INSIDE: It’s Day 21 of the 30 Days to a Stress-Free Christmas challenge series! Today is all about Christmas family traditions. What what new ones will you start this year? You’ll find plenty of ideas in this post. Are you ready to create some Christmas memories? Let’s do this!
What are your Christmas family traditions?
Think back to your Christmases as a child for a moment. What were they like and what made them happy and memorable for you? Was it leaving mince pies out for Santa, seeing a stocking stuffed full of presents at the end of your bed on Christmas morning or going for a walk with the family on Boxing Day? Maybe it was being allowed to stay up late on Christmas Eve, baking Christmas cookies or seeing the Christmas lights being switched on in your home town.
Whatever it might be, all those things you did every year that make you smile when you think about Christmas as a child are what has made Christmas special for you. They’re your family traditions. Traditions that have helped create Christmas memories that have lasted you right into adulthood.
Now think about your own family unit…
What do you do together every year that have become Christmas family traditions for you? What do you do that makes Christmas memorable? And what puts a smile of your kids’ faces and makes Christmas feel like Christmas? Write them down because you’re going to need them for today’s challenge!
Challenge #21: Come up with a few new Christmas family traditions…
It’s time to come up with some Christmas family traditions!
Remember the Christmas bucket list you created yesterday? Well, that was just the start! Do those activities every year and they’ll become the traditions your kids will remember forever – and probably carry on with their own kids too!
Take a look at that bucket list and the list you’ve just made with all the Christmas family traditions you already have. What else can you add to the list? How can you make Christmas even more meaningful and memorable for your family? How can you create Christmas memories that are centred on quality time together instead of the number of presents under the tree?
Want help getting started with your Christmas family traditions?
Need a little inspiration to get you started? Here are some of my Christmas family traditions that we do every year.
- Decorating the tree on the 1st December with Christmas music playing.
- 12 days of Christmas…do something different each day in the run-up to Christmas.
- Elf on the Shelf.
- Chocolate advent calendars.
- Making Christmas crafts together after school.
- Reading a Christmas-themed chapter book each night before bed or opening a new book to read if they’re younger.
- Making and decorating a gingerbread house.
- Going for a walk around our local forest on Christmas Eve.
- Christmas Eve boxes.
- Deli meats, tapas and cheeses for dinner on Christmas Eve.
- Bacon and egg croissants for Christmas Day breakfast (a tradition carried on from my own childhood!).
- Prosecco for the grown-ups whilst unwrapping presents – another from my childhood!
Feel free to add as many of them as you like to your list of traditions to try this year. And if you have one of your own that’s not on my list, let me know what it is in the comments so that I can add it to mine too!
Want more ideas for Christmas family traditions?
You’ll find plenty of ideas for new Christmas family traditions in these posts – especially the first one, it’s by me!
- The Best Family Traditions to Do with Your Kids this Year.
- Six Sibling Christmas Traditions.
- Christmas Traditions for Couples.
- 30 Memory Making Family Christmas Traditions to Start in 2019.
- 21 Christmas Traditions to Enjoy on a Tight Budget!
The BEST Christmas family tradition?
It’s one thing having a Christmas bucket list and a list of Christmas family traditions but in order to enjoy them, you have to actually do them! A great way of making them happen – and making the buildup towards Christmas even more exciting – is to have a Christmas countdown calendar. I absolutely LOVE this idea and it’s definitely something that’s top of our list of new traditions to try this year!
You’ll find plenty of examples of countdowns on Pinterest but I really like this one from Jill over at Create.Craft.Love. It’s bright and colourful and I really like the suggestions she has on it as there are plenty we haven’t tried yet – including the hot cocoa bar…which I have a feeling my youngest will LOVE!
Like the idea of a Christmas countdown calendar too? Why not create your own! Simply take all of your current family traditions, plus any new ones you want to try, print off a blank calendar and assign a tradition to each day for the whole of December. And if you’re stuck for ideas, feel free to use some of the ones I’ve listed above – or print off a copy of Jill’s calendar so that everything is already done for you!
That’s it for today!
I’ll be back tomorrow with challenge #22 of 30 Days to a Stress-Free Christmas challenge. In the meantime, have fun coming up with a few Christmas family traditions to try this year! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the posts for this challenge if you haven’t done so already too!
- Day 1: Let’s Get Your Christmas Planning Started!
- Day 2: What Gifts to Buy?
- Day 3: Get Organised for Christmas.
- Day 4: Write Out Your Christmas Budget.
- Day 5: Take a Break and Have a Well-Earned Rest!
- Day 6: Declutter Your Child’s Bedroom.
- Day 7: Winter Prep Your House and Car.
- Day 8: Start a Packing List.
- Day 9: Do Your Christmas Decorations on a Budget.
- Day 10: Spend Money on Experiences Instead of Things.
- Day 11: Finalise Your Christmas Gift List.
- Day 12: Take a Break and Have a Well-Earned Rest!
- Day 13: Create a Stockpile of Last-Minute Christmas Gifts.
- Day 14: Decide Whether You’ll Send Christmas Cards.
- Day 15: Start Your Christmas Shopping Early.
- Day 16: Wrap Your Christmas Presents as You Go.
- Day 17: Ask What Christmas Means to You.
- Day 18: Plan a Family Christmas.
- Day 19: It’s Time to Relax!
- Day 20: Write Your Christmas Bucket List.
That’s it for this post! What Christmas family traditions do you have? What new ones will you be trying this year? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time…
P.S. Get all of the Christmas challenges by email!
Want a little more accountability? Don’t forget that you can sign up to receive each challenge by email! Every day for the next 30 days I’ll land in your inbox with the next Christmas challenge. A great way to remind you to take action, you’ll also receive my FREE Ultimate Christmas Planning Checklist too!
In it, you’ll find checklists for your Christmas budget, Christmas shopping, meal planning and prepping, family traditions, planning your travel and so much more. With every Christmas planning step you can possibly think of listed, no stone will be left unturned and nothing will be forgotten!
Simply enter your email address below and I’ll send it to you right away along with the first challenge!
