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Xmas traditions in your house....
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Me and my brother always used to get a Christmas Eve present of new PJs, again so we would look good on the video!
Always have a second Christmas dinner on boxing day.
My brother once handed a present back to our Gran and said "No thanks, it's a squidgy present, may I have a real one please"!!! So, now anytime anyone has a "squidgy" present, they always say no thanks!
My own personal tradition was that I would wake up in the middle of the night, discover my stocking and open all the presents because I was too exited to go back to sleep. Tradition 2 was struggling to re-wrap the stocking presents!!Nobody I'd rather be0 -
I always hang a very small prezzie on the tree for everyone who is there for dinner then after dinner the kids run in to find the prezzies on the tree then we open them last year I did the grandparents photo keyrings of the grand kidsMortgage overpayments 2008 (started August) £3000
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We have done this one for about 4 years now.
After the boys have had their bath and got into new p.js they go out to the back garden with my H and shout up to father christmas that they have been very good and can they have an early present please.
I will be upstairs listening at the bathroom window ready for each of them to take their turn and I throw a little present out of the window (wrapped in red shiny paper like all presents from F.C but with added glitter)
They are always amazed at the presents falling from the sky lol :A
On the times it rains we have them hanging out of the letter box when they come down from their bath to watch a christmas movie & have christmas stories.
We have a collection on christmas books & dvds in red boxes that come out when the tree goes up (December 1st though if I go over due It will not be going up untill dd is born due date is 28/11) and we watch a dvd and read some books each day through december after school :T
I love love love christmas
Claffys
All presents from F.C are wrapped in shiny (not foil) red paper.
Any from us are wrapped in gold (to match the tree that we only have gold baubles & lights on)
The kids have their own tree that they can put the dreaded tinsle on lol.
And F.C always leaves us a bill in a gold envelope. Stops the kids asking for too much and also sort of explains to them why some familys have more/less.0 -
i always get my son to clean his room for the new presents on xmas eve we called it xmas eve tidy then i would get him ready for bed get santas guinness and cookie ready, write a letter to him and go searching to see if we could find him out the back ...finally we would each open a present that was under the tree ..we keep presents from family and friends under the tree but santa's presents got delivered when son was sleeping0
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Grrr, I've lost my reply twice now.... We always go to Finland to be with my mother and aunt. The main celebration is the Christmas eve which goes as follows;
First we decorate the tree, DD and DS especially like to hear the stories behind different decorations. The DD and DS decorate gingerbread men/women/pigs with icing whilst we pre-prepare some of the foods for later.
Christmas Peace is declared 12.00 pm, all your preparations should ready by then. This is also when most of the shops/restaurants/pubs etc. close. Not many places are open after 12.00.
16.00 we visit the cemetary and light candles on the graves of our loved ones. This way we remember those who cannot be with us any longer, the cemetary looks incredible with hundreds of candles lighting up the dark and snowy surroundings.
Next is Sauna ( Finnish people are fanatical about this) before Christmas meal which is always eaten in candlelight. Finally we sing some carols and open our presents. After all this we are ready for seriously good coffee/tea and chocolates whilst children are playing with their new toys.SSB0 -
Hi new to this but just had to share -
the tradition from my dads side of the family was to always have boiled ham and eggs for breakfast- we don't carry this one on as DH is a vegi and the 4 kids prefer croissants and brioche.
from my mums side of the family is the present from the fairy on the tree - early xmas night after dinner kids are distracted- when they come back into living room a present has appeared for each of them from the fairy on the top of the tree- usually something that they can sit and make/ read / or play quietly with- calms them down ready for bed. used to work a treat on me and my brother and this is one tradition that has carried on.'we don't stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing'0 -
We all have to decorate the tree together (about two weeks before Christmas) taking it in turns every year to put the fairy on at the end.
My house is decorated all downstairs (its like santas grotto)
Christmas eve is DS1's birthday so we have party at around 2ish for a pre Xmas party with Christmas music buffet and drinks & birthday cake. All our fiends and family come around and DS1 opens his birthday presents and we have a lovely time with all of the decorations etc.
Boys in the bath while we tidy and new pj's and storytime
Leave out a nice glass of wine and a peice of birthday cake (which I have) for santa and a carrot (which OH has lol) for reindeer.
Kids in bed
Put out kids presents from santa
Me and OH sit under the tree and have a couple of drinks with music and just fairy lights on - then swap just one present after midnight.
We also booby trap the stairs/doors. We tie party poppers to handles, tape wrapping paper accross the bannisters at the top of the stairs so we can all go down together ( kids love tearing the paper to burst through).
Presents from santa - mugs of tea and bacon sandwiches and croissants all round for breakfast.:j
After lunch - they open some presents from friends and family.
Boxing day kids open other presents from friends and family.
The opening of presents over time, I think, helps make Christmas last longer and also helps me keep track of who gave what to who."Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye" - Miss Piggy0 -
I watch "Its a Wonderful life" the first Sunday in December to get me in the mood (with a glass of sherry and a mice pie).
We put the tree up with Bing Crosbie crooning in the back ground and another glass of sherry and a mince pie!
On Christmas eve, we walk down to the church and go to the Chrstingle service where all the kids get presented with the Orange, candle and sultana "Christingle". Its lovely as they light all the candles and switch the electric lights off. THen its back home and to the end of the road where the local rotary club arrange for Santa to visit the estate on a sleigh. Then back home for Supper (always freshly roast ham and roast potatoes with red cabbage). Put the mince pie and sherry out for Santa, and carrots for Rudolph, read "Twas the night before Christmas" and then the kids go to bed.0 -
My mom (and grandamas for that matter too) always baked cookies for christmas and as kids we were allowed to help with this important task. As far as I can remember I have always helped my mom with the cookies. Day 2 of the cookie baking process was painting them with chocolate or coloured icing. My brother and I loved the cookie baking enormously as kids.....all the broken ones disappeared during the painting job though.
My mom also let us choose some christmas tree decorations and she had a huge collections of wooden and plastic child friendly decorations that we were allowed to hang in the tree. The evening before christmas my mom would secretly hand chocolate baubles in the tree that we went hunting for the next day. Sometimes there were also little tiny presents hidden in the tree that we had to search (think of a few colouring pencils wrapped up nicely with a tag, or some other arts and crafts things). Then while the adults were busy we could hunt for all the pencils and start colouring.
One year an unlce had left us clues in the christmas tree and by figuring out the clues we were led to different places in the house where treats, colouring books, pencils and even more clues were hidden. Each little prezzie led to another...... We spent all day hunting around.Life without string would be chaos.0 -
Our tree always goes up on the 1st December, and we all decorate it to bits.
Of course we have advent calanders (opened before breakfast each day!).
We go to the panto before christmas, and when the kids have thir school Nativity plays, we go out for tea afterwords, just to make a big thing out of it.
We go walking in the woods looking for holly (that has to be on a carefully chosen very cold day).
As close to christmas as poss, we go shopping for a new Christmas bear for DD and DS2 from Build-a bear workshop, and then go to the cinema to see a christmas film.
Christmas eve we go visit my parents for a sherry (not the kids, they get pop) and mince pie and to take their pressies, then come home and start the preps for lunch on christmas day - we make our own cranberry sause and mince pies....
Tea on christmas eve is a buffet (just us, no visitors), with lots of goodies, then we find christmassy stuff on tv to watch.
The kids usually decide when to go to bed - last yeas DS2 asked to go to bed at 3 in the afternoon, just so that the big day would come faster...
We leave the usual mince pie, carrot etc...out for Santa
Christmas day is up early for pressies under the tree and we spend the day at home, no visitors, playing with new stuff and eating!!
Boxing day we go to DH's parents for more pressies and a big family party. We usually sleep there to allow DH a drink or 2!!
The days inbetween christmas and the new year are all spent as a family, as neither DH or I have to go to work in the school holidays.
Love it, and can't wait!!0
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