Thursday 10 December 2015

CHRISTMAS: Bringing two lots of traditions together

I love traditions, there's something so comforting and reassuring about them. I've been bought up with lots of Christmas traditions, the way we celebrate Christmas is one big family tradition. My parents took aspects of their childhood Christmas' to create the traditions I was bought up on and now my husband and I are faced with creating important traditions for Isabella. 


My family seem to give endless presents; we have them throughout advent, on Christmas Eve, in the stocking, under the Christmas tree and 'tree presents' on Boxing Day. Though the day is still very much about spending quality time together as a family, my parents somehow created the perfect balance. We still hang our stockings out, though they're outside our bedroom door now to make it easier for Father Christmas! My traditional Christmas Day goes something like this: get up early and open the stocking presents in my parents bedroom, get dressed and go downstairs for breakfast, then head into the living room for presents under the Christmas tree, usually break for some Christmas dinner preparations and then back to opening presents. At around 3pm we'll have dinner, then back into the living room to play/discover our new gifts, around 7pm we might have supper and then bed. It's not original but it's our Christmas and I love it!

My husband's family don't do Christmas the same as my family, there are sacks of presents and not such an early morning. They have lots of extended family around on Christmas Day, where we don't. I actually hadn't appreciated how different it could be until I met my husband and we shared our own family traditions.

So now we're faced with deciding which aspects of the Christmas traditions we know, that we want to continue on for Isabella. I've found it pretty stressful at times trying to think of all of the traditions I'd like us to have as a family. I just don't want to miss anything out! We've added some new traditions in (like a Christmas Eve Box - see Isabella's here) and bought together many of our usual ones (like Isabella will have a sack and a stocking). I'm so excited to put into practise all of these traditions now that we're a little family.

We're also conscious of not starting too many traditions, especially expensive or time consuming ones, because we'll want to maintain them with any other children we may have in the future. It's all about forward planning!

Which traditions do you have in your household?

Feel free to leave a comment :)

Helen x
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3 comments

  1. We have gradually built up a series of small traditions with our three kids, from giving them chocolate coins in their stockings to each of them having their own mini tree to decorate. We also have certain food habits that we fall into across the holiday period when my family come to stay for a few days. Christmas Eve is always dim sum. Christmas Day I always try something slightly different each year with my recipes for Christmas lunch. And so on. Part of the fun of having a young family, I think, is that you gradually build up your own new traditions over time, taking elements from your own childhood and adding to them.

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  2. As a kid we would put our santa sacks in a spot in our lounge of our choosing. Then in the morning we would get up fairly early but we would have to wait patiently until everyone got up. There was always one who took a little longer than the rest! Then we would (me and my two brothers) go through our santa sacks at the same time.
    After that was done then we would have wrapped presents that were from each of us and our parents. We usually got a movie for christmas or a game so we would put that on and play until lunch time! For lunch we would have seafood as an entree and then a turkey roast. We would usually nap and then go to my grandparents for dinner!
    Now I have my partners family to see on the day as well and they are very full on with getting together on christmas eve, christmas day & boxing day. We are having a big lunch with both sides of the family at our place this year otherwise we wouldn't be able to see everyone.
    I'm not a fan of doing anything on christmas eve either because I feel like christmas eve was that exciting night before santa came & you would get everything ready for his arrival! We will see how we end up doing it as Maddie gets older but for now it doesn't really matter because she isn't at an age where she will know what is going on anyway!
    Sorry for such a long comment!

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    Replies
    1. Aww what a lovely set of traditions - I love hearing all about other people's Christmas day! I hope you have a lovely Christmas and that Maddie enjoys her first experience of mass wrapping paper and boxes :)

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