Family Christmas Traditions That Meant The Most

Some of the best family traditions are the ones that we accidentally created and don't realize until later how much they meant to our children. One of these traditions in our family has become the process of opening our Christmas stocking gifts on Christmas morning. This tradition in our family began out of pure necessity!

My oldest child had a very bad habit of getting up at about 3:00 a.m. on Christmas morning. He would be so excited that he just could not sleep any longer. Not having the heart to spoil his excitement, we went through a year or two of very sleep deprived Christmas days with extremely crabby, tired children by noon. Dreading spending another Christmas Day with little to no sleep, I came upon a plan that would work well for everyone.

I began individually wrapping their stocking gifts. I would use special paper and ribbons that weren't used on any of the other gifts (because the elves wrapped these presents with their own special supplies). I would embellish each tiny gift with ribbons and bows (and it takes a lot longer to unwrap a tiny gift that's been tied with ribbons!). Once each child reached an age where they were old enough to be up in the early morning hours without adult supervision they were allowed to sneak into the living room and get their stocking to unwrap the presents it contained.

We created a "family rule" that no one (namely; Mom and Dad) had to get up before 5:00 a.m., but if you woke up earlier you could unwrap your stocking gifts and play quietly. Over the years, this tradition became our children's favorite part of Christmas morning. As each child got old enough to join in on the early morning "pirating" of their stockings without Mom and Dad in the room, soon they were all out there sharing their stocking thrills and special moments with each other. Usually, I was awake and listened to their quiet rustling of paper and bows and their hushed whispers of excitement.

With my children past the Santa stage, and some of them off to college, these moments have become some of my fondest memories from Christmas's past. So many, many years they spent Christmas morning out in the living room together, whispering so as not to wake us, and bonding with each other. Never once did they fight or get into trouble, they simply enjoyed each other's company and shared their excitement of their little stocking gifts with each other.

Early on, I began tucking an orange and some little morning appropriate snacks into their stocking with the gifts. Every year since then our living smells of peeled oranges on Christmas morning when 5:00 a.m. arrives and the whole family is awake.

Something as simple as an orange has become a Christmas morning tradition at our house. As the kids got older, one year I didn't add the oranges (they were old enough to know where the oranges came from - the fridge) and each one of them discreetly mentioned that I forgot to put the oranges in the stockings...apparently oranges taste better when they come from the stocking instead of the refrigerator on Christmas morning!

I haven't "forgotten" the oranges since and my kids are almost all grown now, but Christmas morning still begins with the essence of peeled oranges because each one of them still snacks on their orange as we open gifts together.

Take a moment to start a new tradition with your children this year.  The result will be shared memories that last forever and you might actually get to sleep past 3:00 a.m. on Christmas morning!        

It's interesting the things our children remember from their childhood and place so much value on. As parents, we don't realize at the time that our actions and efforts will remain with our kids forever, becoming an integral part of the fabric of their lives. What is your favorite Christmas memory or tradition from your childhood? Sharing yours will help new parents implement family traditions with their children! Pay it forward!  

God bless!