What makes a 'magical' Christmas for kids?

[BigGreen]

My poor DH has a chronic pain condition meaning he's pretty much The Grinch all year round . I always feel the pressure to create a nice, festive atmosphere of fun and joy for the kids.

I was wondering if you had any ideas to make the season magical for children? So many times I've read posts here that said "Mum made Christmas so magical...". Such sweet memories :)

Any ideas greatly appreciated.

The thing that made my Christmas when I was little was that my Dad came home from work early on Christmas Eve, he was a workaholic so the fact he cared enough to do that seemed huge to me. You say your DH suffers with his health and is generally grumpy (I know how hard it can be to manage pain so no judgement) is there anything he could do with them around Christmas time that would really mean something to them even if he has to take a load of painkillers to do it.

For me it was my grandad and uncle coming to pick me up and take me to the christingle and over the years my nan started coming too and more and more family. We aren't religious but that was Christmas for me and going to nans after for a buffet or tea and cake with family we only saw at Christmas.
We now have a DS (2 a few days before Christmas) and we hang the stockings on the stairs so we can see if Father Christmas has been on the way down and I saw a post somewhere years ago and this mum would make santa leave something behind, this post in particular she had wrapped an empty box and made it hang over the edge of the roof so I may make it a tradition to find something he's left behind every year as a break from gifts!

Definitely being all together, us parents not being busy, nowhere to go, and the effort of setting the mood so that the house feels relaxed and special. We eat Christmas dinner with candles and carols playing, we decorate the tree all together with Christmas jumpers on and Christmas songs playing. The kids are allowed fizzy drinks at Christmas which they never normally get! And we have a reusable advent calendar which includes things like sweets, jokes and activities to do together.

We don’t do big expensive activities in the run up to Christmas but we usually go to a local am dram group’s Christmas show, and take in a Christmas film if there’s one at our little local cinema. We always do a Christmas Eve lights safari and walk round to look at all the houses lit up, and then back to open our Christmas Eve box (new pyjamas for everyone, popcorn and a cheap Christmas dvd which we then watch together).

When I was a child Christmas was a much less tense time than usual and my dad would cook and we would have all the Christmas treats in and that was much more important than the presents. Everything about Christmas is still magical and moving to me.

For me, it's all about about twinkling fairy lights and candles - the tree never goes up until the last minute, but the house is gradually transformed into a winter wonderland from the start of December so we can cosy up with festive films or soundtracks and it feel different to an ordinary night or weekend. I actually have a perfume that I only wear in December - as soon as the DCs get a whiff they say I smell like Christmas (Estee by Estee Lauder - no particularly Christmassy in itself just associated with Christmas in our house. In fact my mum used to wear it at Christmas). It's about making the ordinary things a bit special and different - so an advent candle on the breakfast table and crumpets in the toaster. I love a bit of Classic FM once they get onto their festive playlist. And making time to do things together - films, walks, baking whatever.

Didn't have the easiest Christmases growing up but some things I loved were -

Stocking!
German biscuits
Candle light (and advent candle)
Raymond Briggs cartoons
Chocolates appearing on the Christmas tree (way more fun than advent calendars I think)!

As an adult I have added -

Whole baked camembert for me!!!

Opening our advent calendar every day, it was an old fashioned one, loads of glitter, and just random pictures inside, but all the adults made a point of asking what our picture was, and would ooo and ahhh over it.

Then hanging our pillowcases up ready for Santa and lying in bed too excited to sleep. We’d hear bells and my dad in the loft Santa on the roof. They would block the door to the lounge off with a huge gramophone, and we’d stand in the hall on Christmas morning while Dad moved it out of the way to reveal that Santa had indeed been.