Here's an interesting Christmas idea from SkipinPT at RethinkingChristmas.org

Typically our Christmas morning is a round-robin of opening gifts, then we eat a light lunch and then folks start to drift off home. This is certainly less than celebratory and not memorable in the least. Every years Christmas pics look the same as the last. Because our finances are limited anyway we've been cutting back for years as it is but this year we are considering a new option.

( I can't believe someone hasn't thought of this before. Stop me if you've heard this one.)

We set two rules:

1. Each person is expected to bring one gift. That one gift must be something the entire group can use/eat/play/experience together.

2. All gifts must be experienced before the end of Christmas Day.

This eliminates the lengthy "opening of gifts" and it immediately changes Christmas morning from a passive event to an active experience.

So maybe one person buys a game (say catchphrase) and that gift is opened and the family spends an hour or so playing the game. It must be played, everyone must participate. Maybe someone brings home-made cinnamon rolls as their Christmas gift for everyone. so at some point everyone sits down and eats a roll and coffee together- unrushed. I do a little hand-drumming and was thinking how fun it would be to make my gift a drumming lesson for the whole family. I think my wife is planning on making everyone fingerpaint.

The gifts might mean spending some money but not necessarily.

Suddenly Christmas day moves from the mundane to an amazing world of creativity and fun!. At least in my imagination.

We'll see how it goes.