Christmas at Our House

[Wendy31]

Attending church services YES

Attending special pageants, concerts or movies YES, some years

Decorating the house and putting up a tree YES

Putting up lights outside YES

Buying and wrapping gifts YES

Giving special tips to service providers it depends, sometimes YES, sometimes NO

Charitable giving YES

Sending Christmas cards YES

Attending holiday parties YES

Hosting holiday parties YES - usually an annual gingerbread house making party

Cooking a big festive meal Previous years, YES, but, like last year, this year, we are celebrating our Christmas at the beach, so we we're not hosting a Christmas Day meal at our house

Baking/making special treats YES

Having time off from work YES - DH does

Travelling to be with family NO (everyone lives here)

Hosting overnight guests NO

Taking a winter vacation YES - for the 2nd year in a row - I LOVE IT!

Relaxing in peace and quiet at home NO - not until we get to the beach...

ADDED -

Nutcracker Ballet Some years, YES

Christmas Markets Not usually

Going out to a special restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner NO

Driving around to look at others' Christmas lights and decorations YES

Watching holiday specials & movies on TV & DVDs at home YES

Making Christmas Crafts, Gingerbread Houses included YES

Christmas Caroling It's been years, but it was once a yearly tradition at the church we attended

 

[Meriweather]

ALSO adding-

Nutcracker Ballet NO

Christmas Markets NO

Going out to a special restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner NO...not out. the same thing brought in every year

Driving around to look at others' Christmas lights and decorations YES...but walking

Watching holiday specials & movies on TV & DVDs at home YES

Making Christmas Crafts, Gingerbread Houses included Not anymore

Christmas Caroling NO

 

[rastahomie]

My Sister and I found ourselves guilted into going to my mother’s side of the family on Christmas Eve for years. While the talk wasn’t as gloomy (that was reserved for my paternal grandmother’s side of the family but it was usually a competition to see who’s cancer or medical conditions were worse that year) they were definitely teetotalers. Before kids, Sis and I would get nice and baked on the way over.

Isn't spending time with people like that just the worst? I love Mrs. Homie's side of the family, but oh lort can they be a gloomy bunch. Individually they're all great, but get them together and it's just a drag.

 

[wenrob]

Isn't spending time with people like that just the worst? I love Mrs. Homie's side of the family, but oh lort can they be a gloomy bunch. Individually they're all great, but get them together and it's just a drag.

My FIL can put them all to shame. Stony silence. It was miserable.

 

[jevs]

Attending church services Sometimes
Attending special pagents, concerts or movies YES
Decorating the house and putting up a tree YES
Putting up lights outside Fairy lights are outside all year round
Buying and wrapping gifts YES
Giving special tips to service providers NO don’t have the tipping culture
Charitable giving YES
Sending Christmas cards NO
Attending holiday parties YES
Hosting holiday parties Not this year
Cooking a big festive meal Not this year
Baking/making special treats YES
Having time off from work YES
Travelling to be with family Yes
Hosting overnight guests Hell no
Taking a winter vacation NO it’s Summer
Relaxing in peace and quite at home NO

 

[Hikergirl]

Attending church services No
Attending special pagents, concerts or movies Yes
Decorating the house and putting up a tree Yes
Putting up lights outside Just lighted wreaths
Buying and wrapping gifts Yes
Giving special tips to service providers No
Charitable giving Yes
Sending Christmas cards No
Attending holiday parties Yes
Hosting holiday parties No, just small get togethers
Cooking a big festive meal Yes
Baking/making special treats Yes
Having time off from work N/A
Travelling to be with family Yes
Hosting overnight guests Yes
Taking a winter vacation No
Relaxing in peace and quite at home Yes and No LOL

 

[leebee]

Attending church services NO
Attending special pagents, concerts or movies NO
Decorating the house NO putting up a tree YES
Putting up lights outside YES
Buying and wrapping gifts YES
Giving special tips to service providers NO
Charitable giving NO
Sending Christmas cards NO
Attending holiday parties YES
Hosting holiday parties NO
Cooking a big festive meal NO
Baking/making special treats NO
Having time off from work YES
Travelling to be with family NO
Hosting overnight guests NO
Taking a winter vacation NO (I wish!)
Relaxing in peace and quiet at home YES
Attending the Nutcracker ballet YES YES YES DD24 is a dancer and has been in over 100 performances of Nutcracker over the years. She's been a party child, angel, sugar plum attendant, party parent, Frau Silberhaus, snowflake, chinese corps, arabian corps, polichinelle, Snow soloist, Chinese soloist, Spanish soloist, Waltz flower, and Dew Drop fairy. We missed very few of her performances, and going to Nut with other moms and seeing DD dance are some of my very best memories!

Hmmm... hardly looks like a holiday celebration at all!

 

[charming23]

Attending church services Not in a while

Attending special pageants, concerts or movies I went to see Daddy’s Home 2 but nothing else

Decorating the house and putting up a tree YES

Putting up lights outside Not this year

Buying and wrapping gifts YES

Giving special tips to service providers I will tip a little bit more but don’t do anything specific

Charitable giving YES

Sending Christmas cards Nope

Attending holiday parties No

Hosting holiday parties No but I am having a few friends over for dinner New Year’s Eve

Cooking a big festive meal Nope, I am not doing any cooking this year

Baking/making special treats YES

Having time off from work No

Travelling to be with family NO

Hosting overnight guests NO

Taking a winter vacation No

Relaxing in peace and quiet at home Yes

ADDED -

Nutcracker Ballet We did last year

Christmas Markets Not this year

Going out to a special restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner Don’t know yet

Driving around to look at others' Christmas lights and decorations YES

Watching holiday specials & movies on TV & DVDs at home YES

Making Christmas Crafts, Gingerbread Houses included No

Christmas Caroling Never have

 

[Wubar]

Which of these activities are regularly a part of your Christmas celebrations? Feel free to add things that I've missed and if you celebrate something other than Christmas, what do your festivities include?

Attending church services NO, but might this year (toddler son's preschool has Christmas Eve mass, and he's been asking about it)
Attending special pagents, concerts or movies YES - past several years a local jazz band plays selections from Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas
Decorating the house and putting up a tree YES (wife likes it either Black Friday afternoon or sometime that weekend)
Putting up lights outside YES
Buying and wrapping gifts YES
Giving special tips to service providers NO
Charitable giving YES
Sending Christmas cards yes
Attending holiday parties YES
Hosting holiday parties YES - annual white elephant amongst friends, going on 15 years straight
Cooking a big festive meal Not big, but wife's parents always stop over for Christmas dinner. Fondue Christmas eve, crepes and bellinis Xmas morning!
Baking/making special treats YES
Having time off from work YES
Travelling to be with family SOME YEARS
Hosting overnight guests SOME YEARS
Taking a winter vacation - usually no, but this year - Disney in January!!
Relaxing in peace and quiet at home Of course - at some point, everyone does this, right?
Nutcracker Ballet No
Christmas Markets Yes - Local markets in Philadelphia and sometimes the one in Bethelem
Going out to a special restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner NO
Driving around to look at others' Christmas lights and decorations YES - always take different ways home from running errands just to see what the families in town have done outside
Watching holiday specials & movies on TV & DVDs at home Yes - all month
Making Christmas Crafts, Gingerbread Houses included YES
Christmas Caroling No

 

[amberpi]

Isn't spending time with people like that just the worst? I love Mrs. Homie's side of the family, but oh lort can they be a gloomy bunch. Individually they're all great, but get them together and it's just a drag.

Please tell me you intentionally said "lort," because I'm hearing that a lot - along with "reckon" as getting more frequent usage. I love it.

 

[amberpi]

Attending church services NO, never have in my life, secular family
Attending special pagents, concerts or movies no
Decorating the house and putting up a tree: no
Putting up lights outside no
Buying and wrapping gifts YES
Giving special tips to service providers yes
Charitable giving YES, I give throughout the year and I'm in reserve for emergency Christmas gift situations at the women's shelter, so I haven't yet.
Sending Christmas cards no
Attending holiday parties YES - waiting on Uber now
Hosting holiday parties no
Cooking a big festive meal no, i help my parents as much as they will let me though
Baking/making special treats YES
Having time off from work YES - sabbatical anyway
Travelling to be with family no
Hosting overnight guests SOME YEARS
Taking a winter vacation no
Relaxing in peace and quiet at home yes
Nutcracker Ballet yes
Christmas Markets Yes
Going out to a special restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner yes, my favorite part just with my parents, and sometimes brother's family and we have a lovely nice meal for which we get dressed up
Driving around to look at others' Christmas lights and decorations lol - no
Watching holiday specials & movies on TV & DVDs at home no
Making Christmas Crafts, Gingerbread Houses included no
Christmas Caroling No

 

[tcufrog]

Attending church services NO
Attending special pagents, concerts or movies YES. DS10 and I are attending the local symphony's showing of Home ALone where they show the movie and play the music. We just finished watching at home our family's favorite Christmas movie, Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas.
Decorating the house and putting up a tree YES I had knee surgery last month so I'm not up to putting all of our decorations up this year. I also purchased a smaller tree since it's too hard for us to put up our 9 foot tree without my help. It's purple. We did make sure to display our Lego Christmas village though.
Putting up lights outside NO
Buying and wrapping gifts YES
Giving special tips to service providers NO
Charitable giving YES. We went to Target today to buy toys and clothes for our local charity. Cat and Jack clothes were buy one, get one half off so we were able to get more than we expected. We were originally going to do the Angel Tree but couldn't find one nearby.
Sending Christmas cards NO
Attending holiday parties YES
Hosting holiday parties NO I used to host one but the attendance kept getting worse and worse as people had kids and had other competition for their time. We might have a few friends over though to make Christmas cookies.
Cooking a big festive meal YES
Baking/making special treats MAYBE It's hard for me to cook and bake right now because of my knee.
Having time off from work NO I'm a SAHM.
Travelling to be with family NO family travels to us
Hosting overnight guests YES My sister always comes for a week.
Taking a winter vacation NO (I wish!) We were supposed to go Montana after Christmas for skiing and other winter sports but then I hurt my knee. We're going next winter instead.
Relaxing in peace and quite at home NO

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Attending church services No

Attending special pageants, concerts or movies No

Decorating the house and putting up a tree Yes

Putting up lights outside No

Buying and wrapping gifts Yes

Giving special tips to service providers No

Charitable giving Yes

Sending Christmas cards No

Attending holiday parties Not this year for the first time in a long time

Hosting holiday parties No

Cooking a big festive meal Nothing huge, but I'll do more than I would for a regular meal. If we were hosting the family gathering this year then I would be doing a lot more cooking.

Baking/making special treats Yes

Having time off from work Yes

Travelling to be with family No

Hosting overnight guests No

Taking a winter vacation No

Relaxing in peace and quiet at home Yes

ADDED -

Nutcracker Ballet No

Christmas Markets No

Going out to a special restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner No

Driving around to look at others' Christmas lights and decorations No

Watching holiday specials & movies on TV & DVDs at home Yes

Making Christmas Crafts, Gingerbread Houses included No

Christmas Caroling No

 

[dotfurio]

Attending church services Some years yes, some no. This year yes.
Attending special pageants, concerts or movies We always go see holiday lights at the local zoo and do a Walk Through Bethlehem put on by a local church.
Decorating the house and putting up a tree YES
Putting up lights outside YES
Buying and wrapping gifts YES
Giving special tips to service providers NO
Charitable giving YES
Sending Christmas cards NO - not since having the second kid
Attending holiday parties We used to go to work parties but not anymore. We always have to pay to participate and I'd rather just go on a private date night than spend an evening with the people I see all day.
Hosting holiday parties We usually host a game night while a friend's kids are home from college
Cooking a big festive meal UES
Baking/making special treats YES - I've been on a cookie frenzy this year for the first time ever
Having time off from work YES
Travelling to be with family NO
Hosting overnight guests NOPE NOPE NOPE
Taking a winter vacation NO
Relaxing in peace and quite at home YES

 

[MIGrandma]

Attending church services: Not anymore. We are still members of a small local country church, but for various reasons we no longer attend. I do miss the Christmas Eve service though, it was always so nice and we ended with everyone creating a huge circle around the sanctuary and two people had lighted candles and they started a chain for everyone else to light their candle and we sang "Silent Night" after they were all lit. Then for a few years we took my Mom to her church's Christmas Eve service. It was a larger church and really not very friendly so we stopped doing it after she went to the nursing home.

Attending special pageants, concerts or movies: Yes, our grandchildren's school programs/band concerts.

Decorating the house and putting up a tree: Oh yes! I used to start the day after Thanksgiving, but now I start the Monday before as it takes me longer than it used to to get everything put out. I have decorations up/out in almost every room of the house. DH puts the tree (artificial) up the weekend after Thanksgiving, and puts the lights on (1000-1200) then I do the decorating.

Putting up lights outside: We used to, but don't do that now that we're older. I miss it, but I'm not willing to go out and do it so we don't have them.

Buying and wrapping gifts: Yes, a few. We give our children/grandchildren small token gifts to open at our family Christmas dinner that we host each year. And then we give them $$ in cards.

Giving special tips to service providers: Not anymore.

Charitable giving: I can't pass by a Salvation Army bucket without putting something in it. And I like to donate to St. Jude's every Christmas too.

Sending Christmas cards: Yes, but not as many as I used to. Only about 25 or so now.

Attending holiday parties: Not usually, especially now that we don't have to attend my work party. Yay!!

Hosting holiday parties: We have done that occasionally. The last one was a couple of years ago when our nephew was home (he lives in Minnesota) for Christmas, we invited all the family to our house for snacks and visiting.

Cooking a big festive meal: Nope. Too much work. We host our family gathering, and have ham slices, cheesy potatoes but that's the extent of my cooking. I also make up a meat/cheese/cracker tray, relish tray, and Christmas cookies. Our son brings his bourbon baked beans, and our daughter brings meatballs and usually some kind of dessert.

Baking/making special treats: Usually just my MIL's fruitcake. Some years I get in a baking mood and make several kinds of cookies and fudge. When I do that I make up holiday tins filled with them for family members, and an elderly neighbor man.

Having time off from work: I'm retired so don't have to worry about that. DH is primarily a farmer so has time off from that of course, but he also works basically full-time as a crop insurance adjuster and this is his busy season for claims so he doesn't have time off from that until March unless we've planned a January/February getaway (none planned so far this year).

Travelling to be with family: No, all our family lives right here.

Hosting overnight guests: No, thankfully!

Taking a winter vacation: Yes, we generally do that every year. Either take a Caribbean cruise out of Florida (our favorite cruise port is Port Canaveral) or New Orleans, or just take a 2-3 week vacation in Florida in January or February. Occasionally we wait until late March and rent a log cabin in the Smoky Mountains (Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area) and that's what we're thinking of doing again this year.

Relaxing in peace and quite at home: Yes!! I love decorating the house for Christmas, and doing the shopping and wrapping but once that is done, and our family gathering is over there is lots of time for relaxing and enjoying peace and quiet. Our gathering this year is next Sunday, the 17th, so after that the relaxing begins!!

 

[mamamary]

Attending church services Yes

Attending special pageants, concerts or movies Not this year (there was something I saw at the last minute yest. but it was too last minute for me to attend)

Decorating the house and putting up a tree Yes

Putting up lights outside Yes

Buying and wrapping gifts Yes

Giving special tips to service providers No

Charitable giving Yes

Sending Christmas cards Yes

Attending holiday parties Just family parties (DH's co. is doing employee only for the first time this year)

Hosting holiday parties I think my DD is having a party here for her friends while she is home from school

Cooking a big festive meal No

Baking/making special treats Yes

Having time off from work N/A

Travelling to be with family Yes - NY every year for Christmas

Hosting overnight guests No

Taking a winter vacation No

Relaxing in peace and quiet at home Yes

ADDED -

Nutcracker Ballet Not in years since my DD was little

Christmas Markets No

Going out to a special restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner No - mom's house

Driving around to look at others' Christmas lights and decorations No - used to love doing this with the kids

Watching holiday specials & movies on TV & DVDs at home Yes

Making Christmas Crafts, Gingerbread Houses No

Christmas Caroling No - not since I was little

 

[amberpi]

Also thanks @ronandannette for a very fun thread topic!

 

[neverlandsky]

Attending church services No
Attending special pagents, concerts or movies Yes, this year it's Star Wars.
Decorating the house and putting up a tree Yes
Putting up lights outside No, apt.
Buying and wrapping gifts Yes
Giving special tips to service providers No
Charitable giving Yes
Sending Christmas cards Yes, we're down to only 16 total. 7 for coworkers/9 for family.
Attending holiday parties Yes, through work.
Hosting holiday parties No
Cooking a big festive meal Nope, we keep it very simple.
Baking/making special treats Yes, southern pecan toffee & all kinds of fudge
Having time off from work Yes, just Christmas day.
Traveling to be with family No, due to work. We facetime.
Hosting overnight guests No, not enough room, apt.
Taking a winter vacation Yes, staycation after the holidays 2 week of Jan.
Relaxing in peace and quite at home Oh YES! It's so wonderful and we look forward to it every year.
Added by others:
Nutcracker Ballet: No
Christmas Markets: No
Going out to a special restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner: No
Driving around to look at others' Christmas lights and decorations: Yes
Watching holiday specials on TV: Yes
Making Christmas Crafts, Gingerbread Houses included: Yes
Christmas Caroling: It's a no. Did it when I was in Girl Scouts, yearly

Added by me:
Woke up to a White Christmas: Yes, total count 2 so far.

 

[NFLDERS]

Kitty34 said: Relaxing in peace and quiet at home YES especially when it's all over!! [/QUOTE]



NFLDERS reply: Amen!

 

[NFLDERS]

jevs said: Taking a winter vacation NO it’s Summer

AND,

Relaxing in peace and quite at home NO! [/QUOTE]





NFLDERS reply: Ah..Woman AND, I added an exclamation mark for her..