Hey all! We are still establishing our family Christmas traditions. My hubby wants something a little different this year so I'm doing a little shout out for some ideas! What do you do or have you heard anything that sounds cool?
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
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This year we are trying out a new tradition so guess its not a tradition yet and that is the Christmas gifts for the kids are limited to 5 things. We picked 5 different categories. Something you want, something you need, something to play, something to read and something to watch. We are hoping that we can cut back and not get so focused on the "give me's" and even the "givies" as often we just go over board. The kids are going to make special gift tags for each category and then they will be on the gifts when the appear Christmas morning.
Another tradition we already have is getting a nativity every year. I wrap up each piece and then every night for how ever many pieces we have (I always try and get one with at least 12) we open the present. before opening it has a gift tag that has a scripture for us to read and a song to sing. I use a lot of scriptures from the Book of Mormon and even quotes from the prophets, focusing not only on the birth of Christ but what he did for us that makes His birth important. On Christmas eve we always open baby Jesus and read D&C 76:22-24 and sing "He Sent His Son"
Good luck!
Hey Tami!
We'd tried a Jesse Tree this year. Well...that's not exactly true. We made all of the ornaments and did the reading the first night. We've been really busy around here. Here's some links if you're interested.
http://www.eriercd.org/jessetree.htm
http://www.ncregister.com/info/jesse_tree_craft_swap/
We also wanted to incorporate St. Nicholas. We (again) didn't get around to it, but next year we will put stocking up on the evening of Dec. 5, and celebrate St. Nicholas Day on Dec. 6. Here's a link for more info. about St. Nick.
Both of these traditions come from Catholic origins, but seem to be spreading to many other Christians, too.
Next year I hope to find a manger to set inside, and give the kids a piece of straw when they act nice or do good deeds. Here's a better explanation than I can give.
http://kelleybirrell.blogspot.com/2008/12/our-little-manger-filled-with-straw.html
Good luck! I hope you find some stuff that works for your family!
Oh, I forgot that one! We try to limit gifts, too. We try to stick to three from us: something that you want(gold) , something that you need (frankincense), and something to do as a family(myrrh). Each of the kiddos gets something from Santa, and something from each other, too. I've also read that some families do the three gifts with gold as something they really want, frankincense for spiritual growth, like a new bible, or Christian music, and myrrh, a gift for the body, like lotion or cologne.
Here's some more links. I like links today!
http://www.christianitytoday.com/cpt/2002/005/1.30.html
http://dgoddessblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-ideas-three-gifts.html
http://www.familylife.com/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=dnJHKLNnFoG&b=4778289&ct=6355705&DCMP=EMC-CONTENT+5+DEC+2008&ATT=10+Ideas
Here is an idea for you. Growing up, my parents adopted this idea and it is seriously my favorite Holiday dinner ever! We have what we call a "Shepherd's Dinner" on Christmas Eve. We have bread, butter, fruits, veggies, and cheeses on the floor in front of our Christmas tree. And, of course, lit by only our Christmas tree. It always seems so quiet and serene and we feel the spirit so strong. We usually end up talking about how our "feast" is probably so much better than the Shepherd's actually was. Plus, we aren't eating goat cheese (which I heard is totally YUCK!) I know you guys will have to doctor it a bit (not sure you could have cheeses with Brendan's allergies - you could substitute something else fun though).
Then we always open ONE present each on Christmas Eve to help keep us asleep a little while longer in the mornings =0)
We told our children Santa only fills our stockings, the rest of our presents come from mom and dad.
We also, have tried to minimize the gifts. We give them one "cool" gift they really want, and then they will get a couple of movies, and a family game(mostly so we can sleep on Christmas), and one spiritual gift (a CTR ring, picture of Jesus for their room, scripture case, etc.).
We also buy those little boxes of cereal... (we never buy sugar cereal.. especially those little ones with 5 children) They LOVE that.
We exchange names at Christmas, and then have a family Christmas date (this years is on my blog). We go to a cultural event (when they were little, it was watching part of a school Christmas concert, Rising Stars , or something like that, so we didn't feel like we had wasted our money if they were restless and we had to leave.) We go shopping for an inexpensive gift, sometimes we wil go to dinner and then we come
home and each child gets to wrap their brother or sister's gift alone with me, while the others watch a movie. Then, on Christmas Eve they get to unwrap that gift.
One more, we get our children PJ's on Christmas Eve every year. BUT, you only get them if you take a bath or a shower, and then elves will leave them in your room. This is a fun tradition....especially now, when the older children get to be "elves"
Sorry this is so song, I just LOVE CHRISTMAS!!
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