My children are on the cusp of not believing in Father Christmas. They are torn between not wanting to appear to be baby-ish (their words) and desperately wanting to be absolutely certain that it is indeed possible for a fat man to squash himself down the chimney and reward them for being good throughout the year.
Sadly, I think the former view is winning out, but they are smart enough to realise that pretending to believe ensures that his gifts will continue for a few more years yet. And sweetly, they also don’t want to upset me, as I’m a big believer in the magic that comes with the traditions of Christmas. Their uncertainty led us to discuss those festive traditions we would never want to be without. Here’s the list they came up with.
- Give what we can afford to a charity to help those who aren’t as fortunate as us. This year we’re supporting the Salvation Army.
- Sleep in. Do nothing and enjoy it.
- Make something handmade for Grandma. This year it’s pot pourri.
- Get sun-kissed (not sunburnt) by exploring Sydney’s beaches. We try to swim at a different beach every other day. Our favourite? Bilgola.
- Unplug and stay that way for most of the holidays.
- Spend time with family and friends.
- Bake a ham and spend the next few weeks eating it with every meal until we’re sick to death of it.
- Go to a Church service and enjoy singing the Carols.
- Make a Christmas cake from scratch.
This last one is where I normally come undone. I’m always frantic (as are most of us) in the run up to Christmas. Too much to do and too little time. Wrapping gifts, hiding gifts, putting up trees, booking pets into holiday care, writing and sending cards and gifts, attending a million end of year school & work functions and so on and so on. I often find myself leaving the cake until the last minute and have been known to bake at midnight whilst hiding gifts. So imagine my delight (no pun intended) when I discovered that one of our favourite stores, Baker’s Delight is now selling Christmas Cakes. They come in a sturdy tin and truly are delicious. In fact they remind me of my grandmother’s version, which is saying something. I contacted Baker’s Delight to congratulate them and they were so chuffed, they’ve given me two vouchers valued at $20 each to give away to readers of my blog. How lovely is that? Given their reasonable prices, that’ll buy a good selection of their Christmas products* and maybe even a few loaves of bread. The vouchers will go to the two people who can add to my list, those festive traditions one simply shouldn’t do without. Winners will be drawn randomly, out of a hat, by my 8 year old daughter on Monday 19 December.
Whatever the festive season means to you, I hope it’s peaceful and full of fun. Oh, by the way, my daughter is still insisting on leaving beer and biscuits out for Father Christmas and carrots and grass for the reindeer. Maybe, just maybe, she’s a true believer after all. x
*They are also selling yummy mince pies and lemon tarts over the festive period.
our tradition is reading” the night before xmas” on xmas eve. i love as much as the kids.
How lovely Natasha! Have you read “The Watchmaker who saved Christmas”? It’s another beautiful book for children (and adults). Thanks for stopping by and good luck! x
Our Christmas tradition is making brandy butter for the Christmas pud on Christmas Eve. Mum and I make it together and need no encouragement to add just one slosh more of the XO to make it boozily perfect. Thanks for the tip on the lovely Christmas cakes at Bakers Delight. Will pop it on the list.
Helen, one can never have enough brandy butter! x
I started a new tradition with my kids 3 years ago. I make a gingerbread house, and on xmas day, whoever is in the house decorates it. It is a fantastic activity for the kids to get involved in, and I place all the lollies out, and piping bags, and then we wait to see the finished product! I think the adults have as much fun watching the creativity they come up with 🙂 As the years go by, they will need less help, and probably more lollies out, as quite a few end up in their mouths rather than on the house.
Hi Caro
Ours is celebrating “Tom Bawcocks” on the 23rd December. This is a festival held in Mousehole in Cornwall that commemorates some local Christmas folklore. The story goes that Tom Bawcock, a widow, went bravely out in a storm in his fishing boat the day before Christmas eve to bring back a catch for the starving villagers who had been harbour bound all winter and had nothing to eat. They celebrate in the Ship Inn in Mousehole by making stargazey pie (which I have made several years running now) and singing a special song. Now that I have children we read the childrens book version of the story “The Mousehole Cat” and also now watching the animated version on dvd). Its a tradition I have started here in Aus to make me feel connected to my Cornish roots at a time of year when home and family are top of mind. x
How lovely Charlie. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Good luck!
Helping the kids to make a Christmas decoration that each year we add to the tree. Now we look back at some they made 5 years ago with great delight!
That’s just lovely Reika. Good luck! x
How lovely! We each have decorations that we made that we put on the tree and put them all up together.
we love the tradition of leaving the milk & carrots out for Santa & his reindeers. It always brings a giggle to my husband & I as we remember the year he chomped down a whole carrot & drank the glass of slightly sour milk – to make it all look like santa had been – it wasn’t until he was finished that I said to him he could have just broken the carrot off & tipped the sour milk down the sink!! My eldest I think is on the cusp of not believing but I am still not convinced so am not too sure how to broach the subject with him! Have decided to just let it be & let him enjoy his christmas! Merry xmas to you all!!
My kids are only young so we’re still making our own traditions. Our favourite tradition this year is the daily opening of the advent calendar. I made a wooden one last year with little drawers, and stuffed them with stickers, temporary tattoos, little chocolates etc. They can’t wait to open a drawer each morning, I love watching them do it.
Thanks for the lovely competition, I’m tempted to run out to Baker’s Delight right now!
As we don’t have family about (we moved to Australia from England), we spend our Christmas with friends, but one of our favourite traditions is watching the children decorate the tree, then Daddy putting the star on the top!
On Boxing Day, eat nothing but leftovers. Which always includes lots of ham, cold chicken, mince pies, cold pudding, nuts, cake and all those little nibbly things you don’t have any other time of year. Everyone can relax, nobody has to cook.
It is my Birthday on Christmas Day, I will be 45 this year with kids 8 and 11 who still believe and our tradition is to eat warm croissants and jam while opening the Christmas presents. Nothing to do with Christmas really but to ensure I have a tiny bit of “something about me” on my special day too!
Our tradition is “seeing what Father Christmas left”! When the kids were little they would leave their sacks (pillow cases) out for Father Christmas, along with the milk & biscuits and the carrots & bucket of water. Early, well as late as we could hold them off- no earlier than 7am, they would wake each other, collect their bulging sacks and climb onto my husband and my bed and the oohs and aahhs would continue until every sack was empty and every mouth was chocolate covered from eating the “special” coins!
The ritual continues now that the kids are 20, 18 & 16 with the only change is that we now wake them at about 10am(!!!!!!!) and we sit in the lounge room enjoying a coffee! My kids will continue to “believe” while there are still sacks to be emptied!! Thanks for the tip about the Bakers’ Delight cake.
Such lovely traditions everyone! Good luck one and all. xx
My mum gave me the steamer for the pudding thirteen years ago to make the pudding that year, I have done it ever since. My kids love it, they are now 13,14 and 17, we all make it together and put the coins in. Then on Christmas day we make sure we have enough five cent pieces to swap the sixpences back for next year. I also make the cake, which takes nearly all day to cook, but worth it. I love Christmas.
Making a Xmas Pudding. I found a recipe from a victorian era cook book. Have cooked it for 20 odd years now. It makes everyone in my family smile with satisfaction. That makes me incredibly happy as not a lot makes my family smile!!!
We have Advent candles to light every Sunday before Christmas (for 4 Sundays), we all eat together and each week another member of the family lights the candle. On Christmas Day the parcels are left under the tree while we go to church and afterwards we all sit together and undo the parcels while listening to carols. The younger children have a Christmas stocking with a few small gifts left on their bed during the night, these are excitedly opened in the morning.
We as a family go to Church to sing Carols by candle light, then we travel the streets to allow the kids to take in all the light displays on people’s houses and then we come home for Hot chocolate and read a favourite story together before tucking our children into bed to say their prayers and kiss them good night. x
Merry Christmas to everyone from our home to yours. 🙂
Our Christmas Tradition is to keep the Holidays in Proper Fashion, filled with Love and Thanks for All that we have. Sharing it with those less fortunate. And never letting angst take our minds off the true Christmas Spirit!
“Christmas is not a time or a Season, but a state of mind, to cherish Peace and Goodwill. To be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas!” ~Calvin Coolidge
Merry Christmas Caro….to You and Your Dear Family; and all of Your readers! :)))
Sweetheart of a post! I just posted what my late mother-in-law used to say: “If you believe in Santa, he’ll believe in you!” Nice that your children, in identifying a charity to support, are keeping the spirit of Saint Nick alive. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that wonderful stuff to you and yours.
You too Pam and thanks for stopping by. xx