What is your usual drill at Christmas?

falinn merking

Turkey and ham dinner rubbish on the TV people calling in.:rolleyes:
Still it is a relaxing day off.
However it has never been the same since Santa stopped coming to me the mean old fart.:D

Am I just dull and miserable?

Well is Christmas a dull and boring day or is it the greatest day of the year and what is the typical Christmas day like for boardies?

MilesMorales1

It usually ends up being a massive pain in the arse, I find. So the drill is to make it as much of a lack of a pain in the arse as possible.

Allinall

Can't beat Diwalt.

xabi

Most boring day of the year.

mad m

Make sure no obstructions are in the way of our downstairs loo for my movicol loving mother in law...:rolleyes:

McMurphy

Allinall wrote: »

Can't beat Diwalt.

DeWALT''s are better imo.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Up early for a light breakfast. Mass then friends call round to us for coffee, minced pies, cake, pudding etc.
We'll then head over to one of our kid's homes for some fun with the grandchildren, gift exchanges, photos, and craic.
Dinner followed by a hour or two watching a movie or playing a board game.
We'll head home then, light the fire, pour a few drinks and settle down to something or other on the TV - there are dozens of channels so we'll find something to watch - stuff our faces with sweets and crisps and relax.

It's a bit of rinse and repeat over the few days after that, with the venues changing and a few long family walks thrown in, if the weather allows.

Spanish Eyes

Just another day with two empty chairs now.

So go through the motions for X hours or so and heave a big feckkin sigh of relief that it is all over.

A lot of it is false jollity just because it is expected. Think about it.

McMurphy

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Just another day with two empty chairs now.

So go through the motions for X hours or so and heave a big feckkin sigh of relief that it is all over.

A lot of it is false jollity just because it is expected. Think about it.

Captain no craic here.

Dr Crayfish

Small family and no kids so my mam cooks too much food and then the 4 of us sit around depressed and we're so full we can't even get drunk to beat the boredom. I actually find it such a depressing day and am delighted when it's over, I can understand why people with kids would like it.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Spanish Eyes

Our family meet up multiple times a year and we love that.

Christmas is a false thing. You HAVE to be happy, nope you don't have to be on the day, too many loved ones missing. But we do our best.

It's an age thing. I get that younger folk cannot comprehend the loss but there we are.

Atoms for Peace

I'm single with a small family so it's an utter ordeal for me, If I could work that day I would.

Dr Crayfish

Atoms for Peace wrote: »

I'm single with a small family so it's an utter ordeal for me, If I could work that day I would.

Same. And I'm always hungover on Xmas day which makes it far far worse. I really need to try not to be this year, it'd be a lot easier to deal with then.

Are Am Eye

justfillmein

i think if you have a family you actually like being around, it must be a nice day.
I loved the lead up to christmas, but I always hated the actual day itself when i was growing up because we hadn't any family, it was just our bunch stuck with each other til our friends became available to relieve us.

I've my own kiddo now and it makes it much more enjoyable:)

Hugh Jampton

Black and Decker. It’s hammer time!

Itssoeasy

mad m wrote: »

Make sure no obstructions are in the way of our downstairs loo for my movicol loving mother in law...:rolleyes:

The plumbing not the best ?

diomed

Learning that 300 years of French and Saunders is on TV at 22:00 on Christmas Day has cheered me up.

Itssoeasy

diomed wrote: »

Learning that 300 years of French and Saunders is on TV at 22:00 on Christmas Day has cheered me up.

Why 300 years ?

ednwireland

Sds

diomed

Itssoeasy wrote: »

Why 300 years ?

It is their 30th anniversary show,
although it might be a reference to what it will feel like if you watch the Michael McIntyee Show earlier in the night.

Danbo!

Up at 6am and do the santy thing with the little one.

Search high and low for batteries. Never learn.

Down to her aul pair for the traditional middle of the day dinner. Say we won’t eat too much. Never learn.

Up to my aul pair for a later-in-the-day dinner. Still so full so say we won’t eat much. Never learn.

Veg on couch with stomach cramps, milling into a box of roses, making it worse. Never learn.

Everyone into the car and down to the aunties for a night with the extended family. Reminisce on the way down about fun times and Christmas spirit with family. Watch uncles drink far too much and talk ****e. Never learn.

Wouldn’t have it any other way.

Herb Powell

Getting locked on Belgian ales usually features strongly. Generally a good time!

Dr Crayfish

Itssoeasy wrote: »

Why 300 years ?

mad m

Itssoeasy wrote: »

The plumbing not the best ?

You said it, its like waiting on a volcano to erupt.

andekwarhola

Up harrowingly early with the kids for Santa. Coffee and presents. Sneak off for a quick nap mid-morning. My parents and sister (and her family) arrive. More presents. Family dinner and drinks. When everybody leaves and the kids are in bed, sit in front of the fire with wife and cat, browse TV and try some wine (wife) and Imperial stout (me).

Noveight

Pull myself out of bed around 9. Dinner with the family around 12-1. Spend the evening in a food coma while eating Heroes, Quality Street or whatever is within arms reach

Gwynplaine

Up around 9. Big breakfast around 10.30. Maybe a walk, open a few presents, dinner around 3.30. I don't know how people a dinner any earlier in the day tbh. Watch telly, graze on sweets and crisps. Then, the best parts of the day, fresh white loaf, real butter, mayonnaise, Turkey, ham, and stuffing, with a big mug of tea. Bed early.

Flibble

Before Dinner:
Up at stupid o'clock even though we're all on the wrong side of 25
Find the capri sun and chocolate santa in our stockings
Open all the gifts, spend a few hours tinkering with whatever we got
Usually on the alcohol by 11 or 12
I go help me ma with dinner prep, but most of it is done the night before
We usually have a TV show on in the background and people just wander around drinking and eating shíte until dinner

After Dinner:
We crack out the board games & buckfast as soon as dinner is over and pretty much play board games until the wee hours of the morning, MAYBE taking a break for a film of some sort. Parents usually give up on the board games by midnight. We might keep going until 4 or 5am depending on how the alcohol & food has sat with us. Lots of cheating, lots of yelling, lots of rules being made up on the spot, and penalties for breaking rules that never existed until it suited someone to exist.

JupiterKid

No immediate family left in Ireland and parents both gone so family Christmas is not an option anymore. Gone to my sister and her family in Holland the past few years. This year will be going away to spend the day with friends in Cork. Growing up, it was a full house with grandparents, auntie, my 2 older sisters and my mum and Dad.

Far too much food and drink, dinner served about 4pm. By 7pm open presents (us kids got our Santa pressies in pillowcases when we woke) for the rest of the family but everyone comatose. RTE and BBC would show the big film that was in the cinema 2/3 years previously.

Too many silly expectations about the day. Best to just chill out. Of course if there are kids about, it makes it special.

Neyite

Santa still visits this house so it's mainly about that man. After that, its about being off work, hanging out and stuffing our faces.

I love it.

We don't have a set thing, both sides of the family are very easy going so this year, none of mine are going to be in the country so it's a quiet one for us:

Young wan will wake us at Stupid O'Clock to see what Santa brought. Coffee will be had and many wonky videos will be taken. Breakfast then maybe the young wan will be brought down to the relations to show off his haul while I get stuck into the prosecco start the dinner prep. They come home, a good feed had by all and then we maybe go to nearby family to belch and wallow on their sofa instead of ours watching some Christmassy thing on TV and stuffing our faces some more.

BettePorter

Flibble wrote: »

We crack out the board games

Any recommendations ? Beyond the obvious monopoly /trivial pursuit. The more row inducing the better !

Are Am Eye

BettePorter wrote: »

Any recommendations ? Beyond the obvious monopoly /trivial pursuit. The more row inducing the better !

Jenga or Buzz Wire

cassid

Up at 6. 30 am to see what Santa brought. Himself shows the children how to use their toys. I make breakfast. Everybody gets showers and we go for a walk together. Then visit my mother and then his father. Head home about 2.00 pm and have dinner 5.00 pm, into our PJ's and just relax. I don't drink alcohol but love a big mug of tea and sample my homemade Christmas cake. Send a few texts to families and think of loved ones, that we lost during the year.

I love Christmas time, my youngest wrote his list in August and we all got cards in September, our tree went up in November (the shame)

It can be a very sad and lonely day for many people. When you are looking at the ad's on TV they create an image of the ideal family Christmas and people wonder why don't they have that happy life you see on TV. I remember as a child the mother got so pissed by 1.00, in the neighbours, we had to put her to bed. If nothing else I learnt to cook at an early age.

Cookie_Monster

Nice Breakfast (with booze)
Cycle
Beach for swim
BBQ & drinking

it helps that christmas is 25c and sunny down here

rizzodun

My two oldest don't believe in Santa anymore, my middle fella is playing the system this year, which leaves my 5 year old who's the genuinely excited one.

Christmas used to be a bit of a pain in the ass but the last couple of years I've really made the most out of it, especially knowing the whole Santa deal is coming to an end shortly, which is kind of sad.

So, plan for this year is to spend it with the wife, who is luckily not working this Christmas day (did last year) and the kids, playing video games and watching movies, with a big dinner and very little alcohol, I can get pissed any other day I want.

I'm not sentimental but will really miss the excitement when the kids are off doing their thing, i just hope it'll be somewhere I can join in.

Flibble

BettePorter wrote: »

Any recommendations ? Beyond the obvious monopoly /trivial pursuit. The more row inducing the better !

Monopoly is always the one that gets the most arguments going, but a firm favourite that we KEEP returning to is Balderdash. It's fantastic

eviltwin

Having a quiet one, I'm working Christmas day

Realt Dearg Sec

I've always loved the build up to Christmas and the sooner I was able to get home to Kilkenny from Dublin to just relax there the better, meet people for pints you haven't seen in a while etc. On the day the routine is we go to our cousins before dinner and have a few drinks, used to hate it when we were still kids, been doing it so long now I started to love it. Then home for the big dinner (not the same since my grandmother died in 2012), lots of wine, and then cans and reruns of only fools and horses etc in front of the fire for the evening. Maybe some video games in the evening after my mam goes to bed.

I live in America now, so we'll arrive in Dublin airport (fingers crossed with flights!) on Christmas Eve morning, with my two year old girl ready to make my Mams whole year, head straight to KK. Try to stave off the jet lag to get in a few pints with folks that night down the local. The day itself will be the same as always but the new guest at the table (too young for Santa) will change things a bit. No lie in for one thing, those days are over! Can't wait, I loved Christmas when I lived in Ireland but it's a really important part of my life now, my connection to family, b friends, and place. If our connecting flight is delayed and we miss Christmas it'll be a really awful moment for me tbh.

Junkyard Tom

Drills are boring.

ChikiChiki

Usual drill is dinner, the mother gets drunk, starts a row and basically makes everyone feel miserable. It does be a nightmare.

This Christmas I will be milking cows in Oz and its not bothering me one bit since the last 4/5 Christmases were pretty s**t. I do feel a tinge if sadness as I know its not normal but I do look forward to the day I can enjoy it with a family of my own.

hairyslug

Will be up early with the kids (last year, our eldest was up at 4) then a big breakfast, walk the idiot dogs and I would normally keep myself busy making the lunch but the in laws have offered to do that this year so not sure what to do with myself for that time. Then playing with the kids toys and watch a bad movie.

the_syco

Wake. Breakfast. Dinner. Cans. Bed.

Estrellita

Christmas gifts opened early.

I cook and serve food throughout the day. Big spread for breakfast. Then Mass if we haven't gone Christmas Eve.

Catnap then start dinner preparations. Don't normally do starters because mains and dessert are so filling. Have dinner late due to big breakfast. Wine with dinner.

Watch Christmas programmes / films while grazing.

I make supper, normally turkey, ham, stuffing with salad sandwiches, pigs in blankets, cheese board etc. Tea or coffee.

Evening drinks, more TV and further grazing.

Enjoyable day. I don't like to go out visiting on Christmas day, prefer to just relax and enjoy a drink with meals and later.

bnt

I like to get outside for a bit on Christmas Day, depending on the weather. This year I have a bike again, so maybe on that. However, I remember being out in previous years on foot expecting the roads to be quiet, but the opposite was true.

Gwynplaine

fryup wrote: »

when do you have your xmas dump ?

xmas night or st stephens morning?

I'm a person who enjoys a dump at home, gets anxious when I have to in someone's house. So we're going to the in laws for christmas day and St. Stephen's day. I'll have to get a good squeeze before we leave home on Christmas morn. The toilet in the inlaws house is in such a position that when you go in, the people in the sitting room and the kitchen can see you go in (glass panel door). I like to take my time, but if I have to go when I'm there, which I probably will, I'll have to do it as quick as I can, as I do think that anyone in a jax for longer than 2 mins is definitely having a dump.

Why do people build a house with the toilet in the centre of the house? No en suites either.

juneg

Mass on Christmas Eve. Food prep on Christmas Eve. Makes the day after more manageable.

weldoninhio

I'll probably get up around 10-11, go down stairs to trade presents with my parents, brother and sisters, then back up to my room for the day/night. Phone off, head wrecked, not wanting to deal with anyone/anything.

I hate this time of year.

seamus

Haven't had a "usual drill" now for several years since the kids came along. Every year is a little different as they gain more awareness, so you can/have to mix things up. And you start building your own traditions. For the last few years though it's been getting the young one up, down to open her pressies, then I cook up a BFO fry just like my Dad used to.

Then we get ready and head over to her parents after lunch to drink sparsely and eat a responsible amount of Xmas dinner.
Or we head down to my parents and crack open a pint as soon as we arrive and don't stop eating for about 8 hours.

My wife is the only sibling in her family with a partner, never mind married, and my parents have lots of places to go to, so we end up in the in-laws more often than not. Next year though the youngest will be nearly two and we'll have built more space onto our house, so the plan is to stay put and never have to drag the kids away from Xmas pressies again.

Baraics Pollox

Herself usually heads down home Christmas eve to her family so I go to my folks house in the afternoon, usually get in the way of my Mam who does a fantastic job of dinner every year and has it down to a fine art, watch TV with my Dad, walk the dogs on the beach before having a light dinner (fried eggs and chips!).

Christmas eve night I'd usually go to a local for a few pints, usually with my brother and a friend although this year I think it'll be with my Dad and brother. I'd like that actually as we don't really share much time at all during the year outside the house. I will stay over in my family home that night. My brother (younger) still lives at home and took my room, the git.

Christmas morning I'll be woken at 6am no doubt by herself sending my a "Happy Christmas" text, forgetting that she's a bigger child than me sometimes. I'll text the brother to ask if he's awake (fecking technology, years ago I used to just get up, boot his bedroom door open and say "ITS CHRISTMAS!").

Like we have done since we were kids (bare in mind I'm 27 and the brother is 25), I'll lightly tap on my folks bedroom door to see if they're awake. They usually are and every year are like "for god's sake are ye lads still children!?". Deep down I know that they like this because despite being grown ups its a bit of an unofficial tradition that someday will end.

Downstairs, kettle on, dogs out the back, make tea and then exchange presents. Usually we give our parents their presents first. After exchanging gifts we have the breakfast, get cleaned up, turkey goes in the oven, Mam and Dad usually head to our Italian neighbours and nearly always come back a little glassy eyed after the "Irish/Italian Coffees".

Around afternoon my girlfriend will come back up from her folks (Christmas eve is more their thing) and we'll swap gifts, walk the dogs, help my mam and dad with food prep and have a few drinks before grub.

Have the dinner, usually an epic feast after which we waddle back to the couch to vegetate in front of the fire, having drinks, watching crap movies and maybe playing Monopoly (which usually involves insults and accusations of bribery, misconduct and cronyism...with added booze).

All in all, I can see how it could be a boring day but it's a day spent with my family and partner where we're all in good spirit and are happy. We've lost a few close family members over the last couple of years and my dad has been laid off over the Christmas period a couple of times which has added stress but this year is more positive and I'm genuinely looking forward to it.

Stephen's Day is essentially the exact same featuring reheats