"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." Clement Moore was definitely not at an Italian Christmas Eve when crafting this famous poem. Whether you are preparing for your first Italian Christmas Eve or getting ready to host another one, prepare yourselves because us Italians are not like the usual group of people. Here is a heads up on what to expect when spending Christmas Eve with Italians.

1. Invest in a pair of earplugs before arriving.

2. When you walk into the door you will be greeted with kisses – even if it is your first time meeting the person. Don’t be shy, pucker up.

3. You will smell delicious food cooking – no we do not cater our Christmas Eve feast.

4.You'll be surrounded by a lot of people with the same name – you won't need name tags for this occasion.

5. Be sure not to put your wine glass to close to someone you are conversing with – it's highly likely that they will knock it over with their uncontrollable hand gestures.

6. That's the other thing, be prepared for lots of wine.

7. There will be tons of food on the table called the antipasto, you'll find out that is only the start.

8. Come hungry.

9. Wear stretchy pants that can hide your food baby.

10. No is not an answer to the offer of more food.

11. In between meals people will ask you all about your personal life, do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend? What are you going do with that major?

12. There is lots of pasta.

13. Sauce will be called gravy and Noona's gravy is the best gravy.

14. There are seven different type of fish to eat and no meat.

15. Good luck finding a place to sit.

16. You'll eat.

17. And eat more.

18. You'll carb-o-load.

19. Even when you are full you'll have to push through and eat more because everything is so delicious

20. Desert is not complete without struffoli.

Olive Garden is no comparison to what you are going to experience on Christmas Eve. Be prepared to take lots of Advil the following morning to cure the headache from too much wine and talking. And you may want to dust off the gym equipment sitting in your basement after this holiday! Merry Christmas!