So, does anyone have any traditions, things that they do every single year for [name]Christmas[/name]? I would love to hear what you all do!
Before the big day, [name]Gabe[/name] and [name]Naomi[/name] make christmas decor and we put it up around the house. [name]Eliska[/name] helps me bake food and she and my husband go and pick out a tree. On the day, all of the children open their stocking presents at home and we film their surprised faces, haha! Then we go to my parents house and have a big [name]Christmas[/name] dinner with my four older brothers, my sister and their partners and children. We then let the children open their bigger presents followed by the adults presents. Then we either all snuggle up together to watch a film or we sing carols and the younger children perform pantomines or little plays! On boxing day, we meet up with my husbands parents and the kids open up some of the presents we left over from the day before with them! Very busy!
I used to go to my grandparents to celebrate, since [name]Christmas[/name] isn’t really my holiday.
However in recent years, my mom has taken me and my brothers to go see a movie on the day. Theatres are open, but usually very empty, so it’s nice to go see a family movie, and spend quality time with each other and all.
When I have my own family I plan on having [name]Christmas[/name] be a big thing for various reasons.
I don’t know if getting gifts for your pets is a tradition, but it’s something we do for our cats.
We always do our decorating in a blitz on one [name]Saturday[/name] close to [name]Christmas[/name].
And my tradition is to make homemade cards for everyone. [name]Just[/name] cause.
Normally my whole family gets together at my grandmothers house (she has a large stately house) and we open all the presents from there. Each family member gets new pjs on [name]Christmas[/name] eve. This year might be different though, my mom died last month so many in my family aren’t feeling overly festive.
We didn’t really take [name]Christmas[/name] seriously when I was a kid, and I am not religious so it doesn’t mean much to me but I do love [name]Christmas[/name] decorations and lights. I’ve always been a [name]Christmas[/name] movie geek, so our only tradition right now is to watch the movie Elf. It’s seriously my favorite movie ever. We plan on having a [name]Christmas[/name] tree and getting [name]Rowan[/name] a few gifts, and I would like it to be “magical” for her. I want to read books about [name]Santa[/name] and [name]Rudolph[/name] and make her really excited about it because I think [name]Christmas[/name] is a holiday for kids. To believe in magic, it’s really the only time in her life she will. Why not let her imagination go wild?
Traditionally in my family up until I left for college, it went like this:
[name]Day[/name] After Thanksgiving:
Buy a REAL tree
Hang up [name]Christmas[/name] lights and decorations
Decorate tree (a few days later)
[name]Christmas[/name] [name]Eve[/name]:
Go to church (evening)
Eat dinner
Play [name]Christmas[/name] songs on the piano
Open presents (not from [name]Santa[/name])
[name]Christmas[/name] [name]Morning[/name]:
Open presents from [name]Santa[/name] and stockings
Have lunch with family
Play games
Then we went off and did our own thing
My husband and I are spending [name]Christmas[/name] alone this year and so far plan on getting a tree and some decorations. We don’t have kids, but we are getting our cats a present! So no established traditions yet, but when we do have kids, we plan on doing the cute tradition his family did where each year the kids got an ornament. My husband apparently has a box of his own ornaments stashed away somewhere. He doesn’t know where it is, lol!
We walk around a few weeks before [name]Christmas[/name] in a lovely area with canals and lots of gorgeous lights. We bring along hot chocolate.
We put up decorations on Thanksgiving and take our [name]Christmas[/name] card picture.
My mom and I always get together before [name]Christmas[/name] to bake!
We go to church on [name]Christmas[/name] [name]Eve[/name] and then do a big dinner and presents. We usually sing as well. Then each smaller family has their own [name]Christmas[/name] [name]Day[/name] together.
Go to church. Have sandwiches for dinner. Go for a walk. Open presents. Have turkey for tea. also like going to carols by candlelight and other special church services around [name]Christmas[/name].
[name]Christmas[/name] [name]Eve[/name] my boyfriend’s mum often hosts a BBQ ([name]Christmas[/name] is in the summer in NZ). We used to stay until after midnight, but now that we have a baby we head back home uite early so he can go to bed. Then we might watch a Christmassy movie & eat a bit of christmas baking.
[name]Christmas[/name] morning is just me, my boyfriend & our son, we’ll open the gifts we’ve bought each other before heading to his mum’s place for brunch. Sausage, egg, bacon, maybe some black pudding, also fresh fruit & pancakes. We exchange gifts and then all just relax together. If the weather is nice enough we go for a walk or to the beach or park.
If my mum is in town we then go to her place for a late lunch or [name]Christmas[/name] dinner, exchange more gifts and just relax.
This year I really hope the weather will be warm and sunny since we are planning on giving [name]Leo[/name] a paddling pool and some beach things like a bucket and spade. It would be nice to be able to head to the beach.
For my family we put up our tree (real or fake) and all the decorations. Then on [name]Christmas[/name] eve we open up themed [name]Christmas[/name] pyjamas (one year girls: horses boys: bears) then on [name]Christmas[/name] day we first open hand made stockings (made by grandma) one by one, then we open presents in order (oldest to youngest.) My family has always loved our [name]Christmas[/name] traditions.
My parents are divorced, and everyone is in town, so we basically spend two days driving all over creation. [name]Christmas[/name] [name]Eve[/name], we go to [name]MIL[/name]/FIL’s house where everybody brings an appetizer or two. The family is kind of bizarre so this can range from moderately fun to really stressful depending on the mood in the air ;). It’s more fun when DH’s brother/s are actually there, but they both live out of state and rarely make it in. We start [name]Christmas[/name] [name]Day[/name] at my step-sister’s (dad’s side) house with a biscuit and gravy breakfast with Dad and step-mom, her two daughters, and their families. It’s delicious and fun my favorite part of the day. If I had my way, we’d head home after this to watch [name]Christmas[/name] movies and drink cocoa and chill out. Instead, we head even further away from home to hit my mom’s in the late afternoon, where we cram my 3 brothers, 4 step sibs, and all of their (large) families into a small 3 bedroom ranch-style home. Claustrophobic doesn’t begin to cover it! Oh well, closeness is what family is all about!