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.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
What are your family traditions?
My family had a lot of holiday traditions growing up - but they all involved my grandparents. So now that we are grandparent-less, we've realized that we are left feeling kinda of directionless when it comes to the holidays. I'd love to introduce some new traditions this year for my family and come up with some for just me, my hubby & future kiddos.
Please share your traditions, big & small! I can't wait to hear them!
Re: What are your family traditions?
DH and I have kind of stuck with a lot of the traditions that we had growing up.
As a kid every Christmas Eve my mom would give me and my siblings matching pajamas to wear to bed that night. She also made tons of finger foods and we sat on the couch together and watched A Christmas Story. We also spent the day baking cookies.
Our extended family always gets together the Saturday after Christmas to have a big dinner and exchange gifts.
Now that we're grown, we still get together with my family on Christmas Eve, but it has turned into a family dinner and gift exchange. My mom still gives us matching pajamas and we still eat the finger food and watch A Christmas Story.
Then Christmas morning H and I do stockings and gifts and a nice breafast before we go to my IL's house for dinner and gifts. And we still get together with my family the Saturday after Christmas.
Right now, DH and I have no traditions.
Growing up, we all got new pajamas and house slippers to wear that night. We would read the true story of Christmas from the Bible, followed by The Night Before Christmas.
Then we put out milk and cookies, and popcorn on the lawn for the reindeer.
Christmas Day we woke up early for presents. Each kid would get to open a "special" gift, and we would do that one at a time.
Last updated 4/06/11
Now that DH and I are married and we have his 3 children every other X-mas eve and everyother X-mas day our schedule alternates a little
This year I'll get the kids (DH is a corrections officer and works across the state and is unable to come home for any holidays this year) at 10:30 pm on Christmas eve. We'll listen to The night before Christmas (bought the recordable one so DH can "read" to the kids) put out our cookies and milk & call daddy. The next morning we get up, go to my parents house(across the street) until 2pm then go to DH's parents house then to his aunt's house where his grandparents will be.
The kids always get a gift from my grandmother who passed away 8 years ago ( the same gift she always gave me) A Giant candy cane hidden in the tree, A $5 Gift card to Mc Donalds and a scarf. You use the scarf to go sledding with then go to Mc Donalds for lunch or dinner. they think its so cool how Grandma Ladybug comes from heaven and leaves them presents.
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We're going to do Christmas PJs on Christmas Eve and continue the ornament tradition with our kids.
We started a tradition of hosting a big dinner for our parents and siblings, along with anyone else in the family that will otherwise be alone. We cram just about as many people can fit in our townhouse. The first year we kept to his Italian roots and made sauce and meatballs and chicken parm. Last year we did a big ham and we're doing ham again this year.
Then on Christmas morning, we open our stockings and then head to our respective moms' houses for breakfast. We reconvene and do presents before lunch, then back to my mom's house to play with my nephew. I'm getting tired just thinking about it.
Putting up the Christmas Tree on Thanksgiving night while sipping hot chocolate.
Black Friday Shopping.
Buying a present for someone less fortunate.
Baking Christmas cookies with my friends at my mom's house.
Driving around to look at Christmas lights.
Chrismas festivals.
Viewing of Christmas Vacation, Miricle of 34th street, Its a Wonderful Life, I have since added Elf and The Holdiay to the list.
Christmas Eve with his family.
Christmas Eve p.j.'s
My husband and I opeing presents in our bed Christmas morning.
Reading the true Christmas story before opeing presents.
The hidden pickle in the tree.
Christmas Brunch with my parents.
Vacation right after Christmas.
I can't wait to do all these things. I love traditions. All of these (except presents in bed and the vacation are things I always did growing up.
This is a great topic! Thanks for starting it.
I am going to list the ones I grew up with, since I don't really do anything anymore (divorced/no kids and living away from my family).
Christmas Eve - We used to play games as a family. As a kid, I was kind of a smarty pants so I played with the adults. I'm sure they loved it. ha
We usually had seafood of some kind on Christmas Eve. Whe my grandpa was alive, it was crab bisque. After that, we often had cioppino (I'm from the San Francisco area). It wasn't Christmas to me without Blue Diamond smoked almonds or Yardley Lavender liquid soap. After that, we'd go to midnight mass.
Christmas morning, my brother and I would wake up to a fabulous spread of gifts. My mom learned from my grandmother (who had 6 kids) to designate an area for each kid (like one end of the couch for ach of us) and would artistically arrange our unwrapped gifts and our stuffed stockings. It had a huge impact, to see everything at once. Love it!
I am forgetting a lot of things, I am sure.
Since DH and I moved in together in 2008 we have done this:
1) put up the tree just after Thanksgiving (sometimes on Thanksgiving day)
2) I go to the holiday parade with my mom in her town (DH usually works that night and can't go)
3) DH and I both go to the local holiday parade with his family (I want to go to the boat parade but DH won't go with me!)
4) Christmas Eve - We both work (store closes at 7). We usually head over to my brothers for dinner and visit with my side of the family
5) Christmas morning we go to DH's parents house for breakfast and gifts (his grandparents come down so it's nice)
6) We open gifts at our house after breakfast and then relax for the day -- last year we made dinner just for the two of us and it was wonderful so we will probably do that again