It's Christmas Eve!

[elseepe]

Today is Christmas Eve. I struggle to realize where this year has gone, but we are down to the last week or so of 2025. Hope whatever or wherever this season leads you, you will find peace, joy and happiness.

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve?
Is there a movie you watch every year?
Are you creating any new traditions?
Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?

 

[elseepe]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions for this Eve?
Really, it’s just about spending much of the afternoon and evening with family; we will have our matching pajama bottoms and turn on a holiday movie appropriate for a 5 year old.

Is there a movie you watch every year?
My husband was fanatical about A Christmas Story, there was a broadcast channel that would run it continuously and he would watch on and off through the day and evening. When my daughter was younger, we didn’t have a specific one, but usually we would catch Miracle on 34th Street, or It’s a Wonderful Life on broadcast/cable.

Are you creating any new traditions?
We might be making Home Alone the new standard for Christmas Eve viewing

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
Typically, they all get to wait until Christmas morning (or even sometimes later, depending on different family interactions)

 

[littlekiwi]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve?
No special traditions. Any traditions we had were on Christmas day only

Is there a movie you watch every year?
I'm not a big movie buff to start with so no festive movies for me

Are you creating any new traditions?
Yes but not sure what yet. Christmas hasn't been the same for about five years now for a number of reasons (health, location/distance & death) but we are definitely entering a new chapter as a family with all celebrations

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
On Christmas Day usually though I'm not sure anyone is really doing gifts this year - the gift for us is being together (or at least 3/4 of us) and even that was in jeopardy for a bit. It's happening but not for a few days

 

[elseepe]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve?
No special traditions. Any traditions we had were on Christmas day only

Is there a movie you watch every year?
I'm not a big movie buff to start with so no festive movies for me

Are you creating any new traditions?
Yes but not sure what yet. Christmas hasn't been the same for about five years now for a number of reasons (health, location/distance & death) but we are definitely entering a new chapter as a family with all celebrations

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
On Christmas Day usually though I'm not sure anyone is really doing gifts this year - the gift for us is being together (or at least 3/4 of us) and even that was in jeopardy for a bit. It's happening but not for a few days

I'm not big on movies either, but it ties in with the working on new traditions with a now 5 year grandson and creating these fun times to be together. I get the change part and working to create a new chapter of family traditions. Hope you have a great time connecting with your family and sharing time together.

 

[umyesh]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve?
The kids get to open their Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve. My girls already asked “are they ugly?” so I’m not excited for them to open them. :-/

Is there a movie you watch every year?
I always want to watch Elf but my family doesn’t like to watch Christmas movies. We’re excited to watch Stranger Things this year though!

Are you creating any new traditions?
No new traditions but we’re actually going to get passports today for our cruise next year so that’s new.

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
Yep Christmas pajamas. It was DH’s tradition growing up. My family picked one present to open on Christmas Eve growing up.

 

[umyesh]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions for this Eve?
Really, it’s just about spending much of the afternoon and evening with family; we will have our matching pajama bottoms and turn on a holiday movie appropriate for a 5 year old.

Is there a movie you watch every year?
My husband was fanatical about A Christmas Story, there was a broadcast channel that would run it continuously and he would watch on and off through the day and evening. When my daughter was younger, we didn’t have a specific one, but usually we would catch Miracle on 34th Street, or It’s a Wonderful Life on broadcast/cable.

Are you creating any new traditions?
We might be making Home Alone the new standard for Christmas Eve viewing

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
Typically, they all get to wait until Christmas morning (or even sometimes later, depending on different family interactions)

I would love to watch Home Alone! Now to get the rest of the family to agree…

 

[elseepe]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve?
The kids get to open their Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve. My girls already asked “are they ugly?” so I’m not excited for them to open them. :-/

Is there a movie you watch every year?
I always want to watch Elf but my family doesn’t like to watch Christmas movies. We’re excited to watch Stranger Things this year though!

Are you creating any new traditions?
No new traditions but we’re actually going to get passports today for our cruise next year so that’s new.

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
Yep Christmas pajamas. It was DH’s tradition growing up. My family picked one present to open on Christmas Eve growing up.

Getting passports is exciting. I never got into Stranger Things, but it's good to be doing something together. Can't wait to see pictures of the pajamas. We're actually using last year's pajama pants again this year. That's good, because I liked them.

 

[HavaDrPepper]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve? In 2021, I found out my church streamed the Christmas Eve service so I watched it. I also found out my cousin's church in Orlando streams their service. Because they are at different times, I could watch both. So I've been doing that every year since then.

Is there a movie you watch every year? Nope.

Are you creating any new traditions? Just the Christmas Eve service watching.

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve? No presents in my house.

 

[elseepe]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve? In 2021, I found out my church streamed the Christmas Eve service so I watched it. I also found out my cousin's church in Orlando streams their service. Because they are at different times, I could watch both. So I've been doing that every year since then.

Is there a movie you watch every year? Nope.

Are you creating any new traditions? Just the Christmas Eve service watching.

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve? No presents in my house.

streaming a service sounds like a nice tradition to have, and you get to do it from the comfort of your home.

 

[Angela Toucan]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve?
This is when we normally have lunch with my parents, except there's only my mum now. To make things easier for her, she came to us for lunch today,

Is there a movie you watch every year?
nope

Are you creating any new traditions?
no

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
We exchanged and opened gifts with my mother today.

 

[elseepe]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve?
This is when we normally have lunch with my parents, except there's only my mum now. To make things easier for her, she came to us for lunch today,

Is there a movie you watch every year?
nope

Are you creating any new traditions?
no

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
We exchanged and opened gifts with my mother today.

Sounds like you had a special day.

 

[IntenseMagic]

@elseepe Merry Christmas!!

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve?
I've always let my children open one gift on Christmas Eve, at least while they were living at home

Is there a movie you watch every year?
Not one in particular. I'm about to go pick one out to watch while I cook.

Are you creating any new traditions?
Not this year. Too much other stuff going on.

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
Just one for the kid who still lives here

 

[elseepe]

@elseepe Merry Christmas!!

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve?
I've always let my children open one gift on Christmas Eve, at least while they were living at home

Is there a movie you watch every year?
Not one in particular. I'm about to go pick one out to watch while I cook.

Are you creating any new traditions?
Not this year. Too much other stuff going on.

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
Just one for the kid who still lives here

Merry Christmas!

We watched about 1/2 of Home Alone this evening - with an antsy 5 year old, but we had a nice time snuggling on the couch. We will get together again bright and early tomorrow for gifts.

 

[Annsofie]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve?
Here in Sweden we have our main celebration on Christmas Eve. The night before Christmas Eve is called Little Christmas Eve and in our family we just finish everything for Christmas Eve, and hanging out with each other, drinking glögg (a sweeter variety of glühwein) and eating gingerbread cookies and Christmas candy. If we have time we watch a movie or play a board game.
Is there a movie you watch every year?
The Holiday is my all time favorite, but it’s often just me who watch and I usually watch it on Christmas Day.
Are you creating any new traditions?
It feels like we constantly change our Christmas traditions, we aren’t that traditional now when the kids are grown up.
Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
We open all our presents on Christmas Eve, lol. When the kids were small they got to open one special gift in the morning to help them wait for Tomten (Santa) who came to hand over the presents in the evening.

 

[cinna]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve?
The kids get to open their Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve. My girls already asked “are they ugly?” so I’m not excited for them to open them. :-/

Is there a movie you watch every year?
I always want to watch Elf but my family doesn’t like to watch Christmas movies. We’re excited to watch Stranger Things this year though!

Are you creating any new traditions?
No new traditions but we’re actually going to get passports today for our cruise next year so that’s new.

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
Yep Christmas pajamas. It was DH’s tradition growing up. My family picked one present to open on Christmas Eve growing up.

I am also super excited about Stranger Things this year!!!!

 

[cinna]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions for this Eve?
YES! We celebrated Christmas.
I also live in Sweden like @Annsofie so Christmas Eve is the big deal around here.

The last couple of years we have just celebrated with our grown-up kids so it's very easy going. In Sweden it's custom to have "Julbord" for dinner at Christmas with lots of different typical Swedish dishes but we don't do that. I make a turkey roast with roasted potatoes, Brussel sprouts, gravy, apple sauce and some veggies. My daughter often makes the dessert.
Then we chill, maybe watch a Christmas movie or listen to music. We also get our Christmas presents in the evening.

Is there a movie you watch every year?
I always have to watch Elf! <3 No Christmas without it. We also watch some other movies but they vary from year to year.

Are you creating any new traditions?
Not at this moment.

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
We open all our presents in the evening - but we buy less and less presents. We want to spend our money on doing things together instead - like a trip or going out for a nice meal.

 

[Brendazzle]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions for Christmas Eve? We usually watch Muppet Christmas Carol. In years past, my husband would do last-minute gift wrapping and/or assembling while I photographed everything for the scrapbook.

Is there a movie you watch every year? See above. Sadly, we didn't get to do it this year.

Are you creating any new traditions? We're certainly more prepared now so we're not doing last-minute prep anymore

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve? Not usually. I've offered but my husband and son don't seem to want to.

 

[Lynnette]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve?
We find a local service to attend. We attend a different denomination every year, and then we get take out. All of my kids play the piano, so they will take turns playing a Christmas piece, then we read the Christmas story in the bible, and then we read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Is there a movie you watch every year?
Several - we love Christmas movies! Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, claymation Rudolph & Santa Claus is Comin' To Town, Elf, White Christmas, Home Alone 1 & 2, Muppet Christmas Carol... probably more I can't think of! Sadly, my very favorite Christmas movie, Mixed Nuts, isn't streaming and our DVD player isn't working so I didn't get to watch it this year.

Are you creating any new traditions?
No

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
We always open new pajamas, everything else we open on Christmas day

 

[elseepe]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions Eve?
Here in Sweden we have our main celebration on Christmas Eve. The night before Christmas Eve is called Little Christmas Eve and in our family we just finish everything for Christmas Eve, and hanging out with each other, drinking glögg (a sweeter variety of glühwein) and eating gingerbread cookies and Christmas candy. If we have time we watch a movie or play a board game.
Is there a movie you watch every year?
The Holiday is my all time favorite, but it’s often just me who watch and I usually watch it on Christmas Day.
Are you creating any new traditions?
It feels like we constantly change our Christmas traditions, we aren’t that traditional now when the kids are grown up.
Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
We open all our presents on Christmas Eve, lol. When the kids were small they got to open one special gift in the morning to help them wait for Tomten (Santa) who came to hand over the presents in the evening.

It is always fun to hear how traditions vary around the globe, it's one of the things I miss since I retired from working. Yes, our traditions also became less frequent after our daughter was on her own, but now we're building new ones with the grandkid.

 

[elseepe]

If you celebrate Christmas, do you have any special traditions for this Eve?
YES! We celebrated Christmas.
I also live in Sweden like @Annsofie so Christmas Eve is the big deal around here.

The last couple of years we have just celebrated with our grown-up kids so it's very easy going. In Sweden it's custom to have "Julbord" for dinner at Christmas with lots of different typical Swedish dishes but we don't do that. I make a turkey roast with roasted potatoes, Brussel sprouts, gravy, apple sauce and some veggies. My daughter often makes the dessert.
Then we chill, maybe watch a Christmas movie or listen to music. We also get our Christmas presents in the evening.

Is there a movie you watch every year?
I always have to watch Elf! <3 No Christmas without it. We also watch some other movies but they vary from year to year.

Are you creating any new traditions?
Not at this moment.

Do you open presents, or one present on Christmas Eve?
We open all our presents in the evening - but we buy less and less presents. We want to spend our money on doing things together instead - like a trip or going out for a nice meal.

Your meal sounds fabulous and I love that you have THE movie that you watch every year.