Nov
06
Sandra has invited us to share our traditions for the holidays. I missed doing this the first time around but she has graciously redone her post so more of us can share in this.
I love Christmas and we have done several things over the years with our children to try to make it meaningful for them, so they would understand what Christmas is all about. From the time they were babies we used an Advent wreath for family devotions during December. We sang carols or hymns lots of times also but their favorite part was always lighting the candles.
My mother in law gave us a Fontanini nativity set when I first started having children and she added pieces to it each year until we had quite a nice set. The pieces are nonbreakable and we have loved having them over the years. The kids can pick them up and play with them but what they really liked to do was to set up the nativity in their own way. Then another person would come along and set the pieces up like they wanted and that little game would go on constantly during the month. Each child had their own way for how it should be set up.
We tried to put our Christmas tree up during the first week of December so that we could enjoy it all month; now I like to do it during Thanksgiving weekend if some of them are home to help decorate it. We have a candlelight service on Christmas Eve that we attend and then try to have a fun meal planned for dinner afterwards. I liked for them to go to bed early when they were young but they were always so excited, it was hard for them to get to sleep early! And my kids are the kind that think you are supposed to wake up at 4 or 5 on Christmas morning to start opening gifts! They were supposed to wake us up before they can open anything, which they usually did. Everyone would look at their stockings first and see what Santa had brought them before any gifts were opened. Santa gifts at our house were not usually wrapped. There is one thing I started when the kids were young that we have done consistently every year. With 4 young, excited kids on Christmas morning all unwrapping gifts at the same & tags being ripped off, it was almost impossible for me to see everything as they opened it. Then sometimes they wouldn’t remember who had given them what gift so I would have to ask around so we would know who to write thank you notes to later. So one of our big things was that only ONE person could open a gift at a time; that way each one of us in the family could see what they were getting, all could ooh and aah over it and I think they learned to appreciate their gifts more when they took time opening and admiring it. And the other rule is, you can’t go get a gift for yourself to open; one person at a time goes to the tree and finds a gift to GIVE to someone else there. When they were young I think this helped them learn the importance of giving rather than getting. When someone has finished opening their gift, it’s their turn to go find a present to give someone else. This also made the morning of opening gifts last a lot longer. When everyone opened gifts at once and there was general chaos going on, it seemed like everything was over in a matter of minutes. I felt like I had spent weeks preparing and they had been anticipating it for so long that it just didn’t seem right for them to rip everything open and then be done in a few minutes time. It’s something we still do today, although as our family gets a little bigger and we take so much time talking and looking now, we sometimes have to speed things up a little. I don’t know if this is something they will incorporate into their own families but it’s something that worked for us and helped us to enjoy a longer Christmas morning.
There were years that I had to code the presents with numbers or letters to keep the kids from guessing what was in the boxes and at those times there would be clues or riddles for figuring out which present was yours.
We always have a breakfast casserole ready to go in the oven when we get up, so at some point we all stop and fix breakfast plates to eat as we open. We have hot apple cider to go along with it also. If there are grandparents or other family not with us that day, we always call them sometime Christmas morning as well. One of our closest couple friends from church has 4 children the same ages as ours so all the kids would talk to each other every Christmas morning also.
Our Christmas dinners are almost always turkey and dressing, with many sides to go along with it. Most everyone naps at some point during the day! On years that Christmas falls on Sunday, we enjoy an abbreviated worship service at church.
It’s such a fun time of year, a special time to remember the birth of Christ, and a great time to make family memories and traditions!
November 6th, 2006 at 5:05 pm
My mother would do the same thing, open one gift at a time. It was torture but then I would find myself doing something similar. Funny how we grow into our Moms in some ways.
I have noticed that as my kids have gotten older they wait until 7 or 8 to wake up…so there is hope 😉
November 6th, 2006 at 6:15 pm
That’s just lovely. I really liked the way you passed out gifts with each person taking a turn. I think I’ll try that this year.
November 6th, 2006 at 6:58 pm
Wow, you have a lot of good traditions. Some of them bring back good memories; others are unique and sound fun to try!
November 7th, 2006 at 10:20 am
Sounds like it is awesome around your house at Christmas. Thanks for sharing 🙂
November 7th, 2006 at 3:38 pm
I’m finally getting around to reading the holiday traditions post! You sure have some wonderful traditions and memories! We attend a candlelight service on Christmas Eve and I so enjoy it!
November 7th, 2006 at 3:49 pm
Great traditions post. I especially like the idea of everyone taking turns. We always have utter chaos so I am going to give this one a try this year. Then everyone can enjoy looking at what the other person got.