How do you make Christmas magical?

[funbagsandgubbins18]

Hello!

I know it is a while off yet but I have a fussy 7 month old so I have ruled out the summer. He HATES heat, the sun and the beach and he still has awful reflux so weaning is tricky. So I plan on making winter absolutely splendid and magical.

Errrrr. How do I do that then? What makes your Christmas wonderful?
What makes you feel Christmassy?
What are your favourite childhood memories of Christmas?

I know he won't remember it for a while yet but I still need something to look forward to!

Here is to a happy winter.

Ta

There is a lovely lift-the-flap book called Christmas in the Mouse House which I got for dd for Christmas last year when she was one and two thirds! It is now her favourite book (other than bloody Bear Hunt), and we read it most days. I think it has given her more of a concept of the ways Christmas is celebrated (in a secular sense, I mean - it is not religious), which will help make it more exciting for her this year.
Also we are Christian (well I am - she probably hasn't decided yet!), and we do look at books about the story of Jesus' birth and she has a play set related to this which will help her get more excited about Christmas from this point of view I think.

We do lots of things already mentioned. Most have been stolen from mumsnet!

Elf on the shelf arrives on 1st December with Christmas fleece blankets - going to reuse ones from last year plus a cheap DVD so we can all snuggle up on sofa and watch Peppa's antics!!

We make decorations, paper chains, large glittery stars, salt dough decorations over a couple of weeks and then spend dat decorating house. Think I will let them decorate their rooms this year.

Watch local lights switch on. Usually see Santa at local soft play Christmas party.

Last year we made sweets and delivered them to neighbours. That was lovely, dd was so excited to give them out.

Going to attempt more baking this year - it is not my strongest point! - and give to teachers etc.

Give dcs a Christmas Eve hamper which usually has pjs, bubble bath, toothbrush, stocking and popcorn/chocolate. Most stuff comes from pound shop so doesn't cost much. I do the candles landing strip in the drive! It looks lovely, collect jars throughout the year and let dcs decorate them before putting out.

Leave out biscuits for Santa and then read Night Before Christmas although last year an overexcited 6 yo wouldn't let me finish as she wanted to go to sleep! She had been asking to go to bed from about 4pm so Santa could come sooner!

It all sounds OTT, but I spread it throughout December and doesn't cost much as I pick up bargains throughout the year. It all looks very homemade, believe me Kirstie Allsop I am not!

For a 1 year old, you are talking colours and lights and sounds.

Concentrate on these this year.

Lots of lights, reds, greens and gold. Bells, music and light displays. Snow always makes things magical.

At this age, they are not going to be that interesting in the whole thing really and yes, the paper and boxes will be played with the most. Don't do too much, they wont appreciate it - your family will go overboard as well so don't buy loads. Take it easy this year.

2-6 are the good years..this is where things really get exciting.

1st December EOTS arrives and the table is all set up for the North Pole breakfast (christmas tablecloth, bunting on wall, candy cane name holders, EOTS on the table with nutcracker ornaments and the Christmas countdown thing. Christmas plates and cups.) They get Christmas pjs, a colouring book each, this year a snowman soft toy and tree chocolates which they get to place on the tree themselves. Food wise I do various things from snowman pancakes to tree shaped waffles, stollen bites as snowballs, pink 'reindeer milk' , reindeer candy corn and popping candy, a banana and strawberry candy cane shape, Santa brownie hats and we drink homemade eggnog. There's also a letter from EOTS explaining who he is. He hides in a different place every day till he returns to the North Pole.

We all have Christmas duvets. DC also have the Belle and Boo christmas wall sticker above their beds and we have fairy lights above ours. We decorate the house on the evening of the 30th so the Dc wake up and find it all (they're all aged 4 and under, when they get older they'll help!). Always a real tree in the window, wreaths on the doors that are lit up, the olive trees on the doorstep also lit up. Fireplace decorated with homemade garland, wooden advent calendar, candles, the Dc snowglobes they got for their first Christmas etc. The bookcase is filled with Christmas books and DVDs. Christmas cushion covers. We have a 'holiday tree' which the DC make crafts for and decorate for every major holiday (Easter, halloween etc)

Throughout December we do various Christmas activities- Christmas market, crafts, go visit Santa's grotto although last year went on a Santa train- wanting to do polar express next year, go to a local park where there's an ice rink and various other Christmassy activities and taking them to their first panto this year! Also A LOT of baking from mince pies to gingerbread house and men. I always have some homemade mulled wine and eggnog on the go... We all have Christmas jumpers we wear throughout the month and DC have christmas pudding hats every year which get some interesting comments we watch a different Christmas movie every day of December and read a lot of Christmas books. Make popcorn garlands and tree cookies for the tree a few days before the big day. DH and I spend one evening wrapping and watching a Christmas movie with mulled wine.

Christmas Eve we have Santa pancakes for breakfast, the DC watch the gruffalo and gruffalos child while we tie up any last bits and bats. For lunch it's veggie paella, crusty bread and salad. Then we make a snowman cake and Santa's cookies. Go for a walk as a family, when we return EOTS has gone and he's left the DC a hamper each with new pjs, slippers, socks, marshmallows in their belle and boo tins, chocolate coins and a teddy bear. We light candles on a candle carousel before dinner for whoever we feel needs it. Then dinner is a buffet with cheeses, olives, crackers, veggie mock meats, dried fruit, Tyrrells crisps etc. snowman cake for afters! Then we get into PJs, have naaiiiiccee hot chocolate, cream and marshmallows and watch polar express. Then we light lanterns up the drive way, leave the cookies we lovingly made for FC on a special tray with milk and reindeer food. Read night before christmas then sleep for DC. DH and I always share some booja booja ice cream.

Christmas Day after opening presents and stockings we have breakfast which is the special christmas morning muffins I always make and there's a pastry selection, honey, nut butters and nice jams we drink more eggnog. There's a lot of DC playing with toys and DH and I cooking. Lunch is always cheese and tomato baguettes, don't ask why that stuck as tradition . We have dinner when it gets dark by candlelight. The table is decorated with a nice floral arrangement in the middle and candles. Cream of Jerusalem soup for starters, veggie roast, homemade onion gravy, homemade pine nut stuffing, roast potatoes, apple sauce and braised red cabbage and various veggies. I make Yule log as dessert. We play board games afterwards, only eldest DC joins it atm but others will get there soon.. When DC go to bed DH and I always play a variety of board games, sip processco and share a box of chocolates.

Anyway this is looooonnngggg! I LURVE Christmas! One of my favourite parts though is worlds strongest man, I must admit .

Pukk - what a lovely post....merry christmas (the first of 2014)

Although we love the xmas movie channels, cinema trips, xmas day tv and norad and portable north pole websites we decided last year too much of our christmas was screen oriented so we started festive no screen days once a week in December-

Things we did included crafts and baking with music not tv in the background,board games, charades and pictionary, having friends round and telling ghost stories, a reading evening with blankets and cocoa and new books, wintery walks and scavenger hunts, when dd was little she liked putting on shows for us including a yearly nativity puppet show.

Marguerite. I love the no screen days idea! I'm definitely going to be stealing that one.
All these ideas are making me feel so warm and festive. I love them all!!

oh what joy I have found christmas threads!

I start thinking about xmas NOW because I buy some pressies in the sales NOW!

We have not found our xmas grove yet and its hard because DH works up till xmas day so not much atmos with just us.....

I love reading about everyones traditions, its one of my fav things to do on MN, full stop...Love it.

Light! I love twinkly lights. Smelly candles burning. Love the Glade chocolate and honey one. We go to the cinema to see a Christmas film, watch Polar Express, record lots of family films on the Christmas 24 channel. Drink Baileys!

I've read this thread going "ahh I love that idea" and "oh that's so sweet" DP asked me what I was reading and when I said "Christmas thread on MN" He looked at me like I'd lost the plot.

AIBU to LTB?

If you LTB aylesbury then I have carte blanche to skin mine - I'm compiling a list for Hallowe'en (I won't be at work that day and it's a Friday ) so I'm making decoration lists and bemoaning the fact my pumpkins aren't growing .

He's giving me the face, but surprisingly, I never get that response for any Christmas planning (he knows better than to argue )

We were at a Toby Carvery yesterday (we always go in December as it's DS birthday and his favourite meal.) I said "I wouldn't really fancy a meal out on Christmas Day" and he agreed. I didn't get a It's JULY face

70 these men just don't understand!

• aylesburyduck

i got Aylesbury duck one year, from local good butcher, it was good fun, having to queue up with a few local celebs also picking up their xmas order! It wasnt the same the following year when I had already got meat and frozen it....

jimmy

I've heard that the Aylesbury Duck is very tasty I just can't bring myself to eat duck!! unless it comes from the Chinese and is crispy, and served in a pancake roll

I started traditions last year as DS was 20 months - he will be 2.8 this Christmas so I'm hoping he will be more aware of what's going on

He's had a stocking since his first Christmas when he was. 8 months, but last year I also did a Christmas Eve box, in it was some new pjs, festive chocolate, Santa key, snowdog DVD and cuddly dog, a personalised bauble (we had a first Christmas one the previous year) Christmas socks, night before Christmas book, etc

I did my tree after he went to bed nov 30th so when he woke up there was tree, decorations, and an elf on the shelf with an advent calendar. Mine isn't a naughty elf he just hides in various places and we have to find him, sometimes he brings a treat like a milky bar or a new DVD to watch.

I took him to a grotto to see Santa - he hated it! But I may try again this year.

I want to incorporate Christmas crafts/baking this year if I can get him interested

Pukk please adopt me!

I'm always on Pinterest looking for ideas, so glad I found this thread.

My DC love Christmas and it is magical but I do think there is a serious danger of over productionising it and at the sometime winding up with exhausted and discontented parents (it will never be 'perfect') and overexcited and misbehaving children.

At the beginning of Dec the DCs start rehearsing for school and Church nativities.

Our decorations don't go up until a week before but it is a great family outing to choose the tree and decorate the house together.

We have never taken them to see a Santa. In fact we have never pushed Santa. They know that regardless how they behave during December they will get presents. They have never got into the overexcited strops and tantrums that a number of my friends children have and therefore make the month an agony of rows and punishments and 'creepy 'elf' threats.

I take them a special end of term outing.

They enjoy helping with the food and decorating the table.

They have wooden advent calanders to open each morning.

We have a family (including GPs) outing to the Christingle service.

We have all the family over for Christmas dinner.

There is a family (including GPs and cousins) trip to the panto.

We keep it low key, traditional and relaxed. The children aren't stressed and neither are we. It is wonderful and it doesn't require lots of manufactured traditions. or starting in June

That sounds wonderful Lily, its lucky you seem to have lots of family to spend it with.

We are probably guilty of over productising it but its just us 4. But we don't get stressed and neither do the dc....and its wonderful and lovely too.

Knitted thank you, we are very lucky to have family close by that all get on very well.

Everyone does what is best for their own families, of course and all sorts of traditions can be lovely.

I just find it frustrating to spend November hearing about children being told Santa is spying on their behaviour and presents might not come if they are naughty and then parents complaining when the same children are wound up to a frenzy by Christmas Eve.

Loving this I adore Christmas. We always do a national trust property and a Christmas market, choose a tree and a new decoration is chosen every year that reflect the previous year we've had together.
We pick the Christmas fish, we choose a type of fish and go down to the harbour fish van and select the one for Christmas lunch it's delivered in Christmas Eve which is eccentric and exciting.
We tell stories by candlelight by the fire and drink homemade virgin mulled wine, ginger wine and egg nog.
We enjoy a cheese hamper and crackers on Christmas Eve, throw on our dry suits and go for a Christmas Eve swim just bought the 4 yr old his first dry suit. We take turns swimming or staying with the young ones on the shore.
We have a tree in every room this is a must and we decorate the windows with Christmas stickers and stained glass.
We've bought colour changing fur cones from lake land they're amazing and on Boxing Day we eat a box of posh chocolate for breakfast.
We also celebrate Yule, we start decorating the house and then go out for Christmas lunch and come home and finish the house and then we eat Mexican food to bring warmth into our home. It's something my parents did, no idea why it's Mexican food but anything else wouldn't be Christmas.
Paper chains, love paper chains, Christmas Crackers and ear defenders on the table every year.
Plum and chocolate pudding and films lots of old films, we always watch invasion of the body snatchers and the Day the Earth Stood Still and Day of the Triffids on Christmas Day. Christmas night we go for a candle lit treasure hunt around the garden, the kids find a Christmas star each that the elves leave which they have to hang on the Christmas tree in the garden so the reindeers can see where to land the stars magically light up, Santa takes them with him on Christmas Eve, so new ones need to be found for next year.
I love Christmas, summer just doesn't cut it!

Christmas night we go for a candle lit treasure hunt around the garden, the kids find a Christmas star each that the elves leave which they have to hang on the Christmas tree in the garden so the reindeers can see where to land the stars magically light up

are you in the uk, swimming and on on xmas eve! sounds utterly fab...

i am LOVING the candle lit treasure hunt its like reading a story in book..amazing....

The main thing for me is not to put to much pressure on yourself. I grew up in a very unhappy house and Xmas was the epitome of my parents' apathy, I absolutely hated it and felt so jealous of others having their happy festive fun. So at first I heaped the pressure on myself to make Xmas perfect. But it backfired and led to overwhelm and meltdown.

I've learnt to take it slowly and am only gradually building up nice traditions. I shamelessly nick them all from MN - I have nothing of my own to base it on so I have to start somewhere!

The other main thing is keeping presents at a reasonable level - perhaps that's an arbitrary statement as every family will have their own feelings on how much is acceptable (and I know we still have more than many) but basically in previous years I overdid it and the amount of plastic battery operated crap and character branded stuff genuinely did put a rather materialistic spin on the day. When last year we stuck to all naice simple stuff it was so much calmer.

My dd was 10 months last Christmas, I made her a Christmas eve hamper with pyjamas and a new tooth brush and teddy, we opened it before bedtime and got her all dressed for bed in her new things, we went out in to the garden and put some pretend reindeer food out on the lawn! I know she wouldn't understand but I wanted to have a special first Christmas for her. On Christmas morning I just helped her open her presents with the family around then we had a quiet dinner which she loved and just played with her toys in the evening. I also got a couple of tree decorations off eBay with things like baby's first Christmas on them which are a nice keepsake

Love this thread! I will be very very very pg with dc 2 at Christmas this year (or with a snuggly newborn) so all catering decisions are being passed to dh (who is a whizz in the kitchen but forrin, so don't expect I'll be getting the chicken, stuffing, roasties that I usually insist on).

Ds is only 2 but for the last few years our traditions have been...

The Night before chirstmas as Christmas Eve
Buy a new Christmas book every year
Stockings for everyone (which means I get to buy myself lovely things )
Bottle of Baileys, shortbread in tbe morning while opening presents (if in UK with family)
Putting up Christmas tree 6th December or weekend following (live in NL where Sinterklaas celebration goes on until 5th December so there's already a HUGE build up!) With Christmas music on.
Stock of Chirstmas films I ncluding Snowman and my favourite, The Muppet's Christmas Carol

I just find it frustrating to spend November hearing about children being told Santa is spying on their behaviour and presents might not come if they are naughty and then parents complaining when the same children are wound up to a frenzy by Christmas Eve aren't most children incredibly excited on xmas eve whether you have santa cam or not?

I have certainly said a few times in December....'you know whose watching you'....and not had any strops or problems....

Anyhoo......very excited booked the nutcracker for xmas eve, if London has no buzz on xmas eve, no where will have! I think we are manufacturing traditions here too trying to do some regular things that mean xmas that the girls will remember...we are not part of community, and have no wider family around...so its just us.

There is a lovely christmas barn I insist on going to every year...and I love lashings of theatre, fringe theatre childrens stuff....will see a panto on boxing day and possibly cats and some other stuff....cant wait until dc's are old enough for caorls at candle light and midnight mass.