"Portable" Christmas traditions?

[MyNameIsInigoMontoya]

I've been thinking a bit about this - at the moment, our Christmases are usually alternated between my family (small-ish) and DH's family (bigger, lots of children), and alternated round different people's houses - either at ours, or my parents', or any one of DH's family's houses all round the country.

This means it's quite different every year, and we have to do a lot of fitting round other people's plans and traditions - one lot love walks, the other side likes relaxing, one group love the Queen's speech, the others skip it but do church and carols, etc etc...

I would love to find some little things we can do for our DCs that would be personal to us, and can be the same every year - so they can get excited about those things and know what to look forward to a bit more - instead of it being all a bit random and different every time. (My background of every Christmas being fairly similar - and fairly quiet-but-cosy - is probably a factor here!).

So - do you have any little "things" you do which don't depend on where you are, what other people around are doing, etc? All the better if they are quite easy to fit in, so they won't get missed if we suddenly get steamrollered into "everyone has decided we are going to do XYZ now"

stockings on the end of our bed first thing

My DD's favourite thing from last year - which she has talked about so much that it seems destined to become a regular thing - is having pancakes for breakfast :o

Christmas PJ's and a Christmas book on the 24th?

Wherever you are there will be someone in the family happy to read them a story - so give it to them to unwrap after bath and PJ's?

Hot choc to accompany the story? Perhaps make up a packet of Snowman soup and a new mug to drink it from?

Then the mince pie and milk, carrots on the lawn, reindeer food, Santa key, Stop Here sign or whatever your version can be transportable?

What about pre-Christmas? Writing your letter, visit to a grotto, Ice skating - it's all about the build up?

After Christmas - just your immediate family could do panto, or an ice show or similar?

We do the new pj's, with a Christmassy bath Bomb for immediate use, followed by the hot choc and the Night before Christmas story. After putting out cookie, milk and carrot. Which itself comes after lighting Christmas candle, and a little family reflection on good and bad things in he year.

Those are all transportable. (We travel some years, although generally have seperate accommodation so can do our own thing later Christmas Eve).

I also think getting to church on Christmas morning is important too, which we generally manage regardless of location.

Make a christmas cake or Christmas pudding together beforehand - everyone stirs the bowl and makes a wish. Read 'the night before Christmas' together on Christmas Eve. Watch a Christmas DVD like the Snowman. Always put the same thing in the toe of the Christmas stocking - eg a chocolate orange. make a Christmas wish on a star last thing before bedtime.

We sing Happy Birthday to Jesus before I go downstairs to check if Father Christmas has been.
We always have a soft toy on the top of the stocking.

Mm, some good ideas there thanks!

We have done Christmas PJs sometimes, so can easily make that a regular thing (and they usually need new ones around that time anyway). Stockings too. We have a "night before Christmas" book but usually start reading that during Advent as they like to hear it several times, it is good though (got a fab one with pop-up illustrations, it's lovely!).

Actually the candle thing sounds lovely too, a really nice little ritual which we might be able to squeeze in.

Things like baths, food, watching TV etc I will think about, but that's the sort of thing that is often tricky, especially when we are with DH's family, as there is usually someone who will come along and "organize" everyone and suddenly decide that all the kids should have a bath together at X time, or that "we" are all going to do/eat/watch Y next or something, so it can be a bit awkward to say, well, actually we were just planning to do Z, when we are all squashed in someone else's house together...