I'll never forget several years ago (and only two minis at the time) how our Christmas Days went: wake up and open presents, fight for the bathroom to get ready, head to the in-laws to open presents, rush back home for lunch and naps, wake kids up early from naps, go to my parents house, deal with crying kids who wouldn't open their gifts (I did it for them), go home and put the kids to sleep an hour past their bedtime. Then for the next week I got kids who were crashing down from the excitement of Christmas. They were overly tired, fussy, grumpy all day, and left me feeling like I wanted to pull my hair out.
"No more!" I shouted at my husband. I firmly (read bitchily) told him that if we were to continue having Christmases like that, then he was taking off the next two weeks to deal with the kids. Funny that our Christmases changed after that.
Now our Christmas Days are pretty relaxing. We celebrate Christmas with our families throughout the month of December which really helps keep our Christmas Days pretty tame. It's also nice that we don't feel rushed. We are able to fully celebrate and enjoy our time with our loved ones. It does feel a bit odd to me as I look back on my Christmases growing up. Their was still the excitement, but along with it rushing. We rushed to open gifts, eat breakfast, go to church, go to grandparents houses. So much rushing and being exhausted afterwards. Now our Christmas Days are completely different from what Hubs and I remember as children.
We stay home, let the kids leisurely wake up and open gifts, and then we open our door to any family, friends, and/or neighbors who want/need a place to spend Christmas. We're very lucky that both of our parents live closely and visit us on Christmas Day to see what the kids got from Santa (and bring presents and goodies with them as well).
This year was UBER relaxing. Hubs surprised me Christmas Eve with new Christmas jammies and we chose to spend all of Christmas Day in our new jams. Since I've lost all shame since becoming a mom, I had no issue greeting people all day at the door in my pajamas. My minis were just as thrilled to stay in jammies all day as well. Christmas Day went unbelievably smooth as the kids had plenty of time to enjoy their new gifts and we spent the day with those closest to us. We got naps, played games, and thoroughly enjoyed each other's (and everyone who stopped by) company.
I imagine as the kids get older we'll be the ones venturing out on Christmas Day. I like to think that the day gets easier and less chaotic the older the kids get (I have been proven wrong with this one so many times, so don't tell me otherwise and let me live in naive bliss given this matter please) But for now, I'm more than happy to keep up our tradition of having nothing to do one Christmas Day.