What are your Christmas traditions?

[Babyshark2018]

I feel like I can get excited about Christmas now as I’ve been shopping this morning and seen lots of Christmas things everywhere!

I had a baby in July so this is our first Christmas as a family and I feel like I need to start some traditions. I will be buying stockings soon and I want to do matching pajamas (yes cheesy I know!) . I also have a family Angel (dating back all the way to... 1997 ...) that goes on top of the tree. Cranberry sauce gets made end of November for gifts!

Please share your traditions so I can get some ideas and get excited about my little girls first Christmas.

We go to various country houses, Mottisfont to see the Christmas tree displays And then we decorate our tree. We only decorate with baubles and decorations we have bought at various days out with the family. We also decorate our own baubles and have them fired at a local pottery cafe.

We have a lovely cloth advent calendar

We have Christmas Eve hot choccy and new pj’s

We have a big meat platter, cheese platter and lots of voluvonts etc on Christmas Eve

A big Christmas breakfast and then usually a lunch but this time we are going to a pub which I hope will become a new Christmas tradition

Cantankerous that all sounds amazing! I’d love to go to Blenheim Palace this year- it was brilliant last time.

I also think I’ll invest in a cloth advent calendar! 😊

We are slowly building up a collection of decorations, we have some lovely wooden ones from Germany that a family member brought back.I would love a real tree, we have so little space now with all the baby things so will probably have to get a mini one!

Put tradition is that we don’t do xmas. It’s bloody brilliant.

*Our

babyshark my mum made ours, it was a stitch by numbers sort of thing.

Very beautiful xx

We also make popcorn tinsel (kids a bit young for that now if not born yet) and I bake apples and oranges and cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg which makes the house smell really Christmas-y

Hever castle to see father Christmas and the Christmas trail.
Car ride to see the Christmas lights nearby.
Bake cookies on Christmas eve.
Christmas eve hamper with pjs, the night before Christmas book, treats etc.
Advent candle.
Cloth advent calendar but with a different Christmassy thing to do every day I.e. watch a Christmas film, snuggle with hot choc, write letter to Santa, choose Christmas tree etc
Track Santa online on Christmas eve before bed!
(Mulled wine at every opportunity)
Christmas is the most amazing time! We started most of these when my eldest was about 2 but never too early to start traditions - I think I enjoy it more than the kids do!

Our own Christmas tradition is on Christmas Eve when the big Christmas clean and prepping has been done we go a drive to the seaside and go in for something to eat, have a stroll on the beach etc. It’s a bit wild at Christmas weather wise but because we always hosted Christmas it was a nice chance to relax before the main event.
Also do the advent calendar , stocking and Christmas Eve hamper but too old for a visit to santa now

Our family traditions are, tree up on the first weekend of December which my kids decorate, every year we go late night shopping so they can each buy a new decoration for the tree (not expensive usually wilkos but they must stick to my colour scheme that's the only rule)
Advent calendars are given on 1 December with a little box which inside is a little elf door and a note from the elves.
We also make a gingerbread house, one that is already made so just needs assembling and decorating as I am no Mary Berry!
Xmas eve we leave out a mince pie and a little drop of whisky for Santa plus a carrot and we sprinkle oats outside for the reindeer. We also have a xmas eve box which is just boxes of those small pringles for each of the dds and some popcorn and a small little gift each. We also take a drive ot to see all the houses with lights and track Santa on Norad.
We always do a few trips out but I've limited it this year so I'm just taking my oldest 2 dds to Kew Gardens for their light trail and possibly having breakfast with santa but I'm debating that one as I'm not sure if my youngest will freak out. We are also going on our annual trip to Winter wonderland as my youngest 2 dds school has a training day end of November every year, so it's lovely and quiet and we absolutely love it.

Mine are teens , DS will be 19 by Christmas , DD will be 16.6yo.

Our Traditions have evolved as the DC got older.
Teenagers don't wake at 5am looking for their presents (more likely to go to bed at 5am )

We put the Christmas bedding on Dec 1st . (DD usually has her winter bedding on by Nov 1st and the Christmassy layers follow)

They have their Christmas Eve Hamper on Dec 1st now. They have more time to enjoy them.
We have a little tree decoration that has a tiny ornament to hang on each day .
Chocolate Advent calenders
DD has a Beauty Advent (new tradition last year) I make up for her . She wouldn't use all the contents in the usual ones so I do a special one for her.

£2 tin that we save all year, taken down to the MetroBank to cash it up and divvy up. (DS and DH have MetroBank accounts , but their CashCounter machine is free to use and no & taken)

DD and I go to London, usually on the 23rd.

We have a Family Day out in December (theatre or cinema)

We have a meal out near DS birthday , his choice, usually a Toby Carvery .

DH and I go to the shops on Christmas Eve for a wander

Everyone has to dress up a bit for Christmas Dinner (no slobbing in PJs here )

Dinner after dark but before Dr Who.

Boxing Day I put a pizza dough on to slow prove then we all do our own toppings.

Thanks everyone. Keep them coming. Definitely stealing some of these!

Boxing Day pizza sounds brilliant. We have a pizza oven so that would be great

Christmas Eve beach walk would be perfect too, I would love to do that wrapped up in woolley scarf and gloves. Would be an hours or so drive, It’s on my list

My recent tradition is our ‘time capsule’ - every year before the decorations go up we all write in our time capsule book about what we’ve been doing, what presents we had, how tall the children are, and what we think we’ll be doing by next Christmas. When the decorations come out of the loft each year it’s so lovely to read it all back, and over the years it will grow into a proper record of all our christmases.

Early Dec take DCs to garden centre to see displays and each one selects a bauble to take home. On a Saturday in Dec we go as a family to the old traditional cinema in the town we live in, when we come out it is dark and we look at the lights and have a meal out. On Christmas Eve we go to the christingle and then walk to the local pub where lots of families go on Christmas Eve. We try and see a pantomime between Christmas and new year also.

We.make a cake (this weekend), go and see some lights- so far just the ones the mad person in our village does as that's good enough for a 3yo and a 9mo. Usually make a gingerbread house feom scratch. Dd1 at just shy of 3 last year was very precise in tiling it with after eights! A nee Christmas themed book on christmas eve. My mum did this for us so I have carried it on.

Ours are tree up first Saturday of December, Castle Howard Christmas, buy a special decoration every year, buy something from the Alessi Nativity set every year. A day in York.

Christmas Eve dinner is hot sausage or roast beef sandwiches on warm bread.

We always go ice skating although have had a couple of very disappointing warm years with skating cancelled.

We too do a beach walk with flasks of soup, usually on the 27th.

Cloth advent calendars are lovely OP, I bought mine in Germany about 15 years ago.

I couldn’t deal with the lack of returns and typed this in notes!

Two weeks before, my DD has a Christmas Craft Day. Invites all hers and my old friends, with children and grandchildren. About 30 people come, we all bring food to share and she provides the makings . Kids make cards, decorations etc, it's a lovely day for everyone. Gets us all in the festive mood. On Christmas Eve we have a family dinner, kids get new PJs and we all watch Christmas movies . In the morning we have pancakes and bacon for breakfast and open our gifts. Then we all split and go home .

We always make our Christmas cake. I’m not sure how to decorate it this year! I’m thinking I’ll probably go with my usual penguin theme.

There’s an ice rink close by around Christmas time but it gets so busy it’s no fun!

A craft day sounds lovely, I think once DD and her cousins are older something like that would be great. Maybe a gingerbread house making party

The time capsule idea sounds lovely. We usually do a “highlights of the past year / hopes for the coming year” chat on New Year’s Eve, but writing it down and reading it the next year sounds even better.

Another one with teens, the rituals build naturally through the years but one I read on here the other day that I thought was lovely was a picture of the child/children stirring up the Christmas cake or pudding mix every year. A really lovely measure of time I thought.

DS has a lovely fleecy winter duvet set that kind of marks the start of it all. He hasn't had Xmas pjs since his Santa babygro (he's 15 now). I've got Xmas cushions and plates bowls, decorations, candles, cloth advent calendar etc.

We used to make decorations until recently and ive kept them and still put them up. We always try to see a Xmas show or pantomime.

Same Xmas stocking every year (different gifts). Retro sweets I'm it. I used to make reindeer footsteps and make sure all the milk and carrots I left out were gone, and track Santa when DS was little.

Xmas CD and wine to put the tree up. Carol service is nice if there's a decent one, especially outside in the snow with mulled wine.

I wish I had taken him to the real Lapland when he was small as I think it would have been so amazing.

Lots of cheese and wine.

Our tree goes up on 6th December (a holiday here) and just before DS' birthday, he likes the tree up for his birthday. When he's gone to bed we turn all the lights off except the tree lights and have some sex under it We go away every year for DS' birthday, nowhere far away, just away. While we are wherever we are, we look for a lovely new decoration for the tree, usually something wooden that won't break!

When i was pregnant with DS i sewed an advent calendar of mini stockings, they are attached to a festive ribbon and twisted around the bannister and have enough space for 3 woman-sized Twixes (or bonbons or mini fugures etc) each. I also made us big stockings for presents: gold for me, silver for DH and purple felt for DS with 18 different coloured felt 2D baubles on it. Before the decs are put away in January, i print a photo of DS from Christmas day and sew it to one bauble. When he is 18yo, he'll have a stocking covered in photos of him through the years.

Christmas Eve we like to be home by 4pm, relaxing, preparing things for the following day, Christmas music and films, bath for DS.

We don't do footprints or oats for Rudolph or sherry/mince pie/carrot etc. We tried Norad for the first time last year when DS was 6yo - my bloody god it was boring!! Won't be doing that again. Oh, at about 6/7pm we do the Caga Tio (google is your friend) a yule log-type charactter who poos gifts some Smarties and a Christmas dvd or a pencil case with new felt pens or something like that.

Christmas day is:
Stockings opened on the bed
Pancakes for breakfast - DS has a mini pan shaped like a gingerbread man!
Get dressed and walk the dog in the woods.
Open tree presents and enjoy them.
Light lunch - cheese and crackers and soup etc.
Go to a local beach that has a Christmas-themed sand sculpture every year. We can try out any outdoor gifts that DS has received (be it woolly hat, remote control car or scooter etc) and let the dog run about the beach. Lots of people about.
Home for more relaxing and Christmas dinner around 7/8. Different food every year, not a roast with trimmings.
Boxing day relaxing with toys.

5th January go to watch the Three Kings parade of floats, kings throw sweets into the crowd. They come into the port on boats, get on their floats and drive right through town up to the town hall. It is amazing. When DS gets home he finds one more gift the kings have left him. Oh, we leave breadcrumbs in a shoe for the dog camels.

6th January is a holiday. Back to school 7th/8th.

Our traditions start the weekend after dh's birthday which is on the first. We put the tree up and hold a raffle to see which kid can put the star on top of the tree. (I know what you're thinking but it was their idea years ago and it stuck although I have fixed it on occasion so they all get a turn
I have a mini fabric stocking for each child that I put a sweet or little gift in last thing at night. One night we put a film on and wear our pjs. We write out any cards (now it's usually just grand parents, close relatives that live further and school friends).
In the week leading up I try to do one thing a night alongside dinner that Im cooking.If we're hosting I'll pre wrap my pigs in blankets, peel and parboil the spuds, parsnips etc. It's the only time I use disposable trays for their intended purpose (throwing away) and on the day all I need to do is get my oven timings right after the meat is cooked and resting. It saves money and time.
On Christmas eve they choose a gift to open (strangely it's always one with new pj's a book/activity pack and some choccy )
I'll do a big pan of hot choc made with full fat milk, a dash of cream and real chunks of dark chocolate. (I got the recipe from a deep South cookery book i found in the charity shop years ago. It's delicious and you can add things like brandy or cointreau if you like.)
Even though my kids are older Christmas Eve is the one night I never have to threaten them with extreme violence (joking of course or am I?) if they don't go to bed. Usually my mum is over. So she'll help me with any last minute wrapping or food prep while we have a Bailey's or prosecco. I will put a festive film on but we never end up watching it. I'll put the Gammon in the slow cooker overnight. ( We have some with fresh baked rolls and bucks fizz in the morning while the kids open presents.)
I'll take anything out of the freezer that needs defrosting such as gateau or prawns etc.
Dh puts any drinks needed in a lock box on the patio. This saves on fridge space and it's never not been cold enough.
We have a tidy around and then a sit down with a brew before bed.
Before we go up my mum opens the back door and shakes the jingle bells we have. She did this when we were kids. When my kids were younger they'd whisper to us as we went to bed that they just heard Santa's sleigh fly past!
My youngest is 9 and doesnt believe any more so no doubt these will change. My own mum said the present pile gets smaller but more expensive and she's definitely right.

elQuinto I like your tree light sex tradition. I bet if you have a real tree it's good because less chance of dropped needles interfering with the festivities.[santa]

We have a cloth advent calendar.

A family of now rather ancient sparkly reindeer that go in our window.

On Christmas Eve, or thereabouts, I insist that anyone in the house at the time (I have teen dc) sit and watch It's a Wonderful Life with me. I cry.

We go down to our local cathedral and look at the tree and light candles for loved ones who aren't here any more.

I think stately home Christmas Fairs are going to be a new tradition for us. Did Waddesdon last year and loved it. Eyeing up Blenheim this year..

For DD's first Christmas, we bought a nice hardback version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and that has been the bedtime story on Christmas Eve ever since. (We have lots of seasonal stories in December, although she's grown out of nightly stories, but TTNBC is still required on 24th!).

Be careful when you are setting up your own traditions, over the next couple of Christmases, that you only do what you think you can keep doing.

So Elf on a Shelf sounds lovely and it's great for the mischief factor, but not all DCs like them, and it's hard to remember to move them every night. (I find it hard enough to remember to fill the cloth advent calendar nightly!).

Or certain attractions which are great one year can be really awful the next, depending on their set up, or can easily sell out before you are organized some years, etc - so we always tended to go to something but vary it every year. We did a Santa train a couple of times, and visited a Green Santa another couple of times - but they were never 2 years in a row.

And don't be surprised if a small DC (up to 3 or 4 sometimes) is not keen on Santa or elves - big loud strangers with lots of hair and it's often hot and dark in the grottos etc.

But a baby at Christmas is magic!

We do lots of things but my childrens favourite is one evening when they should be in bed we go for a drive around the local area to look at all the lights that people have put up. It’s so lovely and festive and often the owners come out for a chat too.