Tell me about your family's Christmas Traditions.

[ChristmasTrulyReigns]

I love to hear about people's traditons for Christmas.

These things are so important to us, and really are the makings of fantastic memories for our DCs when they are older.

What were your traditions that you are nostalgic about from your childhood?

What traditions have you set in place for your DCs?

Have you taken any traditions forward from your past and are now repeating them for your present?

Let's reminisce and share our current favourites.

Thanks.

Lots of little things for us:

Breakfast on Xmas day is a huge homemade pork pie, a whold smoked salmon and bucks fizz.

Then my dad goes off to ring the churchbells while we do useful things like lay the table for lunch and prepare veg etc...

We don't start opening presents until about 10am when everyone is ready. All the presents are then distributed from under the tree and then we go round the room opening one present each until all the presents are opened.

Lunch always ends up being at about 3pm because my mum has always got in a tizz about the turkey - it's always gorgeous!

Supper is turkey, salad and salad cream sandwiches infront of the Xmas day film...

And a long walk is mandatory on Boxing day

Thank you Knitter that's exactly what I'm looking for!

whole not whold obviously!

We belonged to a weird Christiany sect when I was growing up and Christmas was not allowed. When we left and the dust had settled we had a long thing about Christmas.

None of us particularly like turkey, but all of us like steak. For several years we would barbecue steak in the back garden, on Christmas Day, in santa hats.

Then, when it got dark, we'd let off fireworks because, as my dad pointed out, it's meant to be a celebration. Plus he got mahoosive ones that went cheap after Guy Fawkes!

It was very us, and that's what made it special.

When we put out the nativity scene my mum and dad never put the baby Jesus in untill we had gone to bed christmas eve, so it ws there in the morning when we woke up,I did the same for my children, they now do it for their's, i think its lovely to see the children rush over to it and chat about him being born.

well, we do the pyjamas to open on christmas eve. christmas breakfast is always scrambled duck eggs on toast made from posh bread, croissants, pain au chocolat with posh coffee and bucks fizz. always up at 6 on christmas morning, i am usually first up and enjoy a coffee and cigarette before waking everyone else.

I never set out to create traditions, but there are some things that we've done consistently the last 4 Christmases, and have all the potential to become annual staples

Tree goes up on first weekend of December. House is decorated slowly in the weeks following.

Christmas Eve: In the evening, we go for a long walk round our neighbourhood to look at lights. In the night, dd gets new pjs and her favourite annuals. We all then get into our pjs and cuddly robes, and drive around the city searching for lights. Plate of muffins left out for Santa and leaves plucked during our walk for the reindeer (dd started this!).

Christmas Day: Smoked salmon and egg for breakfast. Gifts opened together. DH cooks lunch while the rest of us mooch around. After lunch we play board games till early the Queen's Speech. After this we generally just lounge about getting more drunk and more tired. A Christmassy DVD late into the night with the three of us cuddled on the couch.

Boxing Day: General mooching and possible an afternoon walk followed by a loooong nap.

27th: I hit the sales alone first thing in the morning, and meet up with dd and dh for lunch around 2ish. We then go to the Panto, which is always eagerly awaited

Any good?

I like all of these, thanks everso.

Fireworks sound good, as do snuggly DVDs.

I really like the idea of the birth of Jesus being accurate, and Christmas Eve pyjamas are tempting me!

My pantomime always finishes the first Saturday in December, then we put the tree up the following day.
We go to visit Santa the week school breaks up.
On Christmas Eve we are up really early to go visit the inlaws and my nan then we go for chinese for lunch in the afternoon we go to visit my parents and my aunty before going to the puppet nativity at our local church. The children always get new pyjamas for bedtime and we do the usual leave a mince pie and carrot out for santa and rudolph, though last year ds wanted to leave Strawberries .
Christmas day is just me, dh and dcs we open presents and I cook lunch then we play with the toys in the afternno and the kids are in bed by 7 so I go round my friends for the evening to see them.
Boxing day just us again at home relaxing, its the only 2 days a year that we get to be just the 4 of us without anyone feeling they should be somewhere else.
The children usually are managed to be convinced to get dressed out of their new pyjamas on the day after boxing day, they are so funny they have their baths and put their pyjamas back on, last year ds told me that he keeps them on so christmas lasts longer!

hmm, let me think...

christmas tree and decs go up for the 1st dec . my mum always did this as 1st dec is her bday and she loved it to be christmassy... with my dc we've evolved from kids waking up on 1st dec with all decorations up... to kiddies now being involved in the decorating of the tree ( to c'mas music of course!)

during december we light an advent candle at teatime and read a wee bit of the christmas story.

i lke to fill december with christmassy activities christingle service, making and delivering c'mas cards, making c'mas dec and lots of baking.

every year i put a new photo bauble on the tree of the dc in their c'mas outfits. i've also started a tradition of being each of the dc a new bauble for the tree. last years were from harrods and this year they'll be from disneyland (were we r just now bought them today )

christmas eve i like to go to a family show if we are at home (sometimes we are away at grandparents). and we watch the snowman after bathtime in new (of course)pjs.

christmas morning stockings brought to our bed and opened there. we all go downstairs together and film kids going into living room where main present is left out. then we exchange presents with whoever else is there (grandparents/ aunty etc). croissants, bucks fizz and off to church

the rest of christmas day varies greatly depending on which set of grandparents we are with and whose house we are in...

as a child boxing day was a strict pjs day... but that was in NI and no shops were open....!

Awwww.... I LOVE all these little xmas traditions everyone has.

This year is mine and DP's first with our gorgeous new DS. And in my opionion the perfect time to start some of our own little traditions. I fully intend to start the PJ tradition so many of you do. And I like the idea of having a specific breakfast every year.

At my parents we always had a glass of bucks fizz whilst opening pressies which me and DP will do as well. Sooooooooooooooo excited for xmas this year :o

Its all about the kids xxx

Has no-one noticed that Christmas Truly Reigns name has changed half way through the thread to CorpsesTrulyFeignDeath2Foolyou?

Decorations always go up first weekend December-new ones added each year

Take DS into town after school on the first frosty / cold clear evening to walk around the lights in city centre have a hot chocolate generally crank up the excitment

Our dear neighbour who is Swedish leaves for her homeland on around the 15th December and we have a wee tradition of leaving presents on each others gates-it's the last thing she does before her taxi comes to take her to the airport at this point I usually think- Yeah it really is Christmas

Sunday before Christmas my mum treats DS and I to panto

Christmas eve a really long walk to help DS sleep that night!

Family baths and new pjs!!

When DS in bed I use a homemade template to leave santa foot prints in the fireplace(use snow made from flour icing sugar and glitter)

On the big day croissant smoked salmon breakfast whilst DS opens presents- the grown up present opening is in early evening- keeps th excitement going all day-usually keep a few back for DS to open with various relatives throughout the day

We go out for dinner on the big day -to a very small local family run hotel fab food -intimate atmosphere only 20-25 diners

On Boxing day DH cooks for the outlaws and my dad who stays with us over the Christmas period- the guests usually leave about 4pm with much tooting of horns and general banter

Then DH DS and I settle down for a film.

Like an earlier poster the 27th means a venture to the sales and a nice light lunch.

It's nothing special but it's our Christmas and I LOVE IT

ok we have varied each year really (although from this year we have decided to have set plans... get into that later!) but generally always do the following:

New pj's for the DC on xmas eve

in the week before xmas, lots of evenings searching for xmas lights, and other nice things

Panto as close to xmas as we can manage (this year 23rd

xmas eve - wear out DC! leave reindeer food outside, carrot / mince pie / drink for santa on the fire place with stocking

xmas morning - brekkie! Sausage sarnie and bucks fizz - sad but I love it! the others can have a proper fry up if they want but I am not into most of it
stockings opened as soon as DC awake - either in their room or ours

presents in the lounge taking turns to get one.

from this year we will be having xmas day at home - just us... so the dc can actually play with their presents!
Boxing day / xmas eve we will see family

day after boxing day we have an open house type thing so people can come say hi etc

I love it all!

Well DS will only be 2.5 this Christmas but starting to bring in stuff I'd like to see continue every year.

PJ's on Christmas eve
Food for santa/reindeer

Stocking from Santa on Christmas day as well as our gifts. Open those with champers and probably croissants for breakfast.

I'd like DS to choose a decoration for the tree every year. We've bought a joint one every year that something big has happened to us so the year we met, the year we got engaged, married etc.

One tradition our children love is to have a new Christmas tree decoration for each of them each year. My DH and I have a special trip together to choose them as it has become so special to us all! We wrap them up and put with the presents under the tree. They look forward to seeing what it will be and hanging it up on Christmas morning. (Often the same one for all of them, or the same one in different colours.)
We pack the decorations away separately in a special box and each year they LOVE to each unwrap their own and decorate the tree with the memories going back over more than a decade now. When they leave home and have a family of their own we will give them their own collection to take. (Hope my future DILs won't mind!)

We also have a tablecloth, candlesticks, tealight holders and special bowls for sweets and nuts on the table which we never use at any other time of year which makes it a very special, 'one-off' occasion each year.

Like another poster, we wait until after midnight on Christmas Eve to put baby Jesus in the manger of the crib set and the children enjoy moving the three wise men figures as they gradually travel from the East across the room on top of the shelves to reach the stable on 6th January for Epiphany.

Enjoy yourself making your child's future memories!

I have a 9 month old DD and I am already getting v excited about all lovely things we'll be doing together in Christmasses to come. Xmas PJs already purchased

A favourite 'tradition' for me has to be bubble & squeak on Boxing Day. Yum!