I’ve blogged
before about how as a family we don’t really ‘do’ Santa/Father Christmas.
One thing that is a bit tricky with this decision is the number of Christmas
traditions that relate to the big man in the red suit – from the old-fashioned
mince pie and carrot left out and Santa’s grottos to more modern crazes like reindeer food and Elf On The Shelf.
So, to think
about how I could create our own family traditions, I asked a range of other
parents what their non-Santa-related Christmas traditions are. I’m sharing them
here as I think they will useful not only for families like mine that but also for families with older children who know The Truth (ahem) or just want to have some traditions that will last as their children grow.
So here they
are, over 20 Christmas family traditions that you can do without reference to
the big FC …
Advent
“We
have advent jars instead of a calendar, I put activities and little gifts in
the jars” – Bamm Boo
“We have this...
it's our advent calendar and each day has a different activity. Lots of crafty
things but also includes thing like donating to food banks, driving round to
look at lights on houses etc” – Messy Blog
“We do a random acts of kindness calendar. Here
it is” – Giggles Family Vlog
“We do an activity advent calendar and every year we go to
the woods and decorate a lonely tree. Here is lasts years”
- Gingerlillytea
Other Preparations
“Just the crib: adding figures each week
and then Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve” – HeadInBook
“We pick (an) expensive (decoration) each
year. Have a day dedicated to decs and tree and lights.” – The GrownUp
“We decorate the tree together. One year my hubby did the
tree by himself and couldn't understand why I burst into tears shouted at him
and then stormed out (okay sounds a bit OTT but HE JUST DIDN'T GET IT!). On the
more positive side, mum would make her mince pies, we'd have Amy Grant's Christmas CD on and make
the mince pies. That combined with the "Holidays are Coming" advert
we knew Christmas was coming. That's before you get to all the church stuff we
do each year.” - HanPlans
“December
12th is St Lucia’s Eve. Every year, I put a crown of candles on my head and
take a tray of snacks upstairs to the bedrooms in the middle of the night. It’s
not something my family did as a child. It’s not a particularly common
tradition anywhere, not even in Scandinavia where services in celebration of
Saint Lucia are widely held. It does involve a midnight feast, though, and that
makes it a winner with the boys. It is, I’m told, one of the best things about
our family.” – Frogotter
“We do carolling. When I was younger we went to the village
centre on Christmas Eve and sang. Now we live in a village on our own we go to
the light switch on and carol singing round the community shop.” – East
Sussex Mummy
“We (the hubby and two kids) have a couple of traditions.
We like to attend the Christmas light switch on at Bluewater - I always end
getting emotional during the fireworks! My sister comes over and we paint the
windows - as in she draws on a humourous Christmas
image on the main one and I paint it - on the side window we always have the
nativity scene - I can supply pictures if you want! We also attend the
Christmas Eve service at our church and the kids get to dress up and be really
involved! I love it!” – Jog
On Mum
Christmas Eve
“Ever since I was young, my family always took a trip to The Barrowlands market in Glasgow every Christmas Eve: if you've never heard of 'The Barras' it's essentially the dumping ground of Central Scotland, pirated DVD's, stolen gear and antique stalls that couldn't look further out of place amongst the rest. In theory, it's the last place anyone would want to spend a holiday, but it's tradition, and it's packed every year. I'm not sure whether I quite want to continue with my little one this year, I'm not exaggerating when I say it's not exactly family friendly anymore, but I'd love to continue with a less than traditional tradition.” – Life With Boys
“We
go to kids church service on Christmas eve, then when we get home the 'Christmas
box' will have appeared with new PJs for the whole family (which get put on
straight away), a Christmas DVD (also on straight away) and popcorn, chocolate,
marshmallows and hot chocolate.” – Jane from Norris Box
“Every year we do a Christmas Eve buffet for the family and
then all put on our Christmas pyjamas, watch a Christmas DVD together.” – Five Little
Doves
“We always have mulled wine in our slow cooker on Christmas
Eve and have family over for a gossip. It's one of my favourite foodie things
about Christmas and I look forward to my own homemade mulled wine every year!” – MentalParentals
“My daughter is just turning one, but we are just starting
some traditions! We plan to drive around and look at the local houses' Christmas
lights on Christmas eve, followed by hot chocolate near the fire” – A Mundane Life
“We go to the Christingle service on Christmas Eve which is
really special (and a bit of a fire hazard if I'm honest).” – Life By Naomi
“For the past
8 or so years my husband & I have had a gingerbread house competition. We
make & decorate our own gingerbread house on Christmas Eve after
everything's done (last year I was up until about 4am) & our families then
have to pick whose is best. He is the current reigning champion. Raging. (I
have photos - still think mine was better last year.)” – Glasgow With
Kids
Christmas Day and beyond
“Everyone in
our house chooses what they want for Christmas breakfast in advance and that's
what they get on Christmas morning. Even if it's chicken nuggets or melted
marshmallows. We always have a ceilidh in my parents house after everyone's had a little bit too much mulled wine.
It usually ends with much falling over & a bunch of bruises.” – Glasgow With
Kids
“We don't open the presents until AFTER
lunch! Apparently that's not popular (and we're mean!)” – Lycra Widow
“My husband’s family always have a Christmas quiz on
Christmas Day. His dad spends all year making it and we all love it. It's the
highlight of our year.” – Mumsy Midwife
“We always use our leftover turkey from Christmas Day to
make khoresht fesenjan. It's a Persian recipe that is beYOND delicious. It uses
pomegranate molasses and walnuts to create the most rich, sweetly savoury and
moreish sauce that you've ever tasted. It's
a fab use for the leftover meat, and we're hoping to expand it in the coming
years to take in a few other Persian dishes too. None of our family is Iranian,
but we really like to celebrate other cultures in our household and introduce
our son to the idea of them. For us, Christmas is an excellent time to do that
what with the "peace on Earth" message!” – Vie Choufleur
In Memory
Amongst the festivities it’s important to remember that, for some people, Christmas is hard.
If you’re missing a lost loved one this Christmas, I hope that you can find
some comfort in a tradition of your own …
“Ours is rather sombre but is meaningful to us. My
fiance/the girls stepfather died suddenly a few years ago. Since then, we light
an advent candle every night in December in his memory and the three of us
attend a memorial service at our local church, where people can remember loved ones by placing a
personalised bauble on the church Christmas tree.” – That British
Betty
What non-Santa-related Christmas traditions do you have?
Great post. My family also does a buffet on Christmas Eve, with a few drinks obviously.
ReplyDeleteSounds great! I think we need to get better at Christmas Eve traditions, it tends to get overlooked in amongst everything else going on.
DeleteWhat a lovely ideas...It's great to read the traditions that other people have.
ReplyDeleteI loved putting this post together, so interesting reading what other people do for Christmas!
DeleteI am from Germany so our Christmas Eve Day normally involves having a lazy morning and then having potato salad and sausages and then we open up some presents from us as parents.
ReplyDeletePotato salad and sausages is definitely a tradition I could get on board with!
Delete