At Christmas Time

Yes, I know Christmas is over for another year, but I really can’t think of another time where family traditions are so integral to the way that we act and interact.

When we had children, one of the things I looked forward to most was Christmas. As a child I had always found Christmas magical and I couldn’t wait to pass that magic on to my own children. Over the years, a whole tapestry of Christmas traditions grew up as the children did. The first was Christmas stockings and a sign saying Santa Please Stop Here. We got both from a shop on the outskirts of Sydney as we prepared to spend Christmas at a little place called Nelson Bay to the North of Sydney. Our youngest at the time was nearly two years old and she understood that something special was happening. We ended up bringing the Santa sign and the three stockings back with us, and they are all used to this day, having been in the centre of our Christmas since 1998!

We have ornaments that are brought out every year, my favourite of which is an Advent calendar in the form of Santa going down a chimney. I bought that from a charity shop for about £3 back in 2005 and for years, our children took turns in removing the numbered rods underneath Santa to send him down the chimney. Early in 2006 I bought a set of cake ornaments consisting of a Santa, a Snowman and an Angel for 13p and they are placed on top of our cake every year. A definite bargain I’m sure you will agree!

One tradition that I am sure our children will be happy to jetison for their own Christmas started through practicality. As you will know from your own childhood, children tend to rip off the wrapping paper on every single present as soon as they see it. It was exhausting for them and for us to be so over stimulated, so we made it a tradition to open presents one at a time so that they could properly appreciate them. In that way we could easily make present opening last until December 27, and, so I told them, make Christmas last longer! My youngest daughter in particular complains about this every year and says that when she has her own Christmas she will open everything all at once! We shall see!

Our final traditions are watching Love Actually together as a family and going to the Dickens Christmas Festival with as many of the family as are available. It’s nice that three of the children still make both of those things part of their Christmas build up.

Christmas is all about traditions and when they have their own houses our children will keep some of ours and ignore others as well as introducing some of their own. That is what makes Christmas such a special time of year.