The wife and I have my family over for Christmas Eve: My mom and Aunt, my brother's family (seven of them), my sister and husband, and my mom-in-law. 14 of us in total. I enjoy entertaining everyone...cooking all the food, buying booze, and making sure everyone has stuff to open. I don't even mind the clean up.

Anyone else here tourture themselves like this? :)

In my younger days we always entertained...we always had people over if we weren't stuck going somewhere.
Somewhere along the line I figured out that cooking & cleaning up after a dozen people who were having all the fun while you slaved away sucked monkey tail.
I like it cozy at Christmas.

I live alone so I tend to entertain more at work or help other people out with their Christmas parties.

I do love a good Christmas party and I'll bet 'Boon throws a great one. ;)

I used to host the big family Thanksgiving gathering - but one of my sisters took that over last year - and my brother took on the Christman Eve/Dad's Birthday party as my folks are no longer up to hosting the hoard.

This year I am having a family party to celebrate my parents' anniversary on December 30th - and this Saturday I am having a Winterfest Dinner party for 7 friends in which I will prominently feature my special braised short ribs accompanied by an appropriate red wine. Two events chez moi in one month are plenty for me.

When I was young, I lived with my grandparents on and off and they always hosted everything for the entire family- so thus, I was quite involved with everything. My grandparents and parents are all deceased now and the remaining family is estranged from each other...I divorced and went through several years of not having much money, the kids are getting older now- and the Holidays have lost (for us) their magic and allure...I just buy (what I can) for the kids and we dont decorate anymore...I hope one day to recapture it- but for now it is lost. [which is why when our plans to meet up in Maryland with my fiancee's entire family was ruined due to work- we were really crushed]

When I was young, I lived with my grandparents on and off and they always hosted everything for the entire family- so thus, I was quite involved with everything. My grandparents and parents are all deceased now and the remaining family is estranged from each other...I divorced and went through several years of not having much money, the kids are getting older now- and the Holidays have lost (for us) their magic and allure...I just buy (what I can) for the kids and we dont decorate anymore...I hope one day to recapture it- but for now it is lost. [which is why when our plans to meet up in Maryland with my fiancee's entire family was ruined due to work- we were really crushed]

I understand all this. When my kids were small, the family all lived so close, and everyone went out of their way to make it special for them. Now their paternal side is barely involved, and my family is scattered. The kids would rather hang with friends than family (teenagers :rolleyes: ).
Either I've lost the passion or it's just one of those things that passes with time. :(

The way I see it, my brother has his hands full as it is raising four kids, my mom still hosts Christmas Day so she can't be asked to do both, and my sister is physically incapable of taking on such a task (she has MS). So my wife and I are able and willing, so why not? Hopefully I won't grow tired of it.

We always go to my Aunts tiny house every Christmas Eve and do the typical Italian seafood dinner thing. By the time the night is over, the entire house is filled with wrapping paper and little kids running around yelling and screaming playing with their new toys all the while the older folks are drinking and having a good time telling stories.

Its what I look forward to every holiday season. My parents do christmas day and its usually a nice quiet day and pig out on the copious amounts of food.

I miss pigging out on copious amounts of food.

No hosting for us..not yet anyway. We'll probably go to my inlaws Christmas Day, and hang out by ourselves Christmas eve.:D