Holidays
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Holiday Traditions
Hey ladies!
I just got married in June and have always wanted to start some holiday traditions of my own.
I have grown up in a family that has several, and they always change as our family dynamic grows and changes. Some of the things we always do are; Make Christmas cookies at Grandma's/mom's, drive around and look at Holiday lights, do St. Nick's (even with the adults... usually my mom gets something for my dad, and vice versa, and my sister for her husband and son, and her husband for her... etc) and several other things that change from time to time.
I was wondering what everyone else does? I'm looking at wanting to start my own little family tradition, that I can be able to continue once we start having kids.
Thanks!
Re: Holiday Traditions
Our traditions are that we do Christmas Eve with my family and (most of) Christmas day with the hubby's fam.
In my family we go to mass, come home and eat a large dinner, and then we open all of our gifts on Christmas Eve. The next morning we get up and Santa has left us all little things in the stockings. (Gift cards, socks, perfume, books, etc.) Now that I am older I share Santa duties with my Mom. So anyway I guess the point is our really only different thing is that we open all of our gifts on Christmas Eve, we have always done it that way.
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We always watch Prancer the weekend after Thanksgiving after we go find and cut our tree and decorate it.
DH and I started buying an ornament for each other each year, something my mom did for us kids and I love it. I love looking at my baby's first Christmas, my barbie and ninja turtle and then my college ornament and now my engagement and wedding ones.
We started going to "midnight mass" together, just us. Both of our families are other denominations, so we go to their services with them earlier in the evening, and then go to the nearest Episcopal church (since we are never at home) after everyone else is in bed. If you attend religious services, even if you aren't Catholic, or Episcopalian, I do so recommend it--the service is beautiful, and the time together is so peaceful in the midst of a season that is always so hectic.
Like several others,we also started buying a Lenox or Waterford ornament.
As I mentioned, we do not live in the same town as our families, so several years ago we started a "family" Christmas with our friends. We do it supper club style--each couple brings their families' favorite recipies, and we share memories over cocktails, and usually exchange small gifts. We usually do it a few days before everyone heads out of town to see thier own family.
Thanks ladies! These are awesome!
My H and I are religious, and we do attend our candle light mass. I have always loved it. We did it a lot while I was growing up, and then for a few years just didn't have the time. The last couple of years though we have brought it back.
We also have a tradition to go sledding as a family. When I was a kid we used to do it Christmas Eve at my grandparents. They have quite a bit of property and a gravel pit, so we would set up a bon fire at the top of the pit and tube down the sides. It's not as easy, now that everyone is grown up, to do this, and usually we go to a local park a weekend or so before Christmas. Then we get hot chocolate and enjoy each others company.
A tradition that DH and I started on our first Christmas was picking out a special ornament together each year and putting the year on the ornament. We have been together for 10 years so this year we will be getting our 10th ornament together.
DH and I started a tradition the first year we were dating: We go to Frankenmuth (a tourist/german themed town about 2 hours away) visit the world's largest Christmas store (by at least 1 ornament (first year was U + Me = Meant 2 Be, last year was engagement, this year will be wedding AND house!)) and then head into the town for mini-shopping and then a huge dinner.
We always do this between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We try not to pin down an exact weekend since we don't want the tradition to become a hassle.
My mom and I always bake some traditional Italian cookies about a week before Christmas. I make homemade pasta on Chrismtas Eve for Christmas dinner. On Christmas Eve, we go to my sister's house for dinner, then to midnight Mass. On Christmas Day, DH and I make ourselves a nice breakfast and exchange gifts. Then, it's over to my parents' house for the day. We have made it clear that our breakfast is our time and it's a lot of fun for us.
DH is Jewish, so we don't have traditions with his family. He participates in my family traditions though. He even comes to Mass.
My DH and I already had kids when we got married so our traditions have always involved kids.
We put up our decorations the week before Thanksgiving. I LOVE Christmas decorations but was never allowed to put the up until two weeks before Christmas as a kid. I put them up when I want in my house. It drives my dad nuts. I have so many DH says it looks like the North Pole exploded in our house. In at 1300 sq ft house I manage to find room for 3 trees. We can only have artificial tree's because of allergies.
DH usually has to work but the kids and I make and decorate cookies on Dec 23rd. On the 24th we take some to either police station or fire dept.
We have a nativity story book called ( i think) what God wants for Christmas. Each day we read the page and open one of the boxes that came with it. In each box is a figure in the nativity.
We don't do Santa. Our kids get three gifts each (from us) because that's what baby Jesus got. We also do stockings which aren't included in the 3 gifts. One gift I handmake. The kids also make things for each other.
We have our big dinner on Christmas eve at our house with My parents and one of DH's friends who is like a brother. After dinner we go to church. When we get home the kids go to bed. After they are alseep the adults open gifts.
On Christmas morning I make a big breakfast and then the kids open gifts. The hate waiting, lol. We spend the rest of the day at DH's grandma's farm. His grandma has 8 kids so it's a huge family. The adults bring either a girl gift or a guy gift and everyone takes turns picking. The kids get gifts from the family members they are closest to. The kids also take turns doing a pinata that one of DH's aunts makes.
I think we may start doing a gingerbread house since the kids should be old enough. We may also start having the kids do a secret santa instead of making something for everyone. My dad's girlfriend is Jewish and we may adopt some of her Hanukkah traditions as well.
We bake cookies on Dec. 23rd, drive around looking at holiday lights, go to ZooLights, and pick out a Christmas tree from a tree farm. Next Christmas we'll have an 11 month old baby and we'll add in Christmas Eve pajamas and milk and cookies for Santa (although not for a couple more years). My family always does a "Christmas event" sometime in December - a holiday concert, show, or dinner.
ETA: Oh, my parents also buy us each an ornament every year, and we will do that with our children also. We buy one nice ornament every year for ourselves as well.
Ours is awful because DH's family is awful. Every year DH and I drive up to his parents, where they proceed to ignore us for the week we're up there in preference to DH's brother who lives next door to them. DH's mom puts up their tree the evening before we get there, even though DH has requested for years that she wait for him because he loves decorating the tree with her.
On Christmas Eve, we go to mass together, and then come home and DH's dad begins preparing dinner. It takes about 3 hours to make. We eat dinner around 10:30 pm and then DH's brother's family goes home, MIL and FIL go to sleep, and DH and I are up till around 1 or 2 AM cleaning up after everyone.
Christmas morning, we open presents all together. Then DH's brother's family goes back to their house and prepares an elaborate pancake breakfast while we eat cereal with DH's parents. The end.
The only good part of holiday traditions is that when we leave, we stop off at a little town which is halfway home and spend a couple days there, just the two of us.
We open a gift or two on Christmas Eve (well, the kids do). It is usually jammies and a craft to keep her occupied for the night and a book to read before bed (Christmas themed).
We do a huge Christmas breakfast, just the four of us at home then go to my family's for the afternoon and evening.
My mom always made a scrapbook of the year for each of us and gave it to us on Christmas with a letter in the beginning. It is literally the best presents I've ever received. I started this with my kids too. If you do it during the year, or online on a site like Shutterfly, it doesn't take as much time to keep it updated.
Maybe you should start having "other plans" or be "sick".
DH put up Christmas decorations every year, and then have a chinese takeout picnic under the tree while watching Elf.
Every Christmas Eve we gift each other PJs. We also do stockings for each other. Christmas has always been just the two of us, and we open gifts and have breakfast in bed.
This is a brilliant idea, and I totally would if DH wasn't such an "optomist." Every year he conveniently forgets how awful it is, or somehow thinks its going to be different. He spends the whole trip thinking if he just lived closer to them, he could solve all their problems.
I keep telling him that when we have kids I'm going to try for a December baby just to avoid going up there.
This reminds me of something I used to do in university. I worked at a nursing home as a receptionist, that of course didn't close on Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years, etc. I always elected to take Thanksgiving morning shift (8-2) and Christmas Eve shift (2-8) because my family went to my grandmother's (mom's side) during these times. She is probably the worst cook on earth and has only become worse with age. She's also a crabby old woman with nothing nice to say to anyone except for my two precious cousins. The year before I worked at the nursing home, I had to have my tonsils taken out, so I chose the Tuesday before Thanksgiving as my surgery day! You should do something similar, any surgeries you need...
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We have a few traditions:
I take the kids to see Santa at the mall close to DH's work on a weekday in December, where he meets us for the visit and for lunch. We do this to avoid the weekend crowds.
DH and I have bought the annual Swarovski crystal snowflake ornament every year starting the year we got married (7 years ago). I display them on a ornament hanger as a centerpiece on my dining room table. This year, I want to start buying the little star Swarovski ornaments for our tree.
We bake cookies with my mom and sisters. I will probably let DD help this year since she's old enough, and will let DS help with the frosting
We go to church on our own (just the four of us) and have Christmas morning on our own. Then we drive down to my parents' house (about 1 hour away) and spend the afternoon and dinner with them.
We always have Christmas with my side of the family either before Christmas or after. Last year we did it before New Years eve. I always get the boys ornaments. L gets a snowman, B gets a Santa and T well not sure what I will start collecting for him maybe a reindeer or ginerbread man. We always go to DH's parents christmas day after we open our gifts at our house. We always wear matching jammies for all the ladies and guys and the kids have theirs too. Then we do brunch and hang out. We usually play games through out the day. One christmas eve we went out with $20 and bought for someone that u pulled their name out of a hat. It was funny stuff too like character pj's or boxers or underwear.
Around Thanksgiving we watch Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase!! Love it!!
The boys and I made ornaments (homemade ones) and last year made reindeer canvas handprints for family.
I love the holidays and am excited to start new traditions with my DH, although I feel like I am out of tradition ideas! His family all goes together to pick out Christmas trees, all get together to bake Christmas goodies, we go to his parents' house on Christmas Eve for soup in bread bowls, wine, and other goodies that we baked {all together
}, we go to his parents Christmas morning to open presents, MIL buys Christams ornaments each year. We go to mass with my parents and open gifts at some point Christmas morning after we go to his parents. Then we have 2 more grandparent Christmas's to attend! It's craziness but I really wish we could find something special for just us two to do together (with our future family!)
Oh my goodness! This sounds awful. I feel bad for you. Why not stay home and start your own family traditions?