Share your favourite Christmas family moments and traditions with Lidl: chance to win £100 NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

Christmas is coming (FAST!) - and the team at Lidl would love to hear all about your family Christmas moments - perhaps from your own childhood or memories you are creating with and for your own children?

Are you a super-organised shopper, a festive fashionista in your Christmas jumper, or more of a last-minute panicker? Do you do ‘stir-up Sunday’ to create your perfect Christmas pudding or cake? Is there a tradition of choosing your tree that the whole family look forward to? What about when you were a child - are there older family traditions you recreate or look back on fondly which help get you in the community spirit?

Whatever your Christmas traditions are, Lidl would love to hear them!

Please post them on this thread and you will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will get £100 worth of Lidl vouchers (note the winner will be sent 4 x £25 vouchers, one voucher can be redeemed per transaction).

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Standard Insight Terms and Conditions apply

My daughter will always spend time with me on Christmas Day, regardless of where she is and what she is up to. We love to watch an old dvd of her opening presents when she was very small, because she sweetly spent so long on each one. The funniest thing was her opening a magnet (we gave lots of small presents as well as big ones) and she cooed over it, even though she had no idea what it was. That brings back lots of happy memories, although I would have loved to have captured the moment our two kittens climbed the Christmas tree and toppled it. I can still see their faces!

We leave a Mince Pie, half a bitten Carrot, and a glass of sherry out on Christmas Eve, so that Santa and the Reindeer don't get too hungry, we also scatter a bit of talcum powder on the carpet in the living room, hubby walks in the talc in his boots, to look like Santa's steps, the look on the kids' faces is absolutely priceless the next morning, their eyes are full of wonder! We've done this for years!

We always look forward to our 'Christmas Launch Day'. It's the day we get all the decorations in, decorate the tree and the house, make christmas cakes and biscuits, have an early (mini) christmas dinner then sit down to watch a couple of christmas films with a hot chocolate and a few of those christmas bakes we made earlier. Sets us up for the rest of the christmas period.

Our Christmas traditions sort of evolve each year and some stick some don't.

I used to do Christmas Eve boxes but it just became expected, expensive and not appreciated. Also I want Christmas PJ's to be used most of Dec not just a week or so and giving them in this box didn't work.

Now I get Christmas books and DVDs out beginning of December, along with Christmas bedding.

Our tradition was started the year after my mum died. Sadly mum died on 10th December 1995 and the following year my family, my dad, and both my sister & brother's families decided that we would all put our Christmas trees up on the 10th December each year.

It's now 22 years since mum passed away we still put our trees up on the 10th. Strangely, it isn't a sad day but one we all look forward to.
Sadly, dad is no longer with us but my daughter is now married with her own daughter and they have also taken on the tradition too.
My dad is also the influence of our Christmas breakfast tradition - Condensed Milk Sandwiches!

We put the tree up together on 1st December listening to festive tunes - it's a special tradition

We always put the tree up and decorate as a family. The DC take it in turns to put the star on each year, before we do a countdown to switching on the lights.

The other thing we do is not go into the living room until everyone is awake, then video/photo the DC's excited reactions as they go in.

Chocolate is only ever an acceptable breakfast on Christmas Day too!

Stockings are great to win some time in the day, we prepare them with toys/books/games that will keep the kids happy and busy until after dinner when we open the main presents, guaranteed no nagging for more until it's time :)

I always make at least one Christmas pudding, my mum used to make about half a dozen, boiled in a copper, the forerunner of the washing machine! I carry on the family tradition of getting everybody involved in stirring the mix and making a wish, a crafty way to get help with the mixing!

I'm a last minute paniker haha. I think I thrive on the stress haha

When I was 5 my older sister informed me Santa did not exist and that I was foolish to believe. That Christmas my parents tried to extend the magic, they made sure we still put out milk and biscuits and carrots, but also made reindeer tracks in the snow, and they woke me a little near midnight and rang bells. It made me think my older sister was wrong and it is a cherished childhood memory.

New pjs and buffet/picky food for Christmas eve

This is going to be our first Christmas with our DS. Traditionally we would go to both sets of grandparents in the day (they live 50 miles apart!). But we've decided to stay home and have the grandparents and aunties over to us! I'm going to try to be super organised with all the veg and prep my doing is all Xmas eve! Asked my mum to do the meat (as that's what she's best at) and my MIL to do the puddings (as that's what she's best at).

Going to use my family tradition of bacon sandwiches for breakfast and opening Xmas presents in bed the parents first thing in the morning with DS.

I am not sure if we have been doing anything long enough for it to become tradition yet but one thing we have done in the past few years is to each open one present before breakfast on Christmas morning, followed by having breakfast together. We also tend to snuggle up with hot choc and a festive movie on Christmas Eve night.

My husband and I are still working on agreeing on traditions that work for us all. It never occured to me how much variation there could be in what type of presents come from the man in red until we had our daughter!

my favourite xmas tradition is having Christmas dinner round the table followed by the queens speech and some xmas films after that.

My kids get new pyjamas as a present Xmas eve & then we watch Polar Express & do the whole reindeer food, mince pie etc.
Stockings are opened in their rooms until I wake up then they can 'see if he's been'
We still do this & they are teens.

Stirring the Xmas pudding and making a wish. Even though it was a few weeks before Christmas it was the start of the magical season. My kids love it too.

My children make some Christmas decorations each year and we keep a special one off the tree to use each year, we have a lovely collection that they have made through the years, it's lovely to look back on them when we get the tree out each year.

All sitting watching a Christmas movie on Christmas Eve while munching After Eights. Christmas stockings can be opened before parents are awake and include a dvd giving us a bit of a lie-in

We make mince pies together so we can get them ready for Santa!

Watching a christmas movie every friday night in the run up to christmas! Getting our christmas tree together and reading the night before christmas on christmas eve!

We put the special door key outside as we don't have a chimney and santa needs to get in. He is also really partial to a glass of daddies single malt whiskey and a mince pie so we make sure we leave him one. On Christmas Day we always walk to the windmill whilst our dinner is cooking - can't wait for it to come round again!!

I remember as a child having real lit candles on the xmas tree. Only for a few minutes as obviously they couldn't be left unattended, but it was magical

Not a lot of traditions apart from everyone having to choose one present that gets left until Boxing Day to open. We're usually more excited about that one that any of the others that get opened the day before .

Pretty organised, I tend to buy presents throughout the year when Sales are on (because I hate shopping anyway so it spreads the pain) so that most of the spending in December is for the food.