I really want to start making some Christmas traditions to share with my boys, maybe make some that they might wish to pass on to their children one day. So far since I have become a parent I haven’t made any and I really ought to now that Burton, in particular, is old enough to understand what Christmas is.
I have been casting my mind back to when I was young to try and remember what traditions my family had when I was growing up with regards to Christmas. I can’t actually think of any which sounds really bad. I think my memories of Christmas is always wanting to help decorate the lounge with homemade paper chains (do kids even make those anymore?) and then those gaudy foil pull out and stretch cut out decorations. Personally, I would hate having those adorn my living space, but I am sure there will come a time when my two boys will want more of a say in what we decorate our walls with! I am quite minimal at the moment just covering the tree and nothing else. Of course when I was a child (and even a teenager) I would want to decorate the tree with ‘lots’ of tinsel and baubles too – I am surprised our tree could still stand.
Aha! I have just recalled two ‘traditions’ unique to my family. For my parents first Christmas together in their own home, as man and wife and as a mummy and daddy to me, my Mum made a fairy to put on top of the tree. It basically was a toy doll wearing green knitted clothes (I think) and some wings, and a red tissue paper skirt and a crown with mousy brown hair. I have just found a photo of this fairy and an example of my OTT festive decorating, taken in 1983 and judging by this photo this was the Christmas that we got our first computer a Comodore ’64
I am actually wondering what happened to that fairy as neither my Mum or Dad use it anymore. Also up until my parents split up in 1996, every Christmas a bottle of Babycham would come out and sit with all the other beverages and every year would return to the drinks cabinet until the following yuletide. It was obviously a joke between my parents, and I think I did ask my Mum one year and I think it was again a bottle from that first Christmas and it was kept for posterity. Hmmm I wonder if one of them has that bottle hidden away with the Christmas fairy doll? Or maybe after getting divorced both of those reminders of their first and every Christmas there after was disposed off like their marriage? I will probably never know (well unless I ask!).
I also remember that we would spend alternate Christmas’s with each of our grandparents so if we spent Christmas day with one set, we would see the other pair on Boxing Day. Christmas Eve I remember leaving a mince pie and a glass of brandy (I think) maybe milk, with a carrot for Father Christmas and Rudolph. We weren’t allowed to have our santa sacks in our bedrooms, which at the time was disappointing but now being a parent myself I can understand why Mum and Dad decided this wasn’t a good idea and I am making sure Burton and Jenson’s sacks are left in the lounge so there is no fear of being seen filling them with presents! We were always allowed to open our Father Christmas presents first thing when we woke up, but then we had to wait until after our Christmas dinner to open the main presents. That was always such a looooong wait when you are a child, especially given that this would often mean having to wait until about 4pm!!! (I have to be honest even as an adult now I feel waiting to almost tea time to open my presents when we visit my Mum is too long of a wait – not the boys of course but us adults!!)
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| me Christmas 1983 after present opening at my (maternal) grandparents
I have a few ideas of some traditions I want to start, so I need to sort them out so I can make this Christmas the one I bestow them upon and look forward to repeating every year for as long as I can.
I LOVE Christmas!!!
What traditions do you recall with fond memories? What traditions do you do now with your children? |
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I’ve gone a bit crazy this year planning our little traditions. I think we’ve taken the best bits from both our childhoods to try and make our own as well as just making some up ourselves. As a result our children are going to end up with a stocking (like I had) and a Christmas sack (like hubby had) which will be nice. And I will buy the children one new decoration each year for them to put on the tree (my mum did this and I still love working out which decorations were mine and which were my brothers.)
We’ve also invented a Christmas fairy who brings Christmas in time for December 1st and a spying penguin who makes Christmas Eve special. I’m pretty sure my husband thinks I’m insane with my twee ideas, but I just love Christmas.
X
Aww Jenny, that photo of you is very cute 🙂 We used to have those awful foil decorations too and our house was having a load of work done so the dining room just had plasterboard walls and my mum stuck all our homemade Christmas decorations round it! I can’t believe you had to wait that long to open presents, I don’t know how you coped! I had Santa sacks in my room for the first Christmas I remember but they had to change it because I was upset that a strange man had been in my room! I bet you will have some more traditions as the boys get older xx
Waiting all day to open presents must have been so hard as a child, even as an adult Im awake at the crack of dawn with excitement!
We buy the mini Mes a new decoration each year as a tradition and always go to a grotto. This year we are introducing Elf on the Shelf too 🙂 x
A lovely post Jenny- we have got lots of christmas traditions up our sleeve as well, I have a post coming on them soon! x
What lovely traditions. xxx
Oooo I hated having to wait to open presents. Although, my parents did this to us when we were older. We had to get showered and have breakfast before we could open presents. x
We’re having christmas elves coming to stay from tomorrow to keep a eye on the children and report back to Father Christmas! They will be bringing the advent calendars and getting up to mischief whilst the kids sleep!
hee hee i like that idea x
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