Christmas Traditions

Dear users, dear authors,
over in the Christmas story thread I got the impression that you’d like to talk about your Christmas traditions and the like, so here’s a thread for that topic.

How do you spend Christmas?
What is especially important to you?
What do you eat?
Who decorates the tree?

Let me know.

For us, Christmas is a celebration of joy and love. That’s why we focus on relaxing—no obligations like Christmas roasts, mandatory visits, or the usual fuss. We spend Christmas with people we love, not just those who get together for the holiday. This has worked out really well for us over the past few years. Every Christmas has been completely different and wonderful.

Interesting conversations, playing games (without phones!), a cozy coffee get-together, listening attentively to each other, and yes, even a little knitting or crocheting for those who like it.

What this year will be like… who knows. It’s always decided on the spur of the moment and has a real element of surprise. :-)

We don’t really have any set rituals. Christmas is definitely family time. Most of the time, we have a big family dinner on Christmas Day where all our relatives get together. But other than that, everything is very cozy.

As long as my in-laws are still with us, we spend Christmas Eve with them, and the next day we go on vacation (though not this year, for once)

Christmas Eve begins with the church service, followed by traditional potato salad and sausages.
Every year, we play Freddy Quinn’s “Weihnachten auf hoher See,” and there are
seven real candles burning on the Christmas tree.

We don’t exchange gifts—instead, we always buy the Christmas tree, and I bake delicious cookies.

Once we’ve reminisced, my father-in-law gets out his accordion and we sing Christmas carols.

Then we have a nightcap and head off to bed.

Since my dad passed away last October, we have to find our traditions again. Last year, none of us really felt like Christmas, but I think things will be different this year. I’ll definitely put up a tree again and hang my hand-crocheted ornaments on it.
Then there are a few TV traditions, like Christmas with the Hoppenstedt family or the Heinz Becker family. That’s a fixed part of the program. My mom will, of course, be with us on Christmas Eve, since we certainly don’t want to leave her alone. That’s new—before, Christmas Eve belonged to my husband and me, but now there are three of us.
Maybe I’ll bake cookies again this year...
But I don’t really want to think about Christmas just yet... it’s still a good three months away. ;-)

We (my husband, my 16-year-old son, and I) have been spending Christmas with my in-laws for 22 years (they live about 360 km away from us).
However, since my mother-in-law died in April last year after a two-year struggle, I don’t enjoy going there at all anymore. She was, so to speak, the head of the family (well, as mother-in-law/mother/wife^^). We always had a lot of fun, I baked cookies beforehand, the day before we all made meat salad together for Christmas Eve, and my in-laws had already decorated the tree when we arrived. Christmas music played from morning to night, everyone was always cheerful, and somehow we spent the whole time eating and laughing. On Christmas Eve, we always did a Secret Santa gift exchange, and after dinner we would cozy up with a glass of wine and tell old stories. We basically never watched TV. My father-in-law played the mandolin, and we all sang along (usually completely off-key)... lol
Last year, though, everything was different, everyone was sad, nobody laughed, and only my son got presents. We didn’t decorate a tree, there was no Christmas music, and after dinner we just sat together and watched a film.
Everything changes so quickly... it’s frightening how much one person can be missed, and we’re all already dreading Christmas coming around again

At Christmas, spending time with my family is especially important to me.
Unlike mowi, for example, we have a set routine every year that starts on Christmas Eve at my parents’ house and ends on December 26 with a big meal with my grandpa and my father’s entire family.

Since my brother passed away a few years ago, it’s obviously not the same as it used to be—especially for my parents—but that’s exactly why it’s important to me that the family comes together for holidays like this and that the traditions continue.

Although… This year, the tradition might be broken! If everything’s ready by then, we’ll be moving into our new house in about three weeks, and we’d like to celebrate Christmas Eve with the family there.

Oh, and one more thing that’s important to me: I really want to visit my great-grandmother! Unfortunately, I don’t get to see her nearly often enough, but at Christmas I want to make sure I set aside enough time for that, because I’m grateful that she’s still with us :) 

Of course, a lot of it comes from our own childhoods—or "it’s always been this way"—but ever since my son was born, the picture book "Where Are the Easter Eggs?" and the cassette tape!!! "Christmas with Bockwurst" have definitely been part of our Christmas season (which for us always starts no earlier than five days before Christmas Eve).

After all, my son is 12 years old now, but THAT tradition has really taken root :-)
We somehow forgot about the Easter book when he was still very little and didn’t read it until Christmas—and we’ve been doing it that way ever since.
And we absolutely love Fredrik Vahle! We have to listen to him at least once in bed ;-)

I didn’t have a typical Christmas growing up, because my dad was almost always working at Christmas. He’s a train driver. My mom was a saleswoman and usually worked until 2 p.m., too. So Christmas was adapted to fit work schedules. Still, it was nice—just different from how others celebrate.
 Ever since I’ve been with my husband (who loves his Christmas traditions) and my parents stopped working, we’ve had our own traditions, too. :-)
On Christmas Eve, the six of us celebrate together. We take turns hosting. This year, it’s at my parents’ house. And yet, this year will probably be completely different. It’ll be our first Christmas with a baby—and probably grandparents going a little crazy. :-)

Hi,

we’ve had some new traditions since last year.

Up through 2015, Christmas went like this:

On Christmas Eve, my in-laws, my brother-in-law, and my daughter were at our
place. On Christmas Day, the same group had breakfast with us, stayed for lunch, and came over
for coffee. On Boxing Day, I had 12 people over for lunch and coffee/dinner

. All in all, my place was packed for three days.

I didn’t want THAT anymore, because I, too, have a right to Christmas and a
little rest.

So it happened that last year we drove to the Allgäu for Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Just the four of us. And what can I say—it was so great.

Last week we booked again and are heading to the Allgäu one day before Christmas Eve.

Best, Heike

Some things have already changed about Christmas in recent years:
the in-laws and parents with whom we used to celebrate are no longer with us; our eldest daughter celebrates with her family; our son lives in the U.S.… but some traditions must remain: Meat-filled pastries with applesauce on Christmas Eve (an old tradition from my family), the tree with real candles—even when we celebrated Christmas in the middle of summer!—the homemade cookies (at least twelve varieties), and the evening church service on December 24. A few gifts and mail from friends far away are also part of it.

We’ve also developed some new traditions since I started working in retail and my son moved out. Since I usually have to work until 2:00 p.m., never get time off between Christmas and New Year’s or take vacation, and I’m not getting any younger myself, it all became too stressful for me. There came a year when I decided to opt out of the Christmas marathon (we’re a blended family).

Now, on Christmas Eve afternoon, just my husband and I go on a little outing—a long walk until it gets dark and the first church bells ring. Then we head back back home; the potato salad is already prepared, and we chat on the sofa, where we usually drift off to sleep early.

On one holiday, we get together with the family; the other holiday is ours to do as we please.
I let my son make his own plans; he has his own “marathon” of visits—to Dad, Grandma, and his girlfriend’s parents—all of which involves traveling over 300 km back and forth by bus and train.
If the two of them want to come, they’re always welcome; if they don’t, I’m not upset at all. Then we’ll plan a weekend in the new year when we can enjoy a stress-free brunch.

I know from my own experience that while it’s always nice to get together, right before the holidays I just wasn’t in the mood for Christmas at all. All the preparations were exhausting, because December is one of the most stressful times of the year, especially in retail, and you just come home completely worn out. With all the effort to see every member of the family and the preparations involved, the holidays become such a huge undertaking that there’s no room left for any sense of peace and reflection. After one year when I ended up just standing there crying, I put a stop to it.  And I don’t want to put my son through that either.

So now we have a family day that I can actually enjoy, and the sense of peace and reflection is back. Sometimes less is more, and after two years of sticking to this, the family has come to accept it. And it’s not like we only see each other at Christmas.

Best, Caro

For the past 8 years, we’ve had a not-so-desirable Christmas tradition.
Every year, we take turns driving to my parents’ house (650 km) or vice versa. This trip is slowly becoming difficult for my parents, and we’re all glad that this tradition will end next year because my parents are moving here next year.

Unfortunately, we’ve completely stopped going to church in recent years. I actually think going to church is part of Christmas Eve, but if it becomes impersonal, stressful, and anything but Christmassy (aside from the decorations), you might as well skip it.

Last year, we were lucky enough to find a wonderful congregation where you’re greeted with a smile not just at Christmas. This year, however, we’ll still skip Mass because we’re visiting my parents. But we’ll leave Christmas greetings at the church, because it’s just great to know they won’t hold it against us if we’re not there—though we’ll still be missed.

Otherwise, we’ll decorate our house for Christmas on the first Sunday of Advent. That’s when we’ll put up the tree, too, though we’ll only decorate it with small lights. The tree ornaments and larger lights won’t go up until the 24th, after breakfast.

I really don’t like baking, but during the Christmas season we bake cookies every week. For years now, we’ve been playing Peter Maffay’s “Weihnachts-Kinder” CD while we bake, and by now the whole family sings along at the top of our lungs. So our Christmas baking actually ends every time in an unplanned but fun little Christmas party. As a result, our baking days are rarely quiet and contemplative, but they’re still very much in the Christmas spirit.

The Christmas holidays, on the other hand, are truly peaceful. We always make sure that everyone gets a gift they can use right away. That could very well be yarn or a crochet hook. My mom will probably be sitting under the tree crocheting this year. :-D
I’m really looking forward to that. My long-awaited Alexa has already been ruled out by my husband, since we’re not in our own Wi-Fi zone.

From Christmas Eve through New Year’s Eve, we’ll just “hang out” together, eat, and do only what’s absolutely necessary, like grocery shopping. We all enjoy this last week of the year and just completely unplug to be there for each other.

New Year’s Day usually brings an abrupt end to our peace and quiet, since we have to leave and everyday life is fast approaching.

But a touch of Christmas still lingers. I actually insist that the Christmas season doesn’t end until Candlemas, so the tree can only be looked at very carefully—so that none of the needles fall off—but it stays up!

We usually celebrate Knut on Candlemas with wild shouting. Within seconds, the tree sheds its coat of needles and leaps (well, okay, we help it along) 5 meters out the window.

And every year, we all hang out the window, eagerly watching to see how it lands.
Of course, it gets a special farewell if it lands upright in the meadow.

Then the unpleasant part of dealing with the Christmas tree begins. That’s why I have to do it all by myself every year. The tree is then taken apart piece by piece and ends up in the stove.
And every year anew, I get to breathe in a little bit of Christmas air one last time when the dried fir needles release their intense scent. (I actually secretly set aside a small bucket of them every year, even though my husband thinks it’s silly. :-D)