The Holiday season is in full swing! Does your family have holiday traditions? No matter how you celebrate the holidays we hope that you create cherished family memories this season. Take a peek into our holiday traditions as the birds share some of our favorite traditions!

Kaje

Holiday Traditions from England

My young childhood years were back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, growing up in the suburbs of London. At this time, one of the most popular holiday traditions with many families was to attend the theatre for a Christmas pantomime. The Christmas panto was always a real treat and an event that everyone looked forward to; adults and kids alike.

It really was a family outing. We would get dressed up in our posh frocks head ready for the show and enjoy the extra treat of a bag of crisps (chips) and a bottle of soda at the half-way intermission. You may be wondering what is a Christmas panto. It is essentially an interactive play that engages with the audience. Traditional shows would be such as Peter Pan with Tinkerbell flying across the stage on a wire or Dick Wittington, Puss in Boots. Somehow the audience would always be encouraged to participate the whole way through the show and some lucky kid and unlucky adult would be dragged on stage to become part of the panto. Think Love Actually and the random introduction of an octopus in the school nativity show at the end of the semester. (Nativity plays and Christmas shows were always a big thing, every child back then had at one point worn a tea towel on their head dressed up as a shepherd).

Unfortunately, Christmas pantos are not a “thing’ here in the US. Or at least not here in Georgia. My boys and myself have missed out on sharing this wonderfully entertaining tradition together. It is just something you do back home in England, Christmas isn’t Christmas until you have been to see a panto show. “Oh yes it is...oh no it isn’t” (inside joke, you will only get this if you are a Brit or have been to a Christmas panto).

Remembering where our family came from is quite a big deal for us. As is where we are now and embracing our new home. One tradition that I can share with my boys is the joy of an Advent calendar. Every Christmas without fail us kids used to be given a chocolate Advent calendar, not just any chocolate, but Cadburys. It always had to be Cadburys. We literally used to run downstairs in the morning and rush to open correct number corresponding with the date and throw that mini chocolate delight into our mouths before even uttering the words breakfast. We loved it. Guess what, so do my boys. I’ve ordered online from Amazon before to have them delivered with the real Cadburys made in England (not Herseys), I’ve made my own advent surprises calendars and I have had family send or bring them over when they come and visit. It is such an enjoyable European tradition to share with the boys. Hopefully one they can continue with their children one day. If you are happy to pay the shipping you can get the real Cadburys deal just about anywhere. Advents are so fun. 24 days of fun. This year I decided mum should also be allowed in on the fun. I bought myself an advent, only mine isn’t Cadburys, mine is vino. Red, white, rose and sparking. Seriously the most perfect gift you can give yourself. 24 days of sampling different wines. Yes it does help get through the Holidays.

Alex

Christmas Eve Fun

I have always loved the holidays. I think it stems from having a big extended family and the wonderful memories I have of being excited to celebrate Christmas. As a child Christmas Eve was a special day for our family. We would gather with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. We would of course have dinner but we would play games, sing songs and wait til midnight when we would say a prayer and open the giant mountain of presents under the tree. I’ll never forget the excitement of watching the minutes tick by until it was time to open presents. Or the laughter of running around my grandparents house with my cousins.

Now that I have my own children, we still make Christmas Eve a special day in our house! We start our celebration by going to church where the children get to act out the nativity scene. When we get home, I always have an art project for the kids, we build a gingerbread house, make cookies for Santa, sing songs and scatter reindeer food in the yard. I hope that while my kids may not have 15 cousins that they are playing with on Christmas Eve, they will remember the love and magic we created as a family.

Jolie

Christmakkah

My family, like yours, has many holiday traditions but my favorite is the combining of two different holiday traditions: it’s Christmakkuah. My background is Italian-Catholic so Christmas is a big deal in my family: lots of meals, gifts and parties. But I also love exposing my kids to different cultures and traditions so every year in early December, my friend Tracy and her two kids, who are Jewish, pile into my Acadia with me and my two kids to go buy a Christmas tree. You have to see all 6 of us and an 8 foot tree jammed into the car. It’s pretty amusing. We then drive back to my house, hoist up the tree and let the kids do the tree trimming. While they are trimming the tree and playing very competitive rounds of dridel, Tracy and I are cooking in the kitchen. I make meatballs and pasta and Tracy fries up the potato latkes. We serve the latkes with both sour cream and applesauce. For dessert, the kids bake and decorate holiday cookies. Then we sit by the fire with hot chocolate for the kids and wine for us! It’s one of our favorite days of the year and we all look forward to it.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season! Let us know your favorite holiday traditions in the Comments!

Our Holiday Traditions