Christmas Eve was very traditional, as even though the kids are getting older they still want to do all the same things. Our first tradition is that we go out for a family meal. Our favorite place is The China Palace where we can all have a great first, and nobody has to cook or clear up. We like to do this late afternoon so we leave plenty of time for our other activities. When the children were little we decided to do Sibling present exchange on Christmas Eve for two reasons; first the kids were always begging to open a gift, and second it made their smaller gifts more special, instead of being swamped by the main gifts on christmas morning. To make this gift giving more special, each child has to think of a game that everyone has to play. The winner of the game receives their gift as a prize, and the game continues till everyone has received their gift. Then the next person does their game. This takes a lot of time, but is a lot of fun. My gift to the kids is always new pyjamas.