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?

Custy - the magic of Christmas is the baby Jesus, didn't you know that?

I thought we were the only ones buying a new tree decoration every year - can't believe everyone else does it! How does the new pj idea work? Do the children then wear the Xmas pyjamas for teh rest of the year and you hope they have grown out of them by the time the next Xmas comes or do you just have masses of pyjamas around? Like the idea of a new outfit anyway.

Our tradition is to do stockings on Xmas morning (continued well into our 30s because I argued that my older brother had had 3 years more stockings than me (because I wasn't born) so wouldn't be fair to stop Finally stopped when ds arrived because decided it made more sense for him to be getting the stockings but maybe we should start again with mini adult ones.

Anyway, after stockings no presents until after lunch. Since we all go for a walk after the huge lunch in practice we spend the late afternoon/early evening ripping open presents. Evening spent playing cardgames (Oh Hell, Whist, Bloody Mary). Finally to bed after a nightcap of someone's expensive bottle of whatever since someone is bound to have been given alcohol. Very happy day all round.

Trying to start a new tradition with ds. I hate buying chocolate advent calendars so we have bought a more permanent calendar of Father Christmas. We're putting home made presents (acorns sprayed silver, sixpence, buttons etc) into the calendar and each day ds can open a drawer of the calendar, take out the present and hang it on a home made little silver Christmas tree made of twigs. Hopefully nicer and more exciting than shop-bought calendars.

Geranium... they do wear them every day yes, and they always grow out of them AND they get passed down too )as well as 3 boys I have 2 younger nephews- )

jesus...hmmmmm.....not so sure about him any more

Moondog, found old fashion advent calenders today in garden center! Yippee didn't realise they were still around!
LEI1972 also found Dora Pj's in asda and they are very cute and also in Primark don't know if you have one near you.
Love the idea about the clues etc will try that this year! Thanks.

my mum has been doing the christmas decoration thing every year since she was a child, she's been gone now 5 years so I have carried on the tradition I have decorations on my tree from 80 years ago!! Its a real airloom, I have to say the special ones are up the top of the tree with the non breakable ones down the bottom!

We always have smoked salmon, salad, homous, olives etc and champagne on Christmas evening before leaving out a mince pie and glass of sherry for Santa and the reindeer, we also track Santa on the internet as it shows you where in the world he is at that precise moment.

Christmas morning, more champagne while opening pressies after breakfast around 11am.

Boxing Day there is always a tree present for everyone which is opened at tea time, the present is from Santa.

I like the idea of a Christmas box on Christmas Eve after reading Twas the Night Before Christmas.....ofcourse what ever happened to Tom and Jerrys Night before Christmas that was what I was brought up with. I will be doing the Christmas Eve box this year and have PJ's and dressing gown bought already.

forgot to say my mum embroidered and amazing advent calender for me as a child, it had little gold hoops on which she wrapped and tied a small present for each day. As I was at boarding school it made it extra special and now as an adult I really realise how much effort went into it. I now have it and can't wait to start using it when my kids get old enough.

my mum has been doing the christmas decoration thing every year since she was a child, she's been gone now 5 years so I have carried on the tradition I have decorations on my tree from 80 years ago!! Its a real airloom, I have to say the special ones are up the top of the tree with the non breakable ones down the bottom!

We always have smoked salmon, salad, homous, olives etc and champagne on Christmas evening before leaving out a mince pie and glass of sherry for Santa and the reindeer, we also track Santa on the internet as it shows you where in the world he is at that precise moment.

Christmas morning, more champagne while opening pressies after breakfast around 11am.

Boxing Day there is always a tree present for everyone which is opened at tea time, the present is from Santa.

I like the idea of a Christmas box on Christmas Eve after reading Twas the Night Before Christmas.....ofcourse what ever happened to Tom and Jerrys Night before Christmas that was what I was brought up with. I will be doing the Christmas Eve box this year and have PJ's and dressing gown bought already.

For the last 3 Christmases, we have seen my Mum in the morning, and then had an afternoon with friends. It has been brill. No arguments over the washing up/Queen's speech, just lots of freely flowing booze and good cionversation.

Now we have DS, we will still do the same thing tbh, but I think we will start some new traditions of our own. DS's birthday is Dec 16th, so I think the Xmas decorations will go up on that date each year, and we will do the Christmas decoration thing too. I used to go to Midnight mass every year when I lived at home, but DP won't go. I do fancy taking DS to some sort of carol service though, (maybe in a few years time, he's ony 11 months old!!)

The biggest Christmas tradition I am starting this year, though, is get all the bloody presents bought and wrapped by the end of November!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love all the ideas! My sis does the new PJs one - reckons we did id as kids but I don;t remember!

Waht is the "magic key" coudl do with info on that as we don't have a chimney and I was having visions of "leaving" a window open!!!

What is wrong with choc advent calendars?????

Rhuby, of course Christmas is about Jesus (hence the name CHRISTmas).

But that does not mean our kids can't enjoy the secular traditions too. Are you going to ban your kids from learning about any fairy tales, or reading fiction because it is a "lie"? Fantasy is an important and normal part of a child's development.

Don't get me wrong, I am also big on the no lying (including white lies) issue - but this is fantasy, and I won't be robbing my kids of the joy of the father Christmas fantasy. This is not the main focus of our Christmas (family time and church is the main focus) but it is an element that I'll enjoy sharing with our kids. It brought me great joy as a kid, and I did not consider my parents "lying" - I understood that it had been a fantasy thing, and that made it all the more special - My parents who usually live in a grown up world of facts actually taking time out to indulge in a child's fantasy world. AMAZING

Favourite Christmas traditions include Christmas Eve pm in the kitchen with the King's carol service on the radio, then midnight mass. We weren't told about FC either but we had stockings. I do plan to do FC so will pick ideas from here...

then Christmas morning breakfast all together, then church, then THE RUG - all presents hidden under a rug, the youngest person picks the first one and gives it to the person it's for, then that person picks the next one - all goes on for ages, but lots of attention to the person who's opening one.

Christmas lunch a bowl of soup, with rest of money we might have spent given to charity (this was a po-faced tradition introduced by my brother on his conversion experience to v evangelical Christianity, but we quite like it). NB we do have huge Christmas dinner so it's a bit pointless really but never mind.

For some years my mum used to put the tree in front of the TV, but we broke her down eventually and were allowed to watch one movie on Christmas Day.

Goodnight present - always a book.

Now I need to merge my own Christmas traditions with Hanukkah ones. Some ideas I've had are to spread ds's present opening over the 8 days of Hanukkah, and to have a Christmas tree (which I don't think I can bear to do without) but decorate it with Hanukkah gelt.... confused? ds?

kiwiKate - chill!

You have your way of celebrating Christmas and I have mine. My kids will read fairytales and dd has a very vivid imagination. If she asks me if something is true I reply that I don't know, I don't think fairies exist, but I don't really know - no-one has yet come up with definite proof that they do not exist!

As for Father Christmas I tell her about Saint Nicolas and what he used to do. As far as I'm concerned, todays FC is a Coca Cola advert, nothing more. Plus we don't have the money or the inclination to buy an extra present from FC. It just sends out, imon, the wrong message of Christmas. That it's all about presents, how many presents their friends have, what they want for Christmas, etc. I'm not happy with my kids thinking in this way so I don't encourage it.

Christmas is magical, and I do believe in magical things. It is about goodness and people being kind to strangers and sharing and what have you. Rather idealised I know, but this is what I want them to see Christmas as. Not represented by a fat man in a red suit with a sack full of presents.

So there!

Key for Santa

Saw ones in Poundstretchers yesterday for 99p silver with red cord.

If you are lucky and have the time you might find an old chunky key in a junk or charity shop.

Hi Rhuby - you can have all of what you describe as well as something small from father Christmas. We do.

Glad to hear that there are others out there who also make it about good old traditional values, though. I just don't think that the inclusion of father Christmas precludes the other stuff you talk of.

We also do the new tree decoration thing. I also have a couple of decorations which my granny got in 1945, the year she married.
One thing we have done ever since the first christmas with kids, and its purely selfish on my part, is, i collect the christmas editions of my favourite magazines, and on xmas eve i run a bath, and take the magazines and a glass of in the bath for 1/2 hour. DH takes the kids out for a wlak on tehb each or plays a game with them. I do it in the mid afternoon, its great. Like i said, totally selfish but i think we all deserve a bit of "me-time" at christmas.
We have stockings in the bedroom, and then they open their presents from santa which have been left in a sack under the tree. After breakfast they open the presents from Grandparents, aunt ,uncles etc. My friend tells her kids that their granparents send presents to santa which he delivers, but we don't do that. We have a big family get together two weeks before christmas and hand out pressies.
I cook my turkey on Christmas Eve, which is so much easier and then heat it through on Christmas morning. My BIL is a chef, and he told me to do it that way. leaves some free time on Christmas day to spend with the kids. We usullay have one or other set of parents up, but this year it's just going to be the four of us, which i'm really looking forward to.

my MIL buys dd1 a new tree decoration every year and gives it to her on her birthday (Dec 20th)

oh and meant to add we dont put any decs up until the evening of dd1s birthday so that when she wakes up the next morning - its Christmas!

YOU HAVE REAL TREES!!!!!! OMG do you realise how terrible that is?? Those poor trees - what did they ever do to you? They can feel pain you know, all plants can, they scream when they are being cut down. You heartless thugs!

I remember hearing about someone who put their Xmas tree in a pot of cement to keep it upright, she thought shed been really clever until they came down the next morning and the poor tree was utterly dead and yellow with all its needles on the floor

looksee!

And oh dear, just look what's happened to poor old Santa

lolol esp the one dumped in the bin

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