Good morning. We woke up to the rain falling and cold temps. No complaints from me. This first Christmas without both of my parents has me thinking so much about traditions. Just recently my son shared something about Christmas Eve I didn’t even realize he remembered. This is by far my favorite time of year to instill the importance of togetherness and establish moments that we will all look forward to for years to come. Traditions yield great comfort and security. If you are looking to establish a few new ones, as we are, you will love these ideas.
“Decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving as a family and baking with the kids!” – @jennym727
“Driving around with our favorite family to look at Christmas lights! Tradition for years!” – jesd1572
“Planning a ‘just us’ family day of sightseeing locally and dinner somewhere special.” – @flapperpie_forever
“My husband and I buy each other Christmas pajamas and get to open them on Christmas Eve.” -@claireee527
“Pint of beer with adult sons on Christmas Eve lunch.” -@mfpomroy
“Making 1st of December box for my 7 year old.” – @georgdiesmum
“Christmas book and matching pjs.” – @emmeforre
“Going with my whole family to cut down our tree.” – @kelljoy1203
“Gingerbread house decorating party for my daughter and friends.” – adriennescreen
“Too many to list! Christmas Eve service then opening the first gift (matching jammies).” – @momjoy
“The whole family decorating the tree.” – @delegirl
“Gingerbread house decorating, a Christmas party I throw, watching all the movies again.” -@aburke5
“Decorating cookies!” – emilweir
“My mom always gets all her kids and grandkids new ornaments every year!” – @drscheurich
“We wait and open all of the Christmas cards we receive on Christmas Eve after church.” -@kjillpruitt
“Singing Christmas carols with my family while the kids wait for Santa (my brother) to arrive.” -@jojosan55
“Christmas Eve service and the girls get pjs and ornaments.” -@wolffamy
“Seeing The Nutcracker every year with my daughter.” – @lisam_todd
“Special French toast breakfast.” -@mtienbier
“Walking Balboa Island on Christmas Eve.” -@brynmathison
“Sleigh ride to see the Christmas lights.” -@cstuman
This may be one of my favorite posts ever. I don’t know why but every time I read through this list it makes me cry. In a good way. I think it brings back all of my childhood memories, allows me to remember people I’ve lost and makes me excited for what’s to come. And each and every tradition that you left on my Instagram made me smile. I can feel the love and excitement it holds for you and your family. It’s NEVER too late to start a new tradition. I hope this list inspires you to do just that. Thank you for sharing a piece of your lives with all of us. Please feel invited to share more in the comments below.
Previous installments of Readers Weigh In:
It is summer here in Australia so Christmas tradition for us is really a summer BBQ at the beach with a Christmas cracker! Merry Christmas to everyone around the world !
Oh I LOVE this. Thank you for sharing. Merry Christmas, Julia!
How can one possibly wait until Christmas Eve to open all those Christmas cards?! I love them so much I can’t barely stop myself from opening before I even get through any of the other mail!
My favorite way to kick off the Christmas season is my friend’s cookie exchange. She’s hosted one for over 10 years now. She makes a couple of pots of soup, has Christmas music playing, and does a community service component each and every year. Just a bunch of wonderful women getting into the holiday spirit!
My fav family tradition is a big Christmas movie viewing night. We all snuggle up on the couch in pajamas and eat yummy treats. Love the bonding 🙂
People definitely think we are crazy for waiting to open our cards! 😜 But it has become one of our favorite traditions. Our kids look forward to it every Christmas Eve. The unopened cards stay in a basket until that night, then We all take turns opening the cards and pass each one around before opening another.
That sounds like such fun!
Smoked salmon and champagne for Christmas morning. Real tree.
This year I made a blue/green peacock wreath for us and a couple for friends and family, which I’m really pleased with. Not really a tradition but I liked using some of the supplies I’ve had in boxes for years!
This is an after Christmas tradition. My mom always did this. She would write down a few key events from the past year and things that she wanted to remember. I’ve done that with cute things my kids said, etc. when they were little . This was especially meaningful the year after our little boy passed away. I had written down the size clothes he was wearing the past Christmas and for some reason, that little bit of information was so dear to me. Now many years later , I have a whole stack of these papers to read through and my kids enjoy hearing them again as well.
I have collected childrens Christmas books through the years. Every year I wrap them and put them under the tree. The kids get to take turns opening a book and we read it together each night. I try to get really meaningful stories so it fills our hearts that month. The kids have loved having something to OPEN each night and I love that it’s easy and I don’t have to do anything but wrap them up each year.
We do multiple holidays. We do a secret gift exchange where we draw names and one night during Hanukkah we have to do or make something for that person. Everyone gets really creative! We have had homemade crossword puzzles, baked goods, scavenger hunts, etc.
My mom always left us a gift to open by our beds Christmas morning (to keep us occupied for a little while until waking them up) and it was always a book. She has passed from Alzheimer’s so I continue the tradition with my kids.
We go drive around and look at the pretty light in the whole city. It’s so awesome! Kids love it.
Love all of those traditions…
We have so many too: Advent calendar and Elf on the Shelf from the 1st December, we buy a real tree and decorate the first weekend of December, drive to see the neighbourhood Christmas lights, watch the local pantomime and photos with Santa at our local shopping mall. Writing letters to Santa, Christmas Eve boxes with Christmas pjs, treats and books/movie, Christmas Day church service and Christmas Day lunch at our home.
And then fun with friends on the 26th x