Am I missing out on any great Christmas traditions by just going presents-lunch-telly-coma? Emily Janacek, Swindon Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com. Readers reply Being a miserable so-and-so and grumbling about Christmas is my favourite tradition. Really sets the day off well. CliveEBroom Pork pie for breakfast. richleeds0 Chocolate Orange for breakfast. HedgehogTea Bloody mary for breakfast. mikecee Half a tin of Quality Street for breakfast. Spacehopper … washed down with Lagavulin single malt, of course. retreat33 We have panettone, smoked salmon and buck’s fizz. Several years ago my uncle contributed crepes to Christmas breakfast and that is now a permanent tradition as well.anglebiscuit Salmon and scrambled egg on toast for breakfast, with the beverage of your choice. kglowe In the Black Fens (now Cambridgeshire fenland), Christmas breakfast is traditionally pork pie and beetroot (known as “red beet” there). This was so universal during my childhood that I assumed everybody in Britain had it. GeofCox We always had hot sausage rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning when I was a child. Christmas wouldn’t be the same without them. Sapmagoo Spending the day at Crisis, the only Christmas tradition worth a damn. Shadowcaptain How about the original traditional Christmas activity – going to church? Most churches are extra welcoming to newcomers on Christmas Day, and there will be carols galore! There’s a website called achurchnearyou.com to help you find services. River66 We do Christmas Day parkrun – most events will do one. I volunteer along with my daughter, and my husband and son run. Then we get home for brandy-laced tea, hot toast and presents. Dinner in the late afternoon rather than lunchtime, though..LeBearPolar This is pretty well known, but if you live near the coast, go into the sea ( where it is safe and there are people around). It will shake out the cobwebs and make the rest of the day’s indulgence feel all the more deserved. washoutx My mum goes round the garden in the middle of Christmas Day making a list of everything that is flowering. JenPaws In a house with no children, make a substantial donation to charity. Enjoy a quiet, reflective day and contemplate the true, spiritual meaning of the season. Jayceeyoukay I know of a few families whose pre-Christmas lunch row seems to be an essential part of the festivities, especially when drinking starts early. timbo42 Add nothing – if it becomes a tradition it only adds to the stress and leads to expectation and is a short step to resentment. BermudaRhomboid2 A variation on buck’s fizz – prosecco with pomegranate juice. Been indulging in this for quite a few years as I am the one relegated to the kitchen to peel and prepare vegetables for Christmas dinner. SeepyTea My new tradition is to let my daughter and son-in-law cook while I enjoy a couple of G&Ts. Payback time. I recommend it. Sayingmypeace Posting from rural Quebec, family réveillon starts after midnight mass on Christmas Eve. So technically Christmas Day. Big supper of tourtière (a meat pie made of minced pork, beef and venison from the deer you shot in hunting season), home-baked beans, home-canned pickles and mashed spuds. Then you open the presents. At some point everyone goes to bed, passes out or goes home. Valleygurl I have a tradition of weeping hysterically around the 19 December when it all gets too much for me. lilactime The Muppet Christmas Carol. Without that, it’s nothing. biggus56 Dancing round the Christmas tree. hettisa Sing The Red Flag at three o’clock. DenryMachin Read a Christmas novel. Preferably something short and easy, set in 1950 with plenty of kitsch descriptions of snow, carol singing and gentle conversation. My preference is a Christmas murder mystery. As a bonus, you can fantasise about what to do with any troublesome guests. ID47096653 Read or watch A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas – it really captures the spirit of Christmas. huskygirl Maybe try a short walk between dinner and telly? Fresh air can stave off the coma, tire the kids nicely and make you feel uber-virtuous in spite of having ingested 3,000 calories and a bucket of booze. Merry Christmas! Steph Bradshaw, Liverpool Pin the moustache on the Queen is a popular pastime for us. Stick ’taches (bought or homemade) on the TV before the speech starts and pause the action the moment HMQ appears. Closest to the regal upper lip wins. Then either watch or turn off as you prefer, before enjoying Christmas lunch. EdBondWestbourne We always play Snapdragon – picking sultanas out of a dish of lit brandy and eating them while still alight. With supervision, even preteens can play: it is referenced in Alice Through the Looking Glass and is played by children in one of Agatha Christie’s stories. Dmcg1753 Can I recommend a tradition we dreamed up a few years ago/ Have I Got Cheese for You! involves everyone bringing – anonymously – an exotic or weird cheese to the table and we mark them out of 10. Extra points for most pungent/most delicious/stupidest name or most like cat food. Beverley Taylor, Wanstead My favourite non-standard tradition is the Christmas pickle. On Christmas Eve, a special green pickle ornament is hung on the tree somewhere and then, while going through stockings and warming up for present-opening, the kids and adults search for the green pickle ornament in the green foliage. Whoever finds the pickle first gets the pickle present, something silly (think white elephant) that has been wrapped for the purpose ahead of time, usually with pickle-themed wrapping paper. Carson Hill In homage to the original Yule held on the solstice, my children and I started a tradition. As this time of year is about moving from the dark to the light, we each write down on a piece of paper all the shitty things from the past year and aspects of ourselves we want to let go of. The pieces of paper are then burned as we share and welcome in our hopes for the year ahead. It’s like pressing a “reset” button and is surprisingly emotional and cathartic. Jo Thompson, Lincolnshire We play poker. Youngest son has to explain the rules every year and we play for real money which suddenly energises even the most bored teens. Worth buying a proper poker set – an ace present. fishingnet Quality time with one’s beloved on the hearth rug in front of the fire. Not recommended if children or family are present. Winkynuke My family’s long-held Christmas tradition is playing the Hunger Games with our dogs. All discarded wrapping paper/gift packaging is thrown into a big pile in the middle of the living room floor. Dog biscuits are hidden among the wrapping paper/in gift boxes etc and the dogs are released. It’s a race for each dog to find the most biscuits before the other one. At least one dog will get its head stuck in a box during the course of the game. badgergirl24 Decide to live in Spain. You will avoid 95% of the hype, the tawdry commercial garbage that surrounds a “traditional” British Christmas, which is mainly imported from the US. It is a national holiday, of course, and family gatherings are common, but Spanish families tend to live closer together than is the case in Britain, so that is nothing particularly special. No Noddy Holder in the shops from the middle of November, no Queen’s speech and no The Sound of Music on the TV. No massive anxiety attacks and no newspaper articles like this. Fallowfield I wake up at 5am. Have a cold shower and flagellate myself for half an hour, while I think of St Bob Geldof and the starving millions in Africa. Did the message get through and do they know it’s Christmas now, I wonder. After donning a hair shirt, I break my fast with muesli and water. I then go for a brisk walk to the parish church and reflect on the generations buried in the churchyard. Do they know it’s Christmas, I wonder. Once home I listen to Carols from King’s on the radio as I prepare my Christmas lunch. This year it will be nut roast. A small glass of sherry and a moderate portion of food and I feel replete and very privileged. I then listen to a podcast of the collected wit and wisdom of Boris Johnson, it’s very good! Naturally, I stand to attention to watch the Queen’s speech on BBC television. I might then relax with a Baileys (I’ve had it for three years!) and a Rich Tea biscuit. After reading the Bible and thinking did Jesus know it was Christmas, I go to bed with a mug of cocoa and read some light Trollope. JakeArden