CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS - WHAT ARE YOURS?

[newmum953]

It is my daughter's first Christmas and our first Christmas as a family. I am looking forward to starting some new Christmas traditions for us as a family. I have started by buying some lovely Christmas decorations which hopefully I will use every year for our tree. So I wondered what are your favourite Christmas traditions?

I'd read (somewhere?) about giving each child a nice christmas tree ornament every year, which they can of course hang on the tree, but also keep. They'd then have their own, hopefully sentimental, starting collection when they move out of home. We'll be starting that this year.
Generally though we don't have many particular traditions, just a lot of fudging!

We do exactly that dumdedah! Last year we delivered them outside the front door 'from the elves' along with new jammies on Xmas eve. This year we've added a book/cd version of Night Before Xmas and I think we will always do one book in the future.

We have an advent fairy who leaves a little box filled with Christmas activities and Stuff (Christmas themed apron, cookie cutters, stamps, paints, activity books, story books, CDs, DVDs etc). She also leaves activities to do every day in an advent calendar (one of those stocking garlands) and an advent candle.

Didn't start this until DD's second Christmas but it has built up to a lovely tradition and we now have a box packed full of stuff. We stick the activities into a scrapbook every year.

We also do handprints and label them with the year. I think this year, we might start to write a summary of achievements in the previous year on them.

My DCs are 12 and 9.6 yo

They go to the cinema with DH while I do food shopping unhasselled

Christmas trip to Hamleys, look at the lights in Oxford street

Late evening trip to Bluewater to get some last minute shopping and let DC go to the Winter Wonderland there (fairground rides and the like)

A day out- something like Winter Wonderland. This year it's a day at an adventure centre (outdoor adventures, off road driving, climbing)

We used to feed swans/geeses then progressed to reindeer.But they are usually stuffed full and not interested

A new ornament each year

The Christmas Eve hamper

Christmas stocking -they wake at about 6am. DS sleeps in DD room on Christmas Eve so we can hear them chatting and rustling paper

Christmas Eve film- last year 'Nativity'. Don't know what this years will be.

Spangled that sounds wonderful. I really should keep more crafty stuff and create more records of things with my DCs.

I really would like to do an advent calendar sometime - I never had one until now-DH got me two one for our first Xmas together, and that year we did advent presents too (basically we went overboard because we both had rubbish xmases in the past for various reasons). But we are building up our traditions gradually - and this year I have gone waaaaay overboard with their normal presents (we've actually kept some back for their birthdays in summer).

I'd love to get one of those wooden advent calendars or trains with a drawer for each day - but, to be boring about it, how much would it cost to fill? I guess you could get bigger packs of hairclips/sweets etc and split them up. But still, 24 presents each for 2 DCs... Eek! It also must be tricky finding stuff that fits in though I guess you could put bigger stuff elsewhere and then a clue in the drawer :)

Oh, and although we've only just started with stockings it's definitely going to be a tradition that they have a clementine and probably something chocolate, and a fancy toothbrush and one of those magic expanding flannels with a character on them. They WILL be getting those every year, even when they're 15 and roll their eyes at it!

On Christmas eve I always read "the night before christmas" as dd's bedtime story, she also gets new PJs, new bedsocks, snowman soup and a funny Christmas book - Aliens love panta claus / father christmas needs a wee etc.

Other than that it's just things we always do;

Always go to the lights switch on in town - lovely atmosphere
Always go to the panto - on christmas eve if possible
Always build a gingerbread house
Now she's a bit older (7) she has a small tree in her room.

I'd definitely say buy a really lovely copy of the night before christmas, I'm planning to save ours to give dd when she has her first dc.

I posted lots of our traditions on a thread a few weeks back, but we have started a new one this year now that our kids are older (9,5,3). Through November we haven't had cakes, sweets, macdonalds etc and any money saved has gone in a big jar. The kids have also donated a third of their pocket money each week to the jar too. Next weekend we are going to go and use this money to buy a toy to donate to the local hospital children's ward for Christmas.

Oh LMG that sent a little shiver over me, in a nice way. That is absolutely lovely :)

Pantomime, and a Christmas Eve film.

We always used to watch one of our school Nativity plays (look at DSis pulling her tea towel off/ look at Dbro scowling at the shepherds etc.) as well, but no video player this year, so that will have to stop

This year we'll be having a Christmas eve hamper filled with Christmas PJs, The night before Christmas book and a mine pie for everyone - I bought lovely Christmas PJs last year and they looked a bit redundant on Christmas night iyswim? We'll also be putting out a special Cupcake + Reindeer food for me Father Christmas.

As for tradition, we usually spend all day Christmas eve visiting family + trying to covertly swap presents, then we end with a big fat roast dinner and MIL + FIL house, its always fab and everyone is there (DH is one of 10 and they've all partners + kids! I'm not used to it coming from a family of 4 ha ha) although the hours drive back is exhausting ha ha

I love it, makes me feel so christmassy and the last 2 years I dressed DS up as father christmas - all being well he'll be dressed up again this year, and up until he's 18

Xmas eve is DHbirthday so its a day all about him. So no Xmas songs, no last min present buying/wrapping, no food shopping or food prep. Go out for an overpriced meal n get charged xtra for the service just cos its xmas eve and then get drunk. Although the price of a meal if somewhere is open on Xmas eve is a joke so (as I'm pregnant this year and can't drink) I might start a new tradition this yr and have a BBQ on Xmas eve. DH would love it!

Otherwise our traditions are spending the best part of November trying to find an advent candle. me make the Xmas pudding in November. Trail round every garden centre to pick 1-2 nice decorations for the tree. Me strop cos we can't afford a real tree again , then every weekend in the run up to force DH to watch an Xmas film with me. This is to include Elf, Home alone 1, Home alone 2, Muppets Xmas Carol, Santa Claus the movie,
Nativity, Flint Street Nativity & the snowman

We have a small wooden Xmas tree and I put a decoration in each draw of the advent calandar along with a chocolate. DS has a christmas mug that he uses for his drinks over Xmas. He has a lovely stocking with his name on.
Each year we go to see Santa and visit winter wonderland in Hyde Park.
Am thinking of doing an Xmas hamper this year with some nice decos and Xmas PJ's etc.
Need to get a nativity set as well me thinks.

New pjs on xmas eve and hot pork sandwiches and spiced cider in front of a dvd.

FC gives the dc a tree dec every year (as well as matey bubbles, a magic flannel, a toothbrush, a box of santas friends, choc coins and a satsuma -he's very set in his ways here ) He does give other more excitingpresents too but teh core of the stocking is the same every year.

Christmas Eve drinks party at ours, 3-5pm - you would be surprised how many people come, we always have a houseful. It is also extremely low maintenance - mince pies, sausage rolls and mulled wine and beer, crisps etc. And every one is gone by 5.30pm.

Listening to carols on the radio in the kitchen on xmas eve, whilst mumsnetting and drinking mulled wine.

We see FC every year too, either at local bird sanctuary or theme park.

My friends and I always do a children's xmas party too, ever since we realised that buying for all our friends' children meant an obscene and unecessary amount of gifts that they didn't appreciate. We hire a hall between about 6-8 (all have 2-3 kids each plus DHs) of us, get a local guy to be FC, each bring one wrapped present per (our own) child, all bring bits of food and drink, games and a stereo for a disco. The kids love it, it's always great fun and costs peanuts (£15 a family if that?)

oh and always do satsuma, nuts and choc money in stockings.

we always choose a new tree decoration for each of the kids, the idea in the beginning was that they each had a set to take with them when they left home, fifteen years later nobody can remember which belongs to anybody, so I guess I'll have to keep them all [grin']
other than that it's just the usual cheesy films and music all through december

we always choose a new tree decoration for each of the kids, the idea in the beginning was that they each had a set to take with them when they left home, fifteen years later nobody can remember which belongs to anybody, so I guess I'll have to keep them all [grin']
other than that it's just the usual cheesy films and music all through december

We have an advent calendar - fabric one - into which we put a different activity for each of the days in December.
We also do the Christmas Eve hamper which arrives at around 5pm with pyjamas, DVD, Christmas story book of some type, slippers for everyone.
Both DDs choose a new decoration for the tree each year. The plan is they will each have a set to leave home with - I do make a note of which one they choose each year.
Both girls started life early and spent time in the local NICU so on Christmas eve we visit the NICU with gifts, cards and a bag of new, small toys (these are for the stockings for the babies in there on Christmas Eve - DD2 arrived 5 weeks early on Christmas Eve, we were not ready for her and had nothing for her for Christmas - Father Christmas still found her in the NICU! The nurses and midwives spend their own money to make up the stockings so ever since, we have always taken something to be included. DDs do not know that these are stocking fillers, of course!)
I like to have pretty much everything sorted before Christmas Eve as then we can give most of the day over to DDs birthday - she will be 3 this year and is beginning to understand birthdays for the first time. We insist on her gifts being wrapped in non-Xmas paper.

This year we are hoping to take the girls to their first pantomime.

That's lovely dysgu, really thoughtful of the mws too.

I forgot earlier but I also buy myself a couple of nice decorations every year-started out with a bulk pack of cheap baubles and some hand me down tat and am gradually building up a collection of nicer stuff. Hoping my kittens don't totally destroy it all this year!

Lovely ideas thankyou!

dysgu that is a really lovely thing to do. It's so lovely of the midwives to go out and buy stuff too.

DD is only 3 so the only tradition we've done so far is the new decoration for the tree. This year we are going to do a Christmas Eve hamper with new pj's, bubble bath, expanding flannel and a chocolate Santa. We will go out for a walk and this will be waiting when we return - well that's the plan anyway! Going to see local lights being switched on, christmas party etc - I think that this will be the first year that DD sort of gets it.

We also do the advent boots and a new decoration each year. I do also take DD to Church on Christmas eve - we do the early mass around 5.00 ish - we're not overly religious, but, I do want DD to know what Christmas actually is about- we find it a lovely atmosphere and singing carols really makes it feel like Christmas. DD birthday is 20th Dec so before that date we seem to be geared up for the birthday and so the service seems to put us into a different frame of mind.

We go to the zoo on the day after Boxing day. It is always sooooo quiet, and we can chat to the keepers and we walk around drinking hot chocolate and nipping in to the tropical bits to keep warm!

On Christmas day itself my Mum and her DP and my Dsis and BIL come round for breakfast (marmalade muffins and Irish coffees!), we have dinner on our own and then PIL and SIL come round for turkey sandwiches for tea and watching Dr Who!