Your best Christmas traditions?

Question

Greetings,

Some mummy friends and I are brainstorming ideas to begin some Christmas traditions with 1 year olds. Something(s) that will be do-able each year (anything too complicated/time/labor intensive will just wind up being stressful someday). . . .we would love to hear any ideas from your childhood/your lives now/ideas for the future. . .

We've already considered the traditional ideas...a new Christmas ornament every year, reading a special story, baking cookinge, deocorating ginger bread houses, picture taking, caroling, etc.

Seeking your unique take or something altogether different, fun and memorable.

Tx-in-advance....Happy Holidays!

Of course we'll put out cookies for Santa and reindeer food out for his reindeer. Santa will be ringing bells outside our daughter's window too...

Answer 1

I buy ornament picture frames and fill them with pictures of the family. I started with myself and my husband and then one picture of each of our children. When My kids married I filled a ornament with the picture of them together and as they had children I filled an ornament for the children the year the were born and I up date these ornaments each year..
My children and my grand children love to come to my house and look for their ornament on the tree and they ask a lot of questions about this one and that one.

Answer 2

We used to have family traditions but all the kids have grown up. We just know have 2 little ones so we are thinking about starting up again. Our families Christmas tradition would be we would have a big party with all our relatives, All the grown ups would buy gifts for all the kids and the grown ups would pick names. The kids would then put on a Christmas play and we would sit theatre style to watch. After the play we would have a hay ride through the neighborhood and sometimes stop at our neighbors house to sing Christmas carols. If it was pretty chilly, when we got back to the house, we would roast marshallows on an open fire....Happy Holidays....

Answer 3

Around New Orleans we build artistic bonfires on the levees along the river and burn them on Christmas Eve. People make all manner of shapes ... men, reindeer, trees, all sorts of things. It's supposed to light the way for Papa Noel's pirogue (i.e., Santa Claus' canoe, which he travels in here instead of a sleigh) to visit all the children who live along the Mississippi.

You can't really build a bonfire with a toddler, but you could do something similar. Maybe light luminaries along your front walk or get the entire neighborhood in on it and do the whole street. When the kids get older let them make their own luminaries by cutting shapes out of paper bags.

If you have any Acadian or French heritage read them "A Cajun Night Before Christmas". You can get it from Amazon.com. It's written in a cute (although not authentic) Cajun dialect and has some great illustrations of Papa Noel and his alligators in the swamp!

Answer 4

I know you said you considered a new Christmas ornament, but a bit of a twist on that is to add an ornament that is relevant to your child's interest for that year. My son LOVED cows so we got a cow ornament, then Big BIrd, then Thomas the Tank engine, and you get the idea. When they leave home, they can take all those with them!

Answer 5

we load up the kids and take them to the local tree-farm the first weekend in december EACH YEAR. there is a sleigh drawn by two ENORMOUS horses there that we ride in as we look at trees. when we see one we are interested in we get out and cut it down. I always bring hot chocolate in a thermose for the kids to enjoy while we wait for the farm to wrap our tree in netting for a safe journey home. we always let the tree have one day in the house before we decorate. the next day my husband and i give each child their new ornament for the year and explain WHY we bought each specific ornament for each child. THEN we decorate the tree. the kids ALWAYS start with their own box or dated ornaments (of course) because they want a "front spot" to display their special things :)

YES, this takes a lot of preperation and does become a WEEKEND event... but it is SO worth it... and once you start doing something (a tradition) it doesn't seem consuming... it seems like it's just "on the schedule" of holiday events... just like x-mas day itself!

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season!

Answer 6

Growing up, my siblings and I looked forward to driving out to some remote tree farm and walking till we found the perfect tree. Then we took turns cutting it ourselves.
The farm we went to sold hot chocolate and ornaments that my grandmother would buy us every year.
Then on Christmas eve night, we were each allowed to open a single present only after we sang a Christmas carol (individually).

Answer 7

Rolled out home made sugar cookies Homemade fruitcake.Oranges and tangerines. Nuts and candy. Hot apple cider with all those spices and punchy taste. Playing Christmas songs. Enjoying the quiet simple times. Sitting by the fire wishing that it would snow. Not thinking so much about things but thinking more about life.

Answer 8

Our yearly tradition is a Christmas journal. We each write a brief summary of the day - what we got, who we shared the day with, our thoughts, what we ate, what we hope to do next year, etc. We include special holiday cards and photos of the kids. It's fun!

Answer 9

My family has Christmas breakfast instead of the traditional dinner! It's something I hope never changes!

Answer 10

do you have snow? go tobaganning, and hot chocolate over an open fire.... i grew up in the snow!!!! small country girl....loved the hotchocolate over an open fire. how about a sleigh ride and HC.....or skating on and open pond with HC afterwards?