What were your Christmas traditions when you were a child?

[evilhamster]

We lived in Iceland, so we had some odd traditions. What were your ones?

We got our gifts etc; on Christmas Eve as that was the main day- we considered it present time at 6pm, that was when Christmas really started.

We always had a Christmas tree which our parents decorated when we went to bed. They'd hang up gingerbread, biscuits, small presents etc; as well as the usual baubles and decorations, and a few of biscuits or chocolates had a bit cut away with a knife because, until we were about 8, we believed one of the Father Christmasses (we had 13- one for every day of Christmas before, and then they leave one by one afterwards, so a 26 day season!) put it there. The rough translation of our version of the Father Christmasses would be 'Yule Lads''.

We, like many other Icelandic chlldren, put our shoes or slippers by a window and left it from the 12th of December, and each day one of the 'Santas' put either a gift (if we were good) or a potato (if we were bad). It was like a smaller form of the stocking. The first one was the Stekkjarstaur (which means sheep coat clod who gave us the smallest gift, working up to the last day. Our parents must have been worn out!

Now we live in Wales we have very different traditions, obviously, but even if you hadn't moved to another country, your traditions must have changed over time?

Not being allowed to ask for presents or an advent calendar as "you get plenty of things throughout the year"

My parents being in a huff about putting the tree up, probably around Xmas eve, and then it staying up way past epiphany because they couldn't be bothered to take it down (it stayed up til June one year)

We did have lovely decorations though, most of which are now mine as my parents don't put the tree up anymore (I'm being given the tree too this year). The decorations are pretty much the only thing I remember fondly about Xmas as a child.

That, and the orange and lemon jelly slices my grandma always used to get, and she would always give me the little round sweet in the middle. :)

And yes Xmas has changed for me now. We don't see my parents, needless to say. :)

my mum always let me skin almonds in warm water and put them in a bowl with beautiful muscat raisins which are scented and divine. It has a name which I've completely forgotten

OP what an amazing tradition, do you carry some of them on for your own kids?

Our traditions were opening stockings in the morning and the special joint gift father christmas would bring me and my brother.

We were allowed to eat chocolate all day.

We all had to watch the queen speech and then we would eat christmas dinner, with mums special chestnut stuffing.

After dinner and washing up, we are allowed to open the presents.

My DH and I are trying to make our own traditions which at the moment include, making our own christmad pudding rum, hand made christmas cards.

The hand made Christmas cards are nice, whenever I get one they always look beautiful because whoever made them worked so hard. They're so much better than shop ones because of the work put into them- unfortunately I'm a tad too lazy as well as being too un-artistic to do them! Christmas pudding rum sounds great. In fact, I need that right now...

That sounds lovely MaryAnn. When I smell certain things, like gingerbead, I always think about Christmas, or when I smell herring (a main feature of the Icelandic Christmas dinner- pickled herring, normal herring, salted herring, herring everything, and I hate herring) it always reminds me of presents and Christmas dinner etc;

fuzzpig

I've just remembered,the almonds and raisins are called matrimony !