Tell Cadbury about the ways your children remind you of the joy in the festive season - £300 voucher to win NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

It's easy to be a bit of a grinch in the run-up to Christmas when you've spent what feels like months shopping, cleaning and preparing for it. The good thing is that kids have a way of reminding us what it's really all about, and Cadbury would like to know about the little ways your children have made you recognise the joy that comes with the Christmas season.

From excited visits to meet Father Christmas, to interesting homemade tree decorations and their boundless energy on the big day itself, Cadbury would like to hear how your kids have made you full of joy at Christmas time.

All those who share the ways their children remind them of the joy in the festive season in a post below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

[IonaAilidh11]

asking to put the tree up in november

[NauticalDisaster]

It was their joy at seeing how to make snowflakes out of paper that got me. Very simple to do but they loved it.

[marymanc]

I like the waiting for Christmas, when they open their advent calendar to eat the chocolate, when they ask to put the decorations up and when they sleep with their 'eyes open' on Christmas Eve.

[user1481096129]

Hello really need some help looking to move to a village in Norfolk called Middleton (3.5) miles from kings Lynn do. Not know much about the area and any advice would be very much appreciated! Thank you

[Sierra259]

DC1 gets ridiculously excited whenever she sees Christmas trees in shops. She dashes over and spends ages looking at each individual bauble . Also shrieking from the back of the car when she spots any houses with decorations up!

[DoItTooJulia]

It's when they make miles and miles of paper chains-that's when we know Christmas is coming! They spends days labouring over them! And if I feel stressed with all the prep, I sit with them and get lost in making paper chains! Good for the soul I tell you!

[Beeziekn33ze]

Nativity plays, full of innocence and never quite going to plan, tug my heartstrings every year. Away in a Manger gets tears to my eyes, every time.

[bex552]

I love my daughters face everytime we see santa while visiting places in the area. You can see her eyes light up, and the magic sparkle! It truly is magical!

[Iamthemotherofdragons]

I love seeing how excited my little girl is about leaving out milk and a mince pie for Santa and sprinkling magic dust for the reindeer. I didn't think she'd remember doing this from last year but she talks about it all the time.

[KnottedAnchorChief]

Singing along to Christmas songs in the car altogether, very loudly and out of tune, and with DCs making up the words they don't know. Also making lots of various glittered craft items and hanging them up. No minimal or coordinated decorations in our house. No separate tree for the home made efforts to hang on. All the DCs home made stuff gets displayed front and centre.

[Hs2Issue]

DD writing her Christmas letter to Santa and the last thing was the most important "a toy that the cat will play with for Christmas". (Dcat is 15 and doesn't really do toys apart from string). But DD loves the cat and wants Santa to bring the cat something special. (I'm hoping the dreamies dispenser and dreamies suffice).

[TheBodyBag]

They remind me what Christmas is all about...

[TJCB68]

My 13yo dd resolutely refuses to stop believing. A beautiful example of the triumph of hope and faith over cynicism.

[barbsbarbs]

they make this season so magical, especially in the lead up to christmas, when we sings songs, go to nativity plays, carol concerts. Everything about christmas is exciting for them.

[flyinglotus434]

Initially feeling a bit tired and ground down by the amount of things to do at Christmas ( bah humbug parents )and that being dissolved completely by joining in with the children's carol concert and performance practice e.g The Virgin Mary had a baby boy with the full hand waving gestures. After seeing the excited children playing their instruments, singing carols and reading nativity passages at the church last night I'm so looking forward to it now.

[cwalliss82]

They dress their teddies up in festive outfits. It is so cute. As soon as it is December, the outfits get put on and they don't come off again until January.

[finleypop]

Our son loves the build up to Christmas with Elfis the elf visiting through December, leaving little treats, or a note reminding our son about good behaviour!

He sneaks teddies from my sons bedroom to have midnight picnics with & my son is astounded in the morning to find his toys that he knew were in his bedroom, sat in a circle with the crumbs of their feast on a plate.

We even have some accidents that Elfis gets the blame for. In the middle of the night one December there was a huge crash. We all ran downstairs, bleary eyed, to see that a kitchen wall unit had literally fell off the wall. Our son sighed knowingly & stated that Elfis had been up to mischief, climbing all over the kitchen lol!

Then on Christmas Eve, Elfis leaves him new PJ's & a treasure hunt to keep him busy on this most exciting day & the prize is always an activity that will keep our son entertained for the rest of the day, making Christmas day come quicker for him & giving us a chance to get the chores done

[devito92]

Seeing them playing with there Aunties/Uncles who they don't see very often and their grandparents

[andsoherewego]

My children are older now but they still love our traditions of waking up to a special present in their room then opening presents in turns so we see what everyone has received. They love planning what to buy their siblings

[renas]

My children's delight on their faces when the tree goes up

[winterpark]

My children write their Christmas lists in September, they get super excited about presents, getting the decorations out, seeing Santa and they love helping me make mince pies :)

[Scottishthreeberry16]

My 11 year old decorated her own room all Christmassy the other day. It was so lovely to see. I bought her a mini Xmas tree yesterday and she was over-the-moon. Love how she's getting into the spirit of it - just when I thought all the sparkly, toddler magicalness was sadly over

[ohlittlepea]

We've had a hectic year, house move, both at uni whilst working too, it's easy to forget the magic of Christmas in the day to day grind. But when we got the decorations down from the loft we discovered a stash if Christmas books which we'd put away last year as my dd was to young. Seeing her eyes turn to saucers studying the pictures in 'The Night Before Christmas' melts my heart, she's trying so hard to learn all the names of the reindeer so that if she sees Santa she can say hello to them all. She brings so much joy to us both.

[Lisapaige24]

The excitement they get putting up the tree and decorations,making mince pies and watching Christmas movies but best of all writing letters to Santa and doing the nativity play reminds me how Christmas was for me as a child and now I get to see my children have that same joyful experience at Christmas

[Lisapaige24]

The excitement my children get when putting up the Christmas tree and decorations , making mince pies together ,writing lists to Santa and starring in the nativity play and watching Christmas movies together is what the joys of Christmas is about being together as a family and doing the little traditions I did as a child with my own children and watching there there faces light up with joy