Today is the first day of Christmas and the countdown has officially begun. The Christmas season is one of rich family traditions. When my husband and I got married we each brought some of the traditions surrounding the holidays into our own family. Having traditions gives our children something to look forward to and brings our family closer together. Here are some of the Christmas traditions that our family has.
Starting with the first day of December my children have several advent calendars that we use to count down the days until Christmas. The first is a Nativity Scene where my children get to add another figure to the scene each day until Christmas. The other includes a small gift or piece of candy for each day. They really like this advent calendar.
Of course there is the annual decorating of the house and Christmas tree. Last year we bought a fake tree and although I miss the scent of pine (my husband told me to just light a candle) I do enjoy not having to water the tree. In the last ten years our Christmas trees have lost all of their needles at least three times before Christmas because I forgot to water them. And yes the only plant I have managed to keep alive sits on my kitchen cupboard next to the sink and doesn’t require much water. Our Christmas tree is a hodge-podge of decorations both old and new. Each year my mom gives our children their own decoration that we add to the collection.
Christmas Eve we have a big dinner, ending with a dessert called Bouche de Noel (Christmas log). Which is a French cake roll decorated to look like a log. My parents both served LDS missions to France and this dessert was a Christmas tradition in my family. Then we read the Nativity story from the Bible.
After our children go to bed my husband and I set out all the wrapped Christmas presents (mainly because my youngest can’t resist unwrapping presents) and those that Santa brought. My husband places candy canes on the Christmas tree, a tradition from his family.
Christmas morning our children have to wait until 6:00 to wake us up. So far this hasn’t been a big problem since our children are young. Then Dad goes down and checks to make sure Santa came. He puts on Christmas music, gets out the video camera, and turns on the fireplace and Christmas tree lights. The children line up from youngest to oldest and walk in the living room to see the presents that Santa left sitting out for them. Then one at a time starting with the youngest our children open their presents. They aren’t allowed to play with them until everyone has opened their gifts. This gives us time as parents to snap pictures of each child and gives the children a chance to see what their siblings received and express their gratitude.
During the day we usually watch a new movie, play games, and just relax. I cook a big breakfast and we eat leftovers for the rest of the day. The nice thing about having the big meal Christmas Eve is that there is no meal preparation on Christmas. We don’t go anywhere for Christmas, although my parents have come to our house before. We like having our own Christmas and our own family traditions.
What Christmas traditions do your family have?
See related blogs:
Christmas Traditions
The Roots of Christmas Traditions
Christmas Tradition and Advent Calendars