It's Christmas Eve at the Burrow in 1980...
Bill is ten, Ginny is just barely conceived. Ron is probably crawling, and Fred and George are definitely at the "getting into everything" stage, if that's going to affect anything. (Which I feel like it probably is. That isn't a Brit-picker issue as much as an I-know-nothing-about-little-kids issue, I guess.)
Decorations: Would you expect the house to be decorated more with lights (as is usual in the US) or with holly/mistletoe? Would it be more traditional to have a star on the tree or an angel? Is the whole house going to be decorated, or just one room? Would the decorations be more Christian in nature or Pagan? (Which is to say, would you expect to see more crosses on the wall at Christmas time, or just more holly/lights?)
Food: Is dinner on Christmas Eve likely to be unusually formal, or would that be saved for Christmas Day? Is there anything that Molly is likely to make that she generally wouldn't? Also, would the boys (Well, Charlie and Percy, anyway) want to leave out cookies for Santa, or is that an American thing?
Relatives: What would you expect the boys to call Arthur's father? Granddad? Grandpa? Papa? If Molly's dad was still alive too, would the boys use different words for them, or just use their names? If they would use their names, would it be "Grandpa(/whatever) Weasley" or "Grandpa Septimus"? (Yes, that's not a Christmas-specific question, but it's coming up for the first time in the Christmas scene.)
Weather: It's my understanding that a "white Christmas" is not likely in Devon, and that rain is the norm that time of year, but what kind of rain? Are we talking drizzling or pouring? Also, what's the temperature likely to be? (Basically, if Bill and Charlie want to go outside and play for a little while, is Molly going to let them, assuming the weather isn't unusually mild?)
Working: What would you say the chances are of Arthur having to work Christmas Eve, assuming it fell on a normal work-day? (Which it did.) I'm assuming that he would probably have Chrismas Day off, but I'm not sure about Christmas Eve (Note: I'm hoping that he will have to work.)
Church: Is it likely that the family will go the church on Christmas, even if it's not a Sunday and/or even if they're not generally church-goers? Will this depend on their denomination? (Note: This question and only this question is actually more about Lily and James than the Weasleys.)
Anything Else...? Is there anything else I should probably know/are there any mistakes that you see American writers making all the time in fics where it's Christmas?
*I need to go back to LJ-cut school. Sorry.
Decorations: Would you expect the house to be decorated more with lights (as is usual in the US) or with holly/mistletoe? Would it be more traditional to have a star on the tree or an angel? Is the whole house going to be decorated, or just one room? Would the decorations be more Christian in nature or Pagan? (Which is to say, would you expect to see more crosses on the wall at Christmas time, or just more holly/lights?)
Food: Is dinner on Christmas Eve likely to be unusually formal, or would that be saved for Christmas Day? Is there anything that Molly is likely to make that she generally wouldn't? Also, would the boys (Well, Charlie and Percy, anyway) want to leave out cookies for Santa, or is that an American thing?
Relatives: What would you expect the boys to call Arthur's father? Granddad? Grandpa? Papa? If Molly's dad was still alive too, would the boys use different words for them, or just use their names? If they would use their names, would it be "Grandpa(/whatever) Weasley" or "Grandpa Septimus"? (Yes, that's not a Christmas-specific question, but it's coming up for the first time in the Christmas scene.)
Weather: It's my understanding that a "white Christmas" is not likely in Devon, and that rain is the norm that time of year, but what kind of rain? Are we talking drizzling or pouring? Also, what's the temperature likely to be? (Basically, if Bill and Charlie want to go outside and play for a little while, is Molly going to let them, assuming the weather isn't unusually mild?)
Working: What would you say the chances are of Arthur having to work Christmas Eve, assuming it fell on a normal work-day? (Which it did.) I'm assuming that he would probably have Chrismas Day off, but I'm not sure about Christmas Eve (Note: I'm hoping that he will have to work.)
Church: Is it likely that the family will go the church on Christmas, even if it's not a Sunday and/or even if they're not generally church-goers? Will this depend on their denomination? (Note: This question and only this question is actually more about Lily and James than the Weasleys.)
Anything Else...? Is there anything else I should probably know/are there any mistakes that you see American writers making all the time in fics where it's Christmas?
*I need to go back to LJ-cut school. Sorry.