On the Sixth Day of Parenting - Family Traditions Sorted

Hello and thank you for hopping over from BumpsBabies Tots and Teens Mummy Diaries and welcome to the 6th day of #12DaysOfParenting. Today's sponsor is Science4You who are offering a Sweet Factory and the theme is Family Traditions Sorted. My keyword to enter today’s giveaway is in this post below, good luck! Full details of the #12DaysOfParenting terms and conditions can be found on the #12DaysOfParenting page and all entries are to be completed via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

Oh, I love Christmas!

I love how steeped it is in history and tradition. How we do the same things each year; the same things that have been done for decades, centuries.

Sometimes even longer.

We sing songs that our grandparents sang, and their grandparents before them. Foods are flavoured with the same spices our ancestors used at Christmas. At church we speak the same words and say the same prayers that have been said for generations.

And I love how you can look through the windows of all the houses on your street and see a Christmas tree, lit with fairy lights and topped with an angel or a star.

Christmas is a time when we have so much in common.

So what a shock it is to discover that other people also have different traditions to us. We marry into families who have vastly different Christmas days to us and it can be overwhelmingly surprising. For some it becomes a real sticking point.

When I was growing up, Christmas meant stockings first thing, then Church in the morning - or midnight Mass when were old enough - followed by a few presents, lunch, a walk, the Queen’s speech and then more presents. We opened presents one at a time, taking it in turns so we could see what each person had got.

I didn’t realise that our Christmas Day wasn’t the same as everyone else’s until I spent my first Christmas with the Hubby’s family.

There, presents are opened in a frenzy, everyone at once. Gift opening is finished quickly. No church. No Queen’s speech. No Bread Sauce!

I don’t think it’s Christmas Dinner without Bread Sauce, so that had to be changed, and quickly.

Combining and changing the family traditions we have grown up with to make our own traditions for the new family we've made together is a challenge, but a delightful one.

As we approach our first family Christmas, in our own home, just us, it is exciting to think that our Christmas will become tradition, and this is what our children will remember and insist upon when they have their own families.

We have some traditions already, and it's been really encouraging this year to hear the girls talking about what they remember from other years and what they're looking forward to happening again.

The Jesse Tree
In a bid to keep Jesus in the forefront of our Christmas Celebrations, we began to use an age old tradition called the Jesse Tree.

I've written about our Jesse Tree before, and you can find those posts here. Basically, the Jesse Tree is a vehicle to tell the story of Jesus as pointed to throughout the Old Testament. It is inspired by a prophecy in Isaiah 11:1-5, that talks about the Messiah being the shoot that comes from the stump of Jesse, King David's father.

The principle is that each day we read a passage from the Old Testament, and discuss how Jesus is shown in that passage. It begins with Creation and culminates on Christmas Eve with Jesus, the Light of the World, going through Jesus's ancestors on the way.

This year we have been using The Jesus Storybook Bible, which is a brilliant kids' Bible that specifically points to Jesus' coming at the end of each story. I'm really encouraged this year to see both girls remembering what the ornaments mean, and knowing which ones will come next.

Christmas Card
The year that B was born, my sister took a photo of her sleeping, wearing a pair of beautiful angel wings. We made the photo into our Christmas card for the year, and so began our tradition of photographing the children in Nativity scenes to send out on cards.

 It serves two purposes: Season's Greetings and an opportunity to let friends and family we rarely see have a bit of an update on the children.

As the years go by, it is getting harder to think up scenes without repeating too much. This year, we made use of a stuffed camel from Ikea and the fact that there are three children to turn them into the Wise Men. I'm already planning next year's card - with four to dress up, it's going to require some thought. There's only so many times we can do the Shepherds!

Pound Shop

This is one of our favourite traditions. When B was 3 we took her to Poundland before Christmas, in order to pick out a present for each family member. We've done it every year since, and M has joined in as well.

Next year A will be allowed to choose his gifts too. When their gifts are handed out to grandparents, aunties and uncles, and us, it's hilarious to see their offerings.

From novelty Christmas glasses on Grandpa and Granddad to Tinkerbell hair clips for Grandma; birthday balloons for Nannie to a Trolls money box for an uncle. Last year I got an In the Night Garden soft ball, which slowly made it's way into A's toy box. Poundland Christmas has become a tradition that the extended family love as much as the children do.

When there was a suggestion this year that we might be making Christmas presents instead, it was met with serious opposition. Everyone loves their Poundland gifts.

Epiphany
For us, Christmas doesn't end on Boxing Day. We don't put our tree up until our wedding anniversary, which is a few days before Christmas, and so it lasts quite happily until Epiphany, 6th January, when we celebrate the visit of the Wise Men to the Baby Jesus.

We don't add our Wise Men to the Nativity set until Epiphany, but rather they travel around the house. Each day from Boxing Day onwards, everyone enjoys hunting for the Wise Men, and there is always great excitement from the person that spots them first.

We always have an Epiphany Party, sometimes with guests. Even when we don't have any extra people, we have a special meal and use up the last of the Christmas Crackers. I try to cook Eastern dishes to represent the regions that the Wise Men would have travelled from. It's a special time and gives a fitting close to the Christmas season for us.

What are your family's special traditions?

Today’s Codeword is: SHEPHERD

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