Family Christmas Traditions

JLaVO888

Are there any old family Christmas traditions that you are excited about continuing with your children (FTM) or already enjoy with your children (STM+)? Have you found a new tradition that would like to start with your family?


I want to do the 25 days of Christmas with books. You wrap 25 books (can be old or new, Christmas themed or not) and every night leading up to Christmas your kiddo(s) gets to pick one book to open and read before bed. You could even get relatives in on it every year. Have each grandparent add one book to the pile and face time them when you read their book. (We have long distance family.)

AlphabetFish

Might be some pretty pedestrian traditions, but we always read The Night Before Christmas on... well... the night before Christmas, and we left out cookies and milk for Santa, and a carrot for the reindeer.

For my husband, Christmas Eve dinner is a smorgasbord of appetizers, snacks and little special treats like chestnuts and oysters and cocktail weenies in crescent rolls. Stuff like that. We plan to continue these traditions!

...Now we just have to decide whether stockings are opened first or last... I'm a last family, but he's a first!

JLaVO888

AlphabetFish said:

Might be some pretty pedestrian traditions, but we always read The Night Before Christmas on... well... the night before Christmas, and we left out cookies and milk for Santa, and a carrot for the reindeer.

For my husband, Christmas Eve dinner is a smorgasbord of appetizers, snacks and little special treats like chestnuts and oysters and cocktail weenies in crescent rolls. Stuff like that. We plan to continue these traditions!

...Now we just have to decide whether stockings are opened first or last... I'm a last family, but he's a first!

When we were kids stockings were filled by Santa and we opened them first thing Christmas morning. As adults, stockings have become a Christmas Eve tradition that we open while hanging out and eating with family. So, I am in the same boat... Not sure when to do them now.

amaniupendo

Our friends had an amazing table cloth this past weekend. Everyone over the years has written what they are thankful for. Once it runs out of room, they will start with a new color. Starting that next year!

JessKo08

Neither mine not DH's family have any tried and true traditions, I hope to eventually develop some as our family grows. One thing I love is homemade Christmas tree decorations. I don't need a fancy, color-coordinated tree. I remember going to friends or family's houses and noticing their kids' decorations never being hung on the tree because they didn't match the beautiful bulbs and ribbons. My mom loved our decorations we made and brought home from school and always let my brother and I hang them front and center of our tree. Even at home my mom would encourage my brother and I to make salt-dough ornaments which 20+ years later are still hanging on her tree. I hope to have a modge podge tree with plenty of decorations with memories and meaning.

kyraaD

me & my family make these really big molasses cookies every year for the whole family. every year we try to do a new theme, but after doing them for the past 40yrs, my mom & aunt (the ones who usually make the cookies) are starting to run out of ideas, lol.
anyways, i plan on continuing the tradition with my little one once he gets old enough to help (: he wont be next christmas, unfortunately.

SarahFoley725

We always got (and still get as adults) new pajamas to wear to bed and wake up in on Christmas morning. We'd also get a movie to watch as a family. DH and I will likely continue that tradition.

jmathi0149

On Christmas Eve we always bake and decorate sugar cookies then read The Night Before Christmas!

soxfan9968

SarahFoley725 said:

We always got (and still get as adults) new pajamas to wear to bed and wake up in on Christmas morning. We'd also get a movie to watch as a family. DH and I will likely continue that tradition.

We all get Xmas pj's too! This year we got the elf pajamas from target.

Traditions, we have so many! A couple of days before Xmas my sis and the older cousins get together to make Xmas cookies and prepare cookie tins for all the itty bitties. That way Santa has homemade cookies. It's kind of like a cookie swapping party.

Day before Xmas eve (23rd), we go to my mom's house to "help" her make tamales. I say "help" because by the time I get there everything is prepped and done, I just have to wrap them up and set them up to be cooked the next day. I'm basically there to pick at the food. Hee hee!

We celebrate Xmas eve into Xmas morning. Dinner is a huge fiasco! We watch movies (the grinch, love actually, Charlie Brown Xmas), play some board games, and put on our new pj's. At midnight, we say a prayer. Rock baby Jesus to sleep by singing a lullaby and add him to the nativity scene. Clean up and head back home after. Kiddies put out Xmas cookies for Santa and go to bed. Since we don't have our own kiddies YET, I used to make DH put up a stocking and cookies. He's kind of a grump about the holiday so it usually cheers him up. Can't wait until next year for baby to have a Xmas stocking. DH already got a new Santa plate for next year.

Xmas morning, we get one big gift from Santa. Everyone ends up at my house in the morning to sit down for Mexican hot chocolate, leftover cookies, and French toast for breakfast.

kyraaD

SarahFoley725 said:

We always got (and still get as adults) new pajamas to wear to bed and wake up in on Christmas morning. We'd also get a movie to watch as a family. DH and I will likely continue that tradition.

we do this too! another tradition I'm going to carry on doing with my LO (:

KMKaiser07

My mom made reindeer food with me and I can't wait to do that with DS this year. I'm also starting a tradition where he gets to open a present Christmas Eve and it's new Christmas pjs, a Christmas movie to watch that night and snacks to go with it. We always do brunch with my parents Christmas morning and it's been my dad making the same brunch since I was a kid. When the unfortunate day comes and my parents aren't around, I'm going to continue making the same brunch.

eivaska

Super excited to start traditions with our new baby girl. We bake a TON of cookies (2,000+) every year to give family and friends. Read Twas the Night before Christmas. DH family has some great traditional meals and stocking traditions that I'm excited to incorporate too. I love the idea of the books!

kynbar5

JessKo08 said:

Neither mine not DH's family have any tried and true traditions, I hope to eventually develop some as our family grows. One thing I love is homemade Christmas tree decorations. I don't need a fancy, color-coordinated tree. I remember going to friends or family's houses and noticing their kids' decorations never being hung on the tree because they didn't match the beautiful bulbs and ribbons. My mom loved our decorations we made and brought home from school and always let my brother and I hang them front and center of our tree. Even at home my mom would encourage my brother and I to make salt-dough ornaments which 20+ years later are still hanging on her tree. I hope to have a modge podge tree with plenty of decorations with memories and meaning.

This is so us. Every year we make the cinnamon salt dough ornaments to add to our growing collection and the kids paint and decorate them. They also help decorate the tree. Year-round my walls have their artwork and creations hanging on them so I couldn't picture the tree being any other way! We also bake cookies for Santa and watch all our Christmas movies. We incorporate a lot of Jesus into Christmas too though (since it is his birthday and all) and they decorate a cake for Him on Christmas Eve. I love Christmas with all the kids and the many traditions we have

SarahFoley725

Oh also something we did when we were younger is each of us picked an ornament out every year. It eventually drove my mom crazy because there was so much silly junk on the tree. Also we would all fight over who got what spot on the tree for their favorite ornament. When I went to college she gave me all of the ones I picked every year which I have lost unfortunately, but it was cute.

I think if I were to do something like that for my kids I'd get them a separate small tree for all of their own little ornaments. That should help avoid the drama of who gets the best spot on the big tree.

JLaVO888

DH and I started a tradition last year of having three trees... It's a bit ridiculous I know, but they all mean so much to us that we can't part ways with any of them.

We have a dollar tree "charley brown" tree that we bought when we first lived together and were so broke we could only afford a $20 tree. (It brings back the best memories and is our favorite tree of all.) Is has become our "Santa Tree". It's the tree where Santa will leave the gifts for our kids.

Then I have my grandmas old tree that means a lot to me (She passed in 2013, and we live in her home now. I've spent just about every Christmas in this house.) Her tree is the "memory tree" with all our homemade, picture frame and gifted ornaments.

Then in the front window we have our matchy, color coordinated tree...in teal my favorite color.

My parents are coming this year and our family tradition is to cut down a fresh tree so there is a huge possibility there will be 4 trees in this house this year!! (I promise I'm not crazy)

smount2011

We Never really had any traditions other than our big Christmas Eve party then we each celebrated christmas day in our own homes.

One I started with my child was opening 1 gift on Christmas Eve- and it is usually a combo gift of a new Christmas movie and a snack (last year she got a Hello Kitty hot chocolate/mug set). We make cookies (that used to be for Santa but my child doesn't believe anymore so we just make them for us), curl up in my big bed and watch our new movie before heading to sleep.

ceds07

When we were little (and even not so little) we went to mass Christmas Eve, came home to have lasagna and ziti and watched a Muppet Family Christmas. It was the best. We are also big bakers and my mom made a ton of Christmas cookies to give out as cookie boxes but one batch of butter cookies was the kids to decorate and those were the ones we left for Santa. We had a special Santa cookie cutter too. We'd decorate a gingerbread house every year too. Apparently we're bigger holiday people then I realized! We also went to the city (NY) to see the tree every year but that never really felt like a tradition, it just simply not Christmas until you've seen "the" tree. 

For DD my mom has made the gingerbread house their thing and they have done one for the past two years and will do one again this year. We'll do cookies that she can bake and ice for Santa closer to Christmas. My husband's family does a big Christmas Eve so that will be something that DD grows up with. Our neighborhood also has a tree lighting so we go to that every year. I'm taking her to the Rockettes next Friday and am SO EXCITED to see her reaction. That will hopefully become a tradition that I take both girls to every year. I think some things just tend to evolve naturally so I'm excited to see what things she shows an interest in that become part of our family holidays each year.