Holiday Traditions

Everyone has their holiday traditions. Some people go to the movies, others eat a specific breakfast. Often their is an order to opening presents.

When we grow up, move out, and add a life partener, those traditions change. Our traditions combine with those of our partner to create new traditions and a new feeling for the holidays.

As you get older and start a family, those traditions naturally evolve again. It is worth putting some thought into what holiday traditions you want to pass down. Once the first baby is born, you really only have a couple years to figure it out.

I have scoured the internet for a variety of traditions you could encorporate into your holiday. They are all facinating.

All About the Buildup

One of the great, and difficult, things about the holiday is how long of a buildup there is. The Christmas season in America starts at least a month before the holiday, and children are excited. However waiting that long can be a problem. So how do families keep the frustration at bay?

Elf on a Shelf

A representation of one of Santa’s little elves to keep an eye on children through this exciting time. Some parent’s move the elf every night to add some magic to the situation, others just sit them in a prominent place.

As the kids get older (and understand Santa isn’t real) they can move the elf as well. It can become a “where’s waldo” type of game in the house.

Advent Calendars

Many families use advent calendars to count down the days until Christmas. Some calendars are reusable, and others aren’t. There are trees that can be filled with toys every year, and we had a calendar that had a different ornament in it every day we would get to put on the tree. Some people wrap up 24 books and give a new book to read to the family every night (you could use library books for this as well, just remember to return them!).

St. Nicks Day

St. Nicks day is the 6th of December. Children put out their shoes the night before and find them filled with candy, money, or small gifts in the morning. It is a super fun tradition that acts like a pre-Christmas.

Preparing Presents and Decorating

Some families decorate the house slowly over the course of the month to build up the holiday. Others, make small gifts (like cookies) for all the people in their lives. Still others gather lightly used toy that are no longer in use and have the child help gift them on.

Company

To host, or not to host? That is the question rolling around the holiday season. Will you have people over? Will you go to some gathering? Stay home?

And if you have people over, how many for how long?

Some go out on Christmas day or Christmas eve. Others have low key Christmas at home in their pajamas. And others have people over for Christmas dinner.

Food

In my family growing up we had some form of cake for breakfast (after singing happy birthday before opening presents) and drank mulled wine and hot cider with dinner. Every year my mother made peanutbutter fudge and we all helped make cookies.

I like the idea of treating Christmas like a birthday party, but our usual coffee cake for breakfast won’t fly with a young child. Instead we will have blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

Having the same foods every year can make planning for the holiday easier by reducing the decisions you have to make, and also elevates that food to a special place. Maybe you like Chineese food on Christmas, perhaps you want a repeat of the Thanksgiving turkey.

Smell is one of our strongest links to memory. So it is important to think about what food is made and what the holidays smell like for your family. It creates a stronger bond.

Giving Back

The Christmas season is widely considered the time for giving. So how do you get your new family involved?

You could have your children choose lightly used toys to donate or go and get new toys to donate to Toys for Tots. You could volunteer at a shelter or soup kitchen or start a food drive. Arrange to visit people in the hospital or an Assisted Living facility. There are a million things you could do.

Teaching young children the benefits and responsibility to give back is best accomplished through works, not just giving money. Small children don’t have a strong grasp of money, but they do grasp things and time. So pick an activity that gives back to the community and help your children do it.

Regarding Presents

In my opinion, the most difficult part of the holiday is presents. It is so easy to become inundated and overwhelmed by new items, especially since you don’t fully control gift giving.

You can’t control what others give you or your children, but you can control what you get them. So what can be done to reduce the amount of clutter?

You could limit the number of gifts each child gets from you or Santa. I like the idea of each person getting: something to read, something you need, something you want, and something to wear. That is 4 gifts, and Santa can take one of them every year. In my Santa will additionally gift an activity for the whole family for Christmas day, like a Lego set to put together or an ornament kit.

There are also non-tangible gifts and intrinsically useful gifts. For instance, if your little one happens to be ready to transition to a big kid bed around Christmas, maybe the new bed is a gift. Or a trip to the Zoo. Giving things you would otherwise need to get or experiences are more than fair game.

Coming up with a cohesive gift giving strategy while the children are small is much easier than trying to transition into one when they are older. So take the time to think about it now.

Wrapping it all up

What are some of your favorite holiday traditions? Let us know in the comments.