Santa Letters, Gifts, And Christmas Day Fun & Relaxation

The build up to Christmas can seem chaotic. At my house we do everything from writing Santa letters to shopping, decorating, entertaining and more. I guess that’s a big part of why we prefer to stay at home and enjoy each others company Christmas day. We lounge around the house all day in our new Christmas pajamas. My husband and I feel that it is unfair to drag the kids out of the house when all they want to do is stay home to play with their new gifts.

First thing in the morning the kids run down to open a package from Santa. The air in the living room quickly becomes filled with bits of ribbons and wrapping paper. They open one gift and return to the tree to find another a package with their name on it. Drew and I take as many pictures as we can. It is important to us to have visual record of our Christmases together.

After we have opened all of our gifts we cook breakfast together. Some years we make something easy like cinnamon rolls or pancakes and other years we go all out and create a gourmet style breakfast. While breakfast is cooking my boys bring in the empty reindeer food bowl. They show everyone that the reindeer ate all of the food we put out. We sit down together at the table and have a nice breakfast. The kids can’t finish their meal fast enough. They are so excited about the things they received from Santa.

Once we have the kitchen cleaned up after breakfast the kids run off to play with their new toys. While they are entertained my husband Drew and I start to cook our Christmas dinner. We both love to cook and we usually get something new for the kitchen. Now and then one of the kids will pop in and help out for a bit. My youngest daughter will almost always come in and write thank you letters to Santa while we cook. She thanks Santa for everything that was under the tree, fully believing that he is responsible for all the gifts. She will have her letters from Santa as references as she writes. She’s not one that can be argued with and we certainly would not want to. We actually want our children to believe in Santa for as long as possible.

Drew and I set the table with our special Christmas dishes. When we sit down to eat each kid gets a turn to tell us what their favorite gift was.

Once we have put away dinner, we veg out and watch a few movies. Drew always remembers to buy the movies for Christmas day. One by one the kids drift off to their beds. Christmas is always such a tiring day for them all.

Once the last kid has wondered off to bed and it is just me and Drew. We sit by the lights of the Christmas and enjoy the stillness of the night. Each Christmas night we have a champagne toast for surviving another Christmas. This is when Drew and I exchange our special gifts. This is perhaps my most cherished tradition. It may sound silly but Christmas may be the most romantic night we have throughout the whole year. We reflect on our love for each other, our love for the kids, and how important their happiness is to us.

Christmas Eve – The Fun & The Struggle To Fit Everything In

Since I’m now a grandma, I have changed my Christmas Eve routine a little. Now the kids have to come to my house – funny how it’s true what they say about history repeating itself and all that! Well anyway, my family does have some true Christmas traditions and many of them revolve around Christmas Eve. Let me take you back in time – Let’s say about 20 years ago when my kids were all little and I was trying desperately to keep them happy and make Christmas wonderful for them.

20 Years Ago:

Christmas Eve is always a busy day for our family. After we finish our breakfast we start wrapping gifts for all the people we plan on seeing that day. It amuses me to watch how much care the kids put into their work. Our living room becomes a maze of bright shiny packages as we wrap. My daughter gets the job of putting her cousins' nice certificates from Santa in envelopes. They live in Canada. She likes decorating the envelopes with glitter and lace. We all help to load the van and clean up the scraps of paper and ribbon.

Our first stop is to my mother-in-law’s house. It is nice to have a chance to see all of my husband’s family. They all play music so there is always a cheerful Christmas melody filling the air. The kids bounce around waiting to open the presents. Christmas Eve with my husband’s family is always such a festive time. We finally let the kids dig into the presents scattered under the tree. I love to watch the excitement on the faces of the kids as they rip through the wrapping paper. There is always a gift from Santa for each of the kids hidden under the tree somewhere.

By the time we arrive to my Mom’s the sun has already set. When the door opens we are greeted by joyful laughter. The dining room table is covered with the most scrumptious food. We greet everyone and many warm hugs are exchanged. We all make plates and find a place to sit and talk. It’s nice to see my kids spending time with all of their cousins. My mom is always the one to hand out the Christmas gifts with my Dad as her helper. She is the best at buying the perfect gift, how she knows what a picky fourteen year old will like I will never know. My mom sends the kids home with reindeer food from Santa.

By the time we head home it is pretty late at night. We like to take a short drive to look around at the Christmas lights. It gives us a chance to calm down from all the excitement of the day. There are certain houses that the kids want to see every year. My sons Johnny and Derek insist on visiting the subdivision on the other end of town that has real reindeer as part of the decoration. Who could blame them? Angela likes the house with angels and music. Our goal is to try to drive around until the kids are tired – that doesn’t happen, after all, Santa Claus comes tonight!

Once we get back home we put out a plate of cookies for Santa along with the kids letter to Santa. The kids all put on their new Christmas pajamas. After awhile the kids get settled in and fall asleep. My husband and I like to sit together in the quiet for awhile surrounded by the glow of the Christmas tree lights. And then Santa goes to work!

Back To Today:

Do I miss those days? Well you know, as I write about it, I do sort of wish I could spend just one day with my kids as they were as little kids – just one day. But there really is something to be said about every age. Now that I am over 50 I can honestly say that it’s a great age to be. My Christmas holidays are less stressful – I get to enjoy my kids and grandkids without the worries that I used to have associated with the holidays. I see everyone on Christmas Eve and usually on Christmas Day too. Fortunately all of my family lives very close to me.

What about you and your Christmases – are they better now than they used to be? Have you carried on family traditions? Why or why not?