I know iIt's kinda early for this....Christmas question.

[hotlama]

Ok, this question is for people celebrate Christmas. I want to know how people who actually celebrate it, celebrate it.

How do you celebrate Christmas? Do you put up a tree every year? What about Santa, how do you handle him? Do you decorate? How do you do gift giving?

[Darcy_]

We put up an fake tree every year, Santa comes Christmas Eve when everyone is sleeping

Decorating, we kinnda go crazy, the day after Thanksgiving we bring everything out and around the 1st of the new year we take it down. We are goig on 5 boxes of decorations!

We do gifts for our girls, each other, our parents, and our neices and a few close friends.

[Just_Peachy]

We do the same as Darcy. Fake tree, Santa comes when everyone is sleeping.

We dont really do any outside decorations though.

Gifts just for people in our household since we dont usually see other family members. We go overboard every year though on kids presents. This year we are going to really try not to go overboard. Thats the plan every year this year I really want to stick to it and hopefully will

[JenniferH]

Decorating is done on Thanksgiving weekend or soon thereafter (depending on where we spend Thanksgiving) and comes down on or after January 6th.

Outside lights, Christmas tree (fake because of allergies and fire safety), mantle display, piano display, shelf displays, take down some of the every day artwork and put up Christmas themed stuff, kitchen and bath towels are changed to Christmas theme. Pretty much if it doesn't move it gets decorated. I've worked to put together a tasteful assortment of decorations at post holiday sales over the years.

Cookie making for half of December, community events for Christmas caroling, parades, shop and wraps, or whatever else is going on that year in town, send out 100 or so Christmas cards (we have large extended families), gifts for kids, parents, siblings, nieces and nephews (we actually draw names), a few very close friends, and teachers.

We drive hundreds of miles at Christmas to see the various components of the family. We've never been in our own home for Christmas and I hope that doesn't change for the next 15-20 years (once my parents are too elderly to host us and our kids are grown) unless we host Thor's entire family some Christmas (his brother and sister have done it so we may have to have a turn one day).

We do Santa with the kids. We make Reindeer food (oatmeal, bird seed, fake snow and glitter) and toss it on the lawn for the reindeer too. We put out cookies on a plate and a glass of milk.

On January 6th, the Befana comes and brings the kids each an ornament for the year (I search all year) and we read The Old Befana and A Christmas Star (both are stories of the Epiphany).

[hotlama]

:bump:

[bocarioja]

It's weird that this was posted today! I was just talking Christmas with my mom...

Anyway, we've always celebrated much like JenniferH, and Darcy, but this year, we're trying something different. We're only going to use natural decorations, no artificial lights-- just homemade soy candles, environmentally friendly gifts, no wrapping paper, eat food we're grown ourselves or produced locally...

Last year driving through our development, I saw mountains of garbage at the end of everyone's driveway. Boxes, bags.. it was at least three times more trash than normal. It really made me think.

I don't want to take away from the traditional "magic" of the season for my kid, but I do want to take a little more time this year and try and cut down on the traditional waste. I am in no way suggesting that everyone change their ways-- but this is something I am looking forward to trying this year.

[RedheadbyChoice]

Yes, we have a tree, though we did not this last year, we were so freaking busy that it never got done. And yes, I love to decorate for Christmas.

Being Lutheran, our Christmas program is on Christmas Eve, so we all hit that (well, us and the ILs) and then to the ILs house for mass presents afterwards. Christmas Day is lunch with the ILs, and then at their house at some point for the 'Santa' gifts, aka Grandma and Grandpa's 'big' gifts to us. We, of course, have to get something for them, as well, under the guise of 'Santa'. And no, I don't like this.

In our house, Santa gifts are opened Christmas, morning, late, when DH gets home from work. (He never has Christmas Day off, but does go in early, so he can be home by 11-12 or so) Our gifts to each other are usually later that day. Santa gifts are smaller, because the bigger things come from us, not some guy in a red suit. And they only get 3 Santa gifts, because Christ received 3 gifts when he was born, and we try to draw parallels there. Stockings are very small, useful things like pencils, undies, chapstick, etc.

Please note that nowhere in all of this is time with my side of the family. :(

For presents, it's insane on DH's side. On Christmas Eve, that's with both SILs and their families, plus MIL and FIL. And everyone buys for everyone. No, no drawing of names, that would be too easy. *grumbles* So that's buying for 11 people. Plus the 'Santa' carp the next morning, for MIL and FIL. We buy for our own children, natch, but rarely for each other. I do tons of baking for other people in our lives.

[2much2luv]

We put up our fake tree in the week or two after Thanksgiving. We are pretty frank with our girls about Santa but will play along and pretend with them if they want us to. We do gifts just for our immediate family and cards for extended family and friends.

[HummingBird]

My SIL and I were just talking about Christmas Friday night at dinner. We do a tree Thanksgiving weekend, ususally it's one of my purchases on Black Friday. Decorate it a few days later after it's fallen. It stays up until after the New Year. (It's usually pretty dead by the time he goes out!) DH is in charge of getting the outdoor lights up - this year was the first year in our new sub division and it seems we were the only ones to get our lights up Turkey day weekend!

Santa comes Christmas Eve, we do one present after we get home from Christmas Eve service. Then it's off to bed for kiddos. After 'Santa' comes I like to enjoy a glass of Eggnog looking at all the presents and the peacefulness (sp?) of the evening. My own reflection time.

We exchange w/parents and siblings, and their kids.

I'm hoping dd will be a bit more into it this year. This past Christmas, she was still opening presents on New Year day!

[kohlby]

We put up a tree - usually a real tree upstairs and a fake tree downstairs in the playroom for the kids to decorate. (Last year, this meant tons of construction paper ornaments on it! No lights on the downstairs tree due to lead concerns). We don't do Santa. The kids are allowed to open one gift the day before Christmas and the rest Christmas morning. We buy gifts for my grandparents (though I only have one left now), Our parents, our siblings, and our neice and nephews. I also do gifts for one or two close friends, DS's best friend, the child care workers at the gym, and DS's speech teacher. We do decorate, though we don't decorate all that much compared to most.

[Babyblue]

fake tree if scrouge aka dh helps me put it up, meals for my side of the family switch between my house and my sisters, then meals at the inlaws, then the inlaws bitching and grumbling about us spending too much time with my family-to them they are the only ones that matter.

last year was spent keeping ds away from all of mil's christmas shit she has everywhere-really a women with 11 grandkids under 6 should know better. the year before was spent with everyone stareing me down expecting me to drop and give birth in frount of them, I was due soon and had tons of peoplE that wanted to come "help" when I delivered.... none were invited and were actualy told mulitple times to stay away and gtfo.

to me because of my inlaws and pushy mother christmas has become nothing more then a huge ammount of stress for me and between dh and I.

[Miamimama]

We did a real tree until we moved to florida now we fake it.
Decorating takes place usally after the 14th, thats DDs bday and I like to keep them seperate if possible.

We don't do santa as most people do, he is a part of it like the tree and the lights are but he is not the reason for it.

We exchange gifts on Christmas morning in honor of Jesus birthday, we also have a birthday cake for him with lunch or dinner.