Christmas traditions - what are yours?

[hunkerpumpkin]

I've read recently of the one about your children having new PJs on Christmas Eve and love that.

We buy a new Christmas tree decoration each year for DS and will do the same next Christmas for DB. They'll be able to choose or make something as they get bigger and it's going to be lovely seeing them decorate the tree when they're bigger with decorations that have history. Tree might look shocking though

So what else? I'm sure I read something on here about leaving a bit of sprinkled glitter and telling your children it's magic dust to help reindeer fly or something?

thanks, Marslady!

I love Christmas! We always decorate the tree with the Christmas music CD on, and a tin of Roses on the go. The kids get new jammies, and they always leave out a mince pie, milk and a carrot, and DH always eats a bit of each. Stockings at the bottom of the bed, always with an orange, apple and £1 coin as well as little presents. I can't wait

Big shock news coming up!!!! This always gets my kids sympathetic looks!!!

I do not tell them about FC!!!!!

I tell my kids not to lie, then I lie to them? No way! Our traditions are usually, kids will choose a place for all their presents, we light a candle in the window so Mary and Joseph know that there is room in our 'inn' (no, I don't see this as a lie as it is something I believe in, as opposed to something I know is poop), red wine with dh on Christmas Eve, mass on Christmas Day (just waiting for them to be old enough to take to midnight mass), then the kids stay in bed until I get them up. They sit and have their breakfast and then all hell breaks loose as well as a few toys. Then I guess we gotta see family (booooooooring!). When the kids go to bed on Christmas Day the adults usually get pissed, family are still there, and a few home truths are told which is always good fun! Boxing Day is getting over major hangover day whilst kids set about destroying the toys they didn't destroy on Christmas Day. Perfick!

we read the night before christmas on CHristmas Eve - dd1 is now old enough to help with the tree. That usually goes up downstairs about a week before Christmas. Watch the Carols in the Domain ( been doing that for as long as I can remember) whilst wrapping last of the presents and this year - whilst dh is assembling dd1's trike.

Christmas Cards for o/seas get sent on 1st Dec and the aussie ones get sent the next week. Go for a drive and check out the christmas lights and attend a christmas carols by candlelight somewhere..... lovely sitting out under the stars on a lovely summers evening singing Christmas carols.

We always buy a new decoration for each child each year. Last year we had a few new ones - new tree and all. Have decorations from around the world that I have collected on my travels.

Everyone has a stocking and we open those presents before breakfast. Usually smoked salmon, eggs and bucks fizz for breakfast.

Church

Then open more presents for a little while ( while nibbling on sweeties, nuts, dips, etc) and then get ready for lunch - depending on where it is... last year it was our place. Cold seafood, ham etc, salads. Then pavlova, cheesecake, lemon meringue, ice cream, fruit salad.

Relax - let the children play and then head home/rellies head home.

relax and have very light supper late at night when the dds are in bed and we have some parent time.

New outfit/dress for Christmas day. each baby has had a 1st christmas outfit.

Boxing Day may catch up with friends and extended family.

PIL and BIL all come too ours on christmas eve for cosy evening with candles, music, a family film and a buffet of nibbles after the family service at church. We put out landing lights and sparkly food for the reindeer. PIL bring their caravan and park it in the drive, when they arrive the kids run out and decorate it for them with a bit of tinsel and a little tree.

Kids bring stockings into our room and then go and get every one who then squeeze into our room for kids to open santa presents (santa only gets little things everything else is from us).

Everyone gets dressed to go downstairs (saves anymore pictures with me in dodgy nightwear showing off my hairy legs. Everyone takes turns to open presents including kids who play postie and pick out the presents from under the tree and hand out. DH takes note of kids presents for thankyous. Some one makes tea and toast about 9:30ish. Present opening goes on for hours and we all help ourselves to light snacks from kitchen. Big dinner about 2ish (not huge).

i didn't know that rhuby, i think your missing out

For this Christmas I'm planning to spend the 24th morning baking ginger cookies and then go around the friends' and neighbour's houses giving them away in little packets (I love the smell of ginger, it really sets me up in Christmas mood ). Then I expect we would have a very hypoallergenic dinner (in honour of DS) and will tell him stories about Christmas before sending him to sleep (but not before he has left some biscuits for Father Christmas and some grass in his shoes for the reindeers). Then I would like to have a candle light coffee chatting with DH (and eating Father Christmas's biscuits while setting up DS gifts in the living room. On the morning afterwards I just want to see DS face when he sees his gifts (first Xmas fully concious ), and later invite other expat friends to come around for some drinks, etc.

I expect I will spend boxing day with my family, back in my country.

I love Christmas!!!!! We all have an advent calendar, even DH and I and an advent candle.

I put cinnamon scented pine cones in the house on the first of December to get the christmas smell going.

We all choose a tree together from the local farm.

I bake my own chistmas cake and we don't cut it until tea time on Christmas day with a glass of port.

We buy one new bauble a year from Harrods or Selfridges, so that when I'm 50 I have the most glamourous Chistmas tree ever!! My best friend and I do this together every year.

We have sausage and mash for tea on Christmas Eve and leftover sausage for breakfast.

The children have new pj's and new clothes.

We have mistletoe in the hall, any excuse to kiss DH

We leave out carrots, mince pies and Jack Daniels for Santa.

The children have stockings on the ends of their beds.

Dh and I make footprints with flour in the hall and after reading this thread we'll definitely be making reindeer food this year1

We have a new tree decoration every year and DD is allowed to decorate the tree.

DD leaves her letter for FC on the fireplace two weeks before and then the next morning it's gone and a little present is left in its place.

Xmas Eve is my best friends birthday so we have a party for her with cake and presents and a "posh" tea, so that she feels special.

We do the glitter and oats for Rudolph and FC gets port and a mince pie.

We have stockings at the end of the bed, with oranges, money and a comic! No one is allowed in to living room to see what FC's left until we've opened the stockings in bed and had a cup of tea!

Breakfast is croissants and champagne followed by a late lunch.

Boxing day is big family get together

My sis and I always make Christmas Puddings with my Mum 1st week in October. Take it in turns to buy her a new decoration each year and we both go round to do the tree - now has decs on from her Mum's first tree over 50 years old.
Satsuma & shiny pennies in the stockings. On Christmas morning we all have to open presents with our dressing gowns on then wear any clothing we are bought. Everyone in the family buys something from oxfamunwrapped.com to make some else's Christmas better too.

Chandra, liked the idea of taking cookies around, it is our first year in this house (in wales full stop actually), so I will get the kids to do that, although it will be on christmas Eve as we are going to Mum's.

Every year up to now we have done Operation Christmas Child as I think it's good for the kids, but this year we can't . The school has sent us so many baskets to fill for fetes, etc etc, we simply cannot aford to do them all. I will get them to do something charitable though, as soon as I think of anything.

While cooking on Xmas Eve, my brother , sister and I dance round the kitchen doing 'Christmas Wrapping':
e.g
Jesus was lying
In the manger
Herod causing
All kindsa danger....

Optional beatbox using those blower things.

Very naff.

We've been doing it every Xmas eve for about 10 years.

Family has grown bigger now so it has changed but when I was young.. we always had santa visit in the afternoon on xmas day at whatever house we were having our huge dinner at. I loved it, we would sing jingle bells while waiting. I now with my kids write a letter from Santa to them thanking them for the mince pie, carrot and telling them that they are to be good etc. they love it.

my dd will be 11 months at xmas time so maybe still a bit young for this one (and when i think about not really child friendly...). when i was wee i used to write my letter to santa, then (because we had a gas fire) my mum and i would go outside and she would light a match and set my letter alight and tell me that the smoke and ashes were on their way to santa who would be able to understand what i wanted.

dp thinks we should just post the letter to Santa at 1 lapland.....

Lel1972 Dora the explorer pj's in Mothercare. Woolies are now doing Dora the explorer clothes which i had to peel out of my daughters hands!!!

Christmas Traditions in our house are Putting up the tree christmas eve. The back of the tree never gets done and Lawrence LB would have a fit if he saw the state of it!! The kids love it though. My husband and i then open a present each at midnight because i'm normally still wrapping!
Christmas morning the kids come in with their stockings and open all presents this is when i have to staple my husbands eyelids open because he's not a morning person - bless!
We then have breakfast and ring his family and then go and visit mine at my mum and dads. This consists of my mum and dad, my 4 sisters and 4 brother in laws, 5 nieces and 4 nephews!!
We each pick an adults name out of the hat and buy for that one person spending £25 each. It has saved us so much money and is really good fun. Everyone wants my dad to choose them because he buys loads and really thinks about it!!!
For the children we all put in a kitty and they recieve £50 each and get a good present from the family for that. It saves recieving loads of crappy £10 presents and saves you loads of money. They also receive all their presents from their parents and inlaws and friends.

I then go and visit inlaws (arrrrrrrrrrh!) then go home and hit the bottle! Hubby cooks as i'm rubbish and i play with the kids. Very relaxed but will definatley do the pj's this year!

I like your present ideas Birchy.
The new pyjamas thing is completely new to me but it seem half of MN do it!

Somebody has told me about something very nice. She chose a very special bauble every year for each of their children, and when they became "fully independent", her home warming present to them was a box containing all these special baubles full of the beautiful memories of childhood Christmas.

Isn't it beautiful? I'm starting this year

I am an MN Virgin and have picked up loads of great ideas! Did the cake baking and letting my daughter was up pots today! Worked a treat!! Thankyou!(grin)

My son can't have sugar due to intolorences so, i'm finding it a bit tricky what to put in his advent calender - any ideas??

Birchy,what's the matter with the old fashioned pictures??

I seem to have a lot of these traditions in my house. We sprinkle reindeer food in the back garden on Christmas Eve and leave Santa a beer and some mince pies!! (Santa enjoys the beer!!) We then leave the Magic Key on the back doorstep.(We don't have a chimney and he's got to gewt in somehow!)I bought the key when my DS was 3 and old enough to be thinking about this dilemma. It comes with a lovely little note for FC. Stockings are hung at the end of the bed on Christmas Eve and opened in your room whenever you get up! We also do the new PJ's. DS always shouts Happy Birthday to Jesus as he rund down the stairs past our little Nativity. The week before Christmas our village has a special evening where all the shops stay open and Santa drives through on his sleigh before taking up residence in one of the shops to talk to the children. Mulled Wine is served in the church grounds and the Salvation Army band play carols. It's really a lovely night. We also do an advent calendar. When DS was really small he loved Bear in the Big Blue House and McDonalds was giving away the characters in their Happy Meals. We got various people to save them for us and eventually they made their way onto the tree. Now we have lots of little things on our tree that remind us of his special toys or characters at various ages. Every decoration on our tree tells a story!!

Moondog, do you mean the ones with the pictures stuck at the back of them rather than choccies? Or have i lost the plot?

Yes B,like we had when we were kids.You open the door and there is apretty little picture.

Up until this year we haven't gone mad into the santa idea as Lottie a bit too young but intend to this year.

I buy a new decoration for Lottie every year, will be buying 2 this year! (most exciting year yet with new baby due on 22nd)

Xmas Eve my mum & step-father & sister come over and we open our pressies from each other.

Xmas Eve night Lottie opens a pressent and another one that does the new pj's. Then we read a very special 'night before xmas' pop uo book.

D and I have something special to eat and curl up with a movie.

Xmas Day we have a drink under tree while Lottie opens a few key pressies which she plays with while we make scrqambled egg & smoked salmon.

Then we all get ready, go and pick my dad up and go over to D's mum & dad's. We start drinking, have dinner. After dinner while having the sticky drinks, chocolate, pickled walnuts and so on we get out the old gramaphone, wind it up and play 'youuuu are my hearts delight, and where you are we longggg to beeeeeeeeee'! and other such classics, inc one that D's nan wrote 'You fascinating You'.

Then after a very long lunch and hours of round the table entertainment and the crackers have been pulled and jokes read we retire to one of the other rooms where we open all the presents. Then we might watch a bit of Xmas TV but usually we just chatter and stuff.

Then we'll have a bit of cold meat, salad, and gloop (special home made salad dressing that is D's graqnmothers reciepe).

Lottie up in bed by this stage, having usually fallen asleep cuddled up to one of the family.

Morer sticky drinks and then just a teeny bit of Xmas telly before rolling home.

Boxing Day is a lazy morning, nice breakfast, playing with new stuff etc then off to my mum & stepfathers for the usual huge Boxing Day hoolie, been doing that since I was a bub but used to be at my nans. All the family and friends of the family, inc my best freind gather round for chatting and drinking and a huge buffet. Ends of with my mums brothers getting the guitars out. D and I usually leave earlyish and pop into see mates and then come home.

I absolutley LOVE Xmas.

Have loved reading all your posts on this

Wind up gramaphone tc??
Far out!
Are they crackly 78s of people with cut glass accents a la Bertie Wooster??

it's so funny moondog!
They are incredibly crackly and not suppose they are 78's, dunno, D poped out to get his travel card, will ask him when he's back, but they are bigger than a 7" and smaller than a 12", i think.