What are your Christmas traditions?

[A home for their hearts]

We really don't have any, besides putting up the Christmas tree and leaving out cookies for santa. I really want to start adding some traditions to our family to help build some memories and hopefully to help brighten my dc Christmas time since we won't be able to get them much this year for Christmas.

[RoughCollie]

We make crafts, cards, ornaments and cookies. When the kids were smaller, we put their crafts (like Santa head made out of a paper plate and cotton balls) on the kitchen cabinet doors for decoration. I used store-bought rolls of sugar cookie dough so they could roll out, cut, and decorate sugar cookies. No way was I going to use up my homemade dough on the kids -- I like my own cookies too much. I also bought those little decorative toothpick things for cupcakes for various holidays for the kids to use when they decorated cupcakes (Santa, gingerbread men, turkeys, jack o'lanterns, and the like).

 

We play lots of Christmas music, decorate the house, and light Yankee Candles (only when I'm in the room).

 

Every year, the kids make gingerbread people out of this recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook that has no eggs in it. I always marvel over how it has no eggs. Anyway, they actually eat the cookies (I don't like them), but we also use a straw to make a hole in the top of some of them so they can be hung on the tree.

 

I buy Bahlsen German Christmas cookies every year, along with Stollen, which is a tradition in my family. We also celebrated St. Nicholas Day, which is a tradition in my family.

 

We also make and paint ornaments out of Model Magic. I used cookie cutters to make mine so they would look like what they were supposed to be, and the kids made theirs however they wanted to.

 

The boys always had winter-themed sweaters to wear to church (DD had a Christmas dress), and the kids got new pajamas on Christmas Eve. We always let them open one present on Christmas Eve from under the tree (no gifts from Santa were there yet).

 

I used to take the kids, one at a time, to the dollar store and another discount store in our town to do their Christmas shopping. Then they wrapped their gifts, usually in printed tissue paper when they were little because it was easier for them.

 

I made Christmas pillowcases for the kids, which they put on their pillows on Dec. 1. We start using the Christmas china at every meal beginning the day after Thanksgiving, which is also the day we haul the Christmas boxes out of the basement. I also have lots of kid-themed Christmas placemats which the kids love to see come out every year. When they were little, each had a place setting of melamine Christmas dishes and a Christmas mug. Now they each have a Christmas-themed breakable mug.

 

The kids have always decorated the tree, and they take turns picking one out.

 

We took the kids to visit Santa some years -- one year we took the dog to visit Santa at PetSmart and got a cute picture of Santa, dog, and kids.

 

Our town has a tree-lighting ceremony and Santa is there. It is always bitterly cold outside and there are large crowds, hence we don't go every year.

 

They belonged to the kids choir at church and participated in the Christmas cantata.

 

I read Christmas stories and books every day, from my large collection.

 

I bought lots of Christmas coloring books.

 

For school, the kids did Christmas-themed worksheets (word searches, coloring pages, a slew of stuff available online).

 

We have a Christmas wreath with four candles for Advent, and celebrate Advent on the four Sunday prior to Christmas.

 

We have our big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve because I am always too tired on Christmas Day to face cooking.

 

The kids wrote letters to Santa when they were little -- since they didn't watch commercial t.v. they thought up things they would like and I spent hours looking for those things online and in stores. One year, it was nearly impossible to find a yellow ball with a star on it, a brown pickup truck, and a jack 'o lantern.

 

When the kids were little, we had a large collection of Christmas videos that they loved watching, since we only took them out of the basement for December viewing.

 

The kids always had a German advent calendar and they liked those a lot.

 

I bought a bunch of Playmobil advent calendars and other Christmas stuff, and we have fun setting up little scenes. I have a big Rubbermaid tub full of Christmas-themed toys, puzzles and games. I'm a toy nut -- much more so than my kids have ever been.

 

I buy Christmas window clings at the discount store and the kids wash the windows and put them up. We also have Christmas cutouts (thin cardboard) and the kids used to hang those on their bedroom doors and on walls all over the house.

 

On Christmas morning, Santa leaves the kids' stockings at the foot of their beds. This was originally designed to keep them from waking us up too early. My kids never did get up too early on Christmas -- they slept late and I'd be so excited I'd have to wake them up!

 

The kids have come to expect certain gifts in their stockings, such as magic tricks and snakes in a can that pop out to startle the unsuspecting lid opener. One son always gets something with a giraffe theme. Every year, they each get an ornament that commemorates something special about that year for each child.

 

Santa gives presents to each child, and then leaves unwrapped gifts under the tree for all the children to share. This kept us from having to buy 3 or 4 of the same toys. We still do that, but "Santa" gives the kids one big present to share now, instead of a bunch of toys.

 

One year we took them to The Nutcracker ballet at a nearby private high school for the arts (ie., not the one in Boston) and that went over like a lead balloon. The kids were bored, even though they were in 2nd and 3rd grades.

 

We drive around to look at the lights and go to the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine to look at the huge Christmas display they have there -- complete with life-sized figures and lighting for every bit of the Christmas Story.

 

Gosh, when I read all this stuff it sounds like we did plenty. Yet, I have always felt terribly guilty about not doing enough with the kids at Christmas when they were younger. Hmmm. Maybe never sending Christmas letters, taking a picture of everyone for a photo Christmas card, stamping our own wrapping paper, or decorating the outside of the house with lights isn't so important in the general scheme of things. Guilt. I still feel guilt.

 

RC

Edited October 12, 2008 by RoughCollie

[Jennifer in MI]

We spend a LOT of time in Advent preparing for Christmas. One year we did a project where we read about all the different names for Jesus and why. Another year we studied the OT prophesies about the Messiah.

 

We always read one of the Ylutide books (I just know I spelled his name wrong!).

 

We have an Advent wreath we light each night at dinner with special prayers and hymns.

 

Christmas Eve we go to church and participate in the pageant. Then we come home to homemade pizzas and a birthday cake for Jesus. The kids open one present that night - usually new pajamas or another ornament for the tree. Each year I try to pick out one ornament for each child. I put their name on it so when they leave and have a family of their own, they'll have them to put on their own tree. I have a notebook where I write down which one I gave what year and why.

 

Christmas Day is more laid back. Dh is an Episcopal priest, so he goes to church while I clean up the wrapping paper!

 

I think that's it! Have fun finding your traditions.

[Guest janainaz]

It's my favorite holiday and it's because I love to do fun stuff with my kids. We put the tree up as early as possible (real one) and we have really fun, sparkly, colorful ornaments and my kids love them - so that is a big event. We make a lot of cookies - ugly disgusting Christmas cookies, but they have a blast making them. We paint ornaments and last year started to paint on canvases, Christmas scenes - of whatever. My son loved this. We go look at lights, watch every Christmas movie under the sun at least 10 times and we just spend a lot of time together. We do Santa (or, I do Santa) for the kids and every year is a great memory. Although Christmas really was started as a pagan holiday, I still love the Christmas story and we go to the Glory of Christmas when we visit my sister in CA.

[hsmamainva]

We always put up the tree Thanksgiving weekend because it's a 4 day weekend and we can take our time doing it!

 

We bake ALOT at Christmas time and give some of it to folks we see in our daily lives (for instance, my youngest daughter's therapists, our Tae Kwon Do instructors, our neighbors, etc.) -- but we always bake lots of bread, cakes, fudge, and especially the decorated cut-out cookies!

 

We always drive around and look at all the lights!! We do this just about every weekend...we try to hit every neighborhood in the county!

 

We always leave cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer...and Santa leaves a thankyou note, signed with a lipstick kiss (the kids have never asked why Santa would wear lipstick, but hey...it makes the kiss visible!)

 

We always give the kids a cute new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve, so they're wearing them while they're opening the presents on Christmas morning.

 

For the last 4 or 5 years, my boys have ordered the Lego Advent Calendars and they love them!! So that's always a must-have, starting the 1st of December!

[abbeyej]

A few of the things we do...

 

During December, we read a story from The Jesse Tree each day. (This is a great version for children, but there are lists online that simply give scripture references each day...) The idea of the Jesse Tree is simply to show the lineage of Jesus, the plan for salvation through the Old Testament. Many families also make homemade ornaments each day to represent the stories from the Jesse Tree. (And these can be as simple as just coloring an image, cutting it out, and hanging it on the tree -- so it doesn't have to be expensive.)

 

We also celebrate St Nicholas Day each year. We read stories of the real St Nicholas (the stnicholascenter website is a huge help with tons of resources) -- either from online or from the library -- talk about the reasons we remember St Nicholas early in Advent (he wanted to tell children about Jesus, the hidden works of kindness and charity), and we have a feast with (basically) the same foods each year. We usually invite friends, though often different families, not the same each year. One of our favorite things to prepare for the feast is "St Nicholas Bread", which we form into the shape of St Nicholas (or a few!)... It's cheap to make (flour, eggs, milk, sugar, yeast, an orange or two and a few raisins or dried cranberries), but lots of fun to make, to show off, to eat... And sometime during the feast, little packets appear in the children's shoes... Usually chocolate coins (about $1/bag at that time of year), but sometimes we've added other things like a few coins from around the world (less fun now that all the European countries have the same coins! lol), or new slippers, or homemade knitted winter hats...

 

When I think back about the things that build most memories at the holiday season, it's not the expensive gifts that do it... And the memories that come back over and over again are often the ones that are triggered in later years because there's a sight or smell or taste or sound that's associated with them.

 

Since scent is such a strong reminder, I try to make sure that certain smells recur in our holidays. Cinnamon and ginger... When ds was small, every year we made cinnamon-applesauce star ornaments. I'd buy a bulk container of cinnamon from the grocery store, and we'd mix it with apple sauce and elmer's glue (I'm sure there are tons of recipes online), roll them out, cut them with our special star cookie cutter that came out each year for the purpose, cut holes in one point with a straw, dry them in a warm oven, then hang each with a piece of ribbon (from one of those $1 spools)... There was a fun together time *making* something, the heavenly sent of cinnamon on our hands and throughout the house, and since we were living in a small space, there was nothing to store from year to year except the star cookie cutter.

 

We also make pomander balls each year now. Buy whatever oranges are cheapest (they don't need to look good or be juicy -- old, thick-skinned ones are just fine), and punch holes with a toothpick in a pattern all over, then push in cloves (again, buy in bulk to get them cheap). Add more holds and more cloves as necessary, but they'll shrink up tremendously, so there can be a little space between 'em... Again, fun to make together as a family, they *smell* like Christmas, they're inexpensive... And if you throw them back in a box with any of the Christmas decorations for next year, they'll assure that when you open the box next year, everything will smell "like Christmas" right from the start.

 

So many other opportunities to bake (together!!!) and fill the house with wonderful Christmas smells (gingerbread! cookies! hot chocolate! cider! baked apples!)...

 

Also Christmas music! Fill the house with it! Check your library for CDs to listen to and books of Christmas carols to sing together. It's often possible to find *very* cheap CDs of choirs singing traditional carols... But fill the house with whatever Christmas music you love and sing, sing, sing. I personally can't *stand* mid-20th century "christmas music", but I love traditional carols and Christmas hymns and folk music. Pick whatever you love though, and enjoy it! *Sing* together. Even if you're not great singers. (We sure aren't!) It brings joy, and years from now when your children hear those songs, they'll remember the joy they had together singing them with you.

 

If you don't have Christmas decorations, have the kids make some... Cutting snowflakes from white paper is easy to do, cheap, and unlike so many pipe-cleaner crafts, actually looks beautiful and elegant when they're done! ;)

 

Make Christmas gifts for family. Again, get some of the thin satin ribbon for $1 a spool, and buy some medium-sized inexpensive beads. Cut a length about 10" long and tie a bead to each end. Voila! Bookmarks to give to all the female members of the family... (You can be more creative and involved by putting about 3 beads on one end and 5-7 on the other end, etc, if your kids are so inclined...)

 

Besides Jesse Tree, I try to find other Christmas books to read aloud. Some are picture books that just take a day, and others are chapter books we read over a few days. There was another thread about this recently with some good suggestions.

 

Usually on Christmas Eve, the kids get a pair of pajamas (or slippers, or a robe -- it has varied slightly based on what they needed most year to year) and a book... Then they have something to read that evening when they're so excited, and they look decent for Christmas morning pictures (no ratty old t-shirts)... ;) This year I'm going to make their jammies... Simple cotton draw-string pants that match, and I'm going to purchase a cotton t-shirt each and applique something on the front (that goes with the pants)...

 

Every year my Dad makes a gingerbread house with the kids. He did this once with ds when he was 2 or 3, and it's been a "tradition" ever since. A couple of times my parents have thought maybe the kids weren't interested and I had to tell them, "Are you crazy?! The kids count on this!" lol... The kits usually run about $8-12 (or much more, if you want something really fancy), but I also often see them on sale, or you can use a Michael's 40% off coupon, etc... Or you can make them with graham crackers and frosting and candy -- though I find I spend just as much as I would on the kit...

 

Oh, and I didn't mention Advent Calendars... You can usually buy paper or chocolate ones for $1-2 each year. In the past, I've gotten Playmobil ones on clearance in January and stuck them in a closet till the next year... I don't have one waiting this year though, lol... Not sure what I'll do...

 

We also have a wooden Nativity set that comes out each year... I bought it for almost nothing when ds was a baby, and you can tell that it's a cheap set 'cause the wood is soft and so many of the pieces have broken, lol... But it has been well-loved. In the years when we didn't have a Christmas tree or ornaments (besides the cinnamon ones), this was the one thing that came out each year.

 

Think of things to *do* *together*. Build memories of the senses -- smells of greenery and baking, sounds of music and singing and laughing, sights of color and light (I didn't mention candles, but they can go a long way in creating a festive atmosphere for little money), taste of spices and chocolate and orange... Decorate inexpensively with homemade paper decorations, pine cones (find directions for drying them out in the oven so you don't inadvertently bring bugs into the house)...

[lynn]

We keep it very simple I make everyone's favorite

Hors d’oeuvre type food. We make the pioneer woman's painted sugar cookies. We tell the christmas story which this year I will bring baby Jesus in Christmas morning. Watch our favorite holiday movie with big mugs of hot cocoa and just enjoy the togetherness of no schedules, commitments or running around. Everyone gets tucked in around 9 after our last Where's Santa check.

[abbeyej]

Every year, the kids make gingerbread people out of this recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook that has no eggs in it. I always marvel over how it has no eggs.

 

Can you share the recipe, please? I'm always looking for recipes ds can eat, and now that he can have a little wheat, these sound perfect for this year!

[Okie]

First, we go to church on Christmas Eve. We always have the kids get new pajamas on Christmas Eve (usually homemade with some sort of special print flannel). Our Christmas Eve meal is a buffet of snack/finger foods. Christmas morning we always have monkey bread. When we decorate the tree each child has his/her own plastic shoe box of ornaments that they hang first. Now each child is getting to take those ornaments with them when they have a tree of their own. I do try to make at least one new ornament each year with them. We read scripture first, and then "open" stockings , one person at a time. Then we have breakfast and come back to open gifts. Whoever is handing out gifts hands out one round and then we open one gift per person at a time around the room. This way the gift session lasts longer and we get to see what everyone gets and what their reactions are. Christmas dinner is usually ham.

 

That's about it, but our family really enjoys it.

[Melora in NC]

Rolling our Christmas and Advent traditions together:

-we light candles in our Advent wreath and take turns doing the readings in the evenings

-we open the windows in the Advent calenders my mom buys for the kids

-we bake cookies and candy to give as gifts

-we make gingerbread houses

-we read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and various holiday picture books

-we listen to Christmas music

-we watch A Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story, etc.

-we used to drive through neighborhoods with wonderful light displays (haven't been able to do this one since we moved out in the country)

-we go to a tree farm and the kids pick The Best Tree to take home and decorate

-the kids take part in our church's pageant

-we visit a church where they are performing Handel's Messiah

-we bake more cookies

-we eat homemade sticky cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, open stocking gifts and then presents from under the tree. Late afternoon we have a big turkey dinner, which was more fun in Florida where we had family to eat it with, but my kids are sticklers for tradition!

 

This year we will be doing a Jesse Tree, which I think will be fun, and will keep the focus where we want it.

[joannqn]

We take the entire month of December off from school. Last year, though, we did a lapbook based on How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

 

We check out a ton of Christmas books from the library and read them together. We've been looking for a book that we'll read every year and think we found it last year. The book is What Child is This: A Christmas Story. It is a modern story of an 8 year old foster child named Katie. Needy children in the community are given paper bells on which to write a Christmas wish to be hung in on Christmas trees in public places for others to fulfill. Instead of wishing for toys or clothes, Katie wishes for a family. Despite the social worker saying that the wish is inappropriate, Katie's foster brother hangs Katie's bell on the tree in the restaurant in which he works. The ensuing commotion caused by the discovery of the wish is told in the remainder of the story. The story comes to an action packed climax and resolution. The book provides plenty of opportunity to discuss foster care, neediness, various attitudes of people when faced with neediness, giving, hope, community, etc.

 

We make a couple of favorite desserts that we usually make only around the holidays.

 

Each child gets an ornament showing something significant from the year. When they are older, they will get their ornaments to take with them. I also get a family ornament for each year that I get to keep.

 

We go to the local mall and each child picks someone from the Salvation Army giving tree. My kids usually pick children of the same gender and age as themselves. We then shop for the gifts (the kids make the final choice) and return them to the tree.

 

We try to go to one special Christmas show/activity as a family. Some of the things we've done is see the Nutcracker, go to the symphony's Christmas concert complete with Santa and a sing-along, Disney on Ice, Zoo Lights, and driving through a light display at a local park.

 

The kids and I go into Seattle with a friend to see The Coats' Christmas concert. We couldn't go last year because of finances and we missed it very much. This year a friend of the family is paying for half of the tickets so we can go!

 

We watch Christmas movies, especially all of the cartoons, when they come on TV. If we can't be home, we record them since each one is usually only shown once on broadcast TV (we don't have cable).

 

The kids are allowed to start listening to Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving. They's listen to them year-round if they were allowed. We especially like listening to The Coats' Christmas CDs.

 

We make paper snowflakes to decorate the front windows.

 

We don't do Santa in our house. We've told the kids the history of St. Nicolas and how the Santa myth started from that. We do something similar to santa presents though. We don't put any presents under the tree except the few given to us from friends. After the kids go to bed, we sneak all of the presents down to the tree so they are surprised in the morning.

 

In previous years, we've done Advent boxes which we decorated/painted the first year. Each small box has an Old Testament prophecy inside the cover which we read. Inside the box is a small treat (either a candy, small toy, a few coins, or a slip of paper describing something fun that we are going to do that night). On the bottom of the box is a New Testament scripture showing the fulfillment of the prophecy in the box's cover. The last box is new Christmas pjs for them to wear. We didn't do them last year though.

Edited October 12, 2008 by joannqn

[Academy of Jedi Arts]

No school during the month of December. Vegging near the tree and watching Christmas specials on TV is strongly encouraged. I still love to watch all the Christmas shows I enjoyed when I was a kid, and I like some of the new ones too.

 

I make the same molasses slice cookies each year, in addition to various other kinds. It's not Xmas time without those molasses cookies.

 

We all go shopping to pick out a tree and end up looking at different lots before settling on our "perfect tree". We have a red, white, and blue Xmas tree. We started the tradition when dd was born to remember the military families separated at Xmas.

 

Every year, my dh's family has a huge covered dish family reunion on Xmas eve. After we go to that, we go over to visit some friends. Then when we get home, dd opens a gift- which is always pajamas.

 

On Xmas eve, after dd goes to bed, I pop open a really good beer and get to work while watching the old version of "A Christmas Carol."

 

On Xmas morning, I make cream cheese stuffed French toast and the in-laws come over and watch us open gifts. The we have about 3 hours of veg time before we go over to their house to have dinner and open more gifts.

[Rosie_0801]

Since dh and I have been together, we've watched The Muppets Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve. We don't believe you can grow out of the Muppets :) I have been told that my kids will be, er, "traumatised for life," (though not phrased so politely,) because we decorate Mabel instead of a Christmas tree. Mabel is dh's mannequin who wears his chainmail and holds his boffer swords to guard against greed and naughty people who want to peek at their prezzies. The decorations get hung off the chainmail. It's a good look, really it is! I also make my Batik cake every year just before Christmas. There's about 2kg of cake, so there's enough to give away and still have plenty for Christmas Day.

Over the next couple of years I'll continue working on an advent calender. I collected some nice decorations in the post-Christmas sales last year, and have made a couple as well. The aim is to have one decoration per child, per day of advent. Not 100% sure how to display the calender, but I think a painted board with holes drilled to hang little bags containing the decorations should do it.

My kids are too little yet, so I have a year or two to figure it out.

:)

Rosie

Edited October 12, 2008 by Rosie_0801

[emeraldjoy]

Rosie; you made me laugh and gave me a great idea!

 

We don't do really do Christmas; last year we watched PBS ALL DAY LONG! This is a huge treat for the kids because we don't have TV. Lots of treats and vegging and cuddling and all that was part of it and they are actually excited to do it again this year.

 

We do celebrate Hannukah as well as the time of year that Jesus was actually born. I think I will research into St. Nick this year and see what we can incorporate around his story.

 

My most, most, most favorite thing to do during the holidays is drive around and look at the lights. We do this every year. I probably enjoy ti more than anyone else; it was my tradition as a little girl.

 

Sledding is also a huge part of our holiday complete with hot cocoa, cookies, etc. We live in Montana though and have the luxury (as I see it) of the snow.

 

food is huge, alway!!!

 

Emerald

[Jennifer in MI]

The book is What Child is This: A Christmas Story. .

 

 

Thank you! My library has this!! I also put Jesse Tree on hold. I think we'll be adding to this years' tradition.

 

Would you believe that our local radio station has Christmas carols on the weekends the day after Halloween? My kids are counting down the days!

[Jenny in Atl]

Tree, advent wreath, decorating the house, Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, dinners with family (many have birthdays just days before), and listening to lots of great music (mostly Medieval & Renaissance).

[RoughCollie]

Can you share the recipe, please? I'm always looking for recipes ds can eat, and now that he can have a little wheat, these sound perfect for this year!

 

Gingerbread People

 

1.5 c. dark molasses

1 c. packed brown sugar

2/3 c. cold water

1/3 c. shortening

7 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground allspice

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

 

Mix molasses, brown sugar, water and shortening. Mix in remaining ingredients. Cover & refrigerate at least 2 hrs.

 

Heat oven to 350. Roll dough 1/4" thick on floured surface. Cut into shapes. Put cookies 2" apart on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake until no indentation remains when touched, 10-12. Cool. Decorate. Makes 2.5 dozen 2.5" cookies.

[Catherine]

We read the same stories almost every year:

 

Gift of the Magi (I cry)

A Christmas Carol

The Night Before Christmas

Father Christmas Letters (a new fave)

Child's Christmas in Wales

 

Listen to the same music:

 

Messiah

Elvis Blue Christmas Album

Silly kid's Christmas album

 

Bake the same things;

 

bunches of kinds of cookies

same Christmas eve dinner-oyster stew then go to UU church evening service

Same breakfast-bagels and lox

Santa still leaves boot tracks in the fireplace ashes

 

Enough?

[Catherine]

And It's a Wonderful Life-can't forget that. And Elf!

[Catherine]

And train garden! We go to two of them every year.

[Philothea]

Well, we celebrate Advent in a serious solemn manner. We decorate incrementally each Sunday, getting the tree as late as possible.

 

We celebrate the feast days, like St. Nicholas and the Immaculate Conception in Advent. We do not attend Christmas parties during Advent. We do the Advent wreath as well.

 

This year I am going to make a some of the special Advent and Christmastide recipes, such as St. Lucy's Cats, and Bishop's Wine.

 

We celebrate the 12 days of Christmas, and actually our Christmas season extends all the way to the Feast of the Purification (Candlemas) in February. So we do all the regular stuff related to that. The really big party is on Epiphany.

 

Each year we have a party, and someone bakes mini-cup cakes or muffins. 3 of the muffins have a little something in them, like a nut or a banana chip. Everyone bites in at the same time, the first person to get a nut gets Gold, meaning they need to be more Charitable in the new year, the second person to find the nut gets Frankinsence, they need more prayer in the new year, and the third is Myrhh, and they need to suffer and make more sacrifices in the new year. (I got frankinsence one year after a huge fight with my mother, and then I had a miscarriage, I did not want to play that game again and get the muffin of suffering the next year, lol)

 

The nativity scene comes out on the first Sunday of Advent and we put baby Jesus in His crib on Christmas morning and we sing Happy Birthday. The nativity does not get put away until Candlemas.

 

We are probably going to do the Jesse Tree this year too. Usually we give up something for Advent, like we do in Lent as well.

[abbeyej]

Here's the link to the previous threads on Christmas read-alouds:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61289

 

I didn't mention much about our actual Christmas eve/day traditions... Maybe because much as I enjoy those, it's making the whole season special that really appeals to me...

[bettyandbob]

1. We make gingerbread houses. I make and freeze dough through the fall. I bake and freeze pieces. Then we have an assembly day. We invite the cousins. Everyone builds their own house. The houses my kids build are wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and eaten as dessert on Christmas eve. I started doing this with my oldest niece, before my own dc were born. My neice is in college now and still comes to the construction party.

 

2. we have family pajamas. We open the box on Christmas eve and take a picture of all of us wearing them that night. This is expensive. Very few companies make the same pajama in adult and child sizes and we used to need infant too. I may scale this back to a t-shirt to wear with generic long underwear bottoms (some of us will not need new sizes of long underwear every year, hopefully).

 

3. the kids and I make a few new ornaments every year. Some they make for their own ornament collections, some they make as gifts and some they make for our general ornament collection.

 

4. The kids each get a new ornament for their collection. My grandmother did this with my siblings and I and we each left home with a small box of ornaments to start decorating our own homes. My mother and mil are not into nostalgia so much, so I started my children on ornament collections

[chiguirre]

I'll second Abbey's recommendation of Geraldine MacCaughrean's Jesse Tree book. It's well written and illustrated (and the ornaments weren't hard to copy for this craft challenged mom!)

 

We celebrate a lot of days in December and January so the kids don't get more than one gift at a time. Our holidays kick off with St. Nicholas bringing a small bag of treats (gold chocolate coins, clementines and a small toy) for each kid. Next is St. Lucia with dd as our Lucia serving orange rolls and ginger cookies for breakfast. Next is Solstice with a small gift and some sun cookies (gingerbread with yellow icing). We don't usually do a big tree because we travel for Christmas, but we have a small artificial tree we decorate with the Jesse Tree ornaments. On Christmas Eve we have dinner with family and always serve Venezuelan foods (hallacas, a kind of tricked-out tamale wrapped in platain leaves). On Christmas the kids get one gift. New Year's Eve is a very big deal in Vzla and we tend to do it up too. We serve hallacas again and eat 12 grapes at midnight, wish everyone a happy new year in person or by phone and then run around the house with an empty suitcase (so you will travel in the new year). New Year's day we eat lentils for good luck which is Venezuelan and pork because that's what my Polish/Hungarian family does. The next big day is Reyes (Epiphany) and the kids get one more gift and we eat King Cake. Dh's b-day is the day after Reyes so we always finish up the holiday season with his party.

 

I started wrapping presents in playsilks a couple of years ago. It cuts down on waste and renews our stock of silks which get a lot of wear and tear in our house.

 

This year I introduced Krampusz to the kids (yes, they've already asked about Christmas). He's Santa's sidekick and brings coal and switches to naughty children in Hungary. My dsis and I were always glad to have made Santa's cut, but I still remember watching Krampusz give the teenagers their "treats" when I was little and enjoying the anticipation of seeing if I was on the right list.

 

Last year we did lots of book studies from homeschoolshare for Christmas and this year I think I might buy Christmas Mosaic by Cay Gibson. We had such a good time last year, I hope it goes as well this time.

[Jane in NC]

Many of our traditions are similar to things that have already been mentioned. But what is perhaps novel comes from my husband's family. DH is Moravian so Moravian stars are hung. We have a paper star from the original paper star factory in the former East German city of Herrnhut (a community founded by Moravians) and a plastic one that is hung outdoors. These symbols of the holiday are the first to appear and the last to be returned to the attic.

 

A tradition passed on to me from my mother in law: I make Moravian sugar cakes for friends and neighbors and our own Christmas morning feast.

 

A non-Moravian tradition that has been a regular part of the holiday since I was a poor grad student is making caramels for Christmas stockings. People really look forward to these homemade candies!

[A home for their hearts]

Wow! Thanks for all the amazing responses everyone. I'm looking forward to adding many wonderful traditions to my family this year.

[Colleen]

Some of our traditions...

 

~ We anticipate Christ's birth through the Advent season. Each Advent Sunday we light the candle(s) and sing. We read an appropriate book or two ~ we've gone twice through Jotham's Journey, Bartholomew's Passage, and Tabitha's Travels. I read Advent devotions on my own during this season, too. We have done a "Jesse tree" in the past.

 

~ December 6 we celebrate St. Nicholas/Sinterklaas Day. (We don't "do" Santa Claus here, btw.) The boys each put a shoe out the night before and in the morning they have some treats in there ~ a bag of chocolate coins, a tangerine, some nuts, pair of new socks and maybe a small toy/trinket. We do special things for others on this day, too.

 

~ I like to get our tree on December 13, St. Lucia Day. Braided bread in the morning and later, off to the tree farm with a thermos of hot chocolate. I love traipsing about in the damp, misty Cascade foothills, searching for the perfect Fraser fir.:)

 

~ Each year I sing in The Messiah (practices begin tomorrow evening!). Hans and the boys always attend.

 

~ Christmas Eve, after the church service, we come home to candles and a song or two, followed by the boys each opening their one "special" present. They know in essence what it is because it never changes: Pajamas and a book to add to their personal libraries. I spend a lot of time each year choosing which book to buy for each boy.

 

~ Christmas Day is low-key here as we don't do a great deal of gifts. A few things, yes, but no present frenzy, and no rushing about hither and yon. Cinnamon rolls in the morning, a nice meal in the afternoon, and my husband's birthday cake (his b-day is December 25) for dessert.

 

~ Service is part of the season for us, too, but it changes from year to year. Sometimes we've served at a soup kitchen. Sometimes we've helped distribute presents to lower-income children. It's important to me to help my children focus on gifting others with our hands and hearts in this way.

 

~ I put on a Christmas party (adults only) each year during the week after Christmas. I prefer not to do this during Advent and I find that a lot of people appreciate the timing. We keep celebrating Christmas during the twelve days of the season.

 

~ New Year's Eve we typically go hear some live music at the museum and then choose movies and special snacks for the evening. New Year's Day we do something outside ~ no matter the weather ~ and I have a certain menu I like to serve for dinner.

 

~ We keep the tree up until Epiphany, when we have one last round of festivity. The next day Fraser goes out the door and over the dike.

 

This is some of what comes to mind. Hope you find some good ideas from this thread!

[Alessandra]

I feel as though I am in an extended family here -- so many of the traditions posted are ones that we do -- and a lot of new ideas that I'd like to try.

 

Like one of the pp, we observe Advent as a penitential season, not so much sad, as expectant. But we do have Advent calendars with good chocolate behind each window. We begin decorating our house on the first Sunday of Advent, but we do not decorate the tree (except for lights) until Christmas Eve day. After the tree is decorated, we love to turn off all the lights and just sit around the lit tree. We have lots of Advent and Christmas music, mainly sacred. We also have a battery operated "Santa train" with lights and music -- we do a whole little scene for it.

 

We celebrate St Nicholas Day too (but no Black Peter), with presents, and dc act out a little skit of St Nicholas giving coins to the widow's family -- the "skit" takes about 3 minutes, not elaborate, but sweet. Ds wears a jewelled (paper) mitre. This year I am going to try to make my own speculaas cookies -- we love the St Nicholas Center, too.

 

We do an Advent candle -- I have a booklet with prayers and readings for each day of Advent. It is a big deal for us on Christmas Eve day when we change the candles and berries and ribbons on the wreath from lavender to white and gold -- and from 4 candles to one - we will light the candle until Epiphany. We put the Christ child in the creche (we have 3 creches) on Christmas Eve and sing Silent Night. During the next 12 days, we move the kings around the house until they reach the creche on Twelfth Night/Epiphany.

 

We love the Feast of the Immaculate Conception -- it is the feast of title for a church I go to. On Christmas Eve, we just began going to Midnight Mass last year when dc were 8 -- they fell asleep but loved it anyway. The dc are also in a Christmas pageant on 3rd Sunday of Advent -- lots of rehearsals.

 

We do loads of food and special meals -- I just can't resist English Christmas cake and mince pies and Buche de Noel and marzipan and stollen and panettone and Epiphany cakes -- our whole house seems to be full of little, tiered silver dishes filled with candy. We have special meals on many days during the season -- too many to mention here. Dc love gingerbread houses -- so far we have just made the Wilson ones from the craft store, though. We read Christmassy books.

 

The most thrilling thing for me was when dd said that what she liked best about Christmas was midnight mass!!!

 

Just wanted to add -- I LOVE that people here are observing Advent & Christmas separately and celebrating 12 days of Christmas!! Sometimes, I feel that we are the only ones, and I don't want to be!

Edited October 13, 2008 by Alessandra

[Julie in AZ]

Operation Christmas Child boxes for a boy and girl our kids’ ages

 

Day after Thanksgiving

Bring out Christmas decorations

Listen to Christmas music in the car until Christmas

Christmas book basket of picture books to read at night

 

Advent - 4 Sundays before Christmas

Advent devotional and light candles each day (Jesse Tree when younger, Jotham’s Journey series when older)

Playmobil or Lego Advent boxes

Advent calendar at my parent's house

 

December

Adorenaments

Christmas Unit Study for school

Read Christmas picture books

Move Wise men each night closer to nativity (let kids find)

Kids decorate my parents’ tree with them

Watch Christmas programs on television

 

Dec. 6th St. Nicholas Day

Learn about St. Nicholas, read Gingerbread Baby, and make gingerbread cookies

Kids each get a small gift

 

Activities

Make a Gingerbread house

Visit a park - ride the train with Christmas lights in the park

Date lunch for hubby and I at our favorite restaurant

Drive around looking at lights

Candle Nativity

 

Gifts

Open presents as they arrive in the mail from family

The night before, the kids open presents of matching jammies

Stockings with muffins for breakfast

3 gifts for each child

 

Christmas Eve

Starbucks

Chinese take-out

 

Christmas Day

Brunch at my parents

[Stacia]

We have many traditions that are the same or similar to ones mentioned here, including St. Nikolaas Day -- but that mainly consists of Oma & Opa giving each grandchild a tray of sweets (cookies & lots of good chocolates). I like this day too! :D

 

One that my kids started years ago.... as soon as we hung our stockings, they each rushed off to make 'secret' drawings for the other family members. The drawings are then rolled up & put into the stockings, not to be looked at until Christmas day. It's really fun to see (and save) the drawings & this is something the kids have continued to do each year. One year, my dd did a drawing for her brother of Woody (from Toy Story) wishing him a Merry Christmas -- basically, they try to draw a picture of something they know the other person loves. We also add things to the stockings throughout the season & the kids love finding/adding little surprises to slip into the stockings.

 

On Christmas day, the kids like to fill a pie pan w/ birdseed and corn so that the outdoor creatures will have an extra nice day too, lol.

[Jenny in Florida]

I used to have the kids make some kind of ornament in bulk so that we could hand them out to all of their friends and teachers and so on. In the last couple of years, as they've gotten older (and we've all gotten busier), that's kind of slipped. My daughter, however, has decided she will revive it this year and has planned and purchased supplies for her project.

 

We send out cards to all and sundry. I know there are environmental arguments against it, but I love receiving them. So, I send them out in hopes others will get the hint.

 

Our most significant traditions start on Thanksgiving. We watch the Macy's parade on TV. As soon as it's over, once Santa has ridden by on the TV, we play the first Christmas CD of the season. It's also then fair game to start putting up the holiday decorations. My daughter has been collecting inexpensive ceramic houses, and creating her village is usually her first project.

 

Thanksgiving afternoon is also when the kids get to take the Hess trucks--including the brand new one that we acquire early but hide until the proper moment--out of their boxes and start playing with those.

 

As of December 1, we start the advent calendar. We use the same calendar every year. It has mini-books for each day that re-tell The Gift of the Magi incorporating the Muppets. The kids take turns finding the booklet for each day and handing it to an adult to read. My husband reads the ones that feature Kermit, and I read Miss Piggy. There are certain phrases that must be read exactly the same way each year.

 

We wait to put up the tree until December 16, the day after my daughter's birthday. We all decorate together, playing holiday music and snacking. I make each kiddo an ornament each year, and they get the new on on the night we decorate the tree. My husband and the kids set up a Lego train set around the tree, and usually add some new element each year.

 

Each of the kids also gets to choose a new ornament each year to add to their collection. Sometimes, this happens during a special shopping trip. Other times, it's more serendipitous when one of them just happens to see something they fall in love with during the normal course of life.

 

The idea behind all of this ornament collecting is that they will each get to take their ornaments with them when they grow up and move out. The first Christmas I lived in my own place was pretty sad, when I realized that I didn't own any ornaments and didn't have enough money to buy more than a few. I ended up getting a very, very tiny tree, buying some very cheap plastic ornaments and decorating the tree with a lot of bows. When we had kids, I was absolutely determined that they would each leave home with a "starter kit" of ornaments.

 

I always make sure there is at least one gift for each child wrapped and ready. And after they go to bed that first night, I sneak a couple of things under the tree. From then on, I usually quietly add one or two packages each night.

 

One of my very favorite things is doing the angel tree shopping. Each year, we pick tags off one of those trees set up by local charities. We choose a boy and a girl, as close as possible in age to my own kids. And I choose one teenage girl, in honor of my own mis-spent youth. We go on a shopping spree and buy gifts for all the kids.

 

Each of my kids sings with a choir, and each choir has a holiday concert. So, we attend those. For the last few years, my son has also danced in The Nutcracker, so we see that at least once.

 

At some point during the season, we go to a nearby town where they have fake snowfalls every hour on the hour. (Remember, we're in Florida. It's as close as we get.) They play Christmas songs over the loudspeakers, and we all dance in the soapy "snow" wearing our Santa hats.

 

On Christmas eve, we go to church. For a few years, my kids participated in the pageant at an early evening service. This year, though, neither of them is doing that. My daughter will be singing for the "grown-up" service. There's also usually a dinner or social hour in between the two services, and we attend that. (I bring cookies to share.)

 

After the service, which always ends with everyone standing in a circle outside and singing carols by candlelight, our family drives through a neighborhood that has fabulous holiday lights and decorations.

 

Then we go home, and the kids get to open one present each, which is always the pajamas I made for them. (When they were littler, I used to make matching PJs for their favorite dolls.) We hang the stockings, and they go to bed.

 

My husband and I put out the remaining gifts, including anything big or important that we have held back until then.

 

On Christmas morning, everyone opens their stockings, and then we have breakfast. After that, we do the tree.

 

Later in the evening, we all sit down to a nice dinner with our "good china." As of about three years ago, we all decided that Indian food was our favorite, so that's what we have now. I do a lot of the prep before-hand, including assembling the main dish in the crock pot. So, we get to enjoy the aroma of it simmering away all day.

 

Oh, and everyone gets a traditional English Christmas cracker on his or her plate. Before we eat, we all pop open the crackers. We are required to wear the enclosed silly paper crown until dinner is over. And we all read aloud the terrible jokes and trade the toys/goodies appropriately.

 

One final thing, although I don't know whether it qualifies as a "tradition": A few years ago, we got frustrated with the waste and the expense and the negative environmental impact of traditional wrapping paper. So, we bought a bunch of inexpensive, holiday-themed fabric, and I made simple bags in a variety of sizes. We now re-use those bags each year, tying them closed with real fabric ribbon that also gets kept and re-used.

Edited October 13, 2008 by Jenny in Florida

[laughing lioness]

We put up a zillion twinkly lights outside and inside.

We put up garland on the dining room entrance and the huge living room window, garland going up the stairs.

We play Christmas music.

We watch Christmas videos.

We drive around town and look at everyone's lights and decorations, with hot chocolate.

We get our tree out the week-end of Thanksgiving or go cut it. We decorate that week-end, too. The tree and throughout the house.

We so special readings for the advent season and do the advent ring.

We go to candlelight service on Christmas eve.

We have stockings first thing in the morning.

We have a nice brunch on Christmas morning and open presents one at a time so that everyone can enjoy them.

We eat a feast later on in the day.

We call all of the extended family members.

We drink egg-nog.

[joannqn]

Would you believe that our local radio station has Christmas carols on the weekends the day after Halloween? My kids are counting down the days!

 

Our radio station does this too. I turn it off and start listening to CDs instead. It's a fairly firm rule...no Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving. Of course, shopping early because of good deals doesn't count. But the kids don't know that.

 

I hope you enjoy the book. It's kind of sad but happy in the end. It's a short book, easy to read.

[Rosie_0801]

Tree, advent wreath, decorating the house, Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, dinners with family (many have birthdays just days before), and listening to lots of great music (mostly Medieval & Renaissance).

 

Can you give album recommendations? To have Christmas music without Rudolph or Frosty the Snowman...

Oh, and while we're on the topic, does anyone know of any good volumes describing the history of the carols. Most annoy me, but I think a bit of history would help overcome that. I'm sure it's not good for the kids' mental health to hear nothing but Weird Al Christmas takeoffs.

:)

Rosie

[plansrme]

In addition to many of the things everyone else has noted, we do this:

 

www.elfontheshelf.com

 

The elf comes out about December 1 and moves to a different place every night. The story (it's a lovely book, by the way) is that he flies back to the North Pole every night and tells Santa how the kids are behaving. He flies back to a different spot every morning, and the kids have to find him when they wake up. I hear that some elves play tricks, though ours has never been that creative. He has, however, ended up in the refrigerator, under a bed, in the Christmas tree, etc. My kids are 11, 8 and 5, and they still enjoy looking for our elf.

 

I've given this to several families, and it's always been a huge hit.

 

Terri

[Academy of Jedi Arts]

Our most significant traditions start on Thanksgiving. We watch the Macy's parade on TV. As soon as it's over, once Santa has ridden by on the TV, we play the first Christmas CD of the season.

 

Wow- we do the same thing! Seeing Santa in the Macy's parade is a sacred symbol of the start of the season. :D

[RoughCollie]

I've been homeschooling too long. I want to diagram those sentences!:D

 

We put up a zillion twinkly lights outside and inside.

We put up garland on the dining room entrance and the huge living room window, garland going up the stairs.

We play Christmas music.

We watch Christmas videos.

We drive around town and look at everyone's lights and decorations, with hot chocolate.

We get our tree out the week-end of Thanksgiving or go cut it. We decorate that week-end, too. The tree and throughout the house.

We so special readings for the advent season and do the advent ring.

We go to candlelight service on Christmas eve.

We have stockings first thing in the morning.

We have a nice brunch on Christmas morning and open presents one at a time so that everyone can enjoy them.

We eat a feast later on in the day.

We call all of the extended family members.

We drink egg-nog.

[Guest vicky86]

Last Christmas I drawn my family members and paste that paper on my living room. :lurk5: