Do you have any xmas traditions?

So its under 100 days until xmas and it got me thinking, this will be our first xmas with Georgia, I havent been into xmas much in the past due to family stuff but I am really excited about this year.
I am going to take Georgia to target or whoever has a wishing tree and we are going to buy a child a present who otherwise may miss out. I know Georgia will not understand but I would like this to be a tradition. I want my children to understand that xmas is not all about receiving but giving as well and that sometimes people miss out. I dont want them to think it is all about the presents.

So what other traditions do you and your family have or what traditions are you hoping to start this year?

My family is not very family orientated or big on traditions, so I am trying to make sure I make my own for us.
Things like really getting into the spirit of things like christmas pj's & always have carols play leading up to Christmas.
I too am going to do the "shoebox" gift thing with DS this year & each year to come to show him it's about giving also.
We have a Christmas book with the traditional story also that gets read every year so he know's what it means to us (we have one for Easter also).

That's such a good idea Salad - I think I will copy!

The only tradition we have so far is DP saying we are going to such and such a family member's for Xmas Day and me saying "noooooooooooo, don't do that to me!" so I think we need a more positive one :p

I read Jingle Bells (A golden book) to DD every Christmas Eve. This year I plan to introduce singing carols at home because she LOVES to sing... other than that, none really. Need to come up with some good ones for us. Maybe visiting the lights... I've always done the wishing tree gifts but considered it good karma instead of tradition... but it is a tradition really isn't it?

DF & I to open a present from each other on xmas eve and since DD was born we do the same for her.
I try to watch the carols on TV on xmas eve as well

We used to go to SIL's for breakfast on Xmas day, but we are going to "re-do" our Xmas day and work out some traditions that suit us

my family have a few 'traditions':

every year my mother buys are really good quality and beautiful xmas tree decoration for her 3 kids - we are aged 30, 28 and 26 - and she's done this since we were very small.. so i have a whole box full of gorgeous decorations for my own tree.

when we were little, we'd set up and decorate the tree together on the first weekend in december. we would then take it turns putting the angel on top of the tree. dad would pick us up or put us on his shoulders and the designated person would do the honours. it was a very big thing - we'd even fight over who would do it lol and had to record whose turn it was on the angel's storage box.

each child had a pillow case with our names etc on it that santa filled. we were allowed to open these if we woke up before mum and dad - they were full of lots of goodies like hair ties and jocks.

We have a designated "present hander-outerer'' each year and everyone has an OJ and champers during the opening ceremony. We have one person open a present at a time while everyone watches. it takes a long time to get through the pressies but is lots of fun and gives full weight and ceremony to every gift :)

after presents we all help get ready for the biggest lunch ever. even as kids - I always do the ****tail sauce (have done since i was abo 8), My sister does the devilled eggs and my brother and dad 'cook' the prawns - note this takes them about 2 hrs and several beers and is done in the shed lol.

and after we've gorged ourselves on yummy food, the whole family settles down in the lounge room (doesn't matter how many of us are there or that all the kids are grown up now. there's no floor space thesedays heeehee) and we'll watch a DVD - usually someone got one for chrissy. usually half of us are asleep by the end of the film lol.

Dinner is then a self-serve ( you can even have cake if you wish) of all the left overs (which usually feed us for the next few days).

sorry if that's really long. once i thought about it, i realised we are pretty set in your chrissy ways... and love it!

now i'm expecting my first, DH and I have to also work out our own path ;)

Christmas at Casa Glamourcide (or the rellies') MUST involve a full roast lunch with all the trimmings, or it's not Christmas. My mother was getting far too slack (I've told her numerous times that if the whole hot-oven-in-December thing is too much, to install an air-conditioner) and serving awful oven-baked fish fillets and some chilled prawns (what, no salad? Gahhhh you lazy cow - it's CHRISTMAS!!), so I took up the reins last year and did stuffed chicken, vegies, even those cute little bread rolls you toast in the oven :)

I think I'm going to be an evil mother and start dressing the girls in ridiculous Christmas-themed outfits on Christmas Day. Tried it with Munchkin last year (green shirt with Santa on it and some red shorts) but she was stripped down to her nappy before I even got the camera out.

Oh, we do Santa photos every year, too.

As my parents are seperated and live 1 & 2hrs from me we usually do x-mas as follows:

* Mums family party (her WHOLE family) the Sunday before x-mas
* We would then stay at my dads x-mas eve (he has the youngest siblings) and open pressies with them, have breakfast then head off to mums on our way home.
* after mums we would head straight to DP's mums house for a MASSIVE traditional feast
* 5am boxing day DP and i would head off to our caravan for a few days just us.

Now as we have DD last yr we just saw dad after mums family thing then stayed home x-mas morning to have it with our little girl then headed to DP's mums and didn't go anywhere on boxing day.

As #2 is due early Jan am not sure if we will do any travelling this yr and might just get mum and dad to come see us before x-mas and maybe do DP's family on x-mas day!

I love watching Carols on x-mas eve, we will do a drive around with DD to look at x-mas lights in the week before x-mas and we will have x-mas morning just to ourselves with our girls from now on!

We have a few. Here are some, I'm sure I;ll forget some!

I am cheif tree decorator and do the tree and mums with my neice, nephew, DS and DD on the first weekend of Dec. Then come home and do our little unit and tree up here.
Get out the chrissy DVD's, CD's and books for the kids. Watch and re watch, and re read and re read the books and DVD's and sing the songs at the top of our lungs for a month or so!!
Have our close family dinner on chrissy eve with just my mum and brothers and our families on chrissy eve. Open our pressies to each other now. Sleep at mums.
Have extended family over for lunch on chrissy day.
Make chrissy paper with DD adn DS. Some painting and drawing for this purpose has already begun!! Using chrissy colours of course!
Have santa pics, though DD is petrified of santa, so I don't know how we'll go this year!

I'd like to start a few more like making hand made gifts (food hampers...) for people like my aunties and nan with my kids. And making my own chrissy cards with the kids pics on them, dressed up in chrissy attire of course! I love christmas!

wow you all have some great traditions, I have really enjoyed reading them all.

grub - we do similar things to your family.

Each year I buy the girls a special decoration, and I write the year on it. They each have a bauble with their name on for their first christmas.

We also set the tree up on the 1st of December, and Dh picks all three girls up and they place the star on the tree. (we all wear our santa hats while we decorate.

We have an advent calendar - and the 'christmas fairy' leaves a small treat for them each day on the lead up to christmas.

There is a Carols in the Park nearby, so we usually try to go to that each year as well.

Instead of buying christmas cards, each year since dd1 was born, I have taken a photo of them, dressed in a red outfit and wearing a santa hat (most of the time anyway lol ) and send them out to everyone. Everybody always looks forward to receiving their card , and if i'm a little late, people start to get worried lol.

I love Christmas :)

Hey Sal,
A family tradition i have had in my family the last few years are:

-On xmas eve we go for a drive around our town and look at all the beautiful houses with christmas lights there are alot of streets that get quite competitive and are so beautiful
- we watch the carols by candle light
theres more coming but gtace has just woken up lol

My own tradition is to put the Christmas tree up on December 1. We have carols playing and the girls have a ball.

Last year we took DD1 to KMart to put a pressie under the tree for the kids that don't get pressies. I will continue this until the kids are adults.

Since I have been with my DH we celebrate Polish Christmas on Christmas Eve and Aussie Christmas on Christmas Day. Our Polish Christmas consists of heaps of food!!! It usually takes us 3 days to prepare it all.

DH and I always make a point of taking the kids to look at Christmas lights. We have an awesome street up the road that takes lights to the full extent.

I love Christmas!!!!

i start decorating mid November (cos it takes weeks to get it all up) - tree gets decorated Dec 1 (will be interesting this year - we're going to a concert that night!)

ummm, we have a Christmas bbq with half our town (well, not that many, but it feels like it) the weekend before Christmas - we all get together on the one day, rather than trying to catch up with 15 different families over a couple of weeks.

Christmas eve we usually spend with my brother/SIL playing board games - yup, sounds boring, but we tuck the kids into bed, sit my aunt (with intellectual disability) in front of the carols to sing REALLY badly, then we duck off to the other room and play games and just catch up. we do the last minute wrapping of presents and everything, then wait for midnight to hit

at midnight, we wish each other Merry Christmas, go and put the presents under the tree that need to be put out (we don't do a lot of Santa stuff - so mostly it's there well before Christmas day), then off to bed.

we get up about 6 in the morning, and put the roasts on to cook. lamb in the oven, pork and beef on the bbq outside. the boys crack the first beer for the day! the kids (my bro's three) usually get up about 8, brekki, the first presents, then the waiting for the grandparents starts. when they arrive, more presents and, once it's all done, we rearrange the furninture and set up the tables for lunch. everything goes out at once, and everyone digs in. after lunch we all chill til my we are ready to go our seperate ways.

Christmas rotates between our place, mum's and my bro's. if it's at mums, we leave the parents and go to my bro's for a while to just catch up a bit without grandparents hassling the kiddies (they buy them noisy toys but won't let them play with them - wt??), then we come home. if it's here or at my bro's, my folks leave earlier than the rest of us

Christmas night we head up to DH's best friends place just to catch up with them for a while. not a lot happens, just a few drinks on the deck...

this year Christmas is here and it's the first one where we've had a kidlet, so will be interesting....


ooh, decoration wise - we always add something new each year - we put a decoration for DH and I that is relevant to us for that year - and we'll get "my first Christmas" deco for E for this year, and something spesh for her each year from now on. mum said something about seeing some 2009 deco's out already, so we'll head into town and have a squiz later in the week

I took my ds to leave a present under a wishing tree last year, he was 7 months old but I thought it was important to start these things with him. We also went to our local Carols by Candlelight and the Christmas Parade that goes through the city streets. I made his Christmas stocking by appliquing his name and a Santa and a Christmas tree onto a pillow case. I was very proud of the end product and my Mum suggested that I sew something new onto it each year. We hope to continue all of these things with him this year although I don't know how long we will be able to stay at the carols because all he wants to do is runaround these days!!;)

I read about a few that we are going to start doing.

The kids get to open a pressie on Christmas Eve and it's always a new pair of pyjamas. That way they always look nice on Christmas morning for photos!

Kids get a letter from Santa (made by mummy) that contains a little packet of magic Reindeer Dust (glitter!) so they can sprinkle it outside the door on Christmas Eve before bed so that the reindeer see the sparkle and know where to stop.

Make a Christmas book that everyone writes in on christmas day. You have your age, fav pressie, fav bit of the day. Lots of memories :).

On Christmas Eve read the story of Jesus's Birth together.

Do photos with Santa each year.

Wow, some great ideas there girls! I share many of them (I am a Christmas tragic LOL) but one thing I can add is my scrapbook album. I only scrap Christmas photos ad do about 2-6 pages a year, depending on the number and qaulity of photos. Because the whole album is chrissy-only, I tend to stay away from the traditional red and green and mix it up a little. The idea will be that the album only comes out when the tree does and is a way for the kids to remember each Christmas and see how must they have changed over the years.

Roryrory - I looove that idea - so special!!

loving the new jim jams on Christmas eve - cute idea! might have to look at doing that one!

DH used to always wear a pair of blue and white striped shorts and a santa hat with mrs claus plaits - but they got lost when we got together. so that one is out the window - might have to find something for him to wear now that is spesh for Christmas

We always do the drive around looking at the christmas lights every year, the kids absolutely love it! We try to do santa photos but last year were only successful at getting the two older kids in the photo, and that was only because they found out that if you get your photo taken with Santa, you got a little show bag with colouring in pages and chocolate in it! Gotta love bribery lol. Every year we all get a new outfit to wear on christmas day, which is wrapped and put under the tree. Because DD's birthday is 28th of November (and marks the last of our birthdays for the year), the tree does not go up any earlier than December 1, but usually later (because little hands can't help destroy...errr "rearranging" the decorations).

We usually go to PILs for christmas lunch, and MIL serves the same thing every year - pumpkin soup or prawn ****tail for entree, at least 3 different roast meats, plus ham and vegies for main, and traditional christmas pudding for dessert. She is very territorial about her christmas too - doesn't like anyone else contributing, and one year when I offered to make the pudding she decided that she would rather do what she always does and serve the tinned pudding. Yep, tinned pudding over home made. Oh well, no accounting for taste.

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each child had a pillow case with our names etc on it that santa filled.

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I've created a beautiful pillow case (or santa sack) for both of our children using felt, ribbons, bells, etc and adding something small to it each year. My daughter has santa carrying presents on one side, and 2 reindeer heads on the other. So far my son has snowflakes on one side. I also add their name and blanket stitch around the pictures in a contrasting colour.

Each year I get snapfish to create a couple of ornaments of photos of family to give out to Mum & sis & 1 set for me. I have done the last 2 Christmases.Lat year was our wedding, this year was all photos of DD with family and I ordered an extra set for DD for when she grows up. My mum does this as well (started 3 years ago)and hopefully my sister is going to start this year!! These are my favourite presents for the year, and I really look forward to making them & recieving them!! I can't wait to get the tree up and add the next family ornaments.

A few years ago I took over Christmas Day from my Grandmother as she was getting to old to do everything, and her place was getting to small for the growing family. Our first Christmas here we had 13 around the table consecutive years it has slowly dwindled down which has put a dampener on things a bit.

Last year (prior to xmas) we found out that My IL's wont come to chistmas at our place anymore cause they don't like my parents. Has to all be about them, never mind their son, or their grandchildren who they now miss out on seeing Christmas Day.

So I spend all Christmas eve (day) cleaning the house, christmas eve (night) after the kids are in bed I set the table for the 8 of us (Us, my parents, my grandmother) and I have the carols on as well.

Christmas morning kids have to be dressed and had breakfast. They then get their presents. After that I start preparing the vegetables for lunch. Mum brings the Turkey and my grandmother brings some sort of meat as well. I generally do the beef as well. So lunch is the traditional lunch with all the trimmings. After the main meal, it is pudding and custard and then when the dishes are done, we all sit down for the present opening. We also have a present hander outer which changes each year.

After that we just sit around the table and talk, kids go off and play. At tea time it is left overs with fresh salads.

Last couple of years my parents and grandmother have all gone home by 8pm. So once they are home Christmas is over. We now have had to go to the IL's on Boxing Day since they don't bother to join us anymore.

I usually put the tree up when our pageant happens which is generally early November. Last year however by the time Christmas Day arrived I was sick of looking at the tree, and it came down on Dec 27th. This year I am now going to wait till the first weekend of Dec to put the tree up. I might enjoy it more.

We are starting a few traditions, just not too sure how we will manage them this year with a newborn.

Usually, there is a mad rush to find the "perfect tree" and decorate it a week before Christmas :rolleyes:

Christmas Eve DH and I go to his church's midnight mass (that starts at 9ish) he drags me kicking and screaming because the last few years the service person has been very "anti other religions and homosexuals" and some how manages to spend the entire service whinging about that - not very Christian in my opinion.

Christmas day we spend at home (and will always do so from here on in) I usually cook a large roast and we have PIL and SIL up to the house. Depending on what other family members do sometimes we get the other BIL and his family there as well. My Mum always goes out to her folks place on Christmas day so we never see my family on Christmas.

Boxing Day - we usually go out to my folks place and Mum puts on a bbq or something its usually a big day for us as its a 2 hour drive to their place one way (doubt very much we'll be doing that this year)

Then we eat left overs for a week :rofl:

I do love Christmas. This year I have specifically told Dh that we will go to the proper Chrissy tree farm as I want to get a 10ft tree so it almost hits the roof. I love the smell of pine throughout the house.

Nae x

My family all laugh at me every 2nd Xmas i spend with them as they love watching me struggle to get the paper party hat out of the Xmas cracker to fit my big head ;)

(( From the very 1st year that Kmart introduced the Xmas Wishing Tree (about early 1990's) i was young living out of home & working full-time & studying with no dependents at the time & i would purchase a toy for a boy & girl age 10 at $20 each ... then after doing this for about 5years a friend of mine at the time & a few of her neighbours in a block of commission flats whom were all couples with one or two children living on pensions but earning cash in hand for their undeclared full-time jobs laughed at how they could go & ' collect ' these toys for their kids which they DID even though they were NOT financially struggle (they were earning$ more than i) :wall: ... I was so upset by this that i never donated a toy ever again as it so put me off donating in this way again !!! ... Sadly in a way they muck it up for other children that desperately need a toy for Xmas :())

I pop a Xmas card in neighbours (that i'm not close to) letterboxes that i know have had a hard year so as to hopefully give them a smile for that moment :D

Each Xmas DP video's DD putting the star on the Xmas tree so in years to come we all will see the change in her growing up at Xmas doing the exact same thing (1st Xmas as a bub of course i helped her) ;)

every year we buy 2 presents for the wishing tree, one for a girl and one for a boy (its always so hard to choose just one, they all deserve something ).

We don't buy presents for the adults in the family, only the kids get something from each adult (nothing too expensive, and no one is expected to buy anything for the kids if they can't afford it).

Another tradition every year is, we go to the cheap shops and buy heaps of little funny novelty items (nothing over $5), then we wrap them up and place in boxes appropriate for men or ladies. Then we play bingo after our christmas lunch and everyone wins a prize. There is always LOTS of laughter and that is so much better than spending hundreds of $$ every year on gifts we don't even know will be used or wanted.

xmas to us is more about family and cooking delicious food and having fun, and making it fun for the kids too :) I think we enjoy it more because we don't have to worry about buying gifts ect..

p.s. I forgot to add that food is a HUGE xmas tradition for our family. We always have a whole leg ham, the biggest turkey we can find and roast pork on the day. We usually have roast vegies on xmas day and then salad and left over meat on boxing day. We also have lots of snacks before the big feast. And my nan makes a traditional trifle every year. It is also tradition for me to make the shortbread and a cheesecake too. We all take part in cooking something (except my sister who can't even boil an egg), and everyone always looks forward to eating the yummy things we each make. Mum cooks the turkey and the pork.

On xmas eve or xmas night, we drive around and look at all the xmas lights.

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(( From the very 1st year that Kmart introduced the Xmas Wishing Tree (about early 1990's) i was young living out of home & working full-time & studying with no dependents at the time & i would purchase a toy for a boy & girl age 10 at $20 each ... then after doing this for about 5years a friend of mine at the time & a few of her neighbours in a block of commission flats whom were all couples with one or two children living on pensions but earning cash in hand for their undeclared full-time jobs laughed at how they could go & ' collect ' these toys for their kids which they DID even though they were NOT financially struggle (they were earning$ more than i) ... I was so upset by this that i never donated a toy ever again as it so put me off donating in this way again !!! ... Sadly in a way they muck it up for other children that desperately need a toy for Xmas ))

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Ah so sad someone had to corrupt it like that!! I still go out every year for gifts (try to get something really special to put under the wishing tree) because I'll never forget the year my sister, single mum struggling to get through uni to make a better life for her boys - didn't have enough $$ for fortnightly groceries let alone *any* pretense of Christmas and I thought to myself how it really could be any of us, given the right chain of events.

Grub...that's how I remember Christmas in my childhood - except once the parents divorced and the driving back and forth began!

Christmas tree goes up first weekend of December. We put on the musack, and have christmas cookies and spiced drinks and really enjoy our selves. Dh videos it every year (*rolleyes*) and some how every year there is always a full screen bum shot of my rear. LOL

Christmas eve is with my parents (dad & stepmum), used to be a big affair with members of SM's family but we've scaled it back since SM has been unwell. Stop and look at the Brewery lights on the way home, put out some German gingerbread and a milo for Father Christmas ;), kids into bed. Then usually some frantic late-night wrapping/toy assembly goes on. Fall into bed.

Kids are allowed to open *one* present before breakfast (usually Father Christmas's because that's the biggest one). Ham on toast for breaky. Then we go to my sisters to open rest of pressies. Lots of snacky things on plates and champagne followed by a cold spread. Chill out in the afternoon - let's be honest, this usually means playing with some of the kids new toys LOL.

We *love* christmas tv, so if we can fit some of this in, we do. :)

Really looking forward to Christmas this year, last year I had gallstones which meant I did a lot of gazing longingly at everyone else's plates. Plus this year DD2 knows about christmas (thanks to the Mickey Mouse's Christmas DVD at the FDC lady's LOL) so it's gonna be fever pitch excitement!

As the title says whats your christmas traditions??


DS is nearly 2 and i think hes beginning to understand what christmas is and i want to start some traditions with him so when he is older he can continue these and say "for as long as i can remember we have always done......."

we never really had traditions growing up so would like to start some..

what do u do in your family as a tradition???? :)