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Family Christmas traditions for new family?

16 replies

highlandsnextyear · 17/12/2022 09:22

My husband and I don't have any other family and we have a 2.5 year old who has really become aware of Christmas this year. We are not religious, and have no ties on the day. I'm wondering what traditions we can introduce for our small family. I would like it to include some nice simple traditions that don't all revolve around commercialism / eating / sitting around in our pyjamas watching films. (Though I'm sure there's be a little bit of that).

Does anyone have any suggestions?

OP posts:
ChefsSalad · 17/12/2022 10:08

Crafts? Making nice presents or decorations or food type stuff? Or Christmas themed reading.
I'd also get in the habit of doing things outdoors, such as visiting a national trust garden.

7Worfs · 17/12/2022 10:14

Christmas carols
Baking
Making your own Christmas decorations out of paper and edibles (popcorn garland etc)

KnickerlessParsons · 17/12/2022 10:21

I don't think one can deliberately "introduce traditions". Do what you think you'll all enjoy on the day and then next year repeat what went well and try new ideas if there are things you'd prefer not to repeat. Eventually some things will turn into family traditions and some things will fall by the wayside. Applies to food, activities, general flow of the day - anything.
Don't put too much pressure on yourself to have a picture postcard day "making memories" and "introducing traditions". DD won't remember the day anyway.

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mumonthehill · 17/12/2022 10:23

When mine were little there was no such thing as Christmas Eve boxes but they would find a new book under their pillow when they went to bed. Now we make a gingerbread house on Christmas Eve and go for a walk.

mdh2020 · 17/12/2022 10:26

Making your own fudge and mince pies.
Have the same breakfast every year - we have beigels, smoke salmon and Champagne for grown ups.
We used to put stockings on the bed and the DC would come in and open them in our bedroom.
A walk?
Play games in the afternoon - we used to have a no tv rule till after 6.
One tradition that grew naturally was watching White Christmas before Christmas Day.
DC loved having similar things in their stockings every year as they grew older and relied on pants, socks, pens, coloured pencils, paper.

Don’t build it up too much in your mind. Christmas Day often goes wrong for most people but it doesn’t matter. Children just remember the love.

cliffdiver · 17/12/2022 10:27

I wrap up the Christmas books and throughout December DDs open one each evening for us to read together.

ODFOx · 17/12/2022 10:29

Making paper chains. Mine are adults now and I still put strips of paper in their parcels. It's an inexpensive and simple activity for young and old.

Advent calendar. If you don't start with a chocolate one it won't be expected: we have varied over the years but one per family is enough so they learned to take turns.

One of the gifts is always a family outing, activity or mini break.

Hanging a stocking downstairs that they wake to on their bed, which contains some little activities so they have something to do before the main presents.

Coming into bed with parents to open the stocking.

One gift (plus stocking) only from Father Christmas, unwrapped but with a big bow. All other gifts wrapped and labelled so that they know whom to thank for which gift.

For us, picking the tree each year was part of our traditions, with everyone helping to choose. One year I went to the checkout to pay and came back to collect the tree to find my DH and the manager laughing and all 5 DC netted in a heap!

crimsonlake · 17/12/2022 10:34

As well as starting new traditions I would follow traditions you both had as a child as a starting point.

Largethighsbadeyes · 17/12/2022 10:40

As above...we do things that I did as a child and have added some new ones in

Holly collecting walk a few days before Christmas and then come home and decorate the house with it

Live nativity on Xmas eve

Reading "the night before christmas" all snuggled in bed on Christmas eve

Then when DS is in the bath the Christmas eve elves come and leave a little present or 2 on his bed

Watching home alone on Xmas eve (and lots of Xmas films and TV specials in the weeks running up to Christmas

Have a drive to go and see the road in our city with brilliant Christmas lights on every house

...have been doing these things since DS was born and he's 11 now and still loves it

MuggleMe · 17/12/2022 10:46

For me, traditions we have are stockings that always contain certain items, like socks, chocolate and a satsuma, must be opened in parents bed, and contents pretty much instead of breakfast. A walk at some point, a new family board game that we play together, calling other family members, watching the queen's (king's) speech.

Happyelfjokeday · 17/12/2022 10:58

A walk on either Xmas eve or Xmas day evening to look at Christmas lights nearby? We do this on Xmas eve and one year the kids started pretending they were Santa delivering presents to each of the houses with lights on (I’m going to give this house a teddy bear…) as we walked by, and that has stuck!

PolkaDotMankini · 17/12/2022 12:11

There are simple things you can do but anything you repeat every Christmas will become a tradition. Suggestions:

  • Lift your DC up to put the angel/star on top of the tree as the very last decoration
  • Go for a walk one evening to look at the Christmas lights and deliver Christmas cards to your neighbours
  • Have hot chocolate and read The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve
  • Go to midnight mass (I loved this as a kid - we were never usually allowed to stay up late)
  • Put a satsuma/chocolate coins/a chocolate orange in the toe of your stockings
  • Open your stockings with everyone in your bed before you get up on Christmas Day
  • Go for a walk/feed the ducks while the other parent cooks Christmas dinner
  • Cross arms so everyone pulls their Christmas cracker at the same time
  • Watch the King's Christmas speech on TV
  • Watch a Christmas film/the latest Julia Donaldson
Shol · 17/12/2022 12:15

Every year the first weekend of December we take DC to shop to choose one posh tree bauble. We write their name and the year (somewhere small) on the bauble.

Our tree is now covered with these and I love looking at it and remembering how she slobbered on her age 1 bauble, wobbled over while choosing her age 2 bauble, was so proud to find her age 3 train-shaped bauble, etc. When DC have their own family homes I’ll give them their baubles and hopefully it will keep memories alive for them too.

westthroughthewhitleywood · 17/12/2022 12:17

"I love it that you (insert tradition) every year, where did you get that idea from?"

"mumsnet"

CentrifugalBumblePuppy · 17/12/2022 12:31

We do Christmas craft in the week leading up to Christmas, this year we have ceramic houses/Trees/Santa (all of which can take tea lights), some embroidery motifs and perspex flat baubles & stars for Mum & I (I’m her cater too) to make faux stained glass ornaments.

All of my kids are adults btw, it’s just nice to have a chilled crafting evening once in a while (we do it for Halloween too).

From their childhood, they’d lay a plate with carrots, a mince pie & whiskey for Father Christmas on Christmas Eve of course, and I made fabric Advent Calendars many years ago (and one for my son & DIL a couple of Christmases ago), because they loved ours so much.

I’ve always done stockings on the fireplace (again, mostly homemade) which Santa fills with bath bombs, a tube of sweets, some Quality Street (if Santa remember too lol). Even my two dogs have a stocking (the cats get Dreamies, which I think is just crack for kitties).

We also do a movie night with hot chocolate & popcorn (even as adults), and we’ve done a Christmas Even cheese fondue too. That’s brilliant for an evening’s entertainment 😂).

We’ve done all of these things since the kids were small (fondue when our daughter was about 4, some was 8 at this point) and it’s become a bit of a tradition.

To be honest, anything can become a tradition. Listening to Carols at Kings, putting out a mince pie for Father Christmas, making reindeer hoof marks (but please use seeds that the birds can eat, no bloody glitter unless you forevermore want it trodden into your home). And it makes it environmentally safe! A Santa’s Grotto visit (although I was terrified as a child!), ice skating when they’re a little older, even just making cards with potato printing at this age.

Hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

CentrifugalBumblePuppy · 17/12/2022 12:34

Oh, and reading The Night Before Christmas when they were small!

And I’ve just remembered the NORAD Santa tracker on Christmas Eve too!

www.noradsanta.org/en/assets/map/embed.html

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