It’s day 4 already! Doesn’t time fly when you’re blogging! Thank you for joining in our festive blog hop where we have lots of prizes to be won!
(Full details can be found on Mummieswaiting and all entries to be completed via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.)
Hello to those of you that have hopped over from PickingUpToys and all their wonderful Christmas traditions! Todays Sponsor is Bambini & Me They are offering a beautiful sleep bag in either elephant in grey, bunny in blur or bird in pink. (Sizes to choose from are 0-6m and 6-18 m)
Christmas is something that hasn’t really changed since I was a child. I have picked up our old family traditions, and pulled them through to become part of our own, as well as the addition of a few new things that cannot yet be called traditional, as they’ve only been tested once so far! (This year sees round two!)
Our new “thing” is the Christmas Eve box. Most probably inspired by Pinterest, we started last year with some gorgeous shoe box sized boxes, printed with vintage Santa’s. To the boxes we added Christmas pj’s, festive chocolate, cute mugs with knitted covers, a “My first Christmas” book for the baby, a Christmas film for the teen, hot chocolate sachets for all (as well as mini alcohol bottles for the adults!) and a Santa plate. We all donned our Pj’s, got hyper on chocolate and snuggled down to watch a film after going outside to watch “Santa” flying through the sky thanks to a well timed satellite. We also took lots of selfies in our Pj’s, which I will share with you on our 8th day post all about Christmas clothes 😉
Christmas Eve is also the day I do 99.9% of all the food prep for the next day! Making puff pastry for the beef Wellington however will not be something I will do every year. Even though I pulled it off spectacularly, puff pastry is still a nightmare! Shop bought will be our tradition from now on.
I would love to say that December is spent making Frangipani, Stollen, mince pies and mulled wine, that I become some Nigella Lawson-esque kitchen goddess exuding sex and delectable treats, that every year we make our own Christmas cake along with lots of spectacular sparkly crafts.
I don’t think that will ever be the case, although I’m sure as the toddler gets bigger, baking will become more of a year round tradition which will naturally progress in to December where we can make lopsided orange and ginger cookies, along with glittery paper chains and garlands.
Christmas Day in our house is almost a formal affair. Stockings can be opened in the morning, but NOT the gifts under the tree. As soon as breakfast is eaten and stockings unpacked, then it’s off upstairs to get showered and dressed in something smart! Normally shirts and trousers for the boys, and dresses for the girls. No lounging around in Pj’s in our house! (On any day, not just Christmas Day!) the remainder of the morning is spent watching Christmas films, and playing with any little toys from the stockings whilst lunch cooks. If the weather permits, then a woodland walk to build up an appetite is also something we try and do.
Lunch is served early, around 12.30 pm, normally a Beef Wellington, or roasted Duck, but not Turkey although we have all the “usual” trimmings such as pigs in blankets, stuffing, parsnips and sprouts! (And a Large glass of port for Mama!)
After lunch, the entire family helps to clear the dining table and load the dishwasher before we all sit down by the tree to open gifts. The remainder of the day is spent playing with any new toys, enjoying time together as a family and more than likely watching a film or taking a nap! We like to wait until the afternoon to open gifts because then all the adults can join in on the fun, without being chained to the kitchen trying to cook dinner.
Dessert (something actually home made, like cheesecake, you can see my recipe Here!) is eaten later in the afternoon, washed down with a cup of tea, and because it’s Christmas, it can be eaten on our laps in the lounge rather than at the dining table.
Boxing Day is usually spent nibbling on leftovers from the day before, whilst my husband goes out on the mistress for an epic Boxing Day Bike ride (a good 4-6 hours in the saddle, and yes, I’m talking road bike, not motorbike,) unless we happen to be travelling to see family, in which case, I take the car and the kids and Michael cycles to our destination, his favourite ride being from my grandparents in South Wales, to his Mums on the north Wales coast. (A steady 120 miles on Welsh mountain roads.)
That’s about it as far as tradition goes in our house!
Oh! Other than the Christmas tree, which is always packed away before the new year. It doesn’t feel “right” taking Christmas in to the new year! Talking of trees, our rafflecopter code is Pine.
Is Christmas very different in Suburban Mum’s house? Why not hop on over to their blog where you can also gain further entries in to the grand prize draw.
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js
lycrawidow 
Zoe – your Christmas sounds lovely. A walk before lunch is way more sensible than afterwards – totally going to try to introduce that this year. And I like the idea of opening presents after lunch. When we’re at my parents’ we open them one by one, watching each person, but there are so many of us that if we started after lunch we’d still be opening them in the wee hours of Boxing Day! As it is, we usually still have presents left at bedtime. Have a fab Christmas! x
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Aww thank you Laura! I think it comes from being raised (for at least part of my childhood) on a 4000 acre farm, where 2 or 3 hours in the morning were required to sort the livestock anyway! Getting out and playing in the garden, even if you can’t get out for a walk is so lovely. Of course, if Mama doesn’t go for the walk that’s great too, because I get some peace to finish lunch! stocking gifts are usually family oriented games too, so time really is spent playing. Xx
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