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Christmas Traditions
Christmas Traditions
Recently I was discussing with friends and colleagues their Christmas household/family traditions and found a diverse range. Big variations in how the presents are organised, when they are opened, the stockings, the food, timing, who went to church and when, who went to the pub, when the christmas tree went up, who they spent Christmas with and how they managed to amalgamate two different lots of Christmas traditions when they met their partners. Anyway I would be really interested to hear your christmas traditions. It woud be really great to hear from someone Portugese as well.
Here is just one to get you started, friends of ours have a red crepe paper covered letter box which sits under the chritmas tree, no cards are opened as they arrive they are put in the letter box and then on christmas eve the family spend the evening opening the christmas cards.
Maddi
Here is just one to get you started, friends of ours have a red crepe paper covered letter box which sits under the chritmas tree, no cards are opened as they arrive they are put in the letter box and then on christmas eve the family spend the evening opening the christmas cards.
Maddi
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Ellie
Christmas magic
hi Mads!
This is not so much now,as the children are adults (and we tend to travel)but this is just the way we did it,when they were young.
The tree didnt go up until about 10days previous and it was their job to decorate it usually making the "baubles" themselves along with room decorations lanterns etc.
Ive always loved Christmas Eve the best--something quite magical about it---the kids always had new pygamas/nightdress and these were donned after a hot bath--then we "always" sat and watched the film of Dicken's "Christmas Carol" with Alastair Sims as Scrooge.Then before bed,they put out a mince pie& little glass of sherry for"Santa".
One Christmas Eve my daughter, who was about 6, was looking out the window with me as it had started to snow and suddenly a shooting star darted across the dark sky.She said"Look Mummy.Its father Christmas"!
A magical time
Incidentily Mads-loved your daughters looking for "greenpeas"! Priceless arent they
This is not so much now,as the children are adults (and we tend to travel)but this is just the way we did it,when they were young.
The tree didnt go up until about 10days previous and it was their job to decorate it usually making the "baubles" themselves along with room decorations lanterns etc.
Ive always loved Christmas Eve the best--something quite magical about it---the kids always had new pygamas/nightdress and these were donned after a hot bath--then we "always" sat and watched the film of Dicken's "Christmas Carol" with Alastair Sims as Scrooge.Then before bed,they put out a mince pie& little glass of sherry for"Santa".
One Christmas Eve my daughter, who was about 6, was looking out the window with me as it had started to snow and suddenly a shooting star darted across the dark sky.She said"Look Mummy.Its father Christmas"!
A magical time
Incidentily Mads-loved your daughters looking for "greenpeas"! Priceless arent they
My Xmas traditions ......
Put deccy's up (November, under pressure from kids)
Terrys Chocolate Orange's for everybody in the family from the Texaco garage on the way home from work on Xmas eve.
Several Beers, get home and pretend to be sober, more beers (first beers of the day, honest)
Put bikes, scooters etc. together half pissed, go mental when i cut my hand on that bloody crappy spanner.
Shout upstairs that if they dont get to sleep then he's not going to bother. (2.20 a.m.)
Go to bed.......
Get out of bed to take a bite out of the carrot and drink the milk (brandy)
Go back to bed (2.40 a.m.)
Try my luck...... get short shrift....
Kids wake up 5.00 a.m.
Whoops of delight, great stuff
"fix" bikes, scooters etc... (was i really that drunk to get them so wrong)
Get dressed up in my new clobber.... give wife choccy orange
15 bin bags full of wrapping paper
Extended family invade
Dinner
Sleep on couch
Pub
back to work
Credit card bills come in (S**t my pants)
Take deccy's down (Easter)
Carvoeiro on holiday
Put deccy's up .....
Put deccy's up (November, under pressure from kids)
Terrys Chocolate Orange's for everybody in the family from the Texaco garage on the way home from work on Xmas eve.
Several Beers, get home and pretend to be sober, more beers (first beers of the day, honest)
Put bikes, scooters etc. together half pissed, go mental when i cut my hand on that bloody crappy spanner.
Shout upstairs that if they dont get to sleep then he's not going to bother. (2.20 a.m.)
Go to bed.......
Get out of bed to take a bite out of the carrot and drink the milk (brandy)
Go back to bed (2.40 a.m.)
Try my luck...... get short shrift....
Kids wake up 5.00 a.m.
Whoops of delight, great stuff
"fix" bikes, scooters etc... (was i really that drunk to get them so wrong)
Get dressed up in my new clobber.... give wife choccy orange
15 bin bags full of wrapping paper
Extended family invade
Dinner
Sleep on couch
Pub
back to work
Credit card bills come in (S**t my pants)
Take deccy's down (Easter)
Carvoeiro on holiday
Put deccy's up .....
We usually buy our christmas tree a few days before christmas, in the hope that it will still look good on christmas day, after the cat and children have messed about with it!.
We always have a chinese take-away on Christmas Eve when the kids are in bed and I'm peeling sprouts (try saying that drunk!)
With a glass of Champagne.
The best tradition we have however, is in June abouts, when my daughter asks me 'if I've found her missing Christmas present yet'
Honestly I loose one each year
Tricky
We always have a chinese take-away on Christmas Eve when the kids are in bed and I'm peeling sprouts (try saying that drunk!)
With a glass of Champagne.
The best tradition we have however, is in June abouts, when my daughter asks me 'if I've found her missing Christmas present yet'
Honestly I loose one each year
Tricky
What gets left out for Father Christmas?
Do you have bucks fizz for breakfast?
Where does Father Christmas leave the childrens' stockings and does he wrap the contents?
Does the Bike/Scooter/Dolls Pram come from Santa or Mum and Dad?
Do you have a starter, and is it always the same thing?
Do you set fire to the Christmas pud and if so what do use and how do you do it?
Do you do something because it is a "family tradition" even though everyone has grown out of it/doesn't actually eat mince pies/hates brandy butter/knows all of FC's secrets/etc, etc?
Nosy aren't I?
Mads
p.s. CM did you forget "try to cajole wife into wrapping her own present" and "offering to do a couple of hours duty (work) at the exact time your presence would be much appreciated in the kitchen" ?
Do you have bucks fizz for breakfast?
Where does Father Christmas leave the childrens' stockings and does he wrap the contents?
Does the Bike/Scooter/Dolls Pram come from Santa or Mum and Dad?
Do you have a starter, and is it always the same thing?
Do you set fire to the Christmas pud and if so what do use and how do you do it?
Do you do something because it is a "family tradition" even though everyone has grown out of it/doesn't actually eat mince pies/hates brandy butter/knows all of FC's secrets/etc, etc?
Nosy aren't I?
Mads
p.s. CM did you forget "try to cajole wife into wrapping her own present" and "offering to do a couple of hours duty (work) at the exact time your presence would be much appreciated in the kitchen" ?
Christmas Procedure - Nosy Maddis list
1. Father Christmas gets a mince pie and a beer. Rudolf gets carrot and milk?!
2. Yes and smoked salmon sandwiches (late brekky!)
3. End of bed (tricky one) and wrapped (Kids have never worked out why Father Christmas has exactly same wrapping paper as mum and dad)
4. From Mum and Dad. Father Christmas concentrates on things more like YoYos and Whoopee cushions
5. Yes, Macieira or Constantino brandy (burns well!) Warm brandy in a ladle over gas cooker, let it ignite and pour over pud
6. Mmmm. Probably back to number 2. Might try Bellinis this year for a change
2. Yes and smoked salmon sandwiches (late brekky!)
3. End of bed (tricky one) and wrapped (Kids have never worked out why Father Christmas has exactly same wrapping paper as mum and dad)
4. From Mum and Dad. Father Christmas concentrates on things more like YoYos and Whoopee cushions
5. Yes, Macieira or Constantino brandy (burns well!) Warm brandy in a ladle over gas cooker, let it ignite and pour over pud
6. Mmmm. Probably back to number 2. Might try Bellinis this year for a change
Christmas
Did you hear about the Scotsman who went into the garden Christmas Eve, let off a shotgun and told the kids Santa Claus had shot himself?
Christmas
P.S.
Apologies to all Scotsmen
Apologies to all Scotsmen
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e-richard
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A tradition goes back a few years when I used to go skiing over the xmas break in Switzerland with a bunch of friends and the game was to buy a present for everyone in the group but up to a MAXIMUM of 10 Swiss Francs. Its not that we were poor or cheap, its just that its pretty well impossible to buy anything in a Swiss ski resort for that money.
My favorite was a set of 2 AA batteries, which came with the note "Present not included".
My favorite was a set of 2 AA batteries, which came with the note "Present not included".
Thanks Biffa
To answer my own questions
What gets left out for Father Christmas? When I was child sherry and a mince pie, period when the children were very small when it was a bottle of Bud and a mince pie, it has been Port for a number of years and is now a rather large Malt
Do you have bucks fizz for breakfast? Yes with bacon sarnies in homemade bread and with bacon form the butcher rather than the supermarket
Where does Father Christmas leave the childrens' stockings and does he wrap the contents? Hmm at the end of the bed (ours now as theirs became impossible) and he doesn't wrap the contents (no time - very busy man!)
Does the Bike/Scooter/Dolls Pram come from Santa or Mum and Dad? Silly mistake made some years ago means that Santa gets thanked for this sort of gift and Mum & Dad have to but another huge present to go under the tree
Do you have a starter, and is it always the same thing? Prawns wrapped in smoked salmon (had scallops one year but can be difficult to judge and cost one month's mortgage!)
Do you set fire to the Christmas pud and if so what do use and how do you do it? Yes we do using whatever Cognac we have in, we slosh it all over the pudding at the table and then heat some brandy in a silver spoon over one of the candles at the table until it ignites and then pour it on the pud
Do you do something because it is a "family tradition" even though everyone has grown out of it/doesn't actually eat mince pies/hates brandy butter/knows all of FC's secrets/etc, etc?
Loads, including have xmas pud at all and mince pies, stockings, FC presents, FC snack, etc, etc, my children are 14 and 11 and we do everything regardless!!!!
To answer my own questions
What gets left out for Father Christmas? When I was child sherry and a mince pie, period when the children were very small when it was a bottle of Bud and a mince pie, it has been Port for a number of years and is now a rather large Malt
Do you have bucks fizz for breakfast? Yes with bacon sarnies in homemade bread and with bacon form the butcher rather than the supermarket
Where does Father Christmas leave the childrens' stockings and does he wrap the contents? Hmm at the end of the bed (ours now as theirs became impossible) and he doesn't wrap the contents (no time - very busy man!)
Does the Bike/Scooter/Dolls Pram come from Santa or Mum and Dad? Silly mistake made some years ago means that Santa gets thanked for this sort of gift and Mum & Dad have to but another huge present to go under the tree
Do you have a starter, and is it always the same thing? Prawns wrapped in smoked salmon (had scallops one year but can be difficult to judge and cost one month's mortgage!)
Do you set fire to the Christmas pud and if so what do use and how do you do it? Yes we do using whatever Cognac we have in, we slosh it all over the pudding at the table and then heat some brandy in a silver spoon over one of the candles at the table until it ignites and then pour it on the pud
Do you do something because it is a "family tradition" even though everyone has grown out of it/doesn't actually eat mince pies/hates brandy butter/knows all of FC's secrets/etc, etc?
Loads, including have xmas pud at all and mince pies, stockings, FC presents, FC snack, etc, etc, my children are 14 and 11 and we do everything regardless!!!!
Love the battery one Richard - what a good idea. We do a secret Santa at work and another within a group of friends, it is really hard to keep coming up with original and funny ideas that match the recipient, especially the ones who are unable to the funny side of themselves.
A couple of years ago we did a secret santa for the table gifts on christmas day, my dad had reached 65 in the summer and we had given him a watch which was waterproof to 50 metres, his acceptance speech commented how excited he was to now be able to dive to 50 metres when he couldn't yesterday!!!!! Anyway on christmas day his secret santa present was a house brick attached to a sock with a note saying "Put on the sock and now dive to 50 metres you b*****d!" He thought it was hilarious but you should have seen my mum's face (of course as we are all petrified of my mother regardless of reaching adulthood and beyond, none of us has yet confessed to being his secret santa).
Maddi
A couple of years ago we did a secret santa for the table gifts on christmas day, my dad had reached 65 in the summer and we had given him a watch which was waterproof to 50 metres, his acceptance speech commented how excited he was to now be able to dive to 50 metres when he couldn't yesterday!!!!! Anyway on christmas day his secret santa present was a house brick attached to a sock with a note saying "Put on the sock and now dive to 50 metres you b*****d!" He thought it was hilarious but you should have seen my mum's face (of course as we are all petrified of my mother regardless of reaching adulthood and beyond, none of us has yet confessed to being his secret santa).
Maddi
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Guest
christmas in our house when I was a teen was always spent wondering if our Dad would be home. Ha, or where he was!! One Christmas was lots of laughs, my parents (thinking back, they shouldn't have had children!!) got extremly drunk on Christmas eve, far too drunk to worry about Christmas lunch with the children! I cooked my first Christmas lunch (virtually alone) at about the age of 13, and yes it was good!! My mother put in an appearance to open the presents then went back to bed and being sick. My father was there in body but I very much doubt his spirit was with us! Needless to say I try make sure my children have a happy "family" Christmas, and so far so good.
I wish you all a Peacefull Christmas and hope the New Year brings peace, happiness and health all over the world.
I wish you all a Peacefull Christmas and hope the New Year brings peace, happiness and health all over the world.