to not have a single fecking Christmas tradition?

[Mintyy]

Other than getting a bit flustered about 10 minutes before serving up the lunch and grumbling that no one sends Christmas cards any more? And having a gin and it around 11.30am?

Same here Justaboy, and I'm not even religious - I just like the carols. Listening to that with a glass of something alcoholic and a box of posh chocs bought for the purpose is the only Christmas tradition I have. Well, that and invariably leaving my Christmas shopping to the last minute despite the best of intentions every year to start earlier. Does swearing under my breath in a ridiculously long queue listening to the bazillionth tinny rendition of I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day, while gently melting into a muddle under the shop lights in a too-warm coat and losing the feeling in my fingers from too many carrier bags count as a Christmas tradition?

Our traditions are constantly evolving for example
Christmas Eve DD and her DP along with DS all cook for me, we have a fair few drinks, chill out n natter before collapsing
As Christmas Day is busier with extended family visits etc

PageStillNotFound404 I was out some years ago on holiday in a remote bit of Kenya and i was hearing that via a small short wave radio it was fading and hissing and coming and distorting but it lost none of its magic:-)

No Turkey here (veggie) no cards (nobody does cards now do they?)

But dd and I choose a new decoration for the tree each year and we send blessings to my 3 angel babies her 2 sisters and brother. They have a decoration each on the tree too.

Aside from that we do what we like.

Is christmas itself not a tradition?

What is a gin and it? I've heard of them but I have no idea what the 'it' is.

No traditions here either. Unless lurching from one disorganised crisis to another counts.

Our traditions are:

• St. Nick's Day, filling a shoe with small seasonal trinkets/candies to kick the season off.
• One early Christmas eve present.
• Christmas Day presents.

That's it. :) No need to over complicate things.

I don't think I'm doing elf on a shelf, advent calendars, or whatever other traditions are floating all over pinterest. I'd just forget about the damn elf

I might or might not do cards this year. I barely get half as many as I send, so what's the point?

Leavemywings Well, according to this thread so far, a 'gin and it' could mean one of three different things. So I am still none the wiser (although I like AcrossThePond's definition the best).

My traditions are to not have a tree, go to the allotment and do some gardening whilst it is quiet, have the woodburner on all day all the holidays through and moan about the shite tv. Deep joy. We usually turn it off and listen to the radio anyway.

We have started having a roast dinner again as we found it makes the day bearable.

Presents, Turkey and trees are all traditions. Do you mean additional Christmas traditions?

I started a fantastic new tradition last year which involved consuming the entire remaining contents of my mother's best £100 bottle of brandy on Xmas eve. Sadly it will remain a one year only tradition due to the lack of £100 bottle of brandy this year.

You probably have traditions without realising it - I'm a foster parent and I've really learned how things I take for granted are totally alien to children that come into the family, and would therefore qualify as a tradition, because they are not universal.

I do a lot of Christmas things ( I think fostering makes me go a bit crazy) but I have found its sometimes things I don't even think about that are most cherished by the children - they love it when I swap our normal tablecloth for the Christmas one for instance.

And not doing elves/ baking etc is surely as much as a tradition as not doing them, because it is what shapes your Christmas.

I don't come from a family that has many traditions - or so I thought until I discovered that some people don't do stockings on the door handle, they do pillow cases downstairs, and some people have cream, not brandy butter on their Christmas pudding.

That's three different versions of gin & it so far

I always thought there were angostura bitters involved somehow.

oh ok I see that now. If it's gin and italian vermouth surely that's just a Martini?

My Mum was very religious and so anything non-Jesus was met with derision. My older sister started putting on a particular Christmas album whilst we decorated the tree.

In our house we have created our own traditions. Mainly because I felt my Mum's miserable attitude toward the tree and decorations hanging from the ceiling made my Dad go OTT (huge tree, lots of decorations) to give us an exciting Christmas.

Looking back we looked like we lived in a pub but we loved it. Classy.

So we only have a few but they are important to the children.

Gin & Italian vermouth is gin & it!

Gin and it is Gin and Italian Vermouth - no ice

Our tradition is trying to make Christmas increasingly geeky each year - last year we added a Dr Who weeping angel atop the tree and a mini Lego milllenium falcon decoration. We have a non Christmas tradition of throwing socks onto the tacky chandelier type light fitting the last owners of the house put in (asc kids come up with the best games), so pretty sure I can introduce pants on the tree as well! I think as long as you're happy and enjoy it, who cares which traditions you observe and which you ignore. Off to add gin to the shopping list...

Violet

Oh the other Christmas tradition is that my brother and SIL get pissed every year, then have a falling out over her ex. They hadn't made up by the New Year once and I had to bring her, her two kids and big dog home along with me, my DD and small dog. Thankfully they are abroad this year

Our lives as a family are pretty frenetic with endless change.

We also live a long way from extended family.

Christmas is the only time of year with a constant. DH and the DD really like the immutable nature of it.

DS and I are not wedded to our traditions in the same way, but I think we probably would miss them if they disappeared.

Also, it makes life much easier to have a pre ordained plan. I like not having to make decisions just for once!

As a child my family had an argument every Christmas. That would count as a tradition wouldn't it? Now we all live apart, that tradition has been lost.

I only buy Lings Turkish Delight at Christmas if that counts as a tradition

If someone talks about a Christmas Tradition I take it to mean something that their family regularly does.

Years ago we decided to take the kids to an afternoon Christmas film on Christmas Eve, stop by a restaurant to keep them occupied and tire them out. Then it was home get PJs on, stockings, snacks for Santa, bed. Then we open the wine.

It worked and we still do a Christmas Eve film but now they're older the type of film as changed. We were worried last year as the Hobbit finished but it's ok we have Star Wars fornthe next few years. Christmas Day has always revolved around Dr Who, it's our equivalent of the Queen's Speach

Can't get out of Krampusnacht.

I may institute a Gin and It custom in the Inferiority Complex.

No traditions here (apart from stockings and presents): whole idea of 'family traditions' actually makes me feel slightly ill (come to that, so does the concept of 'family' but I've grumbled about that on MN before). It has taken me numerous decades to get over the shuddering horror of my childhood Christmases, incarcerated with my then nuclear family.

Also I don't like Christmas dinner.