Christmas!!!!!!!!

[alexsmum]

Just been reading the thread about believing in santa and it's left me feeling really festive!
Wondered if anyone would like to share their christmas traditions with me? It's the first christmas that ds2 will be aware of this year.He was only 3 months last christmas.DYING to see his little face when he sees the tree etc.

Hello

It's not long off at all! We are pretty traditional - I have a really nice nativity story that is told from the donkey's point of view, I read that, then we hang up stockings, leave the carrot, mince pie, whiskey and thank you letter for Santa, then they go to bed, then they get up and ask for a drink, then they go back to bed, then they get up to go the toilet, then they go back to bed, then they get up to see if he's been, then they go back to bed.......
You get the picture!!

The presents in their stockings are from Santa, when they get up they bring their stockings onto our bed and open them, then we go downstairs to the presents that Santa has delivered on behlaf of everyone else. Then it's church, where we sing happy birthday to Jesus, back home, they play with their toys all afternoon while dp and I cook, everyone comes round to us and we eat at about 6. We have a small table present for everyone which they get inbetween main and pudding which ds's give out while dressed as Santa.

Boxing day is clearing time and the dishwaer is always on all day!

Can't wait and mine will be 16, 11 and 8 at Christmas!!

I lovvvvvve christmas, I work part-time in a shop and the magic for me has already begun. I am one of those tacky people (sorry - other tacky people) who lights their house up too, we have santas, snowmen, flashing lights, a christmas tree etc etc.. outside our house, we live on the main school run, and I just love seeing all the kids pointing at our house. We go for drives around at night to find all the houses that are lit up. Round the corner there is a whole street that does it.

Last year we had the most enormous real tree in our lounge and the smell was lovely - you can tell I'm getting excited already, can't you ?

We always go into town on Christmas Eve, to soak up the atmosphere, watch the Salvation Army playing and get some last minute bargains, last year we came home with a take-away and watched Santa Claus 2, before putting the kids to bed.

My dh went and put the stocking in my dd/ds bedrooms and he touched my dd foot, the next morning she said that she had felt santa touch her foot. We also bought these tapes (audio) that you can buy with their name on, Santa talks to them using their name - wow what an impact that had.

A friend of mine when their eldest dd began to doubt Santa, took her girl to lapland for the day which has banished all doubt that he isn't real - nice, if you can afford it, I'd love to go.

Off to sit down with my collection of catalogues for pressie ideas.......

We put up our tree a couple of weeks before Christmas.

We have/go to lots of parties, and to the panto (works' outing).

We do the whole church thing - Advent Sunday, Toy Service, concerts, Carol services, Nativity, Crib Service on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning, Epiphany. (I'm exhausted thinking about it, especially as tomorrow I have to go to a meeting to prepare for our Ladies' Advent Evening - I'm doing the food).

Christmas Day is church and Delia. Most years, it's just our family so reasonably peaceful, and hopefully, meaningful.

Absolutely love it and can't wait! I've already started stocking up on pressies for kids (ds's are 3.5, 2 and 5 weeks). I save them up all up before I wrap them which I do on a nice wintery night close to Xmas, with the fire roaring and mince pie close at hand!! Yum!

We've got a huge tree - not real but it looks it (cost a bomb but if they last you 30 years it's worth it!) and I do it quite traditional sticking to red and gold decorations though the kids have a few of their own on it too. Love putting all the baubles on but HATE doing the lights (just white ones) cos it's so big it's really hard to do!!

We do crib and christingle service on Xmas eve followed by yummy tea. We leave out carrot, port, mince pie for Father Christmas and put kids to bed (they've been too little to really get it before - except ds1 last year - so looking forward to it this year when hopefully ds1 and ds2 will be more excited!).

Xmas day they open their presents in the morning then it's on with the cooking while trying to steer ds's away from chocolate for as long as possible!

This year both my brothers will be missing - one travelling round the world and the other is on nights (policeman) so won't be awake for Xmas day - so it's going to be a bit strange.

Oooh, really excited now and want to go and look in catalogues - can't though, I'm supposed to be working adn only came on MN for a quick sneaky look!

I love Christmas, a couple of weeks before hand the kids and I make our Christmas cookies, gingerbread men, and stars and bells, and ice them and put sprinkles on. Takes me an hour to get the kitchen non-sticky.

We make decorations together, I love to do a handprint wreath with them every year or so, and put that on the sitting room door.

Christmas Eve, friends and relatives come over, and we exchange presents and have a couple of drinks, and finger food. Everyone goes home early, because of Santa coming.

Christmas Day, we open Santa presents under the tree, have breakfast, then later go to visit Granny and Grandad. Come home, and have dinner, after that we open our family presents. We find this way the children aren't inundated by gifts all at the same time, and forget who got what from who.

After all that, I am truly exhausted, and slump in front of the TV. In a way I prefer Stephen's Day, we have leftovers, and just veg out, as the children play with their stuff

We used to have a Christmas tradition that if you visited anyone over the Christmas period, that you took a decoration off your Christmas tree and put it on theirs.
Gradually over the years I now have enough to decorate five trees! However each decoration on the tree has a special meaning as it came from a friend or family member so it makes the tree more personal. I still do this, however I think it must be a 'Turkish' thing as people in this country look very bemused when I turn up at their door holding a bauble or something!!
I love decorating my tree as it is a tree covered in memories of past friends and happy Christmas's.
As a child we never put up our tree until the 24th and that was excepted, but now people put them up at the beginning of December and take them down before New Year. I don't often see a tree up until 12th night (6th Jan, Candlemas or Epiphany).
What do you leave out for Santa?
We always left out a glass of milk, chocolate digestive biscuit and an apple for the reindeer.....I aways thought this odd as my parents drank like 'fish' and my frinds used to put out mince pies and sherry/whisky!
One year I 'marked' the biscuit and on Christmas morning it was back in the tin, very nice of Santa to give it back but that is how I found out the truth....
I love Santa and I always send him a letter.....

Message withdrawn

With you on this alexsmum - DS2 was 7 weeks old so am quite excited, how long before he has the tree over do you think?!!!

We have just us on Christmas day - families v stressful - but we go to MIL's for lunch on boxing day

Do lots of preparation on Christmas Eve, then on christmas morning it used to be get up when DS1 wakes but he's 15 now and has been a lot more laid back so its been me shaking him awake and insisting he gets up!!!!

Sit round eating bacon sandwiches, opening presents and listening to carols on the tv!

Dinner when ever its ready, then sit round playing with presents and picking at food and so on

very laid back day, lovely

essbee, christmas will be what you make it

Message withdrawn

Glad it's not just me! My problem though is that I start getting hyper about now and then by christmas I'm fed up with all the work and the spending money. I've decided it's not going to be so stressful this year and started my christmas shopping this weekend.Got the most difficult person(b-i-l) bought for, so feel good.
Round the end of november, i make a christmas cake,while listening to carols with a glass of wine.Then christmas really starts, on the 23rd which is my dad's b'day.On christmas eve, we leave out a glass of sherry, a mince pie and a carrot.If there is someone around to babysit then dh and Igo to midnight mass.Last year we took the kids to a christingle service on christmas eve.We put the stockings by the beds and we pile all the other presents on the floor in front of the fire.Usually we leave some muddy footprints on the hearth, so we can be shocked by santa's dirty boots, in the morning!
Last year ds forgot it was christmas and came and got in bed with us in the morning and we had to say " do you think fc has been"? He was scared to go back in his room alone to check, so went with him.His face when he saw his stocking!!!!
Then we go downstairs and open some more presents.Somehow it seems to take all day as ds wants to play with everything he opens.
Traditional dinner about 3ish, sometimes with family ..usually in laws if they can get home.(live abroad)Games in the evening, with drinks and nibbles.Always a walk out on boxing day. A lovely family time.

it will be interesting to see what happens this year - first christmas back with my family after 4 yrs in the UK - dd and dh's first aussie summer christmas and new babe will be anywhere between about 7 - 8 weeks old I guess - depending on when the babe decides to make an appearance.

In the UK we would put the tree up about a week or so before christmas. Put presents under as they arrived - not sure that will work with 2yo this year. So the presents will go under christmas eve - we all have stockings - dd's filled by santa, mine and dh's filled by each other.

Usually christmas morning - open stockings, go to church, open the rest of the stockings and I think this year everyone is coming to us - although sil and mother will do the food - cuoldn't face it with newborn!! Put pool up and neices and dd can have a swim in the afternoon.Sadly - other sil won't be able to make it as she is working christmas day

Ours is usually pretty hectic with Ds's birthday on the 6th and Dd2's on the 12th, we try not to put the tree up until after then.

Dp always goes around making the house look very tacky and i follow him around 'tidying' it up

On xmas eve the kids leave biscuits and a bottle of Becks out for Santa and water for the reindeers. Last year Dd2 left her dummy for santa too.
On xmas day we get up open pressies, drive to see my dad and brothers and dp goes to see his kida and then we go home, and my mom comes round, cooks the dinner and my brother arrives and we eat.
Dp and brother usually then sleep and kids run riot .

Oh we try and go to the German xmas market in town at least a few times in the run up to xmas as the atmosphere is lovely (not to mention the mulled wine and the hotdogs ).

Am looking forward to having the room for the kids to spread the toys all over the floor this year as last year was very cramped.
Last xmas Dd2 was worried that santa wouldn't be able to get into our block, so the caretaker came and told her that he leaves all of the keys to the flats in his house .

Oooh, Nutty - you've reminded me to that dummy thing this year - Santa takes the dummy for the babies and leaves presents for the 'big boy'. DS1 still has his dummy when he goes to bed and he's 3.5 .

Also - going to put glitter coming from the hearth and onto the carpet this year to show Father Christmas came in the house that way!!

OOOh, quite excited now! Except for the expense of course!

On Christmas eve we sprinkle magic reindeer food outside before bedtime, read The Night Before Christmas in bed, leave biscuits and Santa's Choice Of Beverage out on the hearth together with DSs sacks. They get presents in the sack from Santa and a big present from us, separately. When DSs are asleep, I eat the biscuits, leaving crumbs and DH drinks the beverage and I sprinkle snowflake glitter around the fire and on the hearth.

Christmas day, DH wakes up at the crack of dawn and wakes up DSs because he's too excited to wait! They go downstairs, open the Santa presents, open our presents and then we have breakfast, champagne (not DSs!) and go off to my parents for the rest of the day, coming back Boxing Day. We used to share christmas alternately with In Laws but they've moved to spain which changes things a bit - if they're over, we have to host Christmas (eeek!).

Oh, and we have 1 very tasteful string of lights up outside our house.

It worked like a dream for us Skate. Dd left hers for santa to give to a baby reindeer. I got an extra pressie just for her from Santa and i wrote a thankyou letter from him too, which she was soooo pleased with.

Oooh, yes, I quite like the idea of having lights outside - might get some this year but how the hell do you plug them in? (Or am I being a bit daft here ?)

I know they are really tacky but I think my boys (3.5 and 2) would love it if we had a big snowman or a big Father Christmas outside too !

Great idea Nutty - I'm going to do that!!

I have been warned that my next door neigbours go really over the top with outdoor decorations

I don't think christmas is a time for being tasteful, especially with young children. I think the more glitter, lights and santas the better. I can't bear perfectly coordinated trees, for example ("this year we are having a lilac and silver theme") - pile it all on, I say!

I know it's naff but the kids will love it!!

Our neighbours don't go mad, but last year had these lights in all their front windows and round the door - they were those multicoloured lights that 'chase' round and change colour then every so often they stop and just flash!!!

They were 'well naff' but ds's thought they were fantastic!

Ooh PPH - I'm afraid my tree is very Val Doonican!! It goes with our fire and decor which is quite traditional so the tree is a huge green one with just gold and red baubles and white lights. The kids put their own baubles on too but I think this year I'll let them have their own tree to put up in the hallway.

lovely posts - I love Christmas. Especially yours Bunglie, I love the sound of all those traditions. I think I'd like to move our tree decoration to Christmas Eve, which is my favourite day anyway, so that ds doesn't knock it over 100 times before the day!

Christmas starts the week before Advent (I think that's right) when it's Stir-Up Sunday at church and we go home and stir up the Christmas cake. We never 'had' Father Christmas but am planning to 'do' him for ds, so thanks for great ideas. I try to go to a pretty town and do all my Christmas shopping on one day - anything else from \link{http://www.hawkin.co.uk}Hawkins Bazaar} which I love. Christmas Eve usually guests arriving and either going to the Christchurch carol service or listening to the Kings service and cooking. Nice breakfast all together, church and then depends - will have a proper lunch this year but used to do no lunch or small bowl of soup and give the rest of the money to charity, followed by enormous blowout dinner...

No Queen's Speech, as little TV as we can manage though I like the odd comedy special or movie. Also celebrating Hanukkah this year so will have a hanukkia in the window and will spread the presents over 8 days. Then ds's birthday on 9 January. Oh help.

I love Christmas, tho last years was a warzone so mebbe not... Question for you - will a 14month old get excited? I can see the tree coming in for a pummeling but do they "get it" at that age'?

Well when i asked just how over the top my neighbours go with decorations another neighbour said "well you know when they show you those houses on the news that everyone goes to look at"