Adding Christmas Traditions to Your Holiday Season

Christmas time is the most anticipated time of the year. Looking forward to your own family's traditions makes it even more inviting. Many families have traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. And then there are those that decide to start new traditions with their own family. But which ever you decide, it is never too late to begin the ritual of holiday traditions in your house.

Many families share the same traditions. For example, leaving cookies for Santa, or putting the tree up together. My family always put up the tree as we listened to Christmas carols. Every year my brother and I argued over who got to hang up the elves on the tree.

I grew up with the tradition of getting to open up one gift on Christmas Eve. I think my parents let us open one before we went into some sort of Christmas present overload. But whatever the reason was, it was something we looked forward to every Christmas Eve. I have now passed that tradition on to my own children. I act as though it is for them, but it is really the kid inside me that is dying to open up something.

Christmas morning had its own set of traditions. The stocking were opened first. I looked forward to this just as much as opening my gifts. We were able to come down and open them up without having to wait on the rest of the family, like we did when we opened up our gifts from Santa. Christmas morning also came with the tradition of letting the kids pass out the gifts.

After I got married I kept these traditions and started some new ones. Every year I take my son (and now my daughter, 2) and we pick out a new ornament for the tree. Another tradition I began with my son, is tracking Santa on the computer every Christmas Eve. We aIso leave food for the reindeer each year. It's made ofhay, glitter, and yes, even Rice Krispies. Traditions like these can be easy to do and are very fun for little ones.