Christmas traditions success or failure?
Christmas is full of traditions, and although our piecemeal Christmas is a bit odd (feeding has to still be done in the morning and afternoon), I still like to try to make it special with certain traditions that work for us.
I have to admit, it’s not going quite to plan so far.
Christingle and church
I wanted to take N to a Christingle service again this year. Our village churches are a bit odd as they switch the services around, so apart from some which appear to have their services really early, we have to go a bit further to find one the weekend before. I had it in the diary…and then realised that the time was 10 minutes before it was due to start and that we weren’t going to make it. Major fail.
So no church service for us this year. Maybe next year, we’ll try another one, and a carol service as well.
Advent Calendar
N has an advent calendar. At the moment it has chocolates in (it’s a fabric one), but I am determined that one year, I’ll put in proper activities and tasks with meaning to Christmas that we can complete together. Considering N is a toddler and he likes chocolate, I’ve been quite surprised at how little interest he has in it. I have to remind him each day that it’s there, and even though we count from the start each day, he’s still not really getting the numbers. And then I hear about other children his age who’re loving learning their numbers alongside the calendar…we miss 3 out (still), and past 10, we can just about do 11 and 12. I don’t think he’s inherited my love of numbers!
The Snowman
I love The Snowman. I have high hopes for N liking the film as he likes the Father Christmas book, and I think it’s fairly similar in the gentleness to Peter Rabbit which he loves. It was on tv yesterday, so I turned it on, and got ready for us to sit down and watch it.
‘No’. Hmm. ‘Hard luck, it’s Christmas, we’re going to snuggle and watch it together’.
After that, he really seemed to get into it. Until Walking in the Air came on and I realised he was asleep.
So a bit of a fail to date. Good job I’ve got the film on dvd and also recorded so we can watch it another time. It makes Christmas for me, and the sequel The Snowman and the Snowdog, so hopefully it’ll become part of Christmas for N too.
Christmas pyjamas
I suppose these have to be a success, although at the age he is now, I’ve struggled to find some that are boyish enough for him. In the end I bought a pair from Tesco with a polar bear on the top. I’ll get them out for him to wear on Christmas eve, and hopefully we’ll continue the tradition into future years.
Homemade gifts
There has to be great food at Christmas, whether that’s the Christmas lunch or otherwise. One of my favourites is tea on Christmas day as it’s always cold turkey/ham rolls with leftovers, and then trifle. Lush.
As there’s so many nephews and a niece on my OH’s side, we don’t buy presents for bro/sister-in-law, only for the children. But I do like to give something, so I try to make some kind of foody gift. In the past I’ve done fudge, truffles, and last year sugared chocolate coated clementine slices. They’ve always gone down really well, and this year I’ve decided on fudge again. But I want to try some new flavours which means proper fudge rather than cheating with easy condensed milk recipes. So it’ll be interesting to see how it turns out.
I’d love to receive a homemade gift but apart from last year’s secret santa when N was knitted a beanie hat, I’ve always had bought presents. I’d much rather have handmade food gifts than being given bought chocolates (so many people give me chocolates, and so often it’s Lindor – bleurgh!). I do love chocolate, but I can buy those whenever. At least if I make fudge, I can make more for us as well.
So to date, this year’s attempts aren’t going too well. Still the fudge to go so we’ll see how it turns out. I might even do a post in the new year (or save it til next Christmas!).
What traditions do you do? Have you had any failures so far? And do you do any homemade gifts?
