mythreesuns

What Christmas tradition(s) have you kept going since your childhood days and what news ones have you started?

My tradition that I have kept would be the stocking... we still to this day use my dads old heavy hunting socks..
He passed on and I asked my mom for those..and when I told her what I wanted them for..she cried.. they are the same socks I used as a child..my kids did and now my grands do also. Still filled with apple, orange, tangerine, popcorn ball and candy canes.

My new tradition I started with my own sons and now grandchildren...every year I buy them a Christmas ornament of that years life events or interests... like my granddaughter is into horses..so she gets a cowboy boot one. My sons all tell me, they love having the ornaments...looking at them and remembering that year..

alwayslearning

I got my nieces and nephews ornaments every year. When they struck out on their own, they already had a head start on their own trees, steeped in memories.

romanojg

Well, I didn't have any traditions to carry on. Our dad stole us from our mom and then we never had a Christmas; he was too busy drinking. So, over the years I've created ones and my kids use them for their families; which gives me great pride. From what we have for Thanksgiving dinner right down to the sides and then for Christmas its rouladins with mashed potatoes n sour cream gravy. We have certain dishes we use with each holiday and even this yr when my daughter cooked because I was working she came to my house and picked up the dishes to be used. They each get Christmas PJS to wear for Christmas morning. The kids are allowed to only open their stockings when they get up before the parents (always allowed me to get extra sleep time in). I always get them lifesavers books, its great now because for the littler ones they now make lifesaver gummies. We have the Christmas pickle hung on the tree for the lucky child to find. Each present it given out to the person and told who it comes from and once opened and picture taken with it the person has to thank the one giving the gift if they are there. As the presents are unwrapped the trash is put into a large garbage bag. Not only does this make cleaning up easier but it also keeps from things getting accidently thown away. We put up the tree on Thanksgiving and it gets taken down on New Years Day. There are candle opras in the window. I may have not grown up with Christmas and would have to go to school and lie about the presents we got but I made sure my kids never had to go thru that. Even though one yr every thing they got was from the Dollar Store. I think traditions are great. The other one that makes me proud that my daughter does is that in order for my kids to have their name on a present as the giver they would have had to either help make or pay for the gift. No cheating allowed. Most of the time the kids makes crafts for presents. This week my daughter and her friends are getting together with thier kids to bake cookies and make gifts. I'm glad I could give my kids some things to hold onto and pass down to thier kids. Traditions can start at anytime and be added to as time goes by. Merry Christmas to all and no matter what else is going on I hope you all have a great day on the 25th rather you celebrate Christmas or not. May your next yr make you happier than this past year. I'm sure mine will.

luvstoquilt

So Sad! Did you ever find your mother?

I love traditions and we have a lot. I have a velvet Santa that was at my grandmother's since I was a child...I am 71 now. I used to put it out first and put it away last...then I got smart! I bought a glass dome and Santa is out all the time. We gave the children new pjs on Christmas eve so the pictures would be nice on Christmas morning and our stockings were put in the kids beds..they got "old lady" cotton stockings that held a lot and gave us an extra hour to sleep. Nice! I just had sons so some of the traditions are no longer followed but we still have a wonderful time. Merry Christmas every one!

TinaRibena

Snap! When my girls were little I always gave them one present on Christmas Eve, some pj's to wear, and it became a tradition; now I find lots of other people do the same thing.

Jingle

Now that the kids are grown and the Grandkids don't believe anymore, Christmas just isn't the same. I'm not real big into traditions. Daughter and I still make Cinnamon Rolls for Christmas Day Breakfast. We celebrate Christmas Eve and always get together for that. It started when oldest Grandaughter started visitation with her divorced Dad her third Christmas.

romanojg

Thanks for asking but no. When I was 15, married and 2 months pregnant we got a call from a family member that she had died. We knew she lived in Mich but never knew where. My husband and my aunt and uncle drove from WV up there and picked up her 3 kids that she had from her second marriage. Which is also a sad story, my Mom died of phenumonia and her husband was traveling for his job and was killed in a car accident both within an hour of each other. Neither one of the ever knew of the other ones death. I actually had met him when we were little and lived in Mich with my mom, he was great. We brought my mom back and burried her in a little cemetary on the mountain. Her three oldest daugthers were all pregnant with her first 3 grandkids when she died but since we never knew where she was she never knew. I have really great memories of my mom, I was in kindergarden when we were taken from her. I feel sorry for my littlest sister because she was only about a yr old and has no memories except for the ones I share with her. My only daughter is named after my mom and I hold my relationship with my daugther closer to my heart than I do my boys I guess because I never had a mom growing up. I'm close to my boys don't get me wrong but I realize just how much a daugther needs to have a mom around; even when my daughter doesn't think the same thing. Which happens when all kids grow up and they think they have all the answers just to end up coming back and asking the questions again. I understand the tradition things with boys, I have 4 and it's my daughter that it's most important to have things the same way each yr. Which includes one thing I forgot to mention. My daugther kick starts every holiday with my spumoni cake. When she's not in the spirit she goes and bakes one and it gets her holiday spirit going. I also make them and bring them into work to share our tradition there too. I love how it seems alot of families have the Christmas PJ tradition. Thank you again for asking. I love thinking of my mom because I have no bad memories of her and knew she loved us 100%. Which is the best gift you can give anyone.

Peckish

Every year the whole family sits down and makes an ornament for the tree. It's a different project every year. The kids really look forward to this. When they strike out on their own, they will get all the ornaments we've made over the years to decorate their own trees with. I have several ornaments I made 35 years ago as a child, I also have 2 ornaments my mom made when she was a child and 2 ornaments my grandmother made, not sure when though. Probably the 50s or 60s.

One year the ornament-making turned into a disaster, but now it's become legend in our family and is one of the best, funniest stories we tell outsiders.

Quilting Grandma

As a child we always got nightgowns. My mom continued this for my children, I now do it for my grandkids (all 13). I also make a Christmas ornament for each grandchild --- cross stitched, machine embroidry, quilted, etc.
Our 30 year old grandson has just started his own family and says he has enough to decorate his tree. I love seeing their faces when they see what they got. It is great fun to match the personalities to the ornament.

momto5

A long, long time ago..... I wondered what we could get our kids and grandkids so they would remember us always. My husband was against getting something that was impractical, but I finally prevailed and we ended up getting each of them a beautiful Waterford Christmas ornament each year. Some of the kids now, depending on their ages, probably have several hundred dollars worth of ornaments, and they remember which of them came from us. It's funny now, because several of the GKs are old enough to start their own Christmas traditions; and each of them want "their" ornaments as they take the next step in their lives. So I guess you could say, "It worked"...