Christmas Traditions

Our home is filled with traditions . . . especially around Christmas time! For some reason, Christmas seems like the best time to have traditions. Maybe it’s because it is one of the biggest holidays of the year, or because it’s a time when the whole family gathers together. Here are a few traditions we enjoy every year.

Open presents from our aunt and uncle. Since our aunt and uncle live up north over a thousand miles away from us, we very rarely spend the Christmas holiday together but send our presents through the mail. As little children excited about all the boxes under the tree, we would forget what our relatives gave us amongst all the gifts that we received Christmas morning. So we started the tradition of opening out aunt and uncles presents on Christmas Eve. It was always easier to remember what they gave us . . . and it was very nice to open them day early!

Pizza night. Every year on Christmas Eve we all make our own personal pan pizza with what every toppings we want. We don’t have to consider what the rest of our family may want on their pizza because it is all ours! This was started when a friend told mama that they had pizza on Christmas day every year. Mama decided that it would be fun to do something similar that is out of the ordinary. Of course, we all love this tradition because pizza is one of our favorite meals!

Cookie Baking. Normally, on Christmas Eve we all (with the exception of daddy and our oldest brother Ryan) bake and decorate Christmas cookies. They are not for Santa Clause, but for our own enjoyment. We get all the decorating bags and icing out and make candy canes, wreaths, stockings and snowmen. The cookies always look so pretty on the plate together.

Christmas morning. At 5:30 sharp, all of us five kids are awake and sitting by the beautifully lit Christmas tree that looks so pretty in the dark, admiring the beautiful presents that are piled underneath it. We are not allowed to wake up mama and daddy until 6:00, so we go through our stocking to see what treasures we can find. As soon as the clock strikes the long-awaited hour, we are in our parent’s room, jumping on their bed, and screaming “Merry Christmas!” By 6:15 all the presents are open! (This is the only day of the year that we wake up on our own will before 8:00!)

Traditions give us something to look forward to with anticipation. Christmas is always a wonderful day at our house! Some day when I have a family and home of my own I will be able to create my own traditions for my husband and kids . . . and we’ll probably still go “home” for the old traditions as well!