If you ask people what their favorite holiday many will exclaim, Christmas! When asked why, some will mention Santa Claus and getting gifts, but most will list things like festive parties, Christmas carols, and twinkling light displays as reasons for their love of the holiday.
The pleasant memories invoked by annual activities like these help to form cherished Christmas traditions that get passed down through families for generations. This is certainly true for my family and at the first hints of autumn we start to feel excitement for the coming holiday season! Here are five holiday traditions you and your family can use to begin creating Christmas memories.
Christmas Movies
My family's Christmas traditions begin on Thanksgiving Day by watching the 1947 black & white version of Miracle on 34th Street. Over the years, we have collected more than 30 Christmas themed DVDs and videos. So, it has become an anticipated tradition for us to gather together to sip hot cocoa and eat Christmas cookies while we watch one of those movies every night throughout the month of December.
Holiday Baking
At our house everyone looks forward to the first week of Christmas vacation, when we go into baking mode and spend 3-4 days baking our favorite Christmas cookies! Everyone gets together at someones house and each person bakes their favorite holiday treats. During this time we take time to remember Christmas past.
When we are all done we divide up the goodies and take them home to enjoy or hand out as gifts.
Christmas Trees
This Christmas tradition can be a point of contention as there are many strong and varied opinions on this topic.
Many families put up their Christmas tree the weekend before Thanksgiving or earlier while a few will wait until Christmas Eve. Some choose the one-time purchase, pine needle-free convenience of a life-like artificial tree, but for others only a fragrant, fresh-cut live tree will do.
But, whether you choose a real tree or not; choose a theme that the family will have fun with for years.
Christmas Stockings
Another cherished tradition is the hanging of stockings on Christmas Eve for Santa to fill with goodies!
Christmas stockings come in many sizes and styles, from sophisticated store-bought ones to homemade hand-crafted ones. The type of stockings you choose to hang may vary from year to year or you may choose to use the same stockings every Christmas.
But whatever you decide to do be sure to have lots of fun things and tasty treats to fill them.
Santa Letters
At Christmas time it is traditional for children to write letters to Santa Claus telling him how good they've been all year and requesting specific toys from him as a reward for their good behavior.
A new twist on this old tradition is to have Santa write letters to the kids. It's an excellent way to encourage youngsters to continue good behavior and to keep the mystique of Santa alive.
If you don't feel that you can write a letter from Santa to your kids go to http://LettersFromSanta.info for help.
My kids love to get mail and it is even more exciting for them to receive a personal letter addressed to them from Santa Claus!
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