Hi guys, welcome back to my channel. In today's video, I'm going to be sharing with you the
memorable Christmas traditions that my family does to hopefully make Christmas as magical
and memorable as possible. And the reason I'm making this video is because I asked you
guys on Instagram, what Christmas content would you like to see? And this video idea
came up second. 46 of you asked for a video about Christmas traditions, and once I started
writing all our traditions down, I was like, "We actually have quite a lot and some really
good ones that you might want to try and bring into your life as well."
So the first one I wanted to share with you is probably my favorite and one that we're
actually doing this evening. So it's also top of mind, but that is to go and see the
Christmas lights, but with a bit of a twist. So basically what we do is we get the boys
to have a bath, then we put them into some Christmas pajamas or maybe their fleecy onesies,
make up some hot chocolate to take with us in travel mugs or you can take popcorn and
snacks as well. Bumps with everyone into the car maybe with blankets or something and then
go and see the Christmas lights. So where I live, we're actually really fortunate. There
are some amazing Christmas lights. There's this one street in Essex called [inaudible
00:01:17] streets. If you live in this area, you may want to check it out because it's
well worth going to see. All the houses on that street, they make huge
displays like crazy displays. If I have some footage I'll insert it here and they do it
all for charity. But wherever you live, if you ask around at school or if you even do
a quick Google as to where the best Christmas lights are, chances are you will find it.
But yeah, we go and see the Christmas lights and then what my friend, Carrie, does, it's
so cute that we've adapted it as well, is she gets the kids to write a little card and
say like we've judged all the houses for Christmas lights and we think that you're the winner
and you can make a little card and then you can put it through the postbox of the house
that you think has the best Christmas lights. And it's just really festive. You could have
Christmas music in the car. Sometimes we get out and actually walk up and down the street
and look, but most of the time, we stay in the car and it's just a really nice tradition.
They get so excited about it and it's also completely free.
The next tradition is in the true spirit of Christmas and that is a reverse advent calendar.
So what that is is you basically get a big box and every day of advent, you put one thing
into the box to give to charity. So last year, we did it for the food bank. So I just did
a quick Google search on what our local food bank needed and was actually requesting because
they put it on their website. They wanted things like toothpaste, sanitary products,
cans of sausages and things like that. So every day, we put one item into the box and
then you take it to the food bank. This is a great way to teach the kids about
giving and that it's not all about receiving at Christmas, but if I do the reverse advent
calendar again next year, I'm going to do it for the month of November because what
I've found is charities actually need all of the stuff at the beginning of December
to organize it and distribute it to the people that really need it. So that's one change
we're going to do next year. We're going to do it the month earlier, but I think it's
a really nice lesson to do with the kids and it's a heartwarming tradition.
The next tradition is one you may already be familiar with or even do yourselves, and
that is to have a Christmas Eve box. So this reminds me of when I was little, my sister
and I used to get so excited on Christmas Eve that my mum would let us choose one present
from under the Christmas tree and that would keep us going, but nowadays, Santa or the
elves bring a Christmas Eve box. So we actually have a little personalized box because you
know I love personalizing things, and what comes in that box is normally matching Christmas
pajamas so that everyone can wear them to bed, maybe some snacks like some popcorn,
stuff to make hot chocolate with, sometimes a movie, although you can download pretty
much any movie nowadays, and also a book like The Night Before Christmas. And then we'll
read the book to the boys, they'll wear the pajamas, we'll watch the film, and it's really,
really special and something they look so forward to every year.
And another tradition that we didn't knowingly do, but it's actually so special to that back
on. So I'll insert some of the photos here, but every year, we basically go to the same
Christmas grotto to see Santa and we have a photo there, and these photos have become
such a good way of documenting the boys' growth and our family's growth. So we started going
when Fraser was about two or three. So you see Caleb as a very tiny baby, then a toddler,
then Jackson joined the family, then he's growing and we've done it every single year.
I feel like it's a tradition we're going to have to keep doing until the boys are men,
but it's really special. So wherever you choose, maybe try and get a photo of your family in
a similar spot each year and it's really, really special.
The next tradition is a really practical one, but it also teaches the kids to donate to
charity, and that is to have a big toy clear out every December. This not only makes way
for all of the Christmas toys coming in, but it also teaches the children to minimalize
their things and to donate anything they don't really play with to children that might actually
use it and love it. So obviously, I do the bulk of this but I do try to get the kids
to get involved and they can each choose a toy that they haven't really been playing
with much and then we can drop it at the charity shop.
The next tradition is one I really love and it is to do a North Pole Breakfast for the
boys. So you could do this anytime in December but we tend to do it the first weekend of
December, and sometimes the elf on the shelf brings it, but all we do is put out some decorations,
have some Christmas themed pancakes, maybe some iced bombs or donuts, like a real treat
breakfast, maybe a Christmas themed drink and crackers. And speaking of the elf on the
shelf, I'm sure you guys are aware of them because I know they visit so many people.
We actually have three, one to watch over each child, and they sometimes get up to mischief,
sometimes they do really kind things, but the reason they're here is to watch over the
boys and check their behavior and then they go back and report to Santa on the kid's behavior.
They'll do something different every day, and I've made a whole video about them. So
I'll link it down below if you want to know more, but I know not everyone gets an elf
on the shelf, but there are some cool alternatives. I've seen these little security cameras that
you can put up at home and then Santa can actually watch the kid's behavior through
the security camera. So that's another good alternative.
Another tradition that I do every year is to get a new family Christmas bauble. Sometimes
they look like this. Matt's sister actually got us this one with all of our names on it.
And again, because our family has changed over time, it's really cool to see what year
it was and then how many people were in the family, or sometimes I've made these ones.
I just got the little hearts from Hobbycraft, printed out a picture and then put it on with
sparkly glue. So that's Fraser in 2014, and then I put on the back what he wanted for
Christmas that year. And I just think it'd be a really lovely keepsake
to look back on. I love all these little family baubles. They make our tree and I think when
the boys are older, I'll definitely look back and just really cherish them. This is the
one from this year. So this is from when we went to see Santa. They were doing baubles,
so I bought it. But I must write the year on the back so that I remember what year it
was. But we've really got a nice collection now of family baubles and I just love them.
Another tradition that I do with decorations is each year I buy one nice decoration. When
we started doing Christmas at home, we couldn't have afforded to get all the crazy decorations
that you can. So we would have like every year, let's just get one really nice one.
So this year we got Norman the Nutcracker, and he was £70, so quite pricey but I really
love it. I think he looks really cool by the fireplace. One year we got personalized stockings,
which was definitely an investment when we got them. One year we got the Christmas Eve
books. So each year we're just doing one thing and we're starting to have a really nice collection
of decorations. Another tradition that I love doing is when
I wrap all of the presents, I have red wine, a glass of red wine, and I put Love Actually
on and I will sit there and I will wrap all the presents while I'm watching Love Actually
or I also love The Holiday. So sometimes it does take two nights, but I just love doing
that tradition. I so look forward to it so that wrapping doesn't feel like a chore, it's
something that I really love to do. And the last two traditions that we do in our family,
which are so simple and I don't think we even realized we were making them a tradition when
we were doing them, but they've become a tradition now, every Christmas morning, we have eggs
Benedict. That is my favorite meal in the world. Eggs Benedict and Bucks Fizz, and every
Christmas Eve night, Matt makes steak and chips. It's just a really simple meal and
it's just really nice to have. And also for me not to worry about doing any Christmas
cooking before Christmas Day, he tends to make the steak and chips and we all love having
that. So that's just a really simple tradition that
we do, but then I also asked you guys on Instagram what family traditions you do, so I wanted
to share with you some that you guys actually sent in to me on Instagram that I thought
were really cute and worth sharing. The first one that you guys sent in, which I thought
was such a lovely idea and again, a nice, like a free thing to do that you just know
the children would love, and that is to have a sleepover under the Christmas tree. So they
watch a Christmas film, have a picky dinner and they'll have a sleepover under the Christmas
tree. You could do this parents and kids or just kids if you wanted to. I don't think
my children would relax. I don't think they would actually go to sleep under the Christmas
tree. Maybe pass out under the Christmas tree, but I just can't imagine that I should go
into bed. So I don't think it would work from my family,
but I thought that that was a really cute idea or even just letting your kids have a
sleepover. The next tradition, it was sent in by Thrifty Mumma Thrifty Bubba, and they
do a second hand Christmas book advent calendar. So they wrap up the 25 or 24 Christmas books
and they put them under the Christmas tree and then every night they unwrapped one and
read it, which I thought was such a lovely idea. We don't have 24 Christmas books, but
we do have quite a few. So I thought that was like even if you did like The Twelve Days
Of Christmas or something, I thought that was a really cute tradition.
Another person called the Baker4 said that daddy always goes downstairs first thing in
the morning while the kids wait on the stairs and he checks that Santa has been and checks
that the presents are all there and no one's allowed downstairs until daddy has checked
out the situation. And this one made me laugh. Someone said, I listened to Nigel Slater's
Christmas Chronicles on Audible, and then she put, trust me on this one. So that might
be one that I need to try as well, but yeah, there are so many lovely Christmas traditions
out there. I would love to know what your family does in the comments down below. What
is your family tradition at Christmas? And I hope you enjoyed these ideas. Give it a
big like if you did and thank you so much for watching. I'll see you in my next one.
Bye guys.