I absolutely LOVE Christmas time! I love all of our family traditions, all the time we get to spend together, and most of all, all the time I get to spend teaching my children about the love of Christ, and what he has done for us! Not that I don't do that year round, but I love that we really get to concentrate on it, because of all the Christmas excitement!
We don't do santa at our house, not because we're opposed to him or anything, just because I grew up knowing there was no santa, and so did T, so we kind of figured, what's the point? We as parents have had so much fun taking the traditions from our own families that we loved, adding them together, and then adding new ones over the years.
Our Christmas fun starts with the tree of course! We really like to go get our tree and decorate it as soon as possible after Thanksgiving. The kids each get a new ornament each year(a tradition from his side), so they get to put all their ornaments on the tree along with all our family ones.
We do an advent calendar with verses and candy starting Dec 1(a tradition from my side). A few years ago I found a wooden cabinet style advent calendar with little drawers to put candy in, and this has saved us a ton of money since we have 5 kids, and each calendar with verses and chocolates runs you $4. each! Plus, we get to pick which verses we read each day. We keep little slips of paper in there with the verses all typed out so the kids can take turns reading them.
Last year, in an effort to save money, we decided that the kids should do secret santa. I thought that this was a genius idea since we were paying for each kid to get 4 other kids a present. Add that up! Owch! So they each pick a name of a sibling out of a hat(or a bowl) and they are supposed to try to do nice little things for that person until Christmas. They get to go to the store and pick a present to put under the tree for that sibling as well. Then on Christmas morning when they open the present, they get to guess who their secret santa is. Last year only 1 kid guessed correctly who their secret santa was! It's so much fun to watch them find ways to be sweet to each other. They secretly make each other's beds, make cards and letters for each other, leave candy on the other's pillow. It's just so sweet!
On Christmas eve we try to find a candle light service to go to and the kids get to open one present. It's always the same present, a clean, washed, new pair of pajamas to wear that night. The funny part? They are always surprised! You would think last year with the oldest 3 being 9, 7, and 5 that they would have remembered from the year before, or the year before that! This tradition is one we thought up because we were tired of the kids looking terrible in all of our Christmas photos. You know how it is, someone inevitably picks the rattiest, or smallest jammies they can find, and there they are in all your Christmas pics, looking like a welfare baby. You know what I'm talking about!
Christmas Eve we also read the whole Christmas story out of the Bible during advent calendar time, we try to remind the kids what Christmas is all about, not presents, or toys, candy or stockings. It's about Jesus, and that He is the Son of God, and He came down as a baby, to die on the cross for our sins, and was raised up again on the 3rd day. It is so important for me, that the kids get it, that we are celebrating the birth of their Savior! Christmas is so over commercialized that Jesus gets lost and left out on His own birthday!
Christmas morning the kids can wake up and get into their stockings, and eat whatever they want, and play with all the stuff in it. They get to do all this while I'm making breakfast, because we could not make it through Christmas present opening without breakfast. The little ones would have a melt down in the middle of the floor!(again a tradition we thought up to save the day!) I usually try to make something special like biscuits and gravy, or cinnamon rolls, or Swedish pancakes.
After everyone has full bellies, we read the Christmas story out of the Bible, and talk about what Christmas really means, and why we give each other gifts. We try to focus on how we give gifts to each other on Jesus' birthday b/c we can't give him gifts down here, except our hearts. We like to take turns handing out gifts(a tradition from my side), so one of us starts by picking a present and giving it to who it is for, then that person, after opening their gift, picks a present for someone else and gives it to them. We continue, with a little help from mom and dad(sometimes we'll steer a child towards a particular present) until all the presents are gone. The rest of the day is spent hanging out, eating, and playing. Sometimes, being up in Alaska, we get to go sledding, or play out in the snow!
I just love Christmas and I hope that you have, or have made your own traditions too! It's really one of my favorite part of parenting!
I love it(christmas) too!! I love the whole spirit of it, not the gifts, but the lights, the warmth of it all. It has always been important for me to be around family, however that hasn't happened in a long time. I try to teach my children that. And then, I have a meesed up ex who goes and ruins it all. I love reading this stuff......since we can't be closer to you guys..xoxo 8)
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