Your favorite holiday traditions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

On Christmas Eve or a different day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Our morning breakfast tradition is Trader Joe’s almond croissants with coffee and mimosas.

[Anonymous]

I love this thread!

I’m not from this country and we don’t celebrate Christmas like you do here. Now that I have two kids, I’m trying to create traditions for them so they have good memories later in life.

[Anonymous]

Traditions from my childhood that we keep:
—St Nicholas Day (this is when they get their annual ornament)
—Baking cookies
—picking out a live tree and decorating it together while listening to Christmas music
—opening family presents on Christmas Eve (Santa presents and stockings in the morning)
—Opening presents one at a time, and making a game out of it (like numbering all the gifts and then drawing numbers out if a mug to select the next gift)

New or modified traditions:
—2 advent calendars (2 kids but they’re both shared): one new one each year that is LEGO or playmobil, and one reusable one that is chocolate or an experience
—leaving cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer
—visiting a few houses with extravagant light displays
—DC holiday stuff: Botanic Gardens trains, White House trains, Zoo Lights

[Anonymous]

Like a poster above, I have continued to make my husbands family’s Christmas Eve meal that my MIL has made for 40 yrs. homemade bread stuffed with sausage and cheese, potato leek soup, a big salad and chocolate mousse for dessert. Crazy rich but so delicious and something we only want once a year

[Anonymous]

Advent calendar
Advent wreath with candles on the table lit at every meal - not sure who likes this more kids or husband (who did not grow up Catholic)
Secret Santa prep for school’s Secret Santa tradition
Decorating the tree with our ornament collections and hanging our stockings made by my mom
Sometimes we bake. Sometimes we don’t.