Christmas Traditions

This is our first year as a little family of three, and we're spending a surprising amount of time agonizing over what traditions we want to participate in.

So far we've got:

• Christmas stockings are handmade by Mommy (That's me! Woo!)
• Celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December 6 (BJ's family's tradition)
• On Christmas morning everyone gets an orange in the toe of their stocking (my family's tradition)
• Kid(s) make an ornament every year for her/their mommy and grandmas

I guess we'll skip everyone getting pajamas on Christmas Eve. And there's probably no point in opening one present on Christmas Eve anyway since we usually have a full Christmas celebration at my in-law's on Christmas Eve.

I totally want to do Elf on the Shelf when my kids are old enough though.

What are your favorite traditions? What do you want to do with your kids?

BONUS: One of my favorite pictures ever, from St. Nicholas Day. St. Nicholas put a sweet potato in Bailey's stocking! She's going to have it for dinner tonight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...2259be41e1.jpg

All I can see is BJ's head. :(

Our tradition has always been to do all of our presents on Christmas Eve, and then save our stockings for Christmas morning. I love it. We also have a voodoo doll that we hang on our tree, and have even topped our tree with on a few occasions. We also do the new pajamas on Christmas tradition.

Last year saw a new tradition. It's a New Year's Day tradition, but we're going to do it again this year! Basically New Year's Day is champagne and Doctor Who day!

I'm starting to think Photobucket doesn't like saving pictures right.

Is the voodoo doll of someone? Doing voodoo on Santa might be fun. My mother-in-law would just hate that though. xD

That reminds me! It's not Christmas-related, but BJ and I do Thanksgiving in July. We have a Thanksgiving feast without worrying about family crap.

Nope, just a voodoo doll! It's an authentic one, so it looks a lot different than what most people imagine. One year we didn't have our ornaments out, so I was being cute and put our voodoo doll on the tree. It stuck.

Nice. I like it.

We used to do what Sam does- Open presents after dinner on Christmas Eve and stockings on Christmas morning.

Christmas Eve we would do snacks/appetizers/finger foods and then Christmas Day, my mom does a standing rib roast (prime rib? IDK what it's actually called) or a good ham as opposed to turkey and dressing. She's been opting for the rib roast the last several years though.

But since my parents are pretty well broke and so am I and my sister doesn't bother bringing any of the good presents she buys for Parker to open, Christmas is pretty depressing. It's not about the presents at all, of course, it's just really sad that it used to be a much bigger deal in my family than it is now. Plus I'm always worrying that it'll be the last Christmas I get with my dad and it's another year that I couldn't get my kid a ton of gifts like my parents did for me.

You guys are weird. Stockings are supposed to be the present appetizer! You put toys and snacks in it to keep the kids busy and not-starving while the parents sleep a little longer.

I like Christmas morning at my dad's house. My stepmom doesn't put any presents under the tree until Christmas night, so that when we wake up the living room is busting with presents. She really goes overboard.

Would help if she didn't try to wrap an entire room's worth of presents the night before though.

You've reminded me of a good on though: Christmas roast. I make a damn good roast.

We open one present on Christmas Eve - usually it is pajamas and slippers, and spend the evening watching one or more Christmas movies. This almost always includes How the Grinch Stole Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life.

In the morning, we go for stockings first and then one person is "Santa" and hands out gifts (I'm fairly certain this is a common thing).

I've been a part of other Christmases where they play Find the Pickle. I never really got it, and the idea of pickle ornaments is weird to me.

Every year my extended family on my mom's side gets together on Christmas Eve to celebrate my grandma's birthday. We also exchange gifts with the extended family on that day and we have a big feast.

On Christmas Day, my siblings and my niece comes over early in the morning and we open presents. The presents are under the tree from a few days before Christmas and on until Christmas day in which my mom has always gotten up really early to move the gifts from under the tree and into piles for each person. She'll also write little notes from Santa on the gifts for the little kids until they grow out of it. Then we have another feast for lunch that day. We used to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation as well, but we haven't done that the past few years.

Shlup, I have a fun Christmas idea: Get a stocking big enough to fit Bailey in. And as she gets older, just keep getting a bigger stocking, until she's 18 and you have to sew it yourself! Take a picture ever year.

I go to the movies in my pajamas on Christmas day. My family has been doing it for years. This will be the first year I go alone. Unless I meet somebody while snowboarding who wants to go with me. ;)

The only tradition we have is everybody in my house shuts up while I watch A Christmas Story at 8p.m. on Christmas Eve.

This year I am going to try to start some traditions though, for my niece and nephew. The first is going to be a homemade stickybun on Christmas morning tradition. We'll see how it goes!

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Originally Posted by Jinx

Shlup, I have a fun Christmas idea: Get a stocking big enough to fit Bailey in. And as she gets older, just keep getting a bigger stocking, until she's 18 and you have to sew it yourself! Take a picture ever year.

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This would be good for an only child, which Bailey probably won't be all that long. I was going to make her stocking big enough to fit her in, but I backed out 'cause I don't want to fill that thing up!

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Originally Posted by Pant Leg Eater from the Bad World

I go to the movies in my pajamas on Christmas day. My family has been doing it for years. This will be the first year I go alone. Unless I meet somebody while snowboarding who wants to go with me. ;)

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I love that! Except the alone part.

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Originally Posted by fire_of_avalon

The only tradition we have is everybody in my house shuts up while I watch A Christmas Story at 8p.m. on Christmas Eve.

This year I am going to try to start some traditions though, for my niece and nephew. The first is going to be a homemade stickybun on Christmas morning tradition. We'll see how it goes!

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My dad loves A Christmas Story. And I love stickybuns.

I want to eat Bailey's chubby little baby thighs.

I've been thinking about the whole Christmas tradition thing because my family never really had set traditions and I've been wondering what kinds of traditions we should have with the kiddos. My family did occasionally go to the movies on Christmas day or trips to Palm Springs or the mountains. And sometimes my Grandpa dressed up as Santa, and we ALWAYS went to Church on Christmas Eve. But we never really had specific traditions that we adhered to. I actually kind of like the idea of doing something new or different every year, rather than always having to do the same things every year. But traditions are nice, that's what normal families do right?

I do think I want to make ornaments for the babies until they're old enough to make their own every year. And I love the idea of incorporating some sort of charity or volunteering as a family every year around the holidays. Not sure what else though. It would be nice if the traditions sort of arose naturally.

I don't like the idea of going to the movies on Christmas day D: I know why families do it, but it makes me feel so bad for the people working, and I don't want to support that.

Some people like to work on Christmas, tbh. When I worked for Kmart we had a family who were Jehovah's Witnesses so they didn't celebrate. They'd come in on Christmas day for the adset and earn doubletime pay! Sometimes I really considered doing it too.

But honestly I feel the same way. You people stay in your homes! Watch tv and drink cocoa!

I go to midnight mass every year at.... midnight.

I also used to get a tree every year, but it has been a bit over budget lately.

What I used to do, except for the past 2 years, was start the food around 10-11, depending on the size of the turkey, go to mass at midnight, come back, eat dinner, and then open presents. Then bed.

Did he just put a hat on so you can take the picture, or does he really wear his hats to sleep with his pjs?

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Originally Posted by Shiny

Did he just put a hat on so you can take the picture, or does he really wear his hats to sleep with his pjs?

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Every time I grab the camera I also have to bring him his hat.

My Christmas traditions include watching Home Alone, making my own Christmas cards (I sent the first batch out last week so check your letterboxes!), listening to one two three Christmas Carols, and complaining about having to buy people gifts for the sake of buying them gifts. As a minimalist household we don't decorate beyond this, recycle grocery bags to make our own wrapping paper, and usually donate a lot of what we've been given the week afterwards.

My Christmas tradition is to be at work. (like srsly I've worked Christmas day for the past 6 or 7 years now)

I'm not actually at work on Christmas Day this year and don't know what to do with myself lol. I'm attempting to cook my own Christmas dinner and will probably sit down and with some wine and watch some crimbo films on Netflix

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Originally Posted by Shorty

I don't like the idea of going to the movies on Christmas day D: I know why families do it, but it makes me feel so bad for the people working, and I don't want to support that.

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Ehhh. I'm sure there are definitely people who would rather not work on Christmas but you have to remember that a lot of people don't mind, appreciate the extra $$$ or don't place as much significance on Christmas Day. Like culturally, lots and lots of Asian households will go out to eat on Christmas. I know for a fact that lots of families who own restaurants are delighted with the rush of Christmas customers. Look into pretty much any Chinese restaurant on Christmas Day, and I bet you it will be open and bustling with happy eaters. It's a big business day for them, and honestly, lots of fun to eat out in a day when most everyone is in a jolly mood. My family has eaten out on Cristmas day before and it's always been pretty fun. But my family is not very typical American sit around a Christmas tree type people...

Attachment 49421

Printed a few more of these this morning to write out for my coworkers and in-laws. I've sent out forty of these suckers so far!

They are adorable.

I was lucky enough to receive one! :jess:

did you design them yourself? hella.

I don't really have any traditions. Although, well, I mean... getting my presents still requires a goddamn treasure hunt which is the greatest thing in the world

You stamped them yourself?? It's front and center on my shelf but now it's officially my favorite. Well, maybe next to the moose.

Thanks! I designed, carved, stamped and hand-wrote those little guys! Letter writing and card making is serious business xD

Foa, you should have received one too! Shlup, I can't compete with moose! Maybe next year. Rantz won the race to my letterbox this afternoon - his card has a tyrannosaurus on it which means his is probably the winner by default :D

There is only one notable Christmas tradition at our flat, and that is to watch Gordon Ramsay's Christmas Cookalong.

AND I JUST FOUND OUT IT IS NOT HAPPENING THIS YEAR AND I AM SO VERY :( RIGHT NOW.

My parents' idea for Christmas tradition was let us open our presents on Christmas morning, then immediately put us in the car and drive hours to see relatives that I would only see once per year (on Christmas). So I'd sit around at someone's house completely miserable thinking about the fun I could be having at home. Sometimes it snowed and we couldn't leave the house, and it was the best thing ever.

Everyone with kids, please don't do this to your kids.

I just remembered one of my favourite traditions, which is that every year I have to wrap Spuuky's brother's present many many times, covering it with random bows and layers of tape and such to make it as difficult as possible for him to extract his present. This year I've upped my game, so his present is inside this. I'm pretty excited for him to open it!

wake up, make coffee, wait for parents to wake up, wake siblings up while we all huddle around the tree, waiting on our parents. When they finally make it out of bed (they were always up all night wrapping all the gifts), my parents would hand out presents while drinking their coffee. We used to do stockings before presents, but we stopped doing stockings at some point. We would then go our separate ways with our gifts until it was time to go to my mom's parents' for dinner, where we would eat dinner, open stockings, THEN open presents.

Before Peter, Andrew and I woke up, exchanged gifts, watched Andrew's dad open his present, then hang out till it was time to go to dinner. We go to my family's dinner first, then his.

This year, we got up, fed the baby, then helped him open his presents and I opened mine (I'm still waiting for parts of Andrew's present in the mail, making him an emerald dragon necklace), and now we're hanging out until it's time to leave for my family's dinner. I got the best present ever from Peter :') Attachment 49492

Sticky buns did not happen because smurf you, I was up until 1 a.m. wrapping gifts.

Okay, if you designed and carved it too then you definitely beat the moose. It's way cute!

My Christmas tradition in recent years has been to watch The Muppets Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve, and then spend the day playing that year's Assassin's Creed release. :shobon:

my mum always makes me sit on the floor by the tree and open the troutload of presents she buys me

i appreciate it and all but like im 25 just buy me a jumper and some socks and some booze

This was the first time in a couple of years where my immediate family and I just bummed around all day after opening gifts. It has been years since something like that has happened, and it was so nice to experience once again.

I went and had breakfast at Denny's and then saw Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug in the theaters. I didn't go in my jammies like normal though. I'd forgotten them at home. So I wore a nice shirt and tie.

Only one tradition left, which is the "boxing up and donating of unwanted crap". Spuuky emailed his family basically threatening to disown anyone who gave him candy or useless plastic things, so there is slightly less crap to weed out this year than previously, and his mother made us dried apple slices and vegan peanut butter cups instead. Well done, dear!

Every year we open up presents on Christmas morning after someone makes breakfast. I think it was bacon and eggs....two days ago and I already forgot. That can't be good.

i am never really sure we ever had a big christmas thing going on. maybe we did put up a tree every now and then and family does come over but it is not the give all the gifts in one visit kind of thing :x

i am not complaining i am just happy to get to see family i do not see often

most of the time the minute december starts members of my family start getting gifts and sometimes nobody gets the last gift untell sometime in january xD

i guess i kind of like it random :x

we open all the gifts on Christmas Eve and then spend Christmas the one day most of the family has off watching whatever DVDs we got or playing our new games, or just relaxing on the couch. I always have a cup or two of hot chocolate and we usually have a roast for dinner. over all not a bad day. I love spending it with my family just chilling and not rushing from house to house anymore.