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.

My children are much older than yours. I make the Christmas cake around the middle of November - it is my husband's job to feed it with brandy and ice it.

My children have birthdays in September and October so it gives them a push to write their thank you cards from their birthdays as they have to do that before writing a Christmas list.

On the last Sunday before we break up from school, I take my daughter to the ballet at Sadler's Wells. It's expensive so we only do it at Christmas. Then she has some friends round afterwards.

We only put the tree and decorations up on Christmas Eve but they stay up until after Twelfth Night.

I like the idea of choosing a Christmas tree decoration each year. Perhaps we'll adopt that.

I will say please don't start a tradition that you will eventually find a massive chore. Things like the Elf on a Shelf and daily letters from the Christmas Pixie may be fun for some people but they make my heart sink. Christmas is fun and special even without doing hundreds of "extra" things.

We had a 50p coin in the bottom of our stocking and a tangerine (because my mum did when she was a child). Father Christmas always managed to get a jar of pickled onions in my brother's stocking (he loves them) and sugared almonds in my sister's (she hated them..but there was uproar the year he forgot the almonds).