In the end our Christmas dinner went down very well.
We now have a tradition of having our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. We do this for a few reasons.
On Christmas Day itself, the children are often too excited to sit down for a long meal, so don’t eat or enjoy the meal or the occasion. It also usually means I spend a fair few hours in the kitchen, which means I miss them opening and playing with their presents. I also find it quite demanding to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible, whilst creating a wonderful dining experience.
Having the meal on Christmas Eve means that we can both spend a bit more time preparing the meal (less stressful in itself) and enjoy eating the meal (as do the children). As a result for them it helps pass the time on one of the more exciting days of the year as they anticipate the arrival of a sleigh full of presents been pulled by eight tiny reindeer!
As to what we eat on Christmas day itself, well we have lots of lovely leftovers, cheeses, pickles, hot bread, etc…. quick and easy to prepare and delicious.
We did this for the first time last year and were slightly apprehensive about how it would work and go down, but in the end it worked fantastically. Therefore this year it was a no-brainer we would do the same again and have our Christmas Dinner a day early on Christmas Eve. Worked a treat.