Your favorite holiday traditions

[Anonymous]

On Christmas Eve, Santa’s elves drop off a Santa sack with pjs and a family gift. We crack the living room window and the elves shake some jingle bells outside the window and then ring the doorbell and the sack appears. Last year the family gift was a board game, the year before it was a new Christmas book.

We also do the Christmas pickle https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/christmaspickle.shtml

[Anonymous]

Really nice to hear what people do — thanks for sharing!

[Anonymous]

Making cHristmas candy my mother made. Always end up with 1 night where up too late and doing it all. Give it away to teachers friends people at work. Great tradition I can,pass along to my daughter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Making cHristmas candy my mother made. Always end up with 1 night where up too late and doing it all. Give it away to teachers friends people at work. Great tradition I can,pass along to my daughter

Recipie, please?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On Christmas Eve, Santa’s elves drop off a Santa sack with pjs and a family gift. We crack the living room window and the elves shake some jingle bells outside the window and then ring the doorbell and the sack appears. Last year the family gift was a board game, the year before it was a new Christmas book.

This is awesome, love it!

Merry Christmas y’all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every year since my children were born I gave them an ornament (sometimes more than one) that reflected something they did that year. Learned how to ride a bike, lost their first tooth, tried a new sport, visited a new place. Getting the ornaments and looking at the ones from their past has been a highlight of the season. My daughter is moving out and next year, when she has her own tree, she will take these ornaments.

I did this for my niece and nephew - their 1st Christmas I gave them a decorated box "X's Christmas Ornaments" and the ornament that was a "Baby's First Ornament". They now have 18 and 15 ornaments and they will be able to take them with them when they move out of their parents' home. Of course, they've long since grown out of that one ornament box!

I also made a game for myself of finding them an ornament that wasn't breakable for their 2nd through 6th or 7th years as I always wanted them to be able to put their own ornaments on the tree. So until they were about 7 years old, I found metal, fabric, wooden or woven ones that represented something they liked or were into. After that I branched out into ceramic, porcelain, glass, etc. As they got older, they were perhaps from somewhere I'd traveled, or just an ornament that I thought was beautiful and they would like, or one that was about somewhere they had traveled or an experience they had. Sometimes I gave each the same ornament, other times they were different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mother is huge fan of Christmas music. I loved when she would play Christmas carol CDs throughout the season in our home - when we decorated the tree, baked cookies or just spent time by the fire. The music made the holidays for me.

Agree. I love the colors of Christmas but the music brings back all the memories of childhood and the people I loved who are now gone. I have even played Christmas music in July just for myself.

[Anonymous]

As a kid it was the advent calendar, with candy for each day. It was one where we put the candy on it and as we got older my brother and I would make a big project out of it and negotiate what candy was on which day (we made them exactly the same). My kids now use the same calendars and it's an important tradition to them too. Other than for a few years during college the advent calendars have been used every year since I was around 6.

I also make a buche de noel every year. Sometimes I try different recipes but it's always a part of our Christmas meal.

[Anonymous]

This is a wonderful thread. Thanks for sharing and it is bringing back memories as well as a few tears. Merry Christmas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every year since my children were born I gave them an ornament (sometimes more than one) that reflected something they did that year. Learned how to ride a bike, lost their first tooth, tried a new sport, visited a new place. Getting the ornaments and looking at the ones from their past has been a highlight of the season. My daughter is moving out and next year, when she has her own tree, she will take these ornaments.

We do this as well. We also try to buy an ornament on all of our family trips. So when we decorate the tree we can talk about all of the fun adventures we have had.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1 for: annual ornament, drives to see lights, and Christmas music by the fire

We also have annual shop for your siblings night. We used to supply the money because I think it’s important to teach little kids about giving, and not just receiving. Now they are teens so they use their own money. I have three kids so now the two will collaborate or at very least discuss and plan what to get the other sibling. I stay out of it whenever possible.

As soon as we officially start Christmas break we start jigsaw puzzles and nightly board games. One person makes a dessert or snack each night.

This reminded me of something: my father took my sister and I each year to a store once we were about 6 and 8 years old and we'd "buy our parents a christmas gift" - he gave us money but he'd go several aisles away so we could choose the gifts in secret and then we'd walk over to the counter and pay. Only then would he join us. It was a store that had lots of gift items that were within our price range (not much money).

as we got older, we'd go to the Christmas bazaar at our school during the day and buy a gift. Or we'd make one. But we always had the tradition of buying or making a gift for our parents, and that started young because my father helped us. It was a special time with our Dad.

[Anonymous]

We have made Christmas sugar cookies on Christmas Eve for years and my two elementary schoolers look forward to it a lot.

We also decorate the tree on Christmas Eve and then go to church Christmas Eve night. Altogether, it makes for. Great Christmas Eve.

Christmas day is for visiting family.

Then, my husband is from a country where Christmas is actually Jan 7th, so since we leave the tree up at least until then and do family gifts on that day. That way, since we spend time visiting family on Dec 25, the kids dont get too overwhelmed with gifts, and we have time to do a nice quiet, family Christmas. I know lotd of other cultures do presents on thr Feast of the Three King's for anyone interested, since that also falls around earpy January

[Anonymous]

The weekend after thanksgiving we get our tree and decorate it while listening to the first holiday music of the season. We have hot chocolate (with rum for dh and me) in some Santa mugs handed down from my grandmother. That weekend we watch a couple of our favorite Christmas movies and go see the nutcracker at some point. We also construct a gingerbread house.

I try to cram a lot into that weekend since everyone is in the holiday mood and it’s a long weekend. If I wait I find that these things join a snowballing to-do list and feel like a chore rather than fun.

[Anonymous]

The days after Thanksgiving are "Christmas Decorating Days" and everyone gets a new xmas themed shirt.

We make different kids of candy bark each year.

We host a low-key Christmas Eve open house for friends and family to stop by. We eat leftovers on Christmas and forgo a big Xmas dinner so no one has to do anything but relax.

I'm going to add some sort of morning breakfast tradition. Not sure what yet.

[Anonymous]

My favorite until I had children of my own was to spend a whole day with my mother and sister baking Christmas cookies. We’d be in our PJ’s all day and bake sheet after sheet of incredible cookies. When my kids get older I hope to do the same.