One of my favourite holiday traditions from my childhood, was spending Christmas Eve with family, watching holiday movies beside the Christmas tree, and then opening just ONE gift before we went to bed.
My family is from Germany, where opening gifts on the night before Christmas is the norm, so bringing this tradition into our own family felt really special.
When my daughter was born, I knew this was something I wanted to continue, and now we get cozy new pyjamas on December 24th!
There’s something magical about bringing those traditions through each generation, and since we love hearing from YOU and learning about your families, we asked:
Here’s what you said!
“My dad made us pink and green pancakes every Christmas morning for breakfast! We still do this and now all the grandkids are growing up with the same tradition!” – Erin
“The pets always get the kids jammies and socks. My parents did this when we were little, dog gave the jammies and the cat socks or undies. My kids think it’s hilarious. And the dog always picks out the best jammies.” – Kellyn
“When I was little I got a ornament every year from my mom. Then when I moved out to my own house she gave them all to me so I had ornaments for my 1st Christmas tree! I now do the same for my kids!” – Krysta
“When I was in kindergarten I came home and asked my parents why Santa didn’t visit our house-we are Jewish. My dad made up an elaborate story about Santa’s cousin Hanukkah Joe who brings presents to little Jewish children. I think he drove a station wagon instead of reindeer. I’ve since shared the story with my own children as we do Both Hanukkah and Christmas. One year my Dad told me that he heard some rustling downstairs and ran into our basement. He had a very loud conversation with an elf “who got lost on his way back to the North Pole and stopped at our house because Hanukkah Joe told him we were good kids and may have some latkes for him”. The elf brought me a bike! I am going to use the same story for my 5 year old this year!” – Ashleigh
“My mom made loads of Christmas candy every year from scratch and sugar cookies too. We would spend the day dipping different things in chocolate and then decorating the cookies at night. I’ve been doing that with my boys since I was pregnant with my 1st.” – Mariah
Related: If You’re Pregnant During The Holidays, This Is For You
“We always eat Lefse!!! And we open presents Christmas Eve, after church and dinner. Christmas morning, you wake up to full stockings from Santa. I’m 33 and I STILL consider Christmas Eve to be Christmas. My Husband thinks I’m nuts!” – Paige
You’re not alone, Paige! 🙂
“Christmas Eve, we would all pile into the car in our pjs and drive around looking at Christmas lights. My husband and I have continued the tradition but we’ve made it more of a season long activity. We usually go Christmas light “hunting” once or twice a week after Thanksgiving. My husband now gets asked by his co-workers where to find the best lights and we keep a list from one year to the next of our favorite streets and neighborhoods.” – Nicole
“As a kid i always got an ‘end of the bed present’ just something little so if we woke up early we could open that one gift. I do this with my girls now too.” – Kate
Love this!
“We had NOEL blocks that we used to spell out LEON until Christmas Eve and then switched them to spell NOEL when it was officially NOEL…no real reason just silliness. My dad handmade us a set of our own blocks a few years ago and they are currently spelling LEON for a few more days on our mantle!” – Jenni
This is hilarious. And awesome 😉
“Wrapping our gifts from Santa in white paper with red bows. I’m 40 and my parents still wrap our presents in white paper with red bows. I do the same for my kiddos.” – Tarah
And one last tradition that made us laugh:
“My mum told me Santa sends them the bill so I couldn’t ask for expensive things! I totally told our kids that too bc it’s genius!” – Melissa
Clever!
We had so much fun reading through all of your different traditions memories! Have an wonderful holiday season!
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