I need a christmas eve tradition - tell me yours please!

[IlanaK]

We want to start a christmas eve tradition this year, but can't think of one! Our boys are 5 and 2. We want to make it something a little special. One thing i thought of we are having to do the day before as Christmas eve is a sunday (baking little cakes and taking them around to all our favourite shop keepers in our street who indulge and talk to the boys throughout the year). We don't want it to be anything commercial, but we would like to get out of the flat and not have it be just something inside.

Any ideas anyone???

Put reindeer food on the lawn put the "Stop Santa" sign otuside, leave santa a beer & mince pie, rudolph a carrot, watch The Snowman, put DD to bed and then gte Lillian Gished.

We usually take our dc to the beach whatever the weather. A long trek across the beach is usually enough to tire them out and stop them getting up every 5 minutes to ask if FC has been yet.

We will also sprinkle reindeer food outside (sand with bits of glitter in, does the job as well as the shop bought stuff) and leave carrots for them and biscuits/drinks for FC. This year we are also tracking FC as he travels the world.

When I was little there was always one small present that we were allowed to open on Christmas eve before we went to bed. I still remember the exitment of it, only second to getting our stocking which was very modest by todays standards. When we were a bit older I always helped lay the dinner table for the next day. We had a special table cloth and mum had normally made some decorations. It was so exciting when I got to put the crackers on the table. The dining room was all set up for the next day and it all seemed very special - not sure where we had breakfast though!

lemon tart,I love the idea of going out all wrapped up with torches looking for Santa in the sky...how lovely. I might just have to adopt that one!

my job on Christmas eve was to make this thing called Matrimony - almonds and those very lovely muscatel raisins- I had to blanch the almonds for my mum then put them altogether in long wooden dishes...

I make mince pies and mulled wine while listening to the Carols from Kings on the radio. We then feed the DCs about 5ish.

We bundle up and walk round the corner to the crib service at the church gates - complete with real fire, real donkeys and if we're lucky a real mum and baby

Home from there to warm up with mince pies and mulled wine.

Dcs to bed about 9ish - and then the adults have a cheese, bread and wine dinner round the fire.

Then about 1am DH and I get out all the pressies and place them round the tree and hang the stockings up on the mantlepiece!

Then off to bed to sleep it out until usually one of us wakes first and then gets impatient as to when the DCs will wwake up ready to go

you get to open one present and its always pj's!!

Dd is only 11 months old - can't wait until next year to do some of these sugestions with her when she's older and will understand a bit more! I'm just melting reading these!!!

Think I might adapt one of these and get some glowsticks to look for santa on way home from restaurant, and maybe do the shouting... biys 7, 5 and 3.5 so will be the perfect Christmas age this year!

Have just found a new tradition which I didn't realise we had watching Love Actually

For the second year in a row we are going to have a house party!!! We don't have much family around, and i wanted my kids to have fun. We invite lots of friends (generally our friends have kids the same age as us...funny how that works out hey?). Last year was great, everyone left at midnight after helping to tidy the kitchen and then we had a nice quiet day with just our family - it was very fun, and the kids loved it
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!