So now that we know if Santa's presents are wrapped or unwrapped, when do you open the rest of your gifts? My family has always opened everything on Christmas morning. My ex-boyfriend's family opened all their presents on Christmas eve and then did Santa's gifts in the morning. Any other variations?

We open Christmas gifts after supper and Candlelight services at church on Christmas Eve. We have a hard time making Mother wait that long! We only have Santa on Christmas morning.

We allow one gift per child to be opened on Christmas eve, after services.

My son opens all of his gifts except from Santa on Christmas Eve. My family comes over on Christmas Eve, he goes to his Dad's on Christmas Day after breakfast.

My parents were divorced when I was one, so we always had at least 3 Christmas gift openings between them and some grandparents house we had to go to.

This will be the first year I've gone to my husband's family at Christmas - actually it will be the first year I've spent Christmas with my husband. I'm pretty sure they open gifts on Christmas day. My family always does ours on Christmas Day also.

We have always opened gifts on Christmas Eve and then opened the stocking gifts Christmas morning.

With all the excitement and three small children we began to change things up as of last year. Santa comes to our house on the 23rd. We open his gifts and the gifts from each other on that night. Then on Christmas Eve we go to one Grandma's after church and open the tons of gifts there. Then on Christmas day we go to the other Grandma's house for dinner and open more gifts there. I am exhausted just thinking about it!

We each get to open one present Christmas Eve. The present is always new PJs. The little one gets a small toy inside the box with the PJs that go along with the PJs, such as Star Wars PJs with a Star Wars Lego toy.

I was brought up opening presents on Christmas Morning after Santa had come during the night and that is wgat we did with my son. Now we don't do a big Christmas and don't really have a Christmas morning, my son is grown and does not leave in the same city that I do. We go to my husbands family in the afternoon where they have drawn names, and exchange gifts then. I miss the old Christmas and my family.

We open gifts on Christmas morning. We have an immediate family Christmas Eve dinner, followed by my husband reading the Christmas story from the Bible, then we sing Christmas carols for the rest of the evening, along with enjoying hot apple cider and nibbling on cookies, although we do save some for Santa (oh, and we also leave out carrots for the reindeer).

I grew up opening one gift Christmas Eve and then having Christmas morning at home and Christmas afternoon with my mom's parents.

Now my parents are divorced and remarried as am I, so:
We spend Christmas Eve either with my mom and family or my husband's family, opening tons of gifts either way. We still open one present at our house Christmas Eve, if the kids make it that long as we usually go to service at their house. Then we have Christmas morning at home, Christmas brunch with my dad's family and then Christmas dinner with whichever parent we did not see Christmas Eve! Of course there are tons of presents at every stop! Whooo, I am tired thinking about this. Then my boys also get Christmas with their dad, his parents and their step-mother's parents. Oh yeah, they also have two sets of great-grandparents who live in Florida and send presents each year. Talk about being spoiled!!!!

The only time this gets difficult is if their dad is being a pip or it snows. I just might be the only person on Earth that prays that it does NOT snow on Christmas

For most of my life we have opened presents on Christmas Eve. When the kids were young, we always saved the special "Santa" gift for Christmas morning. The last few years our Christmas Eve is "finger foods", scratch off lottery tickets for everyone(kids too) and games (usually trivial pursuit).

The best part of Christmas is getting together with family, eating and playing games. I prefer the smaller Christmas Eve version when we aren't with soooo many of the relatives, just the immediate ones. Christmas Day is usually with extended family, all those uncles & aunts & cousins you see a couple of times a year. We open the few gifts we exchange with them on Christmas Day.

Growing up, Christmas gifts were always opened after we returned home from Christmas eve candlelight services. Somewhere around 12:30. (Technically that would make it Christmas morning, but since we had not yet been to bed, we still considered it Christmad Eve.)

Our last name started with an "A", and everyone knows that Santa always delivers his gifts in alphabetical order. The fact that we were one of the first ones to get our gifts made us special.

Looking back now as adult, the rationale behind the practice was that Dad and Grandpa would drop the family off at the front door of the Church then meet us inside a little bit later. (Parking was difficult to find you know!)

Anyway, Grandpa owned his own business. Dad was a blue-collar laborer. Christmas day was one of the very few days each year that they could actually sleep in a little bit. By having all of the excitement when we got home the night before, the five of us kids wouldn't be chomping at the bit at 6:00 Christmas morning to get everyone up and to the living room.

These days, it's when ever it most convenient and compatible with the schedules my family as a whole and of in-laws, not just mine, but those of my siblings.

But regardless of when its celebrated, it is joyful, full of laughter, and celebration of the birth of our Savior and a time to reflect and be thankful and grateful for all that we are blessed with.

Polish Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve (Vigilia) and it's one tradition after another and no one would change it! This year there will be 18 of us in all. First we go to the childrens mass at 4:00pm.

Before dinner, the oldest (Babcia, my mom) takes a host like wafer called opaltek and offers it to the next oldest with good wishes for the year to come. She keeps going down the line and the rest of us go to each other until everyone has had a piece and good wishes from everyone else. (My 7 year old granddaughter just told me this is one of her favoite parts of Christmas!)

The table is set with an extra place for Baby Jesus and there's blessed hay under the table cloth to remind everyone of the manger He was born in. We have a traditional meatless dinner with Polish mushroom soup, pierogi, saur kraut, potatoes, smoked salmon and fried fish. Last year's hit addition was a wonderful salad of field greens with dried cranberries, spiced pecans, apples and raspberry vinagrette.

After dinner, Santa comes to our house and hands out the presents. We've had the same Santa coming for the last 18 years...real beard, really looks like Santa and all the kids and grown-ups love him! I even made Santa a scrapbook with pictures from all the years he's come so we could give HIM a present last year.

Christmas morning, we open up the gifts that the 5 of us who live here got for each other. The rest of the day is spent relaxing, reading the new books we've gotten and watching a holiday movie.

Thankfully, my ex-son-in-law's celebration is at midnite so he'll have time with the granddaughter who lives with me inbetween our eve and day celebrations. I assume she'll sleep in a bit later in the morning than in past years so I might not have to be up at dawn to open presents!

My family tradition was Christmas morning. As a PK, Christmas Eve was just too hectic, what with 3 evening services to prepare for. My DH's tradition is Christmas Eve for family gifts and Christmas Day for Santa gifts. I'm trying to get him to compromise on the one gift on Christmas Eve, and that one gift to be PJs. Although I do like Juliad's suggestions of the lottery tickets followed by card games too.

BJP - We also celebrate Vigilia on Christmas Eve & I'd love that salad recipe to add to our meal! Over the years, we have had to add to the meal for the relatives who are not Polish so we include kielbasa now too. We usually have about 50 people at the school hall to celebrate. It's mostly family but we also include friends without nearby relatives. Santa comes (after all of the kids sing Christmas Carols) to give all of the kids (cousins, nieces, nephews and friends) their presents from the extended family. The gifts from the moms and dads stay at home. Santa also distributes gag gifts to the adults. For several years in the 70's, we had an ugly tie that made the rounds through all the men! After that, we go over to my husband's family for our gift exchange among the brothers, sisters & in-laws.
On Christmas morning, we go in the reverse order. Starting at the in-laws, we get gifts from Santa and have breakfast. Then off to my mom's for my family's gift exchnage and dinner.

Hey BJP, will your kapusta be done in time for Christmas?

I'm making a run to Chicago on my way (not really) to Peoria this Christmas to pick up plenty of Pierogi and Kapusta!

Has anyone else seen the new ad for leather jackets at Dillards? It shows a grown woman running down the stairs, rushing under the tree, grabbing a box, tearing off the paper, pulling out the leather jacket, and shouting with joy as she holds it up to look at herself in it. Moments later, her husband, dressed in his suit with his briefcase in hand looks at her smiles, and says "Congratulations, you set a new record and waited until December 18th this year" and heads out to work.

I love it!

BJP or Michael P - ever had kielbasa from Bobec's (sp?) in Chicago? We have to order the double smoked garlic kielbasa from there because our local market stopped carrying it.

PMH,

Yes, I've had Bobaks before. That's nothing compared to the stuff I get at some little market. But I have to make a long trip and find someone there who speaks polish to order

FYI: You can order Bobak's online! If this is the one you are talking about!

Holy kielbasa!!! I think that's the one! I'll have to print the menu & show it to my Mom. Wooohooo! Thanks!