Back in the day
when my siblings and I were but wee little tykes, my Grandparents would come to visit every Friday bringing with them a bag of strawberry liquorice laces which we would have to divide up between the 5 of us, along with £1.25 pocket money, which would equate to 25p each. I can't even begin to explain how excited we all got....oh the small things in life!! If only my problems today could be solved with some liquorice and 25p!

A ritual that is still standing today is that on Christmas morning, we're not allowed to open any presents until the whole family is up, showered and dressed and gathered in the living room. This began when we were little, mother knew all to well that if we opened them as soon as we awoke, we'd be too distracted to go and get dressed etc! It was also a nifty way of getting us to help out with tidying up and preparing dinner..."the sooner everything's sorted, the sooner you can have your presents!"
(blubbergob09, Tue 25 Nov 2008, 21:21, 2 replies)

My family would also
not let me or my siblings open ANY of our presents until everyone was up. It sort of stayed with us and we still refrain from opening them until everyone is up. I am 23 and still do this.
(British Steel was participating in awesomeness on, Wed 26 Nov 2008, 3:02, closed)

we had the
everyone together for presents thing as well.

Often, Christmas would involve the extended family, and getting them all in the same room at the same time was a nontrivial task.

So, sometimes, Christmas presents magically became Boxing Day presents instead.
(haberman is singing in the changes, Wed 26 Nov 2008, 12:59, closed)