Our Christmas Traditions

I love Christmas time. Perhaps it’s because when I was growing up my family spent a couple of Christmases in the US, where they really get into the spirit of things. I love beautiful Christmas trees and gingerbread and carols – in fact, with each year I try to think of new things to add to our traditions or decorations. The more the merrier! Unfortunately, this hasn’t yet extended to Christmas lights on our house, mainly because of the expected effect on our power bill!

I thought I’d share some of our family’s Christmas traditions:

• Advent calendar
• My kids have always loved doing special Christmas craft activities, so I try to include some every year regardless of which advent resource we are using
• One regular craft we do is making Christmas cards for the kids’ church leaders at our church to thank them for their teaching over the year
• We set up the Christmas tree on the 1st December, and each year the kids receive a new decoration of their own to hang
• We try to fit in at least one Christmas lights excursion! This inevitably means a later night, so we tend to avoid the night before any major gatherings
• Gingerbread baking is another favourite activity and is also a great way to make some gifts for others (e.g. kids leaders and neighbours)
• Listening to Handel’s Messiah – highly recommended! This is such a beautiful piece of music that tells the Christmas story and provides a bit of culture at the same time. The more you listen to it, the more you love it! My husband and I have gone to the Auckland Choral performance of this a number of times, and intend to take our kids along as they get older.
• For the last couple of years I’ve made Peppermint Hot Chocolate on Christmas Eve – so delicious!
• It’s fun to watch a couple of Christmas movies together as a family if time allows

We definitely didn’t start all of these straight away, but have added them slowly, one by one. There are also other traditions I’d like to start but haven’t gotten around to yet, such as finding ways for the kids to give or serve others in the Christmas period. Perhaps one day we’ll do some carol singing at a rest home or help out at a soup kitchen – this might have to wait till our kids are a little older though!

As a final note, Treasuring God in our Traditions by Noël Piper is a book that has provided me with inspiration when it comes to considering how to celebrate certain events in the year.