How to make your own Christmas traditions?

[mogkat]

How did you or do you make Christmas traditions as a family?

This time of year I'm always reading about peoples traditions around Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day etc.
They all sound so fun with food and games.

We have no traditions and it makes me a bit sad.

My son is 4 so this year I would say is the first year he's been excited and understanding Christmas more.

My husband is a bit of a bah humbug Christmas type of person and he's just looking forward to a break from work. So it's down to me!

As a kid growing up we didn't "do" anything other than the standard turkey dinner. Small family so not lots of people.

What new traditions have you started since having kids of your own?
I'd love ideas on how to start some for us as a family of 3.

Thanks in advance!

My kids are 3 and 11 months so following with interest as I also cannot recall any traditions from when I was growing up!

Going to a carol service on Christmas Eve is the start of Christmas for us. We would go for a festive hot chocolate on the way, now the DC are adults, it is a mulled cider!
Wherever they are in the world they endeavour to be in church at 3pm (and 2 of the 3 would never go to any other church service all year). I never went to church as a child.

I think just listen out for stuff you like the sound of and do those: although IMO the best traditions are those that happen naturally. Or are pretty simple: mince pies out for santa; special (to you) Xmas eve meal or walk; some food you love and always include.

My favourite Christmas tradition is Xmas Eve pyjamas. Not something my family did but I read it on here and liked the idea. Wrapped them, put them outside the back door and jingles bells whilst the kids were in the bath. Denied hearing anything as they rushed around looking. Pjs found outside the back door: wrapped up with a note from Santa saying he would come back later when they were asleep. Best of all the pjs had got really cold (this was not part of the plan) so the dx could ‘tell’ they had come from the North Pole ;-). My two are late/mid teens now and still listen for bells on Xmas eve to find their Xmas pjs!

Other traditions in our house: stockings opened on each others beds. Finding ways to send a letter to Santa (ours were sent up the chimney as we had a real fire when the kids were little. Christmas Eve meal by candlelight which everyone helps e prepare. Decorating a gingerbread house. Winter walk looking at Christmas lights. And real candles on the tree, but that’s a bit niche!!

I think just listen out for stuff you like the sound of and do those: although IMO the best traditions are those that happen naturally.
^ this

Our DC are 10 and 12, and we now have some well settled traditions. When DC1 was 4 we were still figuring it out, like you.

Someone gave us and elf on the shelf when DC1 was 5, this is a big part of Xmas.

I started a tradition of writing an annual letter from the elf when he turns up on Dec 1st, I disguise my writing a bit and wax lyrical on how the elf has missed them all year and CHRISTMAS is coming (oh joy!) and how proud he is of them this year.

I once tried to borrow someone else's tradition that I read on MN and it backfired massively. The idea was that, alongside all the nice pressies, you also wrap up one or two potatoes and carrots with a lighthearted note from Santa to say that this is because you didn't share with your brother, or whatever it was. DD opened a potato and wept, devastated. I managed to sneak away the other root veg before she saw them. Poor thing!

And remember to leave out mince pies for Santa and carrots for Rudolf!

My OHs dad was a butcher and after finishing work on Xmas Eve he came home and took a slow roasted pork joint out of the oven and they would always have pork and stuffing rolls. We've been doing that ever since we got together so 20 years and still going strong.

All of my (now 13-24) children know that we have to have carols on for decorating the tree and the house had to be clean first. We take turns choosing our favourite songs while doing the tree.

The we sit down and try all the new seasonal foods that I have bought from Aldi/Lidl/Asda. We all get to choose 1 new addition for the Christmas period.

We all chose a funky new glass bauble every year. When the kids left/ leave home they get to take any 12 baubles they like to start their own collection.

When we build our ridiculously large nativity it's customary for any and all family members to add in tiny new additions without anybody noticing. Up to now we're have a Donkey kong as baby Jesus and several types of tiny dinos, some wearing festive hats. Lego Christmas presents and a flying baby. A few of the characters are missing hands and some smart arse has glued hooks in the place but I love it even more 😁.

I always do several new recipes and the kids rate them out of ten to see which get a place in the hand written recipe book that I copy for each kid when they leave home to set up on their own. This has ask their favourites in from every day to birthdays, Easter and Xmas.

Traditions that we didn’t have as children:

• we have advent calendars with re-fillable drawers. These often include notes such as an invite to go and meet Father Christmas.

• we always do the same “meet Father Christmas” experience every year.

• DC1 and I make a gingerbread house. We’ve done this for the past two years and he’s announced he wants us to do it every year.

Before DD came along we used to go to the cinema on Xmas eve afternoon, sometimes with DHs godchildren. Hopefully next year DD will be of an age where we can do this again. As a kid I always had a big bubbly bath on Xmas eve and we do this with DD (I’ll be having one too once she’s asleep), now I realise it was to buy the parents time to shift presents around if needed (or in one memorable case, to sneak the new puppy into the house). On Christmas Day we always go for a walk and normally we’d go to the pub and meet all our friends and their families before lunch (not this year though 😭) we’re all spread out over the city and seeing different bits of families in different places over Xmas day and Boxing Day but in non covid times it’s not even a question that needs to be asked, at noon we just know we’ll be meeting in the conservatory at that specific pub and it’s making me quite sad that we won’t have that this year.

Most of ours are from my childhood. My Mum has always been way ott at. Christmas so we already had some lovely traditions.

Others happen naturally, it was my son that started the tradition five years ago of coming home on the last day of term, putting on pjs and making hot choc with as many toppings as we can fit in the mug. Even now he is a teenager he insists we still do this.

Oh: new bauble each year is a good one too: we all go to the nearest huge but fancy garden centre and everyone choses one bauble. Occasionally the same but usually we all chose differently (although we have a set colour scheme). The kids have a box each with their own decorations on which they will have to go off and start their own trees with when they are ready. Some of them are god awful things they chose as preschoolers but they make me smile!

Thank you all for the replies so far.

They all sound lovely. Thank you for all those ideas.
I am looking at those little things (not expensive or fancy) that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and will be nice to do every year to make nice memories for my son.

I did suggest to my son as I put him to bed that tomorrow we could go for a walk around the block about 5pm when it's dark to look at the Christmas lights on peoples houses.
Good a place as any to start!

When my DD was that age we didn't really have any traditions. They sort of just happened. We usually did something and if we liked it we did it again and then it became a tradition. Many of mine are unmumsnetty or cliche but here goes:

• matching Christmas pjs on Christmas Eve
• Christmas Eve box
• we all go and pick a new bauble for the tree every year
• the elf brings a real Christmas tree for each of the DC's rooms
• we go to the theatre to see a panto
• also have a big get together with the in laws Christmas week and my family Christmas Eve.

They sort of just develop. Every year I think I would like to take the DC to church or midnight mass but we don't get round to it.

We make the same mince pies each year. DC has been helping cut stars for the top since he was about 3 and now looks forward to helping (and eating) every year. It's only a small thing, but it feels much more like Christmas once we've done that together.

We have a few things we/I like to do, but to call them traditions would be strong! Like you, my husband humours me and joins in with some things, but left to his own devices wouldn’t even bother with a tree. Also bear in mind my DS is 12, so we’ve had time to ease into our Christmas routines!

I like us to go to Christingle, usually just me and DS; we haven’t made it every year as it’s at 4pm the Sunday before Christmas, so sometimes we’re doing other things, and this year boy and husband were both isolating.

A walk round to see the Christmas lights (again just me and the boy generally).

Usually a trip to a local garden centre’s Christmas world (not this year as one or the other in isolation since 8 Dec until tomorrow).

We did manage a trip to an illuminations display before covid hit us, which was so lovely, so I think we’ll try and do something like that again next year.

On Christmas Eve DH takes DS out for a bit somewhere while I sort the last bits, gather presents from hiding places and stash in an accessible place for later. This year they’ll probably go to the golf range, other years it’s been soft play, park, visit a relative. Also Christmas Eve I cook a ham joint and we have some of it for tea with egg and chips, then ham for over Christmas too.

Between Christmas and new year (often NYE) there’s usually a trip to the seaside (local, very much arcades and pound shops) for a walk and chips on the seafront.

Thankfully the elf wasn’t a thing when DS was little enough, so we dodged that one.

Basically everything has evolved over the years - do the things you like each year and keep the bits that work for you. Ours aren’t Instagram perfect life type activities, but work for us.

From childhood -We would bake together Xmas cake, pudding and mince pies. We always decorated the Christmas tree on the day of the toy show, We were allowed open one present on Xmas Eve and the rest we had to wait until after Christmas dinner it gave us something to look forward to later in the day. We always did lunch out on Christmas eve as it was my mams birthday and will continue to do this in her memory. We now do matching PJ's, Christmas eve boxes, a new book wrapped every day on december to read together, a new decoration every year, we let off a balloon Xmas morning for our relatives in heaven.

I can’t ever remember deciding to ‘make a tradition’…I always see threads on here about creating traditions and I just don’t think they happen like that. Most of our family traditions are ones I’ve carried on from my childhood or my husband has carried on from his. One of my favourites is our Christmas Eve fondue and this is because I lived in Switzerland as a child and it started there and we’ve carried it on in my own family.
Ones we’ve ‘created’ ourselves have just happened really. Like we always make our gingerbread house on Christmas Eve and then do a ‘smash’ for pudding. We did it one year and my kids asked to do it again the following year and by year 3 it was a ‘tradition’! My DD really loves making turkey soup on Boxing Day…it’s her thing that she really looks forward to doing each year so that’s a tradition now too. We have others too that have just evolved and all have a story behind them - not just someone deciding to make a tradition - and those are the ones that stick.

I agree the best things are those that happen naturally. You'll just hit on things over the years that they love and ask for the following year and so on.
Keep an eye out online for local things going on. There's lots of craft fair/Christmas market type events on now and lots of town centres have lovely light displays and walk through tunnel type things which make nice photos.

Each year we do Elf on the Shelf (don't start that one unless you're committed long term ) we see Santa at a grotto, visit a local garden centre to see the Christmas displays and usually choose a new bauble each, drive round to see local Christmas lights, watch a film on Christmas Eve night and the DC all have a new set of PJ's each. There's often a new children animation on tv on Christmas Eve, Julia Donaldson stories and Bear Hunt type things. The CBeebies Pantomimes are also very good and mine loved watching when younger.
Pre Covid we went ice skating too.

First morning of school holidays we a pancake feast for breakfast - pancakes Santa's snowmen etc.

Then Around the table doing crafts including grinchy dad with irish coffees

Christmas movie and bed
Christmas eve, visit the graves and grandparents/cousins meet up. Lots of mince pies and tea

Home veg prepared, baths, carrot, cookies out for santa. We all sit around and listen to someone read tge the night before.. ..bed

Apparently, so my dd informs me tonight, giving a chocolate orange in the stocking is one of our traditions. Apparently we forgot one year and she has not yet forgiven us for ruining that Christmas. Dd is almost 25.....and boy can she hold a (lighthearted) grudge!

One of my absolute favourites is reading the night before Christmas with the kids as a bedtime story on Christmas eve.

We don't have loads of traditions. We like to see the lights on houses roundabout, we go to see the big tree at Cheshire Oaks every year, just little things like that.

We always go for a “Christmas lights safari” (ie a walk round the neighbourhood) on Christmas Eve, then come back for the Christmas Eve box, popcorn, hot chocolate and a film, before bubble bath, story and bed.

We have a reusable advent calendar which we fill with all kinds of stuff - jokes and puzzles as well as chocolate and sweets. We always go to see a panto or stage production during December and we usually try and see a Christmas film too at our tiny local independent cinema. On Christmas Eve night, my husband and I will open a bottle and do the veg prep for the next day with carols playing, it’s lovely!

@Boogaloony I really want to see a picture of your nativity scene now 😁

We do a mix of things from my childhood but also things that developed just for my kids

We go drive round a local road that goes all out with lights - find a nice local one.
Santas sleigh also drives round our area.
Same Santa visit each year because he's brilliant. I think he's the real one!
Night before Christmas for bedtime story on xmas Eve.
We do mass on Christmas Eve and when the kids are older with definitely move to midnight mass.
Christmas baking with the same few recipes.
Too many hot chocolates.
Pass the parcel with xmas tasks on xmas Eve.
Building up a collection of child friendly parlour games for xmas day. - Charades, after 8 mints, ballon pass etc.
NSPCC Santa letters.

Probably more. Also some that don't stick - I wanted to do a light trail at a local tourist attraction. we did it last year but the kids moaned about the walking and how cold they were the whole time. Won't be adding that to our traditions.

I don't think you can curate them, they happen and the best bits endure. Our dc are 23 and nearly 27 now but when they were little they always had stocking and left out a Mince pie and glass of sherry for father Christmas who always left a sooty footprint on the carpet. (DH used to wince).

We also always went to church on Christmas morning and still do. DH usually does the intercessions and I always sides. DD has usually been in the choir since she was about 7!

The things that have stuck are: box of Ferrero rocher wrapped up for DS, smoked salmon, champagne and presents at 11.30ish followed by a very late lunch. And on 27th turkey and ham pie with mash and green veg. They all insist on that.

Our other tradition is a pot of tea, with birthday cake and presents at about 6.30pm - not planned but ds came early 27 years ago. Oh and we giggle at his Christmas bauble. Xx's first Christmas 1995. My mother has never lived that one down- 1995 was his second Christmas despite being his first birthday