My hubby & I have been married almost 4 years but now we have our first child and want to start our own family traditions. (we are a Christ-following family striving to honor Him in all we do) Just curious what others do! Thanks.
Read the account of the birth of Christ from the bible on Christmas eve, as a family. Have that be a more spiritual, quiet time.
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My family grew up as a christan family.
They celbrate on xmas eve, and xmas day we used to make ham we used to get as a gift and just watch movies.
i dont know when u really celebrate.
But yes, i remember having dinner on eve and a relaxing day on xmas day.
whatever u guys like, its up to you.
just have fun and be a family and enjoy each other.
thats what counts.
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Growing up with other friends and families
My mom’s family always gets together on Christmas Eve. We exchange gifts that night with our grandparents and uncle, and we have lots of yummy home-made treats and drinks. We chat, play games, listen to Christmas music and basically just enjoy the evening as a family. It’s a great tradition! Christmas morning, my parents, siblings and I open our stockings, exchange our gifts with each other and make breakfast as a family. Usually by then, I’m off to visit my dad’s side of the family (my biological parents are separated and I’m the only child on my father’s side) to do Christmas dinner and gifts with them. Sometimes I celebrate on boxing day with them, it just depends on their plans
This year my parents are just doing stockings for everyone (the best part!) rather than a million gifts, and I’m really looking forward to it!
I strongly suggest doing what my family does on Christmas Eve, it’s amazing to experience. You can always do something on Christmas day or Boxing day too along the same lines. Good luck, and have fun! Traditions and family are so important!
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every year my husband and i go together to pick out an ornament for the tree (that has the year on it). it makes for a fun night together.
our family always has a HUGE dinner (comparable to Thanksgiving) and, after we clean up, we all sit in the living room and someone passes out gifts. we watch each other open gifts, and go in order from youngest to oldest.
my grandfather would call me every year to ask me the order of santa’s reindeer (they had a display to put in the window). even though he knew the order, it was so special, even as an adult. he died this past september and i am really going to miss that.
our family would do gifts and that dinner on christmas eve, then we’d do stockings and santa at home on christmas morning, just bro, mom and dad.
we would also take an evening to ride out and see christmas lights in the neighborhood. hot chocolate and christmas songs in the car
good luck finding your special tradition
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WELL
We start to decorate our home inside and out on December 8th
I decorate my room with stockings/xmas tree/fairy lights the whole 10 yards
Christmas Eve
-We all get home from Work and get some Xmas music on and watch TV and put pressies under the tree
-Granda comes down to our house and stays over
-Go to bed around 11/12 and watch some xmas movies in bed:)
Christmas Morning
-Get up early,open presents
-Get the dinner prepared and put into the oven
-Get ready and go to the grave yard to visit our relatives who have died ):
-Go visit family members in the city
-Go back to my house
-Have loads of people over and we have a huge dinner watch movies and exchange gifts
Fun fun fun
And while i was writing this a Christmas add came on TV for Tesco!!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS
All the best for 2010
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Our Christmas tradition is opening all presents on Christmas eve and then sleeping in on Christmas day. I know not that magical. We always go to my grandma’s house and have a huge dinner there. And if there are any gifts we open them after dinner. I think the thing that I enjoy the most is putting up the Christmas tree with my husband. We will have a Christmas movie on and decorate the house. And I will have something cooking, not sure what.
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On Christmas Eve, we exchange ornaments, and hang them on the tree. Also, me and my sister get to open 1 present each.
In the morning, once i wake up (I’m always the first) i sneak downstairs, check out whats under the tree haha, and then i wake my sister up:) we go down and look again, then hit my parents until they GET UP . haha, it takes a while, and i get VERY frustrated. then me and my sister bring up our stockings and the dog/cat and their stockings( yes they get stockings) and we open all them! then, as soon as my parents cooperate, we head downstairs, and open presents:)
as soon as we’re done with presents, we have cinnamon buns.
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Starting at the beginning of December, we start decorating, putting up lights, the tree, and Christmas figurines, always with Christmas music playing. When I was a child, my favorite part was the nativity set. My mom would carefully unwrap each figure, hand it to me, and I’d pick where in the stable I wanted to set the figure. I loved baby Jesus the best, but I couldn’t put him in the manger until Christmas morning. We also had nativity figures to hang on the tree, and I’d carefully arrange them there, too. (I think that’s a great way to keep Christ most honored in your child’s mind during Christmas decorating.)
Also, it was always special in our house that the tree skirt and angel for the top were both made by my parents when they were first married. Now, 25 years later, we still use the same skirt and angel, and it is SO special. I plan to do the same with my future husband.
On Christmas Eve, we dress up in pretty Christmas outfits and go to Christmas Eve Mass, then drive around neighborhoods and look at Christmas lights while drinking hot chocolate. When I was little, though, we’d almost always spend Christmas Eve at my grandparents’ houses, and the tradition was we could open one present each that evening.
On Christmas morning, my siblings and I would meet up in my room, and we’d all go together into the living room. Over night, my parents had put all of the presents under the tree and filled up the stockings. We weren’t allowed to open presents until our parents woke up, but as tradition, there would always be a few big, unwrapped presents sitting out that we would squeal over and play with until our parents got up. There would also be a little table set out with lots of goodies to eat (including mini cereal boxes of the kinds that my mom wouldn’t let us have throughout the year).
As soon as my parents woke up, we’d turn on the Christmas music and the video camera, my mom would heat up little smokie sausages, and we’d open stockings first, then presents. Later on, we’d make Christmas dinner (ham and stuff), and just have fun playing with our stuff spread all over the floor. The great thing was that our mom (who was a cleaning freak) would let us keep everything all over the floor for a couple of days, and that was really cool.
And there are lots of other little things that you can do with your kids throughout Christmas that my parents did with us… Like reading us Christmas stories, watching Christmas movies (the traditional ones like Frostie the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and The Little Drummer Boy), baking and decorating cookies (VERY memorable), making Christmas crafts (also very special) and buying presents together for the poor people on the angel tree at church. Oh, and some of the very best memories are of my parents, siblings, and I singing Christmas carols together in harmony whenever we’d drive anywhere during December. Every time we’d get in the car, one of my siblings or my dad would yell out "Christmas songs!" and we’d break out singing.
That was a lot; hope that helps!
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you guys sound like great parents. your child is lucky to have such a great influence in his life.
well, my mom sewed each of us our own stocking (you don’t have to do that though…it took her like 2 years to do each one!) and each is different and unique to us
and every year i help her decorate our house with all the decorations
and every year we go to the midnight service at my church, then go to bed. in the morning (on christmas) we watch ‘a christmas story’ and go downstairs to open our presents and eat brunch. then that night, we play white elephant
don’t worry though, most traditions start by chance and turn into traditions. God bless~
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Read the account of the birth of Christ from the bible on Christmas eve, as a family. Have that be a more spiritual, quiet time.
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