Boxing Day (December 26th)
will also be a US holiday for many this year because Christmas falls on a Sunday.
What will you be doing on Boxing Day this year?
What do you usually do on Boxing Day?
I usually tell my daughter “Happy Boxing Day!” and she says the same thing back. Then, since no one else we know has any idea it’s Boxing Day, we go about our business.
I expect I’ll be doing what I usually do on Boxing Day: eat the left-overs from the day before.
Here in Canada, we get a four day weekend: Saturday and Sunday are stat holidays, so Christmas since is on a holiday, the stat holiday for Christmas gets bumped to Monday, in turn bumping the stat holiday for Boxing Day onto Tuesday. Then we get a three day weekend the next weekend, as the stat holiday for New Year’s Day gets bumped to the Monday as well.
It means a lot of sitting around and eating turkey, but I imagine on Boxing Day we’ll be taking the Cub tobogganing, if the weather isn’t too cold.
The holiday situation in Australia is similar to that in Canada, i.e., usually a 4-day weekend for Christmas and a 3-day weekend for New Years Day. However, in South Australia they get another day in between: Proclamation Day, celebrated on December 28th. (Obviously John Hindmarsh couldn’t think of anything better to do between Christmas 1836 and New Year 1837, so he filled in the time by proclaiming SA as a British colony.) In most of Australia, a lot of businesses just close down between Christmas and New Year – often requiring employees to take 3 days of their annual leave then – on the grounds that not much work will get done then anyway.
I’ll be working this year on Boxing Day but, in years past when I’ve been off, it’s always been a mega relaxing day, reading the book which Santa brought, eating leftovers and generally taking it easy.
When I was younger, it was always a day to go to the beach but I’ve grown less fond of crowds as I’ve got older so I no longer do that.
I’ll be practicing Muay Thai. Think of it as Kickboxing Day.
I’ll be working. I’m lucky to get Christmas Day off.
In grade school I convinced most of my friends that it was the day in Britain that everyone got off to watch the most important boxing match of the year. (Kind of like Superbowl Sunday.) Then the next day I’d tell them the “results.” I did it so much that I kind of believed it myself, after a point, so even now, I always feel a little like I should be talking about pugilism on Dec. 26.
Our daughter is flying home late Christmas day, so we’re opening all our presents right after the Junkanoo.
I’ve been trying to convince people it’s called that because it’s terribly offensive to fight on Christmas day, because it’s a religious holiday; but you’re forced to spend the day with annoying relatives. So, if someone annoys you- challenge them to fight the following day. Traditionally in the village square. 
I live in England, so I’ll be doing the same as every year- basically a second Christmas at my Aunt’s house. No-one here ever seems to know why it’s called that either, by the way…
I’ll be wishing everyone in my family a Happy Boxing Day, and they’ll look at me as if I have lobsters crawling out of my ears, and ONCE AGAIN I’ll have to explain it to them.
All that chocolate’s not going to eat itself! And some one has to play with all the new stuff. Surely there are things to assemble, and sports on tv. Any newly acquired snow toys must be immediately utilized, skis, sleds, toboggans, mittens, scarves, hats, etc! It’s very relaxing, as there is no need to cook anyone meals, everybody gets to just graze the leftovers, pretty much continuously.
(I’m in Canada, too, so Boxing Day is standard for us.)
Kids are heading to their dad’s house late on Christmas day so they can do the whole thing over again there for Boxing day. As a result I shall spend the day lounging in comfy clothes, stuffing myself with turkey and all the trimmings (Since the kids are going to their dad’s from here I won’t be sending leftovers home) and probably making turkey soup.
As for the etymology of Boxing Day, here is Wikipedia’s version with basically matches with my memory:
As a kid, it was second Christmas. This is very handy for people with multiple families - which parents shall we visit this year? My Dad, your Dad, my step-Mum, your step-Mum, and when shall my kid from a previous marriage visit? Public transport runs on a limited schedule on Boxing Day (there’s none on Christmas Day), which helps.
On St. Stephen’s Day (what Boxing Day is typically called in Ireland) my family eschew meat, I think as a balance with the gluttony of the previous day. However, either that day or the following we tend to go out drinking like it’s gone out of fashion.