Making our own traditions

[JLG19]

This Christmas will be our first with DS, who will be almost 1. We're having it at home and will be inviting my mum to stay.

I want to make our own traditions now that we're our own family. Tell me about yours so I can pinch them

We have a family day out, return to a christmas eve hamper and buffet tea on christmas eve.

We watch The Snowman and read The Night Before Christmas on christmas eve too. We have a beautiful pop up version by Robert Sambuca which we get out each year.

We go to a panto with grandparents, obviously you might need to wait a few years for this!

We decorate the tree together with christmas music on. We, me and the dc do, dp is more of a grump! We talk about the different places the decorations come from while we do it.

Our advent traditions are frankly getting out of hand! We started with an advent calendar with little buckets that would have a little item it. We seem to have added something each year - we now have that plus either a playmobil or lego calendar, a tiny tree you can add a decoration to each day, a tomten doll which I hide along with two pieces of choc for the dc to find in the morning, a elf doll who gets up to mischief and they get regular letters (via Elfie's Christmas letters). It is too much but the dc are heartbroken if I suggest reducing things!

Last Christmas was my first with my DS!! It just makes it so much more magical with your own kids - even though he had no idea what was going on!!!
I took him outside and sprinkled food for the reindeer and he got his little santa letter that I'd ordered! I can't wait till he's a bit bigger because I'm going to go all out and get Christmas Eve boxes and I want to leave a pie for Santa/carrot for Rudolph! I also want to do Santa footprints out of flour!!!

We had letters from Elfie last year too but we explained to the kids that the elves wouldn't have time to write to all the kids and probably pick different ones each year.

I explained to my kids last year (when they were 7 and 5) about the different ornaments on the tree that remind me of different things (a house from the year we moved, a car from the year I passed my driving test, the soft pink heart and blue star from the years they were born - that sort of thing) and they're very taken with that. The next day we had to buy a tiny tree to hang on the tree, to remind us of the fact that the tree fell over on DS when we were putting it up

They're very fond of advent calendars. They've had chocolate for breakfast every day of every december since DD was 18 months. That one is set in stone now.

One evening close to christmas, we'll take the kids shopping for pressies for each other. We split and take one kid each, and there's huge secrecy and excitement. They open those pressies on christmas eve, once they're in their christmas jammies.

Once the tree goes up and dc go to bed, DH and i turn off all the lights except the tree lights and make whoopee under the tree

The year ds was born i sewed a set of 25 small festive stockings that are tied to a string and draped around the balcony, that is the only advent calendar we have. They have a small chocolate in every day, we put one small toy in (lego blindbag or something) on the day of ds' birthday. One year he had this, plus Lego advent calendar (gifted) and my dad gave us a chocolate advent calendar - three was just beyond excessive.

Christmas day is:
DS opens his stocking on our bed.
Breakfast is pancakes, ds last year got a gingerbreadman-shaped frying pan in his stockkng.
Walk the dog.
Back to open the tree presents.
Relaxed lunch of soup, cheese and biscuits.
4/5pm-ish we go to a small beach town down the road which has a sand sculpture every year. The dog runs on the beach, ds can play with any new toys like remote control car or scooter etc. Atmosphere is great, we might have a hot chocolate or something.
When we get back, ds plays with his new toys and DH and i cook Christmas dinner for 7/8pm.

We are abroad, so it is difficult to get a lot of traditional British food, which doesn't bother me too much. I can make stuffing and mince pies myself, a roast is a roast. Pudding is something different every year.

We aren't religious at all but we have a knitivity, i have lovely photos of ds playing with it at different ages as it is so tactile and fairly unbreakable. For the first 3 years or so i gave ds the unbreakable decorations to play with on the tree and put breakable things either at the top of the tree or left them in the box. He has always been fascinated with the tree, of course, but quite respectful. I have a lovely photo of the tree decorated with police cars and Fisher Price people

Christmas here lasts until 6th January, so plenty of time between 25th Dec and when school starts back to keep feeling festive, it doesn't feel depressing on the morning of 27th!

I honestly don't bother with Elf on the shelf, Santa footprints, reindeer food in the garden, Norad (tried it one year, ds couldn't have been less interested, it bored me and i'm a Christmas nut!), Christmas Eve boxes and other stuff. Definitely no festive pyjamas, duvet sets, towels... Don't have the money or the storage for all that. DS doesn't miss out as it isn't done here.

I have Christmas crockery for DS, tablecloths, some festive bowls for Film Sweets (capitals v important), Christmas tea, Christmas CDs, Christmas stories. And two giant round Christmas pudding cushions for the sofa

Like pp, we have decorations from different places with different memories and we love reminiscing as we decorate the tree.

I have made a ton of stuff over the years for Christmas, many of our decorations, lots for DS' room, wreaths etc.

draped around the balcony actually the bannister!

We don't open the presents all in one go but open one before breakfast, around lunchtime, one in the afternoon, one before bed, next morning begore breakfast etc. that way there is a new toy to play with or a book to read or whatever and you get to appreciate each present on it's own. I loved it as a kid. You keep the excitement up for two days.

My DS will be 4 by Christmas and we have tons of traditions, some I don’t even realise are traditions because we do them automatically! But my favourite ones are watching the film Deck the Halls on Christmas Eve and having a McDonald’s (despite the drive through queue being into the street)

DS birthday is December 7th and he was very poorly when he was born, he was in the NICU for a while and on Christmas Eve we stayed in the hospitals parent room with DS in the cot (first night we all spend together!!) the tv in there didn’t work so I asked DP to drive home and grab any Christmas DVD and get something to eat, he came back with Deck the Halls and McDonald’s DS was discharged in the morning! We all go in the car to McDonald’s now and listen to Christmas songs while waiting[santa]

@tomthomas I love your traditions story so much

Tbh your dc is so young you can do whatever you fancy for the first few years.

We have an elf door for advent and he leaves presents on sundays.

We fell the tree together. Thats good fun.

Christmas dinner on christmas eve, then a box with pjs, film and game.

Stockings as soon as they wake up. Pancakes for breakfast and champagne. Open presents. Turkey sandwich for lunch. A walk. Turkey curry for dinner.

New pyjamas left on the hearth Christmas Eve morning to wear on the night time. Never buy Christmas themed ones as they seem a waste of money for one night

DH takes the DC to costa for cake and hot chocolate while I stay home and clean (wrap last minute things and hide the gifts downstairs for FC to put out, saves DC hearing us leaving the bedroom)

Then we do cinema and KFC for tea.

Not too much, but the DC always talk about it on the run up to Christmas, even the eldest who is 15.

1st of December.
Dh and I put the main tree up for the morning of the 1st of December and then we decorate it together that evening, followed by hot chocolate and a Christmas movie. I pack all the winter/christmas themed books away in January and pull them out for the 1st, putting them under the tree.

Throughout December
We read Enid Blyton's "the Christmas Book" throughout December as my dm used to do with me, talking about the various traditions as we do things for example bringing in holly from the garden. We go to all the Advent services at Church. We go to at least 1 Christmas market for hot chocolate and currywurst. We (I) make a gingerbread house for ds to decorate. We read at least one Christmas book at bed time.

Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve we make cookies for Santa and then we go to the evening service at Church. Everyone hangs their stockings up (all guests have to have one too). We have a Christmas Eve box in memory of a Christmas obsessed friend who introduced me to the idea and then died two months later. We play a board game with ds, read him the new Christmas story which came in the box and put him to bed.

Christmas Morning
Open stockings, eat bacon sandwiches with a glass of sherry (it's tradition and has been since before I was born). Open presents.

1st December I make the DC a Christmas breakfast. The night before I decorate the living room and dining table and I make Christmas themed food like star shaped toast or Christmas tree crumpets served on Christmas themed paper plates with hot chocolate in their snowman mugs and some chocolate like coins or a little polar bear/penguin etc. I give them a Christmas card each and an advent calendar (usually the picture kind but sometimes something different!). I also get out our basket of Christmas books, the nativity set and the Christmas DVDs.

Every weekend leading up to Christmas we do crafts or baking. Mid December we get our tree and I let them decorate it. On Christmas Eve we go to the candlelit crib service at 4pm then get chips on the way home. Then they get their Christmas eve box - it has had various things over the years - going to be a Christmas cup, bubble bath, new tree decoration and hot choc and cream this year. They then have baths - put on pjs and we watch some Christmas films with the hot chocolate. The last one is always Muppet's Christmas Carol! They then hang their stockings on the fireplace and leave out mince pie, milk and carrot. I read the Night before Christmas and then they go to bed.

Christmas morning the DC wake about 9am and we go downstairs and they open their stockings - it always includes choc coins, christmas socks, a tangerine and a candy cane hanging on the outside. We then have breakfast of a pastry with Bucks fizz/orange juice and coffee/hot chocolate. Then we sit around the tree and open our presents from each other. After this we get dressed.

I'll start preparing the lunch with Christmas music on while the DC play/eat chocolate. We have lunch at 2pm - we eat the main course and then leave it about an hour til we have Christmas pudding. After lunch we open presents from the wider family and then play a boardgame or watch a film. I'll have a Baileys in the evening and put out sausage rolls, mince pies and biscuits. More chocolate and lots of relaxing!

Boxing day we might visit family or have them over to ours. More presents and a buffet lunch. Then inbetween Christmas and New year we meet up with my DB, DSil and DN - more presents and yummy food! The tree and decorations stay up until 6th Jan.

@UndertheCedartree can I come and live in your house? I love that you get started on the 1st!!! May have to convince my husband of this!!

The tree goes up the weekend closest to the 1st December.

Christmas Eve we go out with friends in the morning and then back to ours via the chip shop for lunch.

As the last of our friends have left, usually around 4pm, they will leave the Christmas Eve basket on the door step for us.

Inside it will have new PJ's, new mug hot chocolate and marshmallows.
We then sit down and watch Arthur Christmas.

I love some of these! Especially the stocking advent calendar, going to steal that

We already have quite a collection of baubles and decorations for mine and DH's adventures, so will keep going with this and definitely buy one to represent DS's first Christmas.

tomthomas I also love your story! So glad your DS was well enough to be discharged on Christmas Day!

redexpat Can I ask, is there a reason you eat the traditional Christmas Dinner on Christmas eve?

Almost forgot the most important thing. Stockings are open on our bed first thing then we have chocolate for breakfast while the turkey goes in the oven.

In DHs family all the gifts come from Santa - no presents under the tree - all presents from aunts uncles are sent to Santa and he regifts them! So no labels etc from 'Aunty Green'

We put presents to each other and from friends and family under the tree. Santa brings a few gifts.

You need to discuss these things to bring each familly together. The small details like 'must have' foods can be an eye opener!! Start asking!!

Christmas Eve we bake all the kids help, Then we head off to Panto.
Dinner is cooked by DH and we often have visitors.

Oh I love Christmas time so much, the lead up to the day makes me so happy.
We decorate the house starting from the 1st of December.
Paper chains all the way around the living room coving, tiny paper chains hanging from the shelves. Wooden banners/bunting, window decorations, hanging decorations, the tree with a million ornaments.
Cushions and blankets.
I have Christmas themed teatowels, cups, cookie jar.
A second tree for the landing upstairs, winter theme bedding and towels.
I imagine for some it is tacky and awful, but I would love to replace everything with Christmas themed things for December!
DH was raised as a Jehovas Witness and his family still are so they don't like it.

But the most important thing is a big red piece of heavy red fabric with pockets sewn onto it. Its our advent calendar and is called "the pockets" My Nan made them when I was very young. I can still remember the excitement of waiting to see what would be in them every day.

Oh and Christmas day I cook an enormous meal for lunch, it's served at 12 for two reasons. 1) my two eldest usually spend half the day with me and half with their dad. 2) I have 5 brothers/sisters so this way my parents can come and have a little of our meal with us.

Pantomime is a common theme! Definitely one we'll introduce in a few years time... DS is probably a little young at the moment

My best one which a lot of people on here have liked and done for themselves is collating a family photo album for each year and opening it together on xmas eve, reminiscing etc. I wrap it straight up when it arrives without looking at it, and then we have it instead of a dedicated xmas eve box (which I’m far too disorganized for!)
Some years it comes with pjs, hot choxolate, some years just the book. It’s very special to us and takes away from the materialism it’s easy to get swept up in.

Could also do for NYE I suppose.

I have a box of decorations for each dc, each representing a year of their life which they put on the tree. All the ornaments they’ve made in school or at home are there too. We buy a new ornament each year for the dc, and usually something that can be adapted into a bauble from our holidays. I love decorating the tree as it is the story of our family and stimulates a lot of “remember when...?” discussions
We wrap up and go for a walk in the woods to find pinecones etc, which we use to decorate with, along with ever green clippings
We bake cookies as gifts
We make ornaments for the tree
We build a lego train with a convoluted track around the tree. I have some boxes cut into tunnels with paper glued on to look like presents. Other presents sit on top of these. It’s a family project and looks amazing interspersed with Christmas village.
We celebrate the solstice by lighting the firepit and toasting marshmallows. The weather is a bit iffy for traveling to any of the significant megalithic sites with small children, so this is our compromise.
We post letters up the chimney to santa and run out into the garden to see if we can see them fly up in the air.
We visit the most incredibly real santa (I always get goosebumps)
We read Christmas books at bedtime through advent
On Christmas Eve we light a candle and leave it burn in the window
We leave out food for the reindeer (who always destroy our little garden with marks from the sleigh in the lawn, hoof prints on the windows, knocked over flower pots. Once they ate my favorite plant.
We leave out food for Santa who is a messy eater and leaves crumbs and milk rings behind. He’s clumsy too and knocks coals onto the floor and once bumped into the Christmas tree.
We go to mass on Christmas Day and meet lots of people who have emigrated or live away, who are visiting for Christmas.

We always wave at the International Space Station when it does its last fly-over before Christmas. The day and time varies each year. I tell DC it’s Santa on his way to the North Pole to collect the presents

I love the Christmas Eve book

I'm going to make one

I like the photo book idea!

Once they ate my favorite plant.