Every family has their own Christmas traditions. They are what make Christmas special and what bring you together as a family. They are what you look forward to every year even when you are all grown up and have kids of your own.
My parents always let us open 1 present on Christmas Eve. When we were little my brother and I would get up at like 3:00 in the morning after Santa had come and sneak into the living room to see what he brought. Then we would go back to bed and act surprised in the morning. And we would always do holiday baking a few days before Christmas. It started as us making chocolate chip cookies with Daddy (he makes them the best) and Mom making chocolate fudge. Then as we got older this expanded to oreo balls, puppy chow, chocolate covered pretzels, cake balls...need I go on? We still do this every year and it's something we all look forward to.
When David and I got married we wanted to make our own holiday traditions as a family and this is something I've wanted to do for my kids since before Raley was born. Last year she was only 2 months old so she wouldn't have been able to enjoy it. So we decided to start it this year.
I'm sure you've seen these "Christmas Eve boxes" that are filled with Christmasy things such as Christmas pajamas, Christmas movies, a book, popcorn, etc. Well I don't really like the idea of opening this gift on Christmas Eve...they only get a couple days to enjoy their present then Christmas is over! Like you MAYYY be able to stretch Christmas out to New Years Day but after that point it's about time to get back to life as normal. I wish it weren't so, but that's just the way it is. (If it were up to me it would be Halloween for half of the year and Christmas the other half)
So we decided to make a new December 1st tradition. This way she gets a whole month to wear her Christmas jammies, watch Christmas movies together and read books. I know you can do this any time, even if Christmas is over, but it's so much more fun to do these things in the month leading up to Christmas. It just puts you in the Christmas spirit!
So here's what we did for baby girl this year:
She probably enjoyed opening the present more than what was inside, but I'm really excited to start our own Christmas traditions as a family.
I'd love to hear about YOUR family traditions! Comment below! :)Labels: holidays, inspiration, life
