What are your Christmas traditions? And ideas for Christmas? (Santa Claus, teenager, average)

[CRAZYSEXYCOOL]

I know its early! But once again Christmas will be here before we know it. So I would just like to know what other people do in their families as traditions for the holidays?

Christmas has always been the best for me. My family tells me every year that I go overboard, and that the house looks like I bought every snowman in town. But I believe that I am creating a tradition that hopefully my children will take with them in to their own families one day.

But my problem has become I do everything, and I need ideas that will get my family involved. So what do you do? Do you go caroling, have a party, bake cookies?

Here are some of the things that we do:
Have Christmas movie night
Go see Christmas lights
Bake cookies with the neighborhood kids

I thought this would be a great place to share ideas, and give each other a heads up on great places to shop. Most important it is about helping each other make great memories for the holidays. I am not a kid but I feel like it every year when Christmas time comes around.

[SuzyQ123]

We always eat pizza and watch Christmas movies on Christmas eve. We open our stockings, which have candy and little things like a card game, nail polish, and more candy. We open 1 gift, the new PJ's and a book. Wake up early on Christmas morning, open gifts take lots of pictures, I make breakfast (cinnamon buns) and hot co-co, while dad put the toys together and plays with the kids. I play for a while, clean up and start the dinner.

We do make a few homemade plates of cookies, fudge and candy to take to a couple of neighbors and the ladies at our library sometime during the week. That's all I can think of for now.

[crisan]

We play volleyball at the beach.

[sskkc]

We decorate for the season, like it's going out of style. You know that house that stops traffic? Yep, that's us. I even 'wrap' the picture frames and paintings on the walls! Every year, the display gets bigger. This year, we finally bought a house and went from 5,000 sq ft yards on average to 3/4 of an acre... our 10000+ lights and decorations are gonna look PUNY!

We pick out a real tree together, set it up and a few days later, we decorate it - usually the first day of School Break. We see every kid~friendly movie in theaters during break. This year, I found a nativity play and hope to add a few new traditions of various things I've been researching in this area.

I start my Christmas baking the weekend after Thanksgiving weekend. Cookies and fudge go in every box I mail out, they go to every teacher the kids have, every admin person in the school, specials teachers, neighbors, friends who stop by, etc. It usually takes at least 4-5 days of full day baking to get it all done. I can't wait until the day I finally get a double oven and can cut that in HALF! My poor feet!

We used to start outdoor decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving, but the display has gotten so large, we have to start it a week earlier - but we don't light it up for anything but testing until after Thanksgiving.

We usually have school choir programs, church children's programs, driving around to see the lights with late night cocoa and cookies in the car, etc. The kids get a "mental health day" off school at least once before break, so we can go to a mall BEFORE the crowds get insane, but while everything is 'decked out'.

We choose a card from the Silver Key program at Walmart/Target. We talk about those 'less fortunate' and donate as many canned goods as we can.

On Christmas Eve, we eat spaghetti or lasagna, we open gifts from extended/out of town family, watch Christmas movies and listen to Daddy read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and "Little Town of Bethlehem" (nativity story). Dh and I prep the family room before we go to bed.

On Christmas day, the kids wake us with delighted cries. Dh and I stumble out of bed, pour me some coffee and sit back and watch. Photos are not taken on early Christmas morning - those moments are special and belong just to the four of us. Years ago, when the kids were toddlers, I realized how much I missed by trying to capture those shots for everyone else, and so the camera doesn't come out until AFTER breakfast.

Christmas breakfast is usually pancakes by Daddy, or something more ambitious from me - noth the same thing each year though. We snack through the day on various elaborate appetizers - the kind no one ever makes when it's "just for us" (dh's suggestion one year). For dinner, we have ham, mashed potatoes, corn and dinner rolls. Sometimes a tossed salad. Always made by dh and the kids.

We spend the day playing with the new stuff, finding homes for it all, calling and thanking relatives, sometimes having some of the neighborhood kids over, depending on where we've lived.

I love Christmas and the whole season... for me, it begins early... prep and shopping began months ago, and is kicking into high gear this week. Now that we've gotten all the Halloween stuff out and up, my fall baking begins tomorrow. The smell of cinnamon just DOES IT for me!

[jeepgirl27]

Originally Posted by CRAZYSEXYCOOL

I know its early! But once again Christmas will be here before we know it. So I would just like to know what other people do in their families as traditions for the holidays?

Christmas has always been the best for me. My family tells me every year that I go overboard, and that the house looks like I bought every snowman in town. But I believe that I am creating a tradition that hopefully my children will take with them in to their own families one day.

But my problem has become I do everything, and I need ideas that will get my family involved. So what do you do? Do you go caroling, have a party, bake cookies?

Here are some of the things that we do:
Have Christmas movie night
Go see Christmas lights
Bake cookies with the neighborhood kids

I thought this would be a great place to share ideas, and give each other a heads up on great places to shop. Most important it is about helping each other make great memories for the holidays. I am not a kid but I feel like it every year when Christmas time comes around.

Yeah I take my girls to their dads house, they spend every holiday with him. His family get together on Christmas Eve and have a big celebration, the girls love it, and I do whatever I want.

[JC JC Mom]

Christmas is absolutly OUR favorite holiday.
We always put up the tree and decorations on the Friday after thanksgiving which is crazy for me and DH because we always do black friday shopping but we shop until 3:00 or so then pick up the kids at grandma's, go home eat thankgiving leftovers about 7:00 - 8:00 we put on the radio to the Chirstmas Carol station and start singing and decorating. My kids are still young so leading up to christmas we'll do a cake and decorate it together and art and crafts painting santa clause things like that, driving around looking at the house with decoration. I never work on Christmas eve that is when christmas really begins for me and my family. Me and the kids get up early, the house is perfectly clean the christmas music is on we bake cookies from scratch and then we decorate them which is the fun part I spend a small fortune on icing, sprinkles food color. LOL some of those cookies are for Santa we decorate a Ginger bread house. Towards dinner time I prepare some food and we Always have Christmas eve dinner at my mothers house the whole family goes and we have some good family time with good food then we head home set out the cookies get into our PJs and the kids go to bed with a christmas bedtime story. Kids are asleep DH and I set up the downstairs. Presents only get put under the tree on Christmas Eve when the kids are asleep They each get a special Santa Clause present wrapped with special paper ribbons and bows. All other presents are from mom and dad. They of course wake up at the crack of dawn we open presents have a simple breakfast, then we head over to my moms me and brothers with family all gather open more present. then me DH and kids head over to his family house for dinner and more presents. Needless to say its a very busy day oh and I also take the day after christmas off to recoperate. LOL

Great thread I love to hear what are other traditions might be interesting where maybe we'll start some new traditions

[pamelaBeurman]

Were a crafty family and enjoy making ornaments for our tree. Empty cigarette boxes are giftwrapped and decorated as small christmas present ornaments. The lids from starch cans become Victorian hatbox ornaments. Clear glass ornaments from the craft store are, with the help of my massive nailpolish supply,turned into one of a kind works of art. As we create we're busy scarfing down cookies and hot chocolate.

As the kids leave the nest they have a starter collection of their own Christmas ornaments, each with it's own memory.

We can afford to buy any ornament we choose, but the ones we make together are priceless.

[WhereTheSidewalkEnds]

We've always gone up into the mountains and cut at least one tree. Usually two. After an hour of my husband thinking he'll find the perfect tree, my son (now a teenager) will usually just say, "pick something!".

Come home, put on Christmas music, get a glass of wine (well, not my son), and we all decorate the tree (s).

I think this year we might have to skip a tree - two kittens were adopted in September. I can only imagine what would in sue. There is nothing they won't try to climb. Bums me out a little. Maybe we'll put it on the front porch instead.

[kahncss]

We start decorating the day after Thanksgiving. We usually put up 3 trees (living room, family room and my daughter's room). Like jkcoop, we have two new kittens in our home, so I'll probably forgo the tree in the living room that has all of the expensive ornaments on it.

Some of our traditions are:

Buying a new piece to our Christmas village and setting it up.

Watching the orginal Miracle on 24th Street w/ Natalie Wood.

My sister and I exchange new ornaments each year.

My daughter always gets a new Hallmark ornament (or two).

Making up a couple shoeboxes of goodies for Operation Christmas Child.

Going to a candlelight service on Christmas Eve, followed by driving around looking at lights.

Opening presents from family on Christmas Eve. At 14, my daughter still loves new pj's.

Making a "Happy Birthday" cake for Jesus.

Reading the Christmas story from the Bible on Christmas morning.

When my daughter was little, I always left two cookies out for Santa and would make sure to take a bite out of one.

Another cute thing was making "Reindeer food", (oats and birdseed) and sprinkling it on our front lawn. After my daughter went to bed, I'd mess the food up w/ my hand to look like it had been eaten.

* Not a tradition, but just remember to charge your camcorders/digitals.

[Kibbiekat]

We're going out of state to visit the grandparents. Stresses me out to think about trying to split our time up, transport the gifts, etc.