Some of mine are waiting for the Christmas RTE guide to come out so I could check what time the Den was starting on Christmas morning,
The Den Christmas crisis on Christmas Eve was also a big part of the build up.
Being 100% sure that I could hear the sleigh bells and the sled on the roof or see the glow of a red nose.
We only got fizzy drinks on very special occasions! (Kids are spoilt now

Having stockings put at the end of our beds, presumably to keep us entertained when we woke up, and our presents were downstairs. As we got older the stockings ended up outside our bedroom doors, myself and my sister used to think we were being clever as we used to use Football socks as our Christmas socks...