I’m not even sure where to begin since there are so many traditions that my family has had and ones that I wanted to start with my son (And future kids!). To keep things simple we can talk about the ones I grew up with and then move on to ones that are new to bring into my Son’s life! And if I want to continue it with him I will mention that as well too!

My Family Christmas Party
This is something that was started so long ago and somehow it always falls off on my Uncle or my Mom to throw the party. however maybe when we buy a new home we will take it on! This is just my dad’s side of the family however there is sometimes my Nanny (Mom’s mom) Who comes as well since my grampie passed away. Though with Covid this year there is no party (Not that I am happy but I don’t feel bad about missing out since there is nothing to miss!)

Annual Tree Hunt
Before, when I was younger we used to get a tree for ourselves, Now we go and get a tree for friends of ours. This is when we go about an hour or so drive to a pot luck dinner. It is a bunch of friends of the family and my grandparents used to bring my mom and siblings to this, then my mom brought my siblings and I to it, And now (Well next year) I will be bringing my son to it! Everyone goes to a tree lot to chop down their tree (If they still have a real one!) And then we all go back for a potluck dinner with everyone. Again, Another thing Covid has cancelled.

Christmas Eve
This can be quite a busy day for us. We started the day mid afternoon by stopping at my mom’s friend from high school. Usually chatting for a little bit. Afterwards we would all go to my Aunt’s house, Well Great Aunt. They would make rappie pie. Which is like a weird acadian dish with potatoes and chicken pieces and stock, with bacon sprinkled on the top baked. The consistency was like boogers from your nose when you had a bad cold. Simply yucky and I cant even try it. My boyfriend loves it but screw that noise. Yuck. After my Aunt’s house we would go back to my parents house. That’s where we would prep for the evening. Normally my Dad has his brothers (Who live close) to come over. Normally they would wait til my parents were ready to put us to bed to come over and get us all excited since only one of them understood the concept of time. Now that we are older we just hang out at my mom and dad’s for a bit. When we were a kid we would go to bed and now as adults we go to our parents friends, Brenda and Juniors. Sadly Junior passed away a few years ago but we still head over and shoot some pool for a bit before hitting the hay. Oh, And dont forget to leave out milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer as well too! Sometimes if we got them from school we would even leave reindeer feed for them to find their way to our house (This was normally glitter with oatmeal or what not so that you threw it on your lawn and Santa would know that there is children in the home!). We also always read the Night Before Christmas. We had the Hallmark version from way back when and it was a pop up.. I checked amaon and it was 300 dollars so needless to say I got a nice version that was a very small portion of that price. Maybe some day I will snag that version but until then the new book will do!

Christmas Day
When I was younger we would take turns going from my grandparents house to my parents for dinner. We would make Log Cabin Potatoes and by we I mean either my dad or my Grampie. Now that I am moved away though I make them for my house and my brother makes them for his, (I’ll share the recipe at the end of this post). Since my Grampie passed however, My dad normally makes them at home and we pick my grandmother up and go to my parents for dinner. My sister and her 2 kids will sleep over at their house since they dont have a Christmas tree due to her and her husbands religious beliefs but we all still celebrate the meal and exchange of gifts together. I know my parents would love for my family to also stay over there but I can say once we buy a new home next year I do not think we will be since there is barely enough room or beds let alone we have our own tree in our home that we will be opening gifts under. Not to mention I just enjoy sleeping in my own flipping bed! We typically ate around mid afternoon so that by supper time we could be in our own homes and relaxing in our food coma.

Boxing Day
Boxing day is pretty fun for my family as well. We typically go to my Dad’s oldest brothers house. We go about mid morning for a visit and for him to showcase all the things him and my aunt exchanged or got for Christmas. We are kind of pranksters and while he shows us things we really get him to give us the “full package” so to speak by taking everything out of their boxes or bags even if they are in an orgional box. We make the typical “Oooooo” and “Awwww” for the items and if my Uncle tries to tell us he doesnt want to do it we give him grief about it and he gives us grief back and it’s all in good fun! Even being away from home living in a different province if the time is right I will video chat with them for a bit and we will still pull the same tricks from a different province too!

Most of the traditions that I had done as a child I want to continue with my son, and future kids too. One in particular that I never had as a child I would like to start with him would be the pajama box on Christmas Eve. This is where they receive a gift of new jammies, and as they get older they would get some hot chocolate, maybe some popcorn, or a treat, That way they can have a nice movie and unwind before bed. I don’t think my Uncles would be making their way over since they have their own grand kids and what not already. And we won’t be doing the pool thing while our children are young since the evening wasn’t met for children. It was just for the adults. Though we may swing by though to say hello! Another I would like to do also when my children get older is to hide the pickle on the Christmas tree. Whoever finds the pickle gets a special gift. Something silly to match the little game. Elf on a shelf will also be happening however that is a bit away til my Son and future children understand what they are too!

As you can see, there really is many traditions that I had as a child and I am sure there will be many more for me to find out about and decide if they are right for our family!

What are some of your Christmas or Holiday traditions?

I would love to hear them.

-StaySeeJ08