12 Days of Christmas: Traditions
Today I am merging one of my 12 Days of Christmas posts with the last edition of the Dare to DIY Challenge by talking about some family Christmas traditions. And I had a really good list of traditions in my head until I sat down to write this post. Hopefully I will remember them before Christmas…
But, in all seriousness, we do have some traditions in mind for our little family. Christmas for us as a couple has been rather inconsistent over the past several years. There have been years where we didn’t exchange gifts and just celebrated with our New Year’s Eve wedding or a special vacation. Then there have been years (like last year when I was about to give birth) that we skipped a tree all together and just celebrated the arrival of our son.
But now that we have a baby, we’re ready to make the holiday more consistent. Here are some of the traditions we have done or have in the works:
- Going to get (and cut) our own Christmas tree…we found a tree farm that we really like near our house, so we plan to venture out each year to pick out a tree (though as I previously revealed, we just bought a tree at the farm this year instead of cutting!).
- Decorating the first weekend in December…in an effort to make the Christmas season last, I am planning to have an annual decorating day to get the house ready for the holidays.
- Elf on the Shelf…yes, I’ve decided to jump on this bandwagon. I love the idea of starting the countdown to Christmas with this little guy who is on a secret assignment from Santa. We know Ike’s too little to understand this year, but we’re hoping next year will be a blast.
- Staying home for Christmas…as much as we miss seeing our far-away family on Christmas, we think there is just something so special for little kids to be at their own house on Christmas morning. So, at home we will be!
- Christmas Eve…we’ve decided that our Christmas Eve tradition will be making “breakfast for dinner” and enjoying hot cocoa around the Christmas tree, and probably watching It’s a Wonderful Life (assuming all gifts are wrapped!).
- Christmas Day…the big day will be marked with standard gift unwrapping and a traditional family dinner. We can’t wait.
What Christmas traditions do you have in your house? If you need some ideas, be sure to head on over to NewlyWoodwards to see all of the other traditions posts!
Psst…I’m getting into the holiday spirit by writing 12 holiday themed posts leading up to Christmas. In case you missed it, here are the other posts: Day 1: Felt Ornaments; Day 2: Holiday Door Swag; Day 3: Coconut Snowball Cookies; Day 4: Our Christmas Tree; Day 5: Our entryway…
We made the decision this year (and in the years to come) to have a tradition of staying home with our little family. Last year we went four different places with him and it was a nightmare! So glad to see that we are not alone in starting this tradition with our little ones! Merry Christmas!
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These are great traditions! Love the idea of breakfast for dinner. I plan to get the Elf next year for my little guy. I’m so glad to be home for Christmas this year. It’s rough having a bi-coastal family – next year I’ll have to explain that Santa will indeed find him in CA!
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I love your traditions! And I love that you are doing things that will be perfect for your little guy and family. I totally agree about it being so special to spend Christmas morning at home with your own family. Thanks so much for all your support for the Dare to DIY parties this year (and years’ past). It’s so appreciated, Erin!
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I love that you’ve thought about and planned for traditions for your family. Growing up we had a lot but then we all grew and moved. I have a hard time with change so I’m struggling to accept those things won’t happen again. I’m searching for replacements but haven’t been inspired just yet.
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