Not the obvious ones such as opening presents and having Xmas dinner but the other smaller more personal ones

I always take the kids to buy one xmas decoration /Bauble that we put up and they can take with them when they leave home

I always buy the kids new xmas pyjamas for Xmas eve even my eldest ( and he does not normally wear PJs) gets some

I always go to Midnight mass or a carol concert. Xmas is not the same without the carols or a mass even though i am an athiest!!

Going through the radio times and circling programmes / films i want to watch even though i dont watch much terrestrial TV and have sky information at my finger tips

Drink Snowballs

At this time of year I traditionally say, 'thank fook it will all soon be over and the new year will soon be here'.

I relish struggling to get served in my local as the once a yearers crowd the bar with their phoney false bonhomie b0llocks.

As a child my grandparents always put their Xmas tree up on Xmas Eve...i hated the waiting but as an adult I realised that this was part of the significance and ritual of Xmas. As a result I've tried to avoid putting the tree up until Xmas eve. My kids have always moaned about this. This year I think my kids have got it...my eldest, who is 22 and is back from uni having spent the last two Xmas's away said tonight something about "but we never put the tree up till xmas eve...it's too early!" So this year they (not me...I hate the bloody thing!) will be dressing the tree for Xmas on Xmas eve.
As an aside cos i like em and just did it as I'm in charge of catering on the big day we have also started our own tradition of having blinis, cream cheese and smoked salmon as an apperitif to our Xmas dinner...only for last 2 or 3 years, but they now think of it as traditional! I'm tickled to think my kids and their kids will be telling somebody in 50 years " but we always do that cos it's Xmas!"

Tree always goes up on December 1st, something I think my whole family has always done, new pack of baubles for the tree every year and then there's the Poinsettia that lasts like 2 days

You should become a presbyterian or a Muslim then you can ban music, dancing, alcohol, christmas carols etc kite flying and all sorts of stuff.

I absolutely hate the New Year never ever liked it

Back in the day, when I was rich, before HM Government took it all away, and when the girls were small I started my tradition of buying them each a small Steiff bear.

These days the bank account would just laugh at me if I tried to buy even one let alone one each, so I haunt eBay for months to snap up handmade teddy bears for them, one each, traditionally made and stuffed, individual unique pieces, they are 24 and 20 now and have had a bear from me every year since they were born, not their mother, just from me, they just look at me every christmas day with a "I know whats in this parcel" but one day when I'm pushing up daises those bears will all be in their lofts and forgotten about - LOL

Isn't that nice, do you feel all nice and warm iside now ?

I don't mind some tunes and the booze, but yes, the rest can happily go.

Don't even bother with [iMad Friday[/i nowadays after being detained in some cells by my local constabulary a couple of years ago, but I digress.

I dont but i am a hard bitten cynic but i reckon your girls do and that is far more important.

which one of these 52 Fridays are the mad ones or are you so old you can only manage one a year

I go on holiday, fly to New Zealand tomorrow.

I find it the strangest time of year, more so in Australia were it seems pointless to me.

Yeah. I got a bit of sunburn yesterday, whilst Christmas shopping. Not right.

Anyway, I phone my daughter and my mates kids pretending to be santa and asking them what they want etc. It's so lovely to hear their excitement. I still can't believe she hasn't sussed out it's her dad putting on a deep silly voice. But then again, my older sister used to do it to me and I didn't suss that.

Try it. It's lovely.