my husband and i just bought our first house and this is our first yr having christmas in our very own home with our 2 kids 5 &3....and i want to adopt some new family traditions ...we already go and chop down a tree every year but i want something else to incorperate....any one have some special ideas for me.....i really want to make our first christmas special for me and my family.......
2006-10-23 03:52:21 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Christmas
Was always our family tradition to go out a few nights before Christmas and see the Christmas lights..
Also, we always had our turkey dinner on Christmas Eve Night so that left Christmas day to have fun and eat leftovers and not worry about cooking.
I used to take my kids every year to the North Pole, Colorado on December 23...and now I do it with my grandkids.
Always watched Its A Wonderful Life late late Christmas Night..
my kids used to ugh at it when they got older but now that they are adults they watch it now with their kids. hehehe
I saw in Bronners Christmas Ornament Catalog for sale years ago a Glass Pickle Ornament..which I bought...Don't know how this got started, because its not a German tradition that I know of, but, I hung and hid that small glass pickle ornament on our trees for years and the first kid to find it got to open a present on Christmas Eve...and now my kids do that on their trees for their kids...
You perhaps both have traditions from your own childhood that you could bring into your lives as a cple with children.
Traditions are just that..carried on from one generation to the next..
Whatever things you do with your family during the holidays that you all find enjoyable will always make it special.
2006-10-23 04:11:12 · answer #1 · answered by akablueeye 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
My family and I start the week before Christmas decorating the outside with lights so on Thanksgiving night we are all lit up. I keep my dining table dressed in harvest decor but the rest of the house has decorations for Christmas lights, snowmen, angels and hanging decorations from the ceiling. I do all that the night before Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving day my family comes over and we decorate the tree as part of my Mom's birthday. Last year we started buying live trees which we planted in the back yard. This was our youngest first Christmas so it was his tree. We will be doing that every year.
We drive around look at all the other displays through Christmas Eve. We always open one gift before bed and we read the Christmas story.
We do more than just those things but I'd be here all day.
2006-10-23 08:37:05 · answer #2 · answered by hiscinders 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
So far, I really like Heather's answer the best. How about taking a nice picture of your Christmas tree with your whole family sitting beside or in front of it, and putting it in a frame, and do that each year and start your own 'Christmas Eve Family Photo' and put them in one of those collection frames that'll show each Christmas together.
Start a tradition that every Christmas Eve the whole family sings a few Carols together with Holiday music while you're wrapping last minute presents for a special cause, say one or two small gifts every year for a 'less fortunate' person you may know ?
Just a couple ideas. Happy Holidays.
2006-10-23 04:22:32 · answer #3 · answered by odafintutuola 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hello!! I am in almost the same boat! My children are 5 & 2. Here are a few things we do every christmas!
1. We allow the kids to open one present on christmas eve
2. On Christmas Eve, my daughter & I always make the cookies we leave out for jolly old saint nick.
3. There is never a christmas eve without watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
4. Hot Chocloate & cuddling up under blankets together is an awesome way to really get the christmas spirit on the move!
Good luck! & have a wonderful holiday!
2006-10-23 04:02:02 · answer #4 · answered by Heather 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I always have a cookie decorating party with cousins. I make big gingerbread men and all kinds of decorations. The kids love it.
Every Christmas eve we ordered Chinese Food. That's still a favorite. We hand out family gifts right afterward and as a kid it was easier to wait with the quick clean up.
Another is participating in the children's rendition of the Christmas Story at Church.
A chocolate Advent Calendar.
We also have an Advent wreath that we light each night before dinner. 4 candles, 3-purple and one pink, each week one is lite with the pink being lite on the 3rd week with the others. On Christmas morning breakfast all candles are white.
Making a popcorn and Fruit Loop string for the tree. And Paper chains for around the house.
"Adopting a family" and go shopping as a family for the gifts.
Right now my daughter is embracing her Swedish heritage-her Grandfather is Swedish, as is her favorite doll. So we started to sort of celebrate St. Lucia day on the 13th we make St. Lucia buns and have them for breakfast with a Swedish dinner.
Also there is the Christmas pickle. Santa hides the pickle (ornament) in the tree and whoever finds the pickle on Christmas morning gets an "extra" present from Santa.
Watching "Miracle on 34th Street" with a big bowl of Popcorn.
2006-10-23 04:34:16 · answer #5 · answered by Marge Simpson 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My husbands family all gets together and makes cookies once a year to eat and to give away as presents. Everyone makes a couple of kinds so it ends of being a lot of cookies and a big variety. I have joined in this tradition. The kids have a good time with this too. Like with cut out cookies but they just have fun being together. It is something I look forward to every year. I can smell the cookies right now.
2006-10-23 06:38:49 · answer #6 · answered by Jamie A 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Buy Hallmark Christmas Ornament for the tree. Pick out a collection and each year you can add another one each year. Try to get there book that will show you all the ornaments and choose the one you like. My daughter is 41 and every year she would get a Xmas Barbie and a New Ornament Till this day I still do it and she looks for it.I also started my grandchildren when they were born.
2006-10-23 06:11:18 · answer #7 · answered by lennie 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When I was little, we cut down our tree the weekend before Christmas. The tree actually went up on Christmas Eve day. We spent Christmas Eve decorating the tree, hanging stockings, reading 'The Night Before Christmas', drinking hot chocolate and hot apple cider, listening to Christmas Music. Then the kids went to bed. Christmas morning, the stockings were filled, presents were under the tree - it was magical.
2006-10-23 03:56:52 · answer #8 · answered by padwinlearner 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The traditions that we have outside of our home is that we go to my mom and dad's on Christmas Eve. My parents and I have done our "Christmas" on Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember. On Christmas Day, after opening the presents at home, we go to my mother and father in laws, where we have a big family dinner, and my father in law reads the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible to all of the kids. I also go with my parents every year to cut our Christmas trees at the tree farm. :)
2016-03-28 04:57:46 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hello, I am French, and I, as soon as comes December 1st, I make my Christmas tree, I decorate the house and I made or bought a decoration of Christmas which I put every year on the tree.
I also like listening to Christmas carols to put me in the atmosphere.
2006-10-23 03:57:41 · answer #10 · answered by kinette_cc 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋