gets nervous about Santa and struggles to sleep in her own bed! Erin will leave the traditional midnight feast out for Santa before she goes to bed. Last year we had an amazing experience by seeing Santa at Lapland UK. This absolutely made Christmas for us and Erin felt the magic of Christmas by having the Reindeer she made left behind by Santa.
The magic of Christmas doesn’t happen until even my teens are in bed which means that Christmas Eve can be a late night for me. What are your Christmas Eve traditions do let me know in the comments?
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post with Marks and Spencer.
3 Responses
We have our tradition’s Christmas Eve too but this year I will be working , I will still try and do the usual but a condensed version !
We’re also going to Lapland uk for the first time this year , really looking forward to that .
I’ve always loved Christmas Eve but it has changed in the last few years since we have moved as now we celebrate it with around 70 others as the conference centre were we live. We have shared meals, the Directors all put on some entertainments, we have a movie room, trampoline room, gaming room, relaxing room and so much more! It’s fab, Mich x
We have a Snuggle sack with new Pyjamas, popcorn a DVD and a movie. It makes for a lovely cosy Christmas Eve!
We loved Lapland UK last year too.