So my Christmas Traditions haven't changed too much since my childhood - whilst I have grown up a lot, my family's Christmas "Routine" has almost stayed unchanged.
As I've mentioned in a previous post, my Oma (German Grandma) used to always send big parcels full of German Christmas goodies. My Sister and I could never stand the excitement of waiting to open the parcel - if we were naughty, my Mum would sometimes not let us open it for a whole DAY! Absolute Torture!!
Growing up, the whole family used to visit the local Church on Xmas Eve for the Carol Service. We weren't raised particularly religious, but going to Church on the 24th December became an annual pilgrimage. All the children from the village would be in either nativity fancy dress as shepherds, angels, sheep etc, or in their best dresses and clothes. A nativity scene would be acted out and everyone would sing Christmas Carols. The air would always be filled with excitement and anticipation. At the end of the service, each of the congregation would donation food items to be delivered to homeless shelters.
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| Image: www.a2church.org |
As I progressed through my teenage years I gradually stopped attending the Carol Service. No longer did any of my friends go and the service seemed to be more aimed at families with young children - I didn't see myself as a child any longer. Instead of visiting the local Church on Christmas Eve, visiting the local bars and pubs became a new tradition. No one got drunk as they wanted to be fresh for the following day, but catching up with friends was a fun way to spend the time leading up to the big day.
As the Germans usually open their gifts on Christmas Eve, my parents always allowed my Sister and I to open one present that night. Usually it would be a new pair of girly pyjamas that my Mum had purchased. These days we don't really open any presents on Christmas Eve anymore, as my Sister and I are a lot more patient and a bit less excited than we were as children.
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| Image: www.coatscrafts.co.uk |
My Sister and I began our own tradition of sleeping in the same bed on the 24th December (and in our 20s we still do it every year)! We would always be too excited to sleep so we would stay up for hours talking and then in the morning we were not to wake our parents until 7:30am (which was sooo hard when we were younger) so we would carry on talking to one another until it was time to get up. At around 5am we would get our stockings from outside the bedroom door and sit on the bed eating chocolate and playing until it was time to go downstairs.
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| Image: www.digsdigs.com |
My Dad used to film us walking down the stairs on Christmas Day - I used to hate it and feel so shy! Luckily he doesn't do that anymore!
After opening presents my parents would prepare the Christmas lunch whilst my Sister and I played with our newly acquired toys. I'm sure we used to spend the rest of the day playing for hours and hours, however these days I'm more likely to go back to bed after lunch (what an old thing to do)!
Boxing Day we spend with my Cousins in London, where we exchange gifts and usually have a light lunch of leftovers or fish. And on the 27th we are exhausted!!!
Christmases aren't as magical when you are an adult, so I look forward to the future when I have my own children. I will make sure all their Christmases are as exciting and memorable as the ones my parents gave me.
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| Image: theconstantkindergartener.blogspot.com |
What are your Christmas Traditions? Have they changed much over the years?
Love & Kisses,
Vicki xoxo
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| Image: en.paperblog.com |
P.S. I will try harder this week to keep up with the Blogmas Challenge! (For those of you who haven't heard of Blogmas, it is a challenge for Bloggers to post articles each day in December. Vloggers also do Vlogmas which is the same concept, just in video form). xXx
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