Here are 6 Christmas Traditions to start this year! I love traditions. My mom is an extremely sentimental person and has always done a great job making things special for me and my sister, and its honestly some of the core memories that I have from childhood. So when I had my own kids I knew I wanted to do the same for them. But what I wasn’t prepared for was how hard this was! I have a whole new respect for my mom and all the time she put into the things we did as kids. But in my 5 years of motherhood here are a few Christmas Traditions that have stuck around.
Grow your own Christmas Tree!
Now before you close out the window out, I don’t mean a literal tree! (Although that would be really cool!) We grow our artificial tree every year! There are a couple of ways to do this. But the gist of the idea is you set up some aspect of your tree, the kids go to bed and then in the morning they wake up to a Christmas tree, and its like it grew overnight! They think it is so cool and then you spend the morning decorating and singing Christmas songs, and eating a fun simple breakfast.
Like I said there are multiple ways you can accomplish this. In my house we set up the tree collar, and then we put the girls to bed and in the morning they wake up to a Christmas tree! But you could also:
- Go on a walk to look for pinecones to leave so a tree “grows”
- Leave ornaments that you made or picked out from your decorations stash.
- Could print out tree coloring sheets for them to decorate and then leave.
- The options are endless.
The best part about this is I go ahead and put the tree up in peace, I put all the lights on and I do all the base layer of my tree (ribbon, picks, lights, foundational ornaments) so that all the kids have to do is put on ornaments. It makes it so much easier for them to actually help decorate the tree without getting bored of it. I also try to make a fun hold in your hand breakfast, like muffins for that morning so that we can eat and decorate.
Christmas Eve Boxes
This tradition actually leads to multiple traditions in one. Every year on Christmas Eve I set out a box of goodies, for the girls to open before they go to bed that night. The box usually includes a pair of matching PJs for all of them, a new Christmas book to read, slippers or socks for the morning, and a new Christmas ornament for the tree!
This is just a really fun way to gift them something before the big day, and it all stems back to something my mom did for me! My mom would always let us open our PJs and underwear the night before Christmas! We always got a box of bras and panties for Christmas and a nice new pair of PJs. We did this every single year, and mom kept them in the same box every year! It was just a sweet tradition to pass down to my own kids.
Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls
Every year I make homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. I use the Pioneer Woman’s recipe and I make them a few days before and leave them in the fridge to bake while we open presents. I love this tradition because it makes breakfast that morning really simple. The whole house smells like cinnamon, and I just love to bake! The pioneer woman recipe also makes a TON of cinnamon rolls so its fun to give out cinnamon rolls to neighbors and friends right before the holidays. Add a nice little touch of service to the whole season.
There are tons of recipes for other breakfast casseroles too! I also have friends that have the same Christmas dinner every year which would be fun too! But I highly recommend a food tradition because those make the sweetest things to pass along, and they can easily withstand the passing of time. Your kid may not believe in Santa forever but they will always want breakfast on Christmas morning.
Shop for the less fortunate
Every year we shop for someone less fortunate than us. On this day we make it a point to not pick up an item for our own kids, we focus solely on giving back to someone else. Its been a great way for our kids to give back, and to really think about gift giving in this season. We have done this through multiple places including, toys for tots, operation Christmas child, and an angel tree donation.
I just think an important part of Christmas is to share the gift giving with your kids and with others. We are very lucky to live the lives we do, and all of us are just one bad event away from needing help too. If I can teach my kids to give back from an early age I am going to do it. This year we are doing an Operation Christmas Child shoebox for each of our girls to give.
Christmas Eve Service
We always attend a Christmas Eve service with our church. We love getting to celebrate the birth of our Savior with our church family, and it’s a good reminder of what this holiday is for. Its so easy to get wrapped up in all the crazy to forget why we are celebrating and coming together with your church family is a great way to focus on the reason for the season.
Pancakes and Pajamas Party
We host a Pancake and Pajamas Party every year right before Christmas. We invite all of our neighbor friends over and we make a huge spread of breakfast food, we play games, we trade gifts, and everyone is wearing their favorite Christmas PJs! We have so much fun and it’s something I look forward to all year long. I love to play hostess, and to plan out gifts for all the kids, and come up with super fun activities to play! Its just really fun to pause in the middle of all the crazy and hang out with friends who you love like family.
This is probably my favorite Christmas tradition and I will be doing it well into old age. There is just nothing better than a good pancake and friends. Its a hit every single year!
There are so many more traditions I could tell you about, but these are my favorites. I love the holidays, and I want to create as many core memories as I can. Its just such an amazing season to love and celebrate your family. But the holidays can also be super stressful. Some boundaries I have put around our holidays are:
- I don’t buy for adults. It got to expensive buying for everyone and trying to give my kids a meaningful Christmas so the adults got the boot. Its made things a lot easier and I can be a good gift giver for the kids in my family.
- If a tradition doesn’t work, I don’t do it again. I would love to say that I have it all figured out, and everything I try is perfect, buuutttt its not. I don’t give traditions that are hard and expensive the time of day. Its just not worth my sanity. I try out a few every year, and if they don’t work. Oh well!
- We put a priority on our nuclear family time. My family comes first. The people that live in my home come before anyone else. But if my in-laws or my parents want to do something, we are here for it. We just won’t prioritize it over our own stuff.
- I try to think of things that would be meaningful and create memories. I also want my kids to do this with their kids one day. So I try to pick things that are meaningful and sentimental. I also try to focus on things that I can sustain, and my kids won’t grow out of. I hope to do these same traditions with my grandkids in the future. This mindset also helps me weed out some of the things we do.
A few other Christmas traditions that we do, or are trying this year (rapid fire style):
- Christmas Jigsaw Puzzle (trying this one this year): Working a 500+ piece puzzle together.
- Themed Christmas Movie Night
- Riding around with hot coco looking at lights
- Leaving out Oreo’s for Santa (his favorite cookie)
- Leaving a Key for Santa since we don’t have a chimney
- Buying sibling gifts (letting each kid buy one gift for each of their siblings)
- We buy a new ornament for each kid every year, and will gift them all to them when they get their first tree.
- Making Christmas Dresses for the girls (I am trying it this year!)
- Leave reindeer food in your front yard!
- Read a Christmas book every night!
- Christmas Eve Bubble Bath
- Something you want, need, wear, & read gifts!
- We make gifts to give to friends! Usually ornaments or snacks.
I hope you can create some lasting memories with your kids. The holidays can be so much fun, just focus on the stuff that is meaningful for you.
