Christmas Traditions

giverny_breeze

After a family church service on christmas eve we all write christmas lists for father christmas and then burn them up the chimney, our dad then tells us a story about elves collecting the pieces as they float through the air and then reassembling them at the North Pole so Santa can check your list one more time.
We also leave carrots, mince pies and whisky(to keep santa warm) out for reindeers/santa and a letter, which is always dutifully reciprocated by father christmas.
We have an open fire place so santa leaves big footprints of soot all over the lounge floor going upstairs to where stockings are put on beds with glitter mixed in with the soot... its really lovely to see my siblings wake up to this, builds excitement beyond belief and i'm just as bad becuase i can remember it from when i was small.
We always get a set of pj's and slippers as our first presents from under the tree- stockings are opened at the foot of our parents bed and tree presents come after baths and breakfast.
We always get a family game for us all to share, eg monopoly, risk and last year was buzz and singstar for the playstation, something to do all together on christmas day in the afternoon.


OOOH I'm so excited now!

kraftykat

On Christmas eve it's usually quite hectic here.

I prepare all the veg & meat for Christmas dinner, make a trifle & stock the fridge with drinks etc.

Later everyone gets bathed/showered and dressed to go to Mass (vigil at 6pm instead of midnight mass). After Mass we come back home and load the car with all my Mum & Dad's presents and take them to their house where I put them under their Christmas Tree.

After that it's home and kids into new pj's, stockings hung, goodies for Santa left out. Kids go to bed, DH & me have a Bailey's and wait till kids are asleep then Santa arrives. This ends with DH & me collapsing into bed exhausted.

Christmas morning we all open our presents together, have breakfast, parents-in-law come to see kids with their presents, then dinner...then the rest of the day seems to fly by.

Since DS was born (he's 13.5 yrs now) I've always put chocolate coins & a Terry's chocolate orange into kids stockings.

OOOOH I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!:xmassign: :xmastree: :snow_grin :rudolf: :snow_laug :santa2:

vikki_louise

I love christmas traditions and drive my family mad by trying to make them stick to them! on xmas eve i make my mum read me twas was the night before christmas, its the same copy of the book which her mum read to her every year. only im 23 now! We open pressies slowly over the day rather than in one go, each taking turns etc. At lunch ive started doing a donation to charity in honour of each person and they have a little something to open, one year it was one of those fluffy yellow chicks you get at easter as i arranged for a real chicken to be sent to someone in africa, last year i had a sleigh with little boxes wrapped in ribbon with information as to which charity i had made a donation for them too etc (each one was different). boxing day we would do xmas day over again but at my grandparents (even though they would come to ours for xmas day), complete with turkey and small tree presents, often things like a terrys chocolate orange, nuts etc

scaredy_cat

:santa2: Even though i'm single, i still do a proper xmas dinner and have decorations up.:snow_laug

The day starts about 10am with a fry up breakfast - with fried bread yum!! - and then prepare some veggies. I get a small 4kg turkey and put it in the oven about 2pm, so that i have my Christmas dinner about 6-6.30pm while watching the Christmas Day movie! :beer:

The cat has some turkey for her dinner as well.:xmassmile

I have a relaxing day, not bothering to get dressed, i just slop around in comfy clothes and most importantly - NO ARGUMENTS OVER THE REMOTE CONTROL!!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:


:xmastree: :xmassign: :xmastree:

sethsgran

Katie I would say something if this was me forgetting? as I would be sad as a grandma to know that I had hurt one of my littlies. Can't think what the good reason might be but why not give them the benefit of the doubt then if they are being mean I would ask then not to buy for your daughter as I would want my children treating equal also. Hope this works out for you.

sweetnskint

katie- thats really sad poor ds.maybe you should buy a special one from you then when others say this is the one.... bought me.-he could say this is a special one mummy bought me when i was 3.you could really make a big fuss of letting him know what a special bauble it is! they should be ashamed.... x

bigsmoke

on christmas tradition of ours that i love is making a wish on the christmas pudding.
my mum makes the pudding weeks before christmas, so that it can be topped up with booze before the big day (!), but when she puts the mix together we all take a go with wooden spoon and make a wish for the coming year while we stir the ingredients

us kids have lived away from home for years now, but she always rings us up and stirs-by-proxy for us so that we can make a wish over the phone!

EMminently

Baybee1984 wrote: »

Aw really? Thats awful! Id have said something by now but thats me haha.

I'm sure they'd have just forgotten and don't mean any harm. It seems silly that you're so annoyed - why not just address it and get it over with, rather than carry the resentment for the next few years! i'm sure if they realise, they'd be upset that they have missed him out. It seems mean, on both them and your child, that you'd want to highlight it by getting him to ask why he's been forgotten. Move on, and start remembering what Christmas is about. Life's too short to get so annoyed about a bauble.

EMminently

Our family get together and walk the dogs on the beach. There's a lovely Christmas spirit and we enjoy observing what everyone has had for Christmas - new coats/ scarves/ bicycle... We have Bucks Fizz before we go, to keep our tummies warm. Then on Boxing day there's a 'Boxing day Dip' where everyone runs into the sea for charity. It's great as all the community come together and have fun.

spendapennysaveapound

Our Christmas traditions,
1st Dec, all DD books and DVD's get swapped for her Christmas ones.
13th Dec tree gets decorated while listening to Christmas CD's.
Then from Christmas Eve teatime.
Mini buffet of roast pork sandwiches and various buns for tea.
Then bath and new Christmas themed PJ's on.
Snuggle together under quilt on settee with hot chocolate and marshmellows to watch a Christmas DVD, DD hasn't seen before (last years was Santa Claus 3, this year is Prancer).
Before DD goes to bed, reindeer food sprinkled in a line down the garden (to guide Santa in)
Carrot left on the step, for Rudolph and magic key (for Santa to get in the house). Mince pie and milk on the fire. Stocking hung on the fire place and pillowcase put at the end of her bed (ready to be filled with presents).