Christmas traditions

[lockdownbabyx]

Posting here for traffic

Can I ask everyone what were your favourite Christmas traditions as a child? And what you do now for your children?

My little ones are 2 and 7 months, so a little to young to really understand but I want to start this year and continue it every year. My partner said his family didn't really do anything when he was a child which makes me quite sad. I love Christmas and want to make it as exciting and magical for my children as possible.

Christmas has horrific memories for me and every year it got worse. My sister used to eat every chocolate in every calendar to be spiteful, so that meant that we didn't have them again. The next year she slashed open everyone's presents, so we didn't have any. The following year she tried to set fire to the tree and decorations.

The worst year was when my aunt offered to host (we had no tree or decorations or presents in the house) but I refused to go as my sister was going. So I was left alone age 12 or so for the whole day but with nothing to eat. I found a hedgehog on the drive but it didn't look very well, so I took it in and put it in a box with some of the rabbits' bedding, some water and dog food (didn't have any cats!) but it died a few hours later. Happy Christmas! No food, no presents, no company and a dead hedgehog.

My sister is psychotic so although I "chose" to be on my own, I was shit scared of her and it was the lesser of two evils.

I try to make it nice for DS now - Santa special days out and things, but I have no idea what I'm doing really and I'd rather forget the whole thing. We help deliver food to the homeless and vulnerable too which seems to make the day have a bit more meaning!

I start talking about in August...I drive everyone in my family nuts so I'm sure they would all agree with your statement 😂

For us crucially, we always refer to christmas and know we mean the full christmas period. From christmas day until the epiphany. That is all christmas.

we have an advent wreath on the dining table from the first Sunday of advent and they take it in turns to light the new one at dinner time each Sunday evening.

St Nicholas’ day on 6th of Dec. They put shoes outside their bedroom door the night before and get some coins in them. One year I also painted small wooden pegs into St Nicholas’ and put then in too.

christmas market visit.

christmas eve box contains a book, a christmas mug, a sachet of hot chocolate, pyjamas, a few other bits of Christmas chocolates or such like. And a christmas tree decoration that they add to the tree themselves.

at our bedtime, when the kids are long asleep, we open the door of the room we have left the presents in and then cover the opening with wrapping paper. This is their favourite tradition! In the morning they burst through together.

they wake to a small stocking in their rooms. As theyve got older they now always open these together, before waking me and dh up.

we always go for a walk on christmas day to the pub

we go boxing day or day after sale shopping to our nearest city. They love that and plan for it in their christmas lists.

we have meals with other family members during the two weeks that are treated like christmas dinner. They get more presents at these too, so not everything comes at once. So mil has her own christmas dinner some time between Christmas day and new years day and they have full works meal and stockings.

we have christmas crockery and table cloths we use throughout christmas. They go away with the decorations on the epiphany.

we focus on family time with lots more game nights.

on the epiphany they get a small amount of presents (usually that ive bought in the sale. Stationery for school included) and we chalk the door.

We do the new decoration one each year too, my daughter is 4 now, but we've done it since long before she was born, my tree doesn't match at all but it looks beautiful 😍 we like to pick them up from places we have visited too if we can!

With children as young as yours, Christmas light hunting is such a fun thing to do, get wrapped up warm (with a hot drink if that's your thing) and just wander around your area looking for lights! The kids will love it.

I always find the best Christmas traditions ones are the ones that happen in the run up to Christmas rather than on Christmas day itself, and they really don't have to be expensive either!

We have what my children call "Gingerbread House Day"...it's very simply just decorating Gingerbread houses, with Christmas music on, and invite a few friends over. I buy them a Gingerbread house kit each and they go to town on it.

So simple, but they all seem to love it...and I'm hoping it's a tradition that will keep going even as they get older.

We are Muslim so slightly different for us (more just a wonderful time of year but without the religious element). We take the kids to panto every year and usually do a lights show which goes down a treat. On the day we have family round for a roast dinners and i bake a choolate cake we decorate for Christmas as the dessert. Our kids don't get presents as such but I do them a xmas eve box and usually include a new set of pjs, stationary, books, a selection box, chocolate santa, chocolate reindeer or snowman. I would like to include going to the Christmas markets when they get a bit older. We always settle down to watch scrooge over Christmas with hot chocolate. It's one of my favourite times of the year and I have lots of happy memories from my own childhood surrounding Christmas.

So don't open the thread & don't comment on it. Simples.

Yabu
You should be posting in the Christmas topic.

My favourite tradition was my primary school held a Carol service in the evening and we sang carols and the grown ups drank mulled wine. I used to eat the apple that they put in it and thought I would get drunk! For my kids now, we do a Christmas box on the first of December with some pjs, some chocolates, their advent calendar and a Christmas book. It spreads out the Christmas period through December which I love.

I love the Christmas lights idea, thank you!

Totally agree about the lead up to Christmas, it's my favourite part.

I love Christmas, I'm always pleased when September arrives and it is vaguely acceptable to start mentioning it!

Ours starts with advent, when the calendar comes out, which I fill with bits and pieces. We have Christmas decoration day, usually the first weekend in December, with Christmas movies, hot chocolate and easy food while we do it.

Christmas Eve is a day for a walk, Christmas movies, salmon lunch and then a mini party food buffet in the evening. We have a Christmas movies and bake cookies for Father Christmas and put out a glass of milk and a carrot for the reindeer.

On Christmas day dd brings her stocking into our room and opens on our bed. DH makes tea and then we go downstairs in pyjamas. Biscuits and chocolate for breakfast. The rest of the day varies depending who we are seeing that year.

Sceptre86 sounds lovey.
Christmas isn't a religious celebration for many- no aspect of my christmas is religious.

I love this , it's really made me smile !

If you don't like the conversation you can always start your own..

Why did you click on the thread then? Just to sneer?

We've always started off the festive period in November with stir up Sunday and then feeding the Christmas cake and pudding with plenty of whisky or brandy every weekend. Putting the lights on the outside tree is always a big thing as well. And we like to go and collect foliage and berries and make our own door wreaths and table decorations. Christmas Eve we open one small gift each, put out Santa and Rudolph's treats and have hot chocolate with all the trimmings. Watch Home Alone and then the adults always watch Scrooged.

So many! Love Christmas!

We have a fill your own advent calendar and do daily "advent activities" which I write out and pop in the calendar. Easier ones for school nights.

Some activities we always do:
1st Dec decorate her room
Paper snowflakes
Make your own snowglobe
Holly picking
Christmas light hunt
Christmas disco in the sitting room
Disco bath
Leave Secret santa presents in local area
Donate to charity she chooses
Donate to foodbank/local toy appeal
Make sausage rolls
Make rum truffles
Ginger bread house
Visit santa
Christingle service

When DD was little we used to do advent books... Find christmas themed books in charity shops, wrap them up and each day open one up and read at bedtime

Now she gets a little present in her advent calender like a charm a day for a charm bracelet, or a lego kit broken down to a few pieces a day.

Christmas eve we go to a nativity service at church. Then do a treasure hunt for her Christmas eve box which has a new snow globe for her, reindeer food, the plate for Santa's mince pie and carrot for rudolf and the book 'The night before Christmas' which we read at bedtime.

We didn’t really have any specific traditions aimed just at the kids. Obviously the presents on Xmas morning. We had a special meal on Xmas eve (as well as Xmas lunch on the day) which I always really liked.

No kids but have loads of great memories:

Selection box left at the foot of my bed on Christmas morning

Mince pies, carrots and sherry all 'gone' in the morning

Christmas songs - I grew up in the 80's so everything from 80's backwards

Advent calendar- not chocolate just lovely pictures behind, we used the same one every year. But Chocolate could set a tradition

Christmas tree decorations and chocolates - a really nice activity to do together

🤣

Our main tradition is a parcel on xmas eve with xmas pyjamas, a christmas book and a new decoration for the tree. After bath and before bed they have a photo taken in the pyjamas. Never had a problem with getting wear out of the pyjamas as they just wear them regardless of season. 1st December the box of books comes out. When they have their own homes and trees they will have a box of decorations to take with them (& and I’ll get to buy new matching bits for our tree rather than the current mixture)

The other thing I would suggest you consider while the children are so young is what presents santa brings. For mine it has always just been the stocking. All other gifts are from us or other relatives. Makes it much simpler than to endlessly come up with reasons why Santa couldn’t bring them something they wanted and we didn’t want them to have. It also meant when we are away for Xmas they know that the stocking will always be there but big presents from us are waiting at home. Also maybe consider getting matching stockings for each child so that you can hang an empty one and just swap to a full one quickly while they are asleep. Santa sometimes left stuff like boxes of cereal that they knew I would never buy or cans of fizzy drink by the plate with the mince pie and carrot. This always convinced them he was real!

Just to echo a PP - we have always told the kids that Father Christmas delivers the presents, but Mummy & Daddy have to pay for them. An idea stolen from Mumsnet.

Really helped them to understand why they couldn't have absolutely everything that they wanted! Only problem is now the eldest is getting to the age where we need to have a "chat" about F.C...that our explanation has made so much sense to him, that I'm not sure how to explain it to him!

;-)

Alternatively people could read the thread title and scroll on by. I love Christmas and could talk about it any time however I cannot afford to go abroad or for meals out do I tell others who talk about those things not to? In case I'm triggered of course not.

Mine are a bit older so these are ideas to grow into:

A tree decoration each which they choose in the run up to Christmas.

Gingerbread house decorating competition - you could start with mummy and youngest vs daddy and oldest.

Ice skating

Christmas paint along you tube tutorial

Stockings from Father Christmas, main presents from us.

Marshmallow toasting.

Some of the streets decorate their windows so a wander around the streets to look at lights.

Nativity set.

Bad Santa game - you can search for the rules. All presents come from charity shops.

Home Alone is our start of Xmas. Everyone sat with a Papa John's pizza delivery. Usually 2 or 3 days before Xmas day, but has sometimes been Xmas morning.
We have always lit up the outside of the house, colourful lights and a reindeer with a bulb or 2 that still work (kids - 21 and 23 now - call it the wonky donky)

Everything else changes as needed, sometimes one or more of us are working... we just try and be together for parts of it. No big deal if life gets in the way sometimes.

We always commence it with putting up the tree and decorations after my DD2's birthday (hers is 25th Nov). Advent calendar ( but elves don't deliver/ no elf in this house) by 1st December usually just chocolate ones now. We go to the first Panto performance in our local theatre too. The kids have Nativity and Carols service at school which we make time to attend. Once the kids are off school there's ginger bread making/decorating; Christmas movie nights with popcorn/hot choc; Depending on budget we do Santa Grotto/ illuminations walk. We have games night on Christmas Eve and follow Polish/ Filipino food traditions. Christmas day is "Santa's been!" And Roast and all the trimmings (which I love), booze (juice for the kids) and lots of chocolate and pudding. Absolutely love it albeit exhausting.