Community Christmas Traditions

Every family seems to have them.  Traditions.  The momentous events that help to create the memories of the season that we cling to year after year.  For our family those range from cutting our tree down together at a local tree farm to baking cookies with our family. Church Christmas Eve afternoon before gathering around the table with our family and oranges at the bottom of everyone’s stocking on Christmas morning.  Some of these have been passed down to us, and some are new ones we’ve made together.

As a young family we decided to start the tradition with our children that Santa Claus would bring them each three gifts just like Jesus received on his birthday.  There are no strings attached, just three gifts.  They know that’s what they get so they usually only have a list of three items.  It’s not to say we don’t cheat a little and add a few extra pieces to a box now and then.  We have also started that fun little elf tradition, except in typical me fashion I rebelled against it for as long as possible…so our elf is about 1 1/2″ tall…made of hard plastic that I got out of an Elf on the Shelf card game on clearance for $3.00.  So all we do is move it around, no fancy tricks since he is sitting permanently on a little blue box…what can I say, it hasn’t seemed to dampen the children’s enthusiasm for him.

Through the years I have heard so many fun traditions from people.  I love learning about them, the people they came from, their communities and cultures.  We asked our FizlDizl community to share some traditions with us and are so thankful we did!  What wonderful stories they had to share.

Renee shared with us that Santa fills their stockings on New Year’s Eve on his way back to the North Pole!  How fun is that?  They use the stockings that her grandmother made for her and sisters when they were children.  I love how they incorporate the same stockings and continue such a fun tradition with their own children.  And who doesn’t like just one more gift?

 

 

 

We love Darin and his son Kai’s tradition of cutting a piece off the bottom of the tree every year and labeling it.  They keep them all in a dish and display them each year with their Christmas decorations.  I think this is such a wonderful idea and fun way to look back at all the Christmases spent together as a family.

 

 

 

 

Each year Leigh-Ann and her husband get a new ornament for their tree each year.  Sometimes it’s from their vacation destination that year, other times just something they see and love.  They label the year if it doesn’t already have it.  Their children also get to chose an ornament each year and when they get married they will receive them all in a box to display on their own tree.  Her mother did this with her, so she is continuing to pass it down to her children as well.

 

 

Stephanie and her family place an ornament called The Christmas Nail on their tree first.  They read a poem that goes along with it as a reminder of the real reason for this amazing season.  What a simple way to pause in the midst of the hustle and bustle of getting the family tree in place!

 

 

 

 

 

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care… and Amanda fills her kids stockings with breakfast treats!  What a novel idea!  Wish I thought of that 16 years ago.  The stockings overflow with fruits like oranges and bananas and are topped off with little packs of donuts, a juice box and of course a little chocolate.  The children sit and nibble while they all open gifts together.  What an adorable tradition.

 

 

 

We would like to thank everyone who sent us messages about their Christmas traditions and a very special thank you to these families for not just sharing their traditions but their treasured family photos as well!  There are still so many to share…would you kindly leave a comment below with your favorite family Christmas tradition please.  We love reading them and sharing them with others.  May your Christmas journey be filled with love, peace and traditions new and old.