Now that we're about as far away from Christmas as possible...

[2girlsandalab]

We rented a DVD called Christmas Unwrapped (http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Unwrapped-History-Channel-Archives/dp/B0007WFULA/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1214016019&sr=8-1) last year that basically said that Christmas has always been a partying and sort of wild and debaucherous holiday. The focus on family and Currier & Ives nostalgia is a new thing, and very tame nowadays compared to say 200 or even 1000 years ago. In fact, it showed that Christmas "traditions" are anything but traditional and all this stuff we're familiar with is new hat. Nor are the traditions static -- every 20 years there has been a major addition that has been incorporated into modern "tradition". The first commercial Christmas cards showed up in 1843 and have never left the scene. A royal family made Christmas trees fashionable. A Montgomery Ward ad writer wrote the Night Before Christmas. Gimbels invented Rudolf.

It even kind of wryly predicted that malls will become the new churchs with Santa Claus its patron saint.

I really hope this is not where it is going. But the idea is that Christmas celebration is like a living organism that is growing and mutating, really.

Ok, here's my question ... since many of these traditions are marketing, how would you like to see or experience Christmas as a holiday this coming year? (does not necessarily have to be realistic or achievable)

[kedss]

Hi- Welcome to the boards! :)

In my family we have a couple of traditions, Chicken and Dumpling soup(my great grandmother's Danish recipe, which we all learned by the age of 8) fresh bread and cherry pie, opening the tree presents on Christmas Eve, then Stockings on the day of.

This year we will have 2 new kiddos at Christmas, so it will be new whatever happens. :)

I used to have a love/hate relationship with Christmas, but as a mom, I love being with my family, and enjoy seeing my son and his cousin play with the big train set that is my mom's new tradition as of this past Christmas, of course the 'Big Boys' in the family love it too. :)

For me, because I wasn't raised with religious traditions, the simple act of being with my family and actually enjoying being together is the best part of Christmas. :)

[2girlsandalab]

Thanks for welcoming me on board.

I should add my $0.02. I sort of wish Christmas was a like a combo between 4th of July and Thanksgiving. Like a really fantastic birthday party that lights up the skies. A friend of mine was scared of Santa and all associated lore. As a child, she did not like the idea of any stranger entering her house while she slept and would stay up at night and sneak down to stare at the chimney from a distance. (Not sure if she was armed!)

[KBecks]

Well, I've decided we don't do Santa, or at least are minimizing the Santa thing.

For me, the best parts of Christmas are food, seeing extended family, and some great holiday music. And church. I also love the decorations and holiday lights. I guess I'm pretty traditional! I would like to see the consumer stuff downscaled big time. We have some nice traditions centered around family meals and great food, singing and attending church and I wouldn't change a thing.

[gatorsmom]

I used to love Christmas. My birthday is close to Christmas so it was like a 2 week long party with New Year's in there. When my mom died, things changed dramatically. She used to be the one that made Christmas very special. Now that I find myself as the new "matriarch" of the family, I'm kind of making new traditions and shaping our family Christmas the way I like.

I do our Christmas cards in September or October. I drag the family to an outdoor spot and take our family holiday pictures. I get the Christmas shopping done in the summer when there are great sales and no one wants to be inside (which means, it's almost time for me to go Christmas shopping).

I mix up all the Christmas cookie dough in the beginning of November and freeze it. Right after Thanksgiving, I thaw it and start making cookies. I give small containers to our extended family members. This was my mother's tradition with her cookie recipes and I am continuing it. That gets done early in December. Along with the decorations. I also send the cards out in early December.

The boys help me with the decorations. They love decorating the tree.

We spend Xmas eve at my dad's house. we go to his church for Xmas mass and then to his sister's house after mass when we see lots of distant relatives. She throws a fantastic party every year that we all enjoy. The next day we trade gifts at my dad's house and then take down the tree that we put up the day before. Gone is my mother's huge tree. My dad doesn't want any reminders of that.

Christmas is still hard without my mom but our new traditions are fun especially with the kids and I'm starting to enjoy it much more now. Life must move on. (oops- sorry so long).

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

Ours is changing by the year as well. We used to drive over to see my family and go to midnight mass on christmas eve befor the dc arrived. Then we stayed home and mil came over but it wasn't a big deal. Last year mil came over for christmas eve and we had a standing rib roast and wonderful sides and the children open their gifts from grandma that evening. I'm trying to think of a way to make it bigger this year but don't see how since mil and fil are divorced and happily stay away from each other and sil is on the other side of the country from us.

We see my family on christmas day. There's more partying and whatnot in the days following. We decorate the tree sometime after my birthday and we take it down on epiphany. I love using the nativity scene my grandparents made for me. My grandfather made the stable and my grandmother hand painted each ceramic figure. I think it's my favorite decoration (even though it hasn't been out in a few years due to kids and cats).

Who knows what this year will bring.

[MamaMolly]

Interesting thread, and Welcome to the Boards!

I'm also re-evaluating out christmas traditions as we are a family on the move a lot and we will have to 'make and take' our Christmases with us, so I'm planning to really weed out the meaningful decorations from the junk and Freecycle what I don't plan or want to reuse. It is amazing how that stuff just keeps adding up!!

I also want to opt out on the insane holiday spending. We can't afford it for one thing, and it is so stressful for another. You know, before DD I used to have my shopping done by October. I gotta get on the ball! And Lisa, you are my HERO for being so organized!! I want to be like you when I grow up! ;)

I got a great piece of advice here this year for the presents. Everyone gets a want, need, wear, read. That way I don't over shop for my family, or under shop for DH's, or go completely wacky for DD.

So my plan is to decorate with fun stuff, make cookies, send out a cards ON TIME and have my shopping done early. We'll see...:)

[brittone2]

I think our whole family's favorite part of Christmas revolves around the activities. We do an Advent calendar and for each day we do an activity (make cookies, build a gingerbread house, make a paperchain, load up in the car and drive to look at lights, go for a walk in a nearby neighborhood that really has a lot of decorations and good sidewalks). As DS has gotten older, I've started to incorporate a little bit of service (shop for Toys for Tots, weed out toys and donate to charity, drop off food at the food pantry). As my kids get older, I'd like to incorporate more and more service.

We don't go super overboard in terms of gifts. A lot of what they get is art supplies and consumables (especially for stockings) so it looks like a lot, but I just take Christmas as a time to replace those items. I usually plan gifts pretty far in advance (not necessarily purchasing but keeping some ideas in mind). I usually make a few things for the kids (felted playscape, DH has made playstands in the past, felt playfood).

DH's family draws names, and mine does as well (although we buy for all nieces/nephews). There are discussions in the works to cut out buying for nieces/nephews as well (most are now teens anyway). It is such a strain for several members of my family, and I know my kids (and most of their kids) really don't need much. It usually ends up as a giant exchange of just gift cards and cash since the kids are older and that's what they like. I don't begrudge that, but it doesn't feel all that special or thought out in the first place, kwim? I usually shop ahead for family/friends but since things keep getting revamped (how many gifts/who we are buying for) I haven't done as much of that. For holidays in general I've been working w/ my siblings to do one big gift to my parents from all of us when we can. They don't need the clutter of a bunch of little stuff and it is nice to give them one nicer/needed gift.

I know the traditions, the music, the activities, etc. are really what my family enjoys. We try to focus on that. DD, MIL, DH's grandmother, and I all have December bdays, so that makes it a very busy (but very fun) time of the year.

We finally found a great fresh tree guy. He trucks the trees in from Western NC to Eastern NC every few days, so they are no more than 2-3 days old when you get them. It was amazing last year. We were able to put our tree up relatively early (I hesitate to do that w/ a real tree most of the time) and the needles weren't even close to ready to fall off a week after Christmas. He's a great guy and we like supporting his business.

eta: I also keep a box of holiday/winter/Christmas books. I usually wrap and then let the kids unwrap one for each night of Advent and we use that as our bedtime story.

[MontrealMum]

Last year was our first Christmas with DS, and though he was too small to really be aware of things, we are trying to incorporate traditions from each of our families, while staying out of the drama of divorced parents (mine) and a crazy SIL (DH's).

From my side we do: chocolate Advent calendars, cookies as gifts to friends (love Lisa's idea of freezing the dough ahead of time!!!), Christmas Eve service as a family, hiding the pickle on the tree amongst ornaments handed down through 5 generations of my Dad's family, putting up the creche made by my grandma's best friend (now gone), driving or walking through the neighborhood on Xmas eve to look at the lights.

From DH's side we do: flaming plum pudding with hard sauce, crackers, fresh croissants on Christmas morning.

I grew up with a large extended family that was very close, and had lots of traditions. As people have died, or moved away, that ended and it was hard for me. DH does not have that in his background (his family is not very warm or close) so we are trying to create experiences that DS will cherish even though he is small. I've also borrowed some ideas from friends like a family picture for the Xmas card. I like the idea of service as well as DS gets a little older. And I'm reading this thread for more ideas, especially how to balance all the branches of your family! I know this is an issue for many, and we're not enjoying being pulled in 7 different directions at once!

[mdb78]

Growing up, we had many Christmas traditions. We would get a tree and my brother, my mom, and I would decorate it. We would also set up the little Christmas village/ town and the nativity scene. My parents would also send out Christmas cards as well...

We would go the children's mass (5pm mass on Christmas Eve). Then we would go to a close family friend for her annual Christmas Eve party. She knew everyone in my family and extended family so everyone was pretty much there. Then after we got home, my brother and I were able to open one present- and it would usually be the one from the party. On Christmas morning we would open the stocking gifts first and then the gifts under the tree. Then the whole entire family would go to whoever house was throwing the party that year (and everyone would bring food). We would all arrive a little bit before lunch and spend the rest of the entire day there. Oh, and when myself and my cousins were still younger, all our parents would have us do a program before we would open presents.

Now my cousins live across the U.S., and most of us are married, so its a little harder for all of us to be together for Christmas (but our parents still do). We do talk about that when we do get a chance for all of us to be together for Christmas and all our kids are old enough, we'll make them do a program before the presents. lol..

For the past 5 years dh and I have been living in CA and now we just moved back to FL. While over there, I kept the tradition of going to the childrens' mass on Christmas Eve before heading to a friend's party. We also just open one gift when we get home that night. Now we are back in FL and after 5 years of not being with my family on Christmas, I'm excited for this year especially since last year, dd didn't get to spend her 1st Christmas with any of the family except us.

Last year was the 1st year I sent out Christmas cards and we sent out a funny photo card of dd wearing a blinking Christmas tree attached to a headband. Everyone loved it. DH and I agree that we should send out a funny photo Christmas card each year.

DH and I also have a tradition of watching A Christmas Story and The Nightmare before Christmas. Sometimes we'll watch Christmas Vacation. In CA we would go after dark to this one specific Christmas tree lot to buy our tree. Now that we our back in FL, I think we're really going to miss going that one.

I can go on and on! :)

BTW, welcome to the boards!