Christmas traditions in your young family

[happyfrogger]

With an 18mo and newborn we can't wait for our own fun and silly Christmas traditions to emerge. I would love to make sparkly reindeer food with the babies, take them to the pantomime, cook the Christmas pudding together - what are faves in your house and.how did they come about?

Christmas Eve treasure hunt to find the night before prezzies, new pjs, new book, bath things, etc.

Dh always makes at least one tray of mince pies with each child. I generally make the mincemeat and the pastry, but if I don't, I buy it for dh and dc to put together.

When we put the stockings out on Xmas Eve, each child chooses something of their own and puts it in the stocking, together with a little bag of home-made mince pies, for FC to take to children who don't have mummies and daddies to give them presents.

This came about because I'm not comfortable with the idea that gifts come from out of nowhere, and therefore don't need any thanks.

And the dc decorate the Xms cake. I make it, either traditional or gingerbread house, and then lay out loads of icings and decorations, and let them get on with it.

Ice skating
Going to see Santa
Going to see lights turned on
Extra deluxe hot chocs (with Xmas shaped marshmallows - last year was snowmen)
Taking kids to poundshop to choose presents for each other and us
Pjs from the elves (dh puts kids in bath then I run around with some jingle bells so kids know the elves have been)
Making mince pies
Picking a tree and decorating it to loud Xmas music
Putting out Santa stop sign and magic Santa key (we don't have chimney)
Father Christmas s boot print in snow ( we get some of that magic fake snow and dh puts a welly print in it)

Making a gingerbread house
Watching Xmas films (normally the day after Dhs works do, last year we were so hung over we couldn't do anything but lay on sofa and eat bacon but ties so turned it into an Xmas film day - polar express, ice age Xmas, mickey mouse Xmas, and the snowman!

Christmas DVDs all December- same christmas books, mini tree for dcs which can stay in their room and you buy a new decoration for it each year.

We have a hamper delivered whilst we are out (ie DH leaves it under the tree when we leave lol) and we come back and its there.

Inside is pjs, socks, bath stuff, hot chocolate and marshmallows, reindeer food etc ready for Christmas Eve baths and getting ready for bed

Oh and a new dvd as well

Well my mum is a bit of a clean freak so as a kid we had to 'be clean for santa!' So on xmas eve we had to have clean sheets, be bathed and in new pjs.
We also, as we got older, had to sort our rooms in december and give away at least 2 things to charity. We normally ended up with a bin liner full each. These then went to the church charity type thing. They passed them on to familys in need, and we didnt end up with cupboards full of stuff we didnt use.

We also did the whole mince pie and whisky for santa. Until one year he rang my dad and told him he preferred cheese and crackers and a pint..........
Carrots for rudolph etc, and my dad would shake bells when we were asleep so we would be slightly woken up and be happy that santa was on his way :)

Christmas eve, we watch Tim Burton's batman (well the second one is set at Christmas and has penguins in it) and eat homemade lasagne. Ds got through the Tim Burton ones before we put him to bed and DP and I carried on to the new films. Also get new pyjamas at Christmas eve.
I'm hoping to introduce the Christmas eve hamper this year so we can have lovely munchies to eat and some reindeer food to put out before we have the traditional lasagne.

New pjs and a relaxing bath bomb or nice bubbles to unwind before bed. Produced after tea, lighting of Christmas candle and leaving out stockings, Christmas cookie and milk, and a carrot.

Cookies are baked that afternoon, and even when dd was almost 1, she was helping bake the cookies to bring to crèche for their carols concert thing for parents and party for kids. Different batches over the couple of weeks before the big day.

Checking out houses on commute home in evenings or late milk runs to shop, and picking a route to bring dd to see the lit up houses one evening after tea, wrapped up in pjs and her sleeping bag (we had one for traveling so she could be strapped in and cosy) with a bottle of warm milk. Magical!! Sh still wants to do the spin after dark every year. (About to turn 8).

We always read the night before Christmas as bedtime story on Christmas Eve. I have loads of books for other nights in December, of Christmassy stories, but that's always kept for 24th.

Advent calendar with things to do rather than just choc daily. Sometimes little kits to make or small toy, free printable coloring pages., ideas for crafts to do together, preparation jobs to do together (clear out broken toys etc), go for winters walk in park.

I loved it when dd was so small and it was all new and magical to her!

An we went to see the live crib in the city, and have a coffe stop from her first Christmas, when we had already found babycinnos for her. Oh for the days when we could just hop on a bus with buggy and she,d sleep in it too!!