For my family, the Christmas season is time to spend together. We watch movies, play games, read books and generally lounge around the house. Because one can’t just lounge around the house properly in jeans, my family started a tradition of Christmas pajamas, or PJs as they are called at our house.
When I was young my mother made PJs for everyone. Now, somewhere between the beginning and middle of December we all traipse off to the store and find a comfortable set of PJs for Christmas. Each person picks PJs that they will personally find comfortable. Sometimes we can find whole sets that matches our desires, and other times we have to mix and match the tops and bottoms. I like to find PJs that keep me warm, others like PJs that are silky, and everyone else in the family thinks I’m a walking and talking human popsicle. 🙂 (It isn’t my fault that my normal body temperature runs lower than most people!)
After the PJs have been purchased and we return home then model the PJs for the whole family. This has always been one of my favorite things to do. The first time wearing new PJs is so relaxing and cozy. As the years have passed I’ve found that my collection of Christmas PJs has finally reached an equilibrium of four sets. Each time a new set is added to the collection, another set has been worn out completely and is recycled in some manner.
Do you have traditions that are outside the mass trends? Do you have traditions that you would like to share? Which traditions bring a smile to your face year round? Please share so everyone can put something new in their lives and share a special season of love and happiness.
Every year we get a new set of Ornaments, sometimes they are made and sometimes they are purchsed. We always have a minimum of 4, that way when the kids each leave home they get to take one ornament with them, and know that we all have a matching one on our tree. On the years we do not make an ornament, we have another Christmas Family craft to do. This year, we are decorating cups for eachother.
That sounds like a fun tradition! We stopped putting the tree up years ago when we first acquired cats as they tried to kill the tree. 🙂 I think I’ll start a different method of decorating with my husband as I see cats back in our life when we return to the USA. I do enjoy holiday decorating!
We do that too 🙂
Each year since the kids where little I have allowed them to choose a special ornament every year.
So funny that you have the PJs tradition! We do too! It started out when the kids were really little-bitty and was a necessity for many years, since it seemed like there was always a growing spurt right at Christmastime. I realized that it had become tradition a couple of years ago at a time I was wondering what our family traditions were. It seemed then that we just went along with the extended family and did things that way but didn’t have our own nuclear family traditions. Problem solved! And a cozy solution it is!
How wonderful! I was hoping one of our readers would also have PJs tradition!
Our family exchanges our gifts Christmas Eve because my husband and dad had to work Christmas Day for years. That meant as holiday meals go Christmas dinner is fairly simple with just a ham or turkey with 3 or 4 sides, rolls and desert. Christmas Eve was when we really did it up with a big finger food buffet with plenty of shrimp, fresh fruit, a relish tray, oodles of holiday cookies, a selection of cheeses and wine with either Gumbo or Oyster stew to round it out. We munch all evening long as we open gifts and converse. The evening usually ends in the wee hours with game time. Game time might simply be cards or we may try out something someone got for Christams. Games have been bowling on the Wii, Wahoo, various card games and Hide the Sock Monkey.
Sounds wonderful!
Our family does PJ’s too! We all open them on Christmas eve, and lounge around in them all Christmas Day.
Another tradition we have is kind of an odd one, but I thought I’d share it anyway! 🙂 When I was growing up, we didn’t have much, as my dad was one of those people who never held down a job for very long. We never had very much in the way of snack foods, so every Christmas, each of us kids (four of us) got to choose 2 food items that were completely our own. There were some crazy requests, but we loved it! I remember one year that I chose green olives and a package of cream cheese, and I enjoyed it all! My kids love the tradition, so we have kept it up, as have my brother’s and sister!
That sounds like a fun tradition!