“Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age.”
December 25, 2015 5:26 AM Subscribe
Sleeping In on Christmas? by Claire Cain Miller [The New York Times]
On Christmas Day in the United States, Americans wake up around 7:35 a.m. on average. They might be envious of Brazilians, who have languid Christmas mornings and whose average wake-up time is 9:09 a.m. The Japanese, meanwhile, wake at 6:43 a.m., about the same time as every other day. The difference seems to be whether a country’s main holiday celebration is on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (or not at all) — and that can be traced to religious tradition. The most Roman Catholic countries sleep in latest, probably because many people stay out later on Christmas Eve, often attending midnight Mass. The latest-rising countries — Brazil, Spain and Belgium, where people sleep past 9 a.m., according to data from 500,000 wearers of the Jawbone UP activity tracker — are also more than three-quarters Catholic. In each, the big meal is on Christmas Eve — it’s not typically served until 10 p.m. in Brazil, followed by midnight Mass.
The family dinner/feast finally wound up at 0300 this morning. God in his/her formalized version was not involved except perhaps as an exclamation as in "My god I"ll never be able to eat anything more ever again".
I awoke at 0600 because... Cats....the kitten decided to jump from one end of the bed to the other repeatedly. One out all out. I slept until just after 0900 when my partner got up and made coffe which we slowly sipped with Pannetone and left over Rabanadas. So much for never eating again. The cats are sleeping somewhere. Life is good. Merry Christmas.
posted by adamvasco at 5:42 AM on December 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
I awoke at 0600 because... Cats....the kitten decided to jump from one end of the bed to the other repeatedly. One out all out. I slept until just after 0900 when my partner got up and made coffe which we slowly sipped with Pannetone and left over Rabanadas. So much for never eating again. The cats are sleeping somewhere. Life is good. Merry Christmas.
posted by adamvasco at 5:42 AM on December 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think that the main difference is whether there are kids who are itching for presents or only adults who enjoy waking up late.
Besides, many Catholic countries do the presents thing on January 6, so in many homes there aren't any presents to get up early about. Presents on the 25th has been gaining some traction here in Spain, particularly for toys because kids can enjoy them until January 7 when holidays are over (unlike being able to play for a day which is what happens when the Reyes Magos bring the presents), but it's not universal by any means.
posted by sukeban at 5:43 AM on December 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
Besides, many Catholic countries do the presents thing on January 6, so in many homes there aren't any presents to get up early about. Presents on the 25th has been gaining some traction here in Spain, particularly for toys because kids can enjoy them until January 7 when holidays are over (unlike being able to play for a day which is what happens when the Reyes Magos bring the presents), but it's not universal by any means.
posted by sukeban at 5:43 AM on December 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
huh. i knew nothing about jan 6. sucks to be argentinian, apparently (presents on night of 24th here in chile).
posted by andrewcooke at 5:48 AM on December 25, 2015
posted by andrewcooke at 5:48 AM on December 25, 2015
I was raised Catholic and we did go to Christmas Eve mass, but the biggest reason we woke up early was because we had to drive from Eastern Connecticut to Cape Cod to make it in time for Christmas Dinner at Grandma's.
My brother and I woke our parents up early when we were little because of OMIGOD SANTA PRESENTS WHEE, but then when we were teenagers we wanted to sleep later, so Dad woke us up by bringing the dog into each of our rooms and dropping him into bed with each of us, so for a few years Christmas began with surprise dog breath attacks
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:57 AM on December 25, 2015 [6 favorites]
My brother and I woke our parents up early when we were little because of OMIGOD SANTA PRESENTS WHEE, but then when we were teenagers we wanted to sleep later, so Dad woke us up by bringing the dog into each of our rooms and dropping him into bed with each of us, so for a few years Christmas began with surprise dog breath attacks
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:57 AM on December 25, 2015 [6 favorites]
I think we can conclude that Brazilians clearly do Christmas Eve right.
posted by selfnoise at 6:11 AM on December 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by selfnoise at 6:11 AM on December 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I grew up Catholic but we were pretty slack about midnight mass, or any mass. We did 1 present each on Christmas Eve, and then we were up at 7 AM Christmas morning. Well, actually we (the kids) were up at 5 AM, but we weren't allowed to get our parents up for Christmas until 7 AM. Except for that one year I sneaked into my parents room and set their clock forward an hour...
This year we are foregoing presents completely as we just got back from the Caribbean yesterday. Everybody agrees that travel > presents, so I think we just started a new family tradition.
posted by COD at 6:34 AM on December 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
This year we are foregoing presents completely as we just got back from the Caribbean yesterday. Everybody agrees that travel > presents, so I think we just started a new family tradition.
posted by COD at 6:34 AM on December 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I grew up Catholic with strict opinions about going to Christmas Eve Mass, but we never did Midnight Mass. Too much of a hassle to haul small children to, and we had children under ten in the house until I was 23. Earlier Christmas Eve Mass was always packed to the gills, I don't want to think about trying to deal with Midnight Mass. So we'd go to that, haul ourselves home to eat some sort of seafood/shellfish assortment (as is traditional; last night it was bouillabaisse), and then all go to bed for an early morning on Christmas Day.
Currently, my family is prepping to go to Christmas Day Mass and my partner and I are side-eyeing and trying to see if anyone is going to try and drag us to go. I am hoping the answer is no. Today we all slept in, since the youngest person here is 13 and hitting the teenage night owl phase. I kind of miss being up at the crack of dawn, though; maybe I'll push for that next year.
posted by sciatrix at 7:12 AM on December 25, 2015
Currently, my family is prepping to go to Christmas Day Mass and my partner and I are side-eyeing and trying to see if anyone is going to try and drag us to go. I am hoping the answer is no. Today we all slept in, since the youngest person here is 13 and hitting the teenage night owl phase. I kind of miss being up at the crack of dawn, though; maybe I'll push for that next year.
posted by sciatrix at 7:12 AM on December 25, 2015
On Christmas Day in the United States, Americans who wear the Jawbone UP activity tracker wake up around 7:35 a.m. on average. Brazilians, who wear this silly gizmo wake-up on average at 9:09 a.m. Nobody knows what time normal people in those countries wake up on Christmas day.
posted by straight at 7:21 AM on December 25, 2015 [18 favorites]
posted by straight at 7:21 AM on December 25, 2015 [18 favorites]
I'm in Mexico. My mom's family always has Christmas eve lunch, with LOTS of food and desserts. Then we have dinner with either my dad's side of the family or my husband's family (on alternate years). Midnight mass here (Misa de Gallo) got moved up to 9pm in most local churches (so the priests could also go have a decent dinner I assume). We usually just go to the 7pm one before dinner.
Last night we got home at 2.30am and I have a big headache and feel very hungover. Except I didn't even drink because I'm pregnant. My 3 year-old thankfully got up at 8.45am.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 7:43 AM on December 25, 2015
Last night we got home at 2.30am and I have a big headache and feel very hungover. Except I didn't even drink because I'm pregnant. My 3 year-old thankfully got up at 8.45am.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 7:43 AM on December 25, 2015
Once the Santa ruse was exposed (and my sister and I were out of the toy phase of gifts), we went from being a Christmas Day family to a Christmas Eve family. I much prefer the latter. Christmas Day is a pleasantly languid affair.
posted by KingEdRa at 7:45 AM on December 25, 2015
posted by KingEdRa at 7:45 AM on December 25, 2015
One of my fondest memories happened when I was about 6. I couldn't tell time, so my brother drew various clock faces for me to keep beside the bed so on Christmas morning I would know when it was okay to get out of bed and get dressed, and when it was okay to leave my room to go downstairs to see the presents.
posted by JanetLand at 7:57 AM on December 25, 2015 [25 favorites]
posted by JanetLand at 7:57 AM on December 25, 2015 [25 favorites]
Quebec and this is a bone of contention in our family. On my wife's (semi practicing, at least grandmama and grand papa) Franco-Catholic side it's midnight mass and presents at night. On my (atheist but still) Anglo-Protestant side it's early to bed and Santa presents in the morning. I "won" this year so we slept at home and the kids woke us up at 6am. Heading over to the in laws to stuff our faces in a few...
posted by Cuke at 8:12 AM on December 25, 2015
posted by Cuke at 8:12 AM on December 25, 2015
JanetLand, that's a really sweet story!
My family likes to remind me that I once woke my sister up to tell her it was Christmas at three in the morning.
posted by teponaztli at 8:12 AM on December 25, 2015
My family likes to remind me that I once woke my sister up to tell her it was Christmas at three in the morning.
posted by teponaztli at 8:12 AM on December 25, 2015
The first year my parents were divorced (I was 8ish), my dad promised to come over to help us open presents. I was sad about it, I guess, so he promised he'd be there even before I woke up. I guess I took that as a challenge, because I got up at 3:30 and decided to wait. I read "The Long Winter" in its entirety before he got there.
I won.
posted by Stewriffic at 8:24 AM on December 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I won.
posted by Stewriffic at 8:24 AM on December 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
My parents got around the waking-up-at-3am problem by deploying a sacrificial tree. We had a tabletop tree in the bedroom where Santa would leave stocking stuffers (usually small lego sets) and we were allowed to unwrap them as early as we wanted to so long as we didn't wake them up before sunrise.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:28 AM on December 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:28 AM on December 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
We have relatives visiting from China, and the five year old has already observed from books and TV that Santa brings presents to white kids living in houses with chimneys in cold countries with snow, and is therefore unlikely to be real. I did make up stockings for their parents to hang up on Christmas Eve, and I'm waiting to hear how they reacted. Regarding Santa, the parents have told the kids that they can neither confirm nor deny his existence because they've never met him and they've never received presents from him, but customs and immigration at the airport may have tipped Santa off about their presence in the US.
posted by peripathetic at 8:40 AM on December 25, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by peripathetic at 8:40 AM on December 25, 2015 [10 favorites]
We slept in until 8 am, blessedly free of familial expectations--until an hour from now when I will do my best not to get drunk to deal with the holiday version of my MIL--as Shepherd and I exchanged gifts Wednesday night, knowing we'd not be at our house for Christmas Day.
posted by Kitteh at 8:56 AM on December 25, 2015
posted by Kitteh at 8:56 AM on December 25, 2015
When I was really young, it somehow became SOP to forcibly wake people up (usually my dad), around 8ish. This was done using a set of little cymbals, designated solely for this purpose – they were packed away with the decorations. This continued through the childhoods of all my siblings. I was even on the receiving end one or twice when I was in college and my brother was little.
posted by bonje at 9:25 AM on December 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by bonje at 9:25 AM on December 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
The greatest gift our son ever gave us was not waking up crazy early wanting to open his gifts.
(This year, he and I both rolled out of bed around 10am. Mr. Lucinda got up around 8, but that's par for the course on days off for him.)
posted by Lucinda at 9:33 AM on December 25, 2015
(This year, he and I both rolled out of bed around 10am. Mr. Lucinda got up around 8, but that's par for the course on days off for him.)
posted by Lucinda at 9:33 AM on December 25, 2015
I woke up at 7:32 am, thanks in part to a bored and hungry cat. We hosted Christmas Eve dinner last night, which didn't go all that late, and will head to gingerbeer's sister's shortly for presents and breakfast. We will take photos of their cats (and the bunny!) who will be wearing their holiday bows. Later, there will be napping, I'm certain.
posted by rtha at 9:50 AM on December 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by rtha at 9:50 AM on December 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'm always surprised to hear about people opening presents on Christmas, and getting up early to do so -- because my family has always opened them on Christmas Eve.
When I was a kid, presents for the family were opened Christmas Eve, after dinner, and then Santa would leave a few additional things Christmas morning. Now that there are no kids in the house, it's just Christmas Eve.
I thought this was just how it was done for the longest time.
(And I still think it's a nice way to do it -- very relaxing.)
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 10:15 AM on December 25, 2015
When I was a kid, presents for the family were opened Christmas Eve, after dinner, and then Santa would leave a few additional things Christmas morning. Now that there are no kids in the house, it's just Christmas Eve.
I thought this was just how it was done for the longest time.
(And I still think it's a nice way to do it -- very relaxing.)
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 10:15 AM on December 25, 2015
I got up early and ate a huge Christmas breakfast at my local Waffle House. Then I went home and went back to sleep. Now I'm drinking coffee and Bailey's on the deck in this freakish heat wave. Christmas is pretty OK, I guess.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:11 AM on December 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:11 AM on December 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
This was much my experience this morning:
Body: IT'S CHRISTMAS DUDE WAKE UP
Brain: seriously, dude it is 4 AM
Body: WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
Kitty: I SNUGGLE your FACE!
Brain: okay everyone, I give
posted by Archelaus at 11:56 AM on December 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
Body: IT'S CHRISTMAS DUDE WAKE UP
Brain: seriously, dude it is 4 AM
Body: WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP
Kitty: I SNUGGLE your FACE!
Brain: okay everyone, I give
posted by Archelaus at 11:56 AM on December 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
I went to bed at 2:30am and woke up at 11am to breakfast and gifts. Is that un-American?
posted by grumpybear69 at 1:07 PM on December 25, 2015
posted by grumpybear69 at 1:07 PM on December 25, 2015
I woke up at 6am (and 3am and 1am), which is 4am in my home time zone and I'm still jet lagged. It wasn't the excitement of Christmas, though, it's that my brother in law in the next door room is on call for work doing phone support, which seems to involve shouting at his minions a lot, and the walls seem to be made of rice paper or something. It probably sucks for him *slightly* more than for me, but on the other hand, he is at least getting paid to not sleep.
posted by lollusc at 1:29 PM on December 25, 2015
posted by lollusc at 1:29 PM on December 25, 2015
If it were just us, it would be a few gifts Christmas eve and then Santa for the a.m. because our kid insists on it.
As it is, we have Great-Grandma Christmas on Christmas Eve, Santa on Christmas Day morning, Grandparent Christmas later that day, and my family (aunts, uncles and cousins only , now that my parents are gone) the day after.
It's a fuck-ton of Christmas.
But Grandma got the kiddo not one but TWO sonic screwdrivers (for Doctors 11 and 12) and he is over the moon and so it's all gravy now.
posted by emjaybee at 4:41 PM on December 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
As it is, we have Great-Grandma Christmas on Christmas Eve, Santa on Christmas Day morning, Grandparent Christmas later that day, and my family (aunts, uncles and cousins only , now that my parents are gone) the day after.
It's a fuck-ton of Christmas.
But Grandma got the kiddo not one but TWO sonic screwdrivers (for Doctors 11 and 12) and he is over the moon and so it's all gravy now.
posted by emjaybee at 4:41 PM on December 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I didn't get up until 9am on Christmas day, and no-one opened presents until 2pm!
It's a far cry from my childhood days. I used to run into my parents' bedroom and wake them up at 4am. One Christmas I opened my dad's eyes by pulling on his eyelashes and persuaded him to get up! get up! Father Christmas has been! And I would have got away with it, too, if my mum hadn't woken up and sleepily asked "What are you doing? It's four in the morning!" Dad thought it was seven.
I spent three hours longingly staring at a packed stocking in the twilight.
posted by Rissa at 3:30 AM on December 26, 2015
It's a far cry from my childhood days. I used to run into my parents' bedroom and wake them up at 4am. One Christmas I opened my dad's eyes by pulling on his eyelashes and persuaded him to get up! get up! Father Christmas has been! And I would have got away with it, too, if my mum hadn't woken up and sleepily asked "What are you doing? It's four in the morning!" Dad thought it was seven.
I spent three hours longingly staring at a packed stocking in the twilight.
posted by Rissa at 3:30 AM on December 26, 2015
Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine
Has 'caffeine' become a synecdoche for stimulants in general? Is this something I've not noticed before? Huh. I am bemused.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:19 PM on December 27, 2015
Has 'caffeine' become a synecdoche for stimulants in general? Is this something I've not noticed before? Huh. I am bemused.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:19 PM on December 27, 2015
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(i got an awesome desk pencil sharpener, like i remember my dad having on his desk many, many years ago. and now i have a row of immaculately sharpened pencils and nothing to stab.)
posted by andrewcooke at 5:38 AM on December 25, 2015 [3 favorites]