Christmas traditions

Littlejen22

I really want to start holiday traditions especially now that our family is complete (we are not have any more kids).  What traditions have you started?  Also feel free to tell me anything you did as a kid or that you know others that do.  Oh, and feel free to add anything you do for other holidays...my Uncle used to make a huge breakfast the morning of Easter and when my cousins started getting married and splitting holidays with their spouses family they still came for breakfast...and when we were little my brother was always jealous of their breakfast on Easter morning, lol.

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I give dd holiday/winter pj's to open before christmas eve mass, to wear that night. 

Andrewsgal

Here are some that we do with our kids or did growing up.

We each pick one present to open on Christmas eve after church

We all snuggle down on the couch before bed in christmas pjs (for the kids), and read Twas the night before Christmas and The christmas story in the bible.

We have a HUGE christmas breakfast, my Mom used ribbon from our presents to make grapefruit baskets.

To help DD actually focus on the reason for christmas this year we will have a birthdaycake for Jesus and sing happy birthday to him Christmas Eve,

hopefulmom

On Christmas Eve I cook all day (ethnic food).  We go to church, come home and eat, then open gifts from people other than just our family (aunts/grandparents/etc) that have been mailed to us.  We then have dessert (my DH makes it) and drink homemade egg nog with it while my DH reads the Christmas story from the Bible.  We have a fire in the fireplace.

Chrismtas morning, my DH always puts a bit of white fluff somewhere on the fireplace doors (from Santa going up the chimney of course).  When my older ones got to be teens he still did it and my DS would call out from the bedroom "I'm too old for the Santa fuzz on the fireplace!!!"...but my DH still did it.  lol  My kids knew there was no "real" Santa and it was just a fun thing to do.  We would all open stocking gifts (which are wrapped) while I sip my first cup of coffee, then eat breakfast (more ethnic food) and then open big gifts.  We then scurry around and get showers, dressed and head on out to whatever relative is hosting Christmas that year.

We also hung a real sock on the kids' bedpost with gum or mints or a small candybar in it.  We don't do that with the little ones.

I know a lot of people who get their kids Christmas PJ's and they wear them Christmas Eve.  Others allow their kids to open one present on Christmas Eve.  My sister would make Santa tracks in the snow outside and then use something to make foot prints on the carpet up to the tree.  When I was little the only thing we did Christmas Eve was go to late night mass.  I'm not sure how late it was...but to me it seemed well past my bedtime.  When my Dad was little it was always thought that Santa put up the Christmas tree on Chrismtas Eve.  He was totally shockec (and disappointed) when he came home from work one evening and "caught" his mom putting it up.  He was 12!!!  That was back in the "olden days" and they were from the "old country"...so not very sophistocated and quite poor (they had 14 kids!).

knmommy

Christmas Eve the kids all get there own little bag of "reindeer food"  (raw oats with some glitter) before bed they sprinkle it outside.  DH makes reindeer tracks. 

Kersbear

We always (since I was a little girl) have a huge breakfast before opening presents.  It always includes scrambeled eggs and texas french toast.  Yum!

 We also always got a family game on Christmas morning and played it Christmas day, this is another tradition we've continued.

Getting a birthday cake for baby Jesus and singing happy birthday and telling the Christmas story (of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus).

We open gifts one at a time.  Another thing we did growing up, there were 5 kids and then my parents, so 1 person would open their first gift, then when they were done the 2nd person would open their first gift, and so on until all gifts were open.  This allowed us to see what everyone received and not just tear through all the presents.

We have a few more as well, but those are the major ones and ones that I treasured as a child and have made it part of my families tradition.

lildevil968

My mother used to take all of us to a pottery store to paint ornaments. Once they where fired and complete, we would take them home. On Christmas eve we would each place our ornament on the tree. After that we would read the christmas story from the bible. Iam keeping the same traditions, but we have added a living nativity show on Christmas eve. I love those because they tell the Christmas story with actors, and live animals. I cry everytime....lol.