Christmas Rituals....

p-pincher

this thread is so lovely, i love chrsitmas and many of the traditions have been carried on from when i was little and ive carried these on with my own 2 dd's and added a few more

Christmas tree up the last weekend in November
Start cooking HM mince pies, sausage rolls etc and lots of christmas songs/films from the beginning of december
Advent calenders
Late night shopping one weds in december to see the lights and santas grotto and use clubcard deal vouchers to go pizza express
Pyjama elves visit us christmas eve so everyone has new pj's, thinking of doing the kids a christmas eve hamper thir year with snowman soup, new toothbrush, xmas book, little cuddly toy etc. My sister always stay as well so i always get her new pj's.
Always go out for a meal on xmas eve with family but we dont stay out late with the kids so i make us a pudding to have at home afterwards
Wake the kids up about 8 to open stockings
All go downstairs together but me and oh have to go first to check that Santas actually been
Coffe and open presents one at a time
Brekkie which is bacon and sausage sandwhiches and some choccie croissants and bucks fizz, my mum and stepdad always come round for brekkie and stay for the rest of the day.
Dinner about 2 then we have tea about 6, my sis and brother in law always come round, and we have leftovers and a cheesesboard, we sit round watching telly, playing cards, eating choccies and talking. Thinking about getting trivial pursuit this year forsomething different.
Thinking about doing the reindeer dust for xmas eves as well xx

Magicboo

My family have these traditions:
I do the big food shopping on Christmas eve-I wouldn't want to do it earlier, I love the rush and the atmosphere on Christmas eve
We read "the night before Christmas" before we go to be (well, used to go to bed, my sis & I are 35 & 33 now, so sometimes stay up late!)
Everything possible food-wise is prepared on Christmas eve
Mother gets up early on Christmas day to turn the oven on for the turkey (usually 24-28lb!)
Presents can be opened from 11am-not a minute before!
on boxing day we eat cold turkey and mashed potato and lots of different pickles!
Awww-I love Christmas!
Need to find some new traditions for the future hubby & I! forgot to say-I think I'll steal your idea Sugarspun for under the Christmas tree!!

scaredy_cat

i also have got some special christmas mugs and plates that i use for when i have mince pies!!

Mrs7ones

Oh how I love christmas too.... (so much so I use my christmas mug all year round!!)

Our kids are 18,13 and 9, and this year will possibly be that last that the little one believes in FC, so i'm going to make the most of it!

1st Dec - The big (7foot) artificail tree plus all the decs go up (i like to buy a couple of new tree decs with the kids each year)

Around 10th Dec we buy a smaller real tree to sit at the other end or the lounge.

Mince pies are made (and eaten) each weekend in december - they never last long!

The big christmas wrap-up is done one evening after the kids are in bed infront of christmas films with a bottle of sherry!

We visit the ponto the week leading up to christmas, and go see a christmas film at the cinema the w/end before christmas

We take the kids to the city to do their christmas shopping the week before the big day, and make a big deal of this and have late tea out.

Christmas eve is lunch at my mums with my sis and her family- we exchange gifts to take home to the tree.

Christmas eve afternoon is for cooking the pork, christmas ham, home made cranberry and stuffing (and more mince pies). then it's late afternoon film with the kids and christmas chocs/nuts etc before a buffet tea...

Christmas morning is up as soon as the kids want with tree presesnts and stockings still in our PJ's. There's usually no time for a real breakfast, and on this day only, chocolate is allowed before lunch:eek:.. We all get dressed, then while i'm cooking, DH entertains the kids and also collects mum for lunch.

Full christmas lunch with a table pressie each, then lazy TV afternoon, and cold cuts/left over buffet for anyone who can fit it in!

Boxing Day is at the inlaws for cold turkey and chips for lunch and mountains more pressies, and buffet tea...

Then inbetween christlmas and the new year we spend as much time as poss at home with the kids just being a family.

babybug

What a lovely thread

We used to have some great family traditions, with Christmas Eve pjs being far more popular a tradition than I ever realised

I'm a bit apprehensive about this Christmas, my dad passed away very unexpectedly earlier this year (at the age of 47), so it's not going to be the best Christmas. I feel like we need to make some new traditions, as the old ones were so wrapped up in us as a complete family that I know it'll be too painful to try doing them again.

Hopefully, in a few years, it'll be easier and we can remember them fondly, things like me and my brother piling onto the bed with our stockings (even though we're in our 20s), being forced to eat cereal for breakfast before being allowed all the chocolate (mum gave up on that one when we hit teenage years!) and mum's homemade crackers with amazing gifts in them *insert wistful smilie here*

lazysheep

Mrs_Ihenetu wrote: »

Satsumas in the stocking

Oh my life I don't know how I forgot about that one!!! Think it was only ever out of the fruit bowl for about 6 hours - between it being put into the stocking and me putting it back in the fruit bowl when we woke up haha :rotfl:

We also always used to do the mince pie and sherry for santa with a carrot for Rudolph (carrot was from the bowl of veg already prepared for xmas dinner, mum had the sherry and dad ate the mince pie after they came back from midnight mass - obligatory crumbs left on the plate of course for us to finish in the morning )

red_devil

i have had different scenarios. One being my xmas as a child/teenager the next one where i had a child and now just myself and oh.

We dont have the family thing for various reasons we dont get together with family and havent done for a while now. Its just us but we always enjoy the break. Partner is self employed and christmas is a rare chance for a few days off.

Partner works all day xmas eve and i help. We relax in the evening maybe watch abit of tv etc. We have some pressies on xmas day morning and then oh cooks the lunch. Afternoon spent relaxing maybe watching a film and then we have a cold buffet tea. Day comes and goes like any other.

it seems to come round so quickly.

Giggles_Fairy

I love this thread! Its so nice to read everyones Christmas stories of tradition

sammy_kaye18

oooooooooooooo your all making me feel so festive! :j I cant wait

This year will be baby Holly's (how apt!) first christmas and she will be 5.5 months old and my son will be 6.

Our decoration shopping is the last day of Novmeber. (I usually do this on my own but think it will be a joint effort for me and kids this year)

We have a festive visitor who comes to stay the month of December - usually a soft toy who is aptly named to fit the season and he leaves special jobs for my son to do and his direct link with father christmas. He arrives with the advent calendars on December 1st.

Festive friends first job - Our tree goes up on 1st December along with other decorations.

Next job is for Ben - to make his festive visitor a place to sleep.

We watch plenty of Christmas films, listen to Christmas songs etc

We make sure to go for lots of frosty morning walks together too.

The festive friend also gets up to plenty of mischief as well whilst they are visiting! Like swapping all the cereal in the boxes over like last year and hiding.

Mid December - Ben is given the job by his festive friend of making Bruno (our dogs) stocking

December 20th

---

an urgent message from father Christmas --- he's run out of wrapping paper for his presents so Ben must go and pick one he likes. (This turns into a game Xmas morning as we don't use tags - all presents get coordinated - ie bens all blue, hollys all pink etc)

December 23rd ---- last of the Xmas food shopping is done if not done already.

December 24th ---- XMAS EVE HAMPER ARRIVES. we bake/cook up a storm ready for nibbly bits on Xmas afternoon - usually mini sausage rolls, mini sausages, cakes, biscuits etc. Festive visitor leaves ben a note with a £5 note in it and tells him to make sure he has fresh milk for santa, some nice biscuits and carrots so we go to coop to get these last few special bits and pieces. Plus some sweeties for a Christmas movie later on.
we watch films, play games. Ben is given dinner at about 5.30 and then we watch a film until about 7pm, then he goes in the bath and a present magically appears under the tree with his festive visitor - new PJS - then we check NORAD and see where the big man himself is. Then its hot chocolate and biscuits for us. Then about 8pm Ben will get Santa milk/biscuits ready. Rudolph's carrot. Put out the reindeer food for the other reindeer's, hang his Santa stop here sign, put his stocking up and I read him 'the night before Christmas' whilst tucking him and his festive visitor in.
I sit up wrapping Christmas presents until god knows what hour with my box of maltesers and a hot chocolate and Bridget Jones normally on in the background.

December 25th
Ben comes through to open up stocking on our bed.
All go through into the living room together.
OH rings other son to wish him merry Xmas.
All sit on floor and open presents.
Then rest of the day we veg out
Have dinner at about 1 - 2pm
play any new video games, watch new DVDs
We dont tend to get out of our PJs all day unless OH has to go and get his other son.

caitlyn22

My dad used to start buying Christmas cake and mince pies as soon as they appeared in the shops joking that he had to 'test' as many as possible! For pretty much all of December, he would come in from work (he worked away during the week, only home for weekends) and his first words would be "Has he been?" (in reference to Santa!)

My mum used to make Christmas stockings for my sister and I and these were always our favourite things, so I fully understand all the grown-up children still demanding stockings!! I think my sister and I could have pretty much got up at any time we wanted on Christmas morning but generally we waited until 6am or 7am. My dad would light the fire and make breakfast while my mum would watch us open our presents - she would have bought most of them but dad inevitably came home with ridiculous purchases on Christmas Eve. One year he bought all three of us those absolutely huge boxes of Thornton's continental chocolates, must have cost a fortune and we were only little so it was all a bit much - sure they got eaten though! (He generally stuck to excessive amounts of sweets as gifts but one year, I'd mentioned to him that I was having trouble in history lessons because I didn't know enough about the political backgrounds to situations and that year he bought me a political dictionary, such a small gesture but it meant the world coming from him.)

I think I believed in Santa for so long because of my parents too - one of the things they did to make it seem more real was wrap all of my presents 'from' Santa in that really cheap, thin wrapping paper and the presents from them in more expensive stuff. Not only was this quite MSE of them, they told us it was because Santa had to use cheaper paper because he had so many presents to give. It might not work on kids now but this was an utterly convincing argument for me at that age!!