Christmas traditions that you carry out with your kids?

[Yeffie]

With Christmas coming up, I have been planning our holiday season, and realized that a lot of the things that I have planned are things that my daddy did with us.

We have decorated the tree, and then held hands and sang "Oh Christmas Tree" in opera voices, haha!

We will go to the Christmas Eve candlelight service together and receive communion and light our candles on Christmas eve.

We will go to Christmas eve breakfast at my grandmothers :D.

What do you do with your kids that are a throw back to your childhood?

[Sew So Happy]

I was just reading an article in Readers Digest about holiday food traditions. She wanted to start one with her family and ravioli. I was boohooing and blubbering while I was reading the article, because when we were kids, my grandmother, mom, and aunt used to make homemade ravioli at Christmas. Sooooo, I called my grandma for the recipe and she said I would have to be taught how to make it properly! She said next time she is down from New Hampshire she would give me lessons. That won't be until next spring,sooooo we are going to have ravioli, but it will be store bought this year. My husband is all excited to have something besides the normal ham,etc for Christmas.
We normally all help with the decorating of the tree with Christmas music.
We love to go look at lights in different neighborhoods.

[idesign]

Food equals Christmas cutout cookies in our family. They are such a pain to make, but the grin on my son's face when we begin the process is worth it. I like the ravioli idea--I'm sick of ham, and that sounds like a whole lot more fun, too!

[JenZ]

I have been sitting here racking my brain for a Christmas tradition my family has...and I cannot come up with one!
Since mamma died my stepdad has not even put up a tree...all of our ornaments from childhood are packed up somewhere. I do not have kids and my sisters are so scattered (in addition to being "High Drama Mammas) that I do not nessesarily see them each Christmas.
The only thing that remains constant is the weeks before Christmas that I spend baking. Right now I am already getting requests from friends and family.

[Sew So Happy]

I have been sitting here racking my brain for a Christmas tradition my family has...and I cannot come up with one!
Since mamma died my stepdad has not even put up a tree...all of our ornaments from childhood are packed up somewhere. I do not have kids and my sisters are so scattered (in addition to being "High Drama Mammas) that I do not nessesarily see them each Christmas.
The only thing that remains constant is the weeks before Christmas that I spend baking. Right now I am already getting requests from friends and family.

You said it right in your post! Go get those ornaments that mean so much to you and put them on your tree! There is nothing that says your family is blood relations only. Start some traditions with your friends that are close to you. Maybe you could have an ornament party with them in December to start the holidays off right. Have everyone over for a cookie exchange.
We were military growing up and dh was in the Army. We had a lot of close friends that I would consider closer than some of my family.
Now is the time to do it. You'll have lots of fun!!

[JenZ]

You said it right in your post! Go get those ornaments that mean so much to you and put them on your tree! There is nothing that says your family is blood relations only. Start some traditions with your friends that are close to you. Maybe you could have an ornament party with them in December to start the holidays off right. Have everyone over for a cookie exchange.
We were military growing up and dh was in the Army. We had a lot of close friends that I would consider closer than some of my family.
Now is the time to do it. You'll have lots of fun!!

ummm...I don't have friends either...seriously...there are people i see at work and people I see at school but I do not have the time to do anything outside of either. I am becoming anti-social in my old age..haha

[Sew So Happy]

ummm...I don't have friends either...seriously...there are people i see at work and people I see at school but I do not have the time to do anything outside of either. I am becoming anti-social in my old age..haha

I think it easy to become that way. Everyone is so busy nowadays!

[huffjoann]

DD is only 2.5,, this will be her third christmas,, but so far she has no concept,, what I am starting this year is doing an Advent calendar.
We also have been going to a Singing christmas tree off and on for years,, DD loves music so I think we will make that a family event

[StitchinGrandma]

DD is only 2.5,, this will be her third christmas,, but so far she has no concept,, what I am starting this year is doing an Advent calendar.
We also have been going to a Singing christmas tree off and on for years,, DD loves music so I think we will make that a family event
Oh I'm so jealous of you. Your daughter is at that age where they finally "get it" about opening gifts and such. They get so excited and are so darned cut. I missed out on that with my twins because the year they were 2yrs old at Christmastime they both had Scarletina and couldn't even rip the wrapping paper. I feel robbed. LOL Take pics of your daughter for me.

[dana]

I was just reading an article in Readers Digest about holiday food traditions. She wanted to start one with her family and ravioli. I was boohooing and blubbering while I was reading the article, because when we were kids, my grandmother, mom, and aunt used to make homemade ravioli at Christmas. Sooooo, I called my grandma for the recipe and she said I would have to be taught how to make it properly! She said next time she is down from New Hampshire she would give me lessons. That won't be until next spring,sooooo we are going to have ravioli, but it will be store bought this year. My husband is all excited to have something besides the normal ham,etc for Christmas.
We normally all help with the decorating of the tree with Christmas music.
We love to go look at lights in different neighborhoods.

Oh my gosh- you must have grown up in my family! My italian family had ravioli as the main dish for Christmas- I would make it with my aunt- I loved the smell of all the italian seasons- turkey or Ham was considered an "alternative main dish. My husband ( who is not italian) just giggles when I tell him the hours we would spend making the pasta etc., and all the memories of sitting at the "kid table".

With my kids- we watch all the old movies - Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer, Year without a Santa- etc.
We also make cookies galore, and go around the neighborhood looking at all the lights.
We also make reindeer food and sprinkle it out on the snow, so Santa can find our house.

[Sew So Happy]

Oh my gosh- you must have grown up in my family! My italian family had ravioli as the main dish for Christmas- I would make it with my aunt- I loved the smell of all the italian seasons- turkey or Ham was considered an "alternative main dish. My husband ( who is not italian) just giggles when I tell him the hours we would spend making the pasta etc., and all the memories of sitting at the "kid table".

With my kids- we watch all the old movies - Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer, Year without a Santa- etc.
We also make cookies galore, and go around the neighborhood looking at all the lights.
We also make reindeer food and sprinkle it out on the snow, so Santa can find our house.

What would reindeer food be? Is this something you could share? Anything to add a sparkle of Christmas cheer to Christmas eve!:)

[Jami Johnson]

What would reindeer food be? Is this something you could share? Anything to add a sparkle of Christmas cheer to Christmas eve!:)

I'm not sure what her reindeer food is. But, for us, reindeer food is some oatmeal and glitter (silver, gold, red and green) mixed together.

Other traditions we have are going to certain Christmas parties, reading certain Christmas books, opening one present on Christmas Eve (pj's), and of course, eating our favorite foods.

[StitchinGrandma]

If you have little ones and like the Reindeer food idea, here's a great website with the "recipe" and great templates to print and cut out to attach to a jar so you can give this to your child each Christmas Eve. VERY cute idea.
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/xmas/magic_reindeer_food.htm

For us, my children are all grown and I hope they continue some of the traiditions we did as I was raising them.

We always would go to the Christmas Tree Farm and ride the sleigh drawn by the huge clydesdale horses out to the field to check out all the trees. Even if we didn't cut out tree down (we didn't every year) we'd take that ride out to the tree fields and wander. After that we went into the barn where they had the pre-cut trees and pick one out. Then we always went and looked around the gift shop and had cocoa in their restaurant. Every year they'd have a new litter of Golden Retriever puppies the kids all got to play with so they always had to play with them for awhile in front of the fireplace where the dogs loved to lay. We got home after that and had Christmas songs playing while we all decorated the tree. Each child hung their own special ornaments that I buy each of them yearly with their name and the year on it.

There's a park near here that has the entire park decorated by local businesses each year so we always made a special trip there to drive through. The entire park was lit up and played Christmas music through speakers and a special radio station on your car radio. Over the years it got so huge they had to start having the police direct traffic. Once we were done there we drove through all the neighborhoods known to have the best decorations to oooh and ahh over all of them. Every year they seemed to get more elaborate.

We always made cookies and candy every year and, of course had to leave some out for Santa.

Christmas morning I always served a kringle my Aunt and Uncle still send us each year along with my famous biscuits and homemade sausage gravy. After breakfast we would open up all the presents and then I'd get busy in the kitchen making a huge meal.

I'm sure there are many others I'm not thinking about right now but I sure do miss the days when my kids all lived here. It doesn't seem the same to wake up on Christmas morning and not have them all whining about when they could open thier presents.

Enjoy your children if they are still living at home because they all scatter around the country when they are grown and can't always make it home for the holidays. You never realize how you miss those days when they were smaller again when they leave your home.

[Sew So Happy]

If you have little ones and like the Reindeer food idea, here's a great website with the "recipe" and great templates to print and cut out to attach to a jar so you can give this to your child each Christmas Eve. VERY cute idea.
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/xmas/magic_reindeer_food.htm

For us, my children are all grown and I hope they continue some of the traiditions we did as I was raising them.

We always would go to the Christmas Tree Farm and ride the sleigh drawn by the huge clydesdale horses out to the field to check out all the trees. Even if we didn't cut out tree down (we didn't every year) we'd take that ride out to the tree fields and wander. After that we went into the barn where they had the pre-cut trees and pick one out. Then we always went and looked around the gift shop and had cocoa in their restaurant. Every year they'd have a new litter of Golden Retriever puppies the kids all got to play with so they always had to play with them for awhile in front of the fireplace where the dogs loved to lay. We got home after that and had Christmas songs playing while we all decorated the tree. Each child hung their own special ornaments that I buy each of them yearly with their name and the year on it.

There's a park near here that has the entire park decorated by local businesses each year so we always made a special trip there to drive through. The entire park was lit up and played Christmas music through speakers and a special radio station on your car radio. Over the years it got so huge they had to start having the police direct traffic. Once we were done there we drove through all the neighborhoods known to have the best decorations to oooh and ahh over all of them. Every year they seemed to get more elaborate.

We always made cookies and candy every year and, of course had to leave some out for Santa.

Christmas morning I always served a kringle my Aunt and Uncle still send us each year along with my famous biscuits and homemade sausage gravy. After breakfast we would open up all the presents and then I'd get busy in the kitchen making a huge meal.

I'm sure there are many others I'm not thinking about right now but I sure do miss the days when my kids all lived here. It doesn't seem the same to wake up on Christmas morning and not have them all whining about when they could open thier presents.

Enjoy your children if they are still living at home because they all scatter around the country when they are grown and can't always make it home for the holidays. You never realize how you miss those days when they were smaller again when they leave your home.

Good gosh! I cry so easily! It is so much fun when they are little. I talk to friends that have teens and they even miss when their kids are little.
Speaking of gravy, we have chocolate gravy with biscuits on Christmas morning. It tastes awesome.

[StitchinGrandma]

Good gosh! I cry so easily! It is so much fun when they are little. I talk to friends that have teens and they even miss when their kids are little.
Speaking of gravy, we have chocolate gravy with biscuits on Christmas morning. It tastes awesome.
Awww sorry I made you cry. It's the truth. I never gave it a 2nd thought that one day they wouldn't get to come home for the holidays. :confused: You don't want to know how depressed I am on Christmas morning, trust me.

Chocolate gravy sounds quite yummy though and could help lift my spririts on Christmas morning, along with some spike egg nog.:wink:

I think we need something around here.
If you click here (http://www.embroidables.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=6)you'll see a place to post yummy recipes. :D I did post, so far, one of mine which you'll find in the desserts thread. YUM

Now if you would, please share your recipe for the chocolate gravy. I made one with soups and sauces just so you can post this one. :D

[anpola]

Thank you for the reminder to enjoy the little ones when they are little. I've been pulling my hair out today with 3 kids so it's just the reminder I needed.

I love traditions and we have a lot. The only one I can think of that I've carried over into my own family is an advent calendar....a tree that the kids can put an ornament on each day until Christmas. My husband and I have started several traditions. We do 1 activity a day during December as a family. Some days it's as simple as reading a Christmas story. Other activities include decorating a gingerbread house, a tea party, shopping for siblings, classic Christmas movies, painting ornaments at the pottery studio, a service project or seeing the lights at the temple. And our favorite...a shaving cream fight! It starts out just as playing and drawing pictures in the shaving cream but we always end up getting covered in it! It's a good way to get the table and floor cleaned too! My other favorite is the time capsule we do. It's fun to open it up each year and think about the year past.

It's been fun to read about everyone's traditions. Thanks!

[Jami Johnson]

Great list and it reminded me of other traditions we do. We have about three advents we do as well as getting a new ornament each year relating to something they liked this past year. When we lived in Utah we'd go see the lights at Temple Square, so pretty and a good way to get in the Christmas spirit. Where do you live, anpola?

[anpola]

We live in AZ. The Mesa temple does a beautiful job on their Christmas lights and the bonus is no snow! It still feels cold to me though. ;) We also buy our kids a new ornament every year. My dad used to set traps to the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. That way we couldn't get to the presents without him knowing. We always tried to outsmart his traps but weren't usually sucessful. What Christmas movie is a must see every year for all of you?

[starsite]

In addition to the ornaments we exchange at Thanksgiving to kick off the season and commemorate a special time during the year, we have an annual cookie bake and exchange...as the family grows so does the stash of yummies!

Until this year we have always gone to pick out our tree the day after Thanksgiving - and then we would decorate the tree while listening to Chrismas music the following day and watch White Christmas in the evening. This was the first year neither of our sons could stay after Thanksgiving...it is so sad when the kids are grown and live too far away to continue this tradition, but the house is decorated (my son's tease me that it's really a Christmas shop!) and ready for them to come home on the 22nd - can't wait!

Christmas Eve is spent with my parents, sister, b-i-law and our families with a traditional meal and we exchange gifts with the aunts/uncles cousins etc. Because we spend so much time in the selection, wrapping etc of each gift, we go from youngest to oldest around the room and open one gift at a time. It drives my husband crazy, but if he spent the time wrapping & shopping he'd want to see everyone's reaction and prolong the experience too! NAH!

Christmas morning is when just the four of us gather to have coffee cake and open stockings and exchange our gifts then the family joins us for a lazy afternoon with a buffet & board games.

One tradition that my friends and I have enjoyed for the past 15 years is a ladies sleep over! Our hostess has a fun activity planned - last year she rented a trolley to take us to see the Christmas lights all over town, another year we went to see the Singing Christmas Tree, sometimes it's a scavenger hunt and other years it is a pampering massage. We do a gift exchange, play games and reconnect - most of us don't sleep, we just have too much fun.

I love this thread, as the kids are now adults, we'll be looking for new ideas...this year each of the adults is contributing a family recipe and we are compiling into a book with pictures and family antedotes to pass through the generations and we are including some from those who passed to give it special meaning for all of us.

Happy Holidays to everyone.

[Sew So Happy]

We live in AZ. The Mesa temple does a beautiful job on their Christmas lights and the bonus is no snow! It still feels cold to me though. ;) We also buy our kids a new ornament every year. My dad used to set traps to the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. That way we couldn't get to the presents without him knowing. We always tried to outsmart his traps but weren't usually sucessful. What Christmas movie is a must see every year for all of you?

I guess it is because I have a ten year old and a five year, but I love to sit down with them and watch Home Alone. I know, I know, not quite traditional, but I love those movies and how the kids laugh their heads off each time. The one movie we have started watching in the last few years is Polar Express.

[Crafty Connie]

My kids have a tradition. They are now in their teens and they still do this: We have never really pushed the Santa story on them so they never really BELIEVED in it, but still...On Christmas Eve, they sleep in the living room. They know I fill the stockings (that's never talked about, cause "Santa" does it) , but I can't do it before I go to bed. Oh no! I have to set my alarm and do it in the middle of the night while they are sleeping in the same room! They pretend not to hear me. It's so funny. I thought this year they'd think they are too old, no such luck. ;) I love my kids! Do they have to grow up and move out? :bawling:

[Alligator]

We read the "real christmas story" on Christmas Eve. However, my eighteen year old daughter (who's marine BF is home right now) was not there for it. breaks my heart. We go to my mom's Christmas Eve with my entire immediate family. Includes 29 members. I am one fo seven (i am the baby) so we have a HUGE time. Funny to watch new members (liek my daughters BF). They seem sooo in awe. It is funny. Then we go home and open as a family. I love Christmas. I love spending time with all my family.