Christmas Traditions

[Shlup]

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.

[Jinx]

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!

[Shlup]

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.

[Jinx]

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.

[Shlup]

Nice. I like it.

[noxious.sunshine]

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.

[Shlup]

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.

[Shorty]

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.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

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.

[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.

[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.

[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!

[Shlup]

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.

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!

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.

I love that! Except the alone part.

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!

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

[Miriel]

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.

[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.