Family Christmas traditions
By: zoey
I’m one of those people who think that family Christmas traditions are important. Family life is a matter of moments, and traditions are a wonderful way of treasuring those moments in time.
Christmas traditions build your family identity and make what you do unique, special and inclusive. With time, these traditions say a lot about who you are. And it doesn’t have to be as formal as you might think. A tradition can be a meal, an activity, or just taking the time to appreciate what you love most about Christmas.
When I look back on my Christmases as a child I rarely remember what presents I gave or received, but I do remember the special food that was always made, or the films we always watched, or the things we did that made our Christmas, ours. Sometimes a tradition includes the whole family and sometimes it just involves a couple of people; when we were still living at home, my brother and I had a tradition of going to the movies on Christmas Eve in mostly deserted theatres.
Our Family Traditions
I have occasionally been mocked for my enthusiasm around Christmas time. So much so that it is something of a family joke. But aside from the jokes, everyone still appreciates it.
There’s something about the child-like joy at Christmas time that I’ve always kept. I love shopping on Christmas Eve. Not actually shopping mind you. I’m not mad enough to leave actual necessary shopping to Christmas Eve – but I like to go out on Christmas Eve and soak it all in.
I love Christmas decorations. My tradition-challenged husband asked if we were putting up a tree this year given that we’re going away for Christmas. This is ludicrous of course, the tree is going up like it always does.
So what are our Christmas traditions?
- The tree goes up on the first Saturday of December. I don’t know why it does – it’s inherited from my family.
- I always buy a new and special decoration for the tree every year. Sometimes I buy more than one… I could spend a small fortune on decorations.
- A pancake breakfast with cocktails on Christmas morning and we always have potato salad and lasagna for lunch.
- Presents are always after breakfast (no matter how much my husband might protest).
- Stockings are for everyone, not just for kids!
Changing Traditions to Suit the Family
The beauty of traditions is that they can be changed. This is generally required when you combine two families to form a new one. Which is very true in my case.
The majority of my family is vegetarian. My husband, aka the carnivore, is not and neither is my daughter. So my pancake-breakfast tradition morphed into a pancake breakfast/big breakfast tradition. And this year for the first time we are starting our alternating Christmas plan, which involves one year with my parents and the next year with my husband’s parents. While I’m all about the tree and the decorations, my husband has taken over the actual decoration part because he has a far more exacting eye than I do.
Training the Christmas-tradition challenged
The first year I was with my husband at Christmas he asked me if we “had to wrap the presents”. I knew then that I was going to need to train him. Extensively. Which I have proceeded to do over the past five years. Although he throws me the occasional curve ball “can we open presents on Christmas Eve”, “do we have to wrap that – it’s big”, and yes even “are we really going to put the tree up this year?” in general he was slowly but surely won over by food traditions: garlic bread, cheesy potatoes, potato bake, lasagna and oh-so-alcoholic chocolate ripple cake.
And after our daughter was born, well you couldn’t keep him away from starting traditions with her – stockings, presents, Christmas photos with her dressed up as an elf instead of the usual photo with Santa. Oh wait, that last one was me! Because, as far as Christmas is concerned, I can always find a way to take it to a whole new level.
What are your Christmas traditions? How did they change when you started your own family?
zoey
Zoey is the mother of a 2 year old and pregnant with a jellybean. In her former life she bought lots of handbags and an array of high heels. Now she lives in regional Australia and loves it, but still misses her shoes. Zoey blogs Good Goog
Showing 7 comments
The kids have a present waiting under the tree for them when they get out the shower/bath on Christmas eve, the same thing every year...New PJ's to wear, well you want them to look good for the photo's in the morning.
We also make rocky road on Christmas eve, put the tree up on the first Sunday in December and drive to a local street where every house does elaborate outdoor lights and decorations.
My partner and I have watched 'It's a Wonderful LIfe' on Christmas Eve every year since we began dating. Usually over a wine or two and usually falling asleep before the end...
Now that we have a 4 month old to share Christmas with, we have added a trip to the Magic Cave to see Santa, the Christmas Pageant and personalised decorations, including ones for our parents who have passed away to keep their memory alive and ensure Miss M knows about them.
Merry Christmas
Like you I do think Tradition is really important to a family.
Funny you should write this post. I was mentioning about on my blog the other day about tradition. As a new family we do not have any set traditions so this year I am going to try to do something and hopefully it will stay that way for a while to be a tradition. :*)
I'm so excited about Christmas with our 20 month old, and starting new traditions this year.
I have been asking the clients in my hair salon for their stories and have decided to adopt the best of their traditions so far:
- Taking a tram ride into the city (Adelaide) to choose a new decoration and check out the magic cave.
- Driving around to see the highly decorated houses.
- Buying a pop up or some sort of special version of 'The night before Christmas' and reading it Christmas Eve.
- The grandparents have already taken her to The Pageant.
And then there's a couple of my own ideas:
-Take my daughter to one of the participating stores to buy a present to put under the tree for disadvantaged kids.
-Giving up something of your own, one of your old toys, for a child in need.
To teach about giving also.
So I'm off to search for a keepsake version of 'Twas The Night before Christmas'
and I'll be keeping my options open for more ideas too.
I'm a little like Megan. We are still in the making-traditions-as-we-go phase. I really love the point you make here about what you remember. I too, don't remember every present I received but I do remember the excitment, the food and running around with my cousins.
Oh and I buy a decoration (or 10) each year too. When my Mum was alive, I would always buy her a decoration as soon as the shops had them. I miss that.
When I was younger my favourite family tradition was driving around with my family on Christmas eve and counting the Christmas trees we could see in people's windows. As my brothers and I got older this tradition changed to us going out drinking on xmas eve. when we came home we opened one present and the rest were opened in the morning. My mum makes ambrosia only at christmas. I have carried this on.
I didn't think much of xmas in that time between my childhood and the birth of my own children - it was a time to work and get paid HEAPS. I liked that. But since having kids it has a whole new life.
We also buy a new decoration every year. The tree goes up on the first of december. stockings for everyone. Presents for the kids.
I will make ambrosia. and this year we might go for a drive and count xmas trees.
I really feel like we're still forming our traditions - despite having lived together for almost 10 years! And this year, with huge renovations and having to move out for the lead-up to Christmas... well, let's just say we may not be having a tree or decorating the house this year. But at least we'll be at my parents' house, and our toddler can have the fun of helping them decorate!