Being up front here, I can’t stand Christmas. Growing up it was all about annoying relatives and itchy clothes and then when I got older it was all about my mother relapsing. I actually opened my presents one year in a detox facility. Even into adulthood we never really had a full on family Christmas since two sides of the family didn’t get along and even my aunts and uncles didn’t like each other.
So now that I have an 18 month old daughter (and one on the way) I want to make Christmas really cool for them and make it what it should be about (in my opinion) - giving back to people who aren’t as fortunate and maybe making another kids holiday less crappy than mine was without fully diving into the commercialism. Cool lights, Santa and lots of fun stuff in the snow. I’d love to set some new traditions, which we’re starting by hosting Christmas for the first time at our home with everyone from my wife’s family coming to stay for a few days.
My wife and I just put up the fake tree while she was sleeping and when she saw it she was super excited. First good memory. I realize there are still 34 days to go but I thought I’d start a thread about good Christmas memories, ideas and stuff you do that’s fun and can make for really good family times. I’m in a band so hopefully we will be able to arrange caroling of some sort and take my daughter out.
As I expect, this may degenerate into a thread about how the holiday is completely commercialized (which is okay) but lets hear some ideas on how to improve it if you have them. Also if you’re offended by Christmas and don’t celebrate it then feel free to share how you deal with this season in a positive way.
…I want to make Christmas really cool for them and make it what it should be about … without fully diving into the commercialism. Cool lights, Santa and lots of fun stuff in the snow.
I found this part kind of funny…
I guess I view Christmas in 2 ways.
The Christian Holiday: Baby Jesus reason for the season and all that stuff… Usually what folks think of when they hear “what it should be about”
Commercial Christmas: Cool lights, Santa, and fun stuff in the snow.
So you want to skip out on the Commercial side don’t buy the tree, the lights the santa crap. Want to make memories, go bowling, or to the movies. Want something more outdoors go geocaching. Maybe even plant a Christmas Cache.
…I want to make Christmas really cool for them and make it what it should be about … without fully diving into the commercialism. Cool lights, Santa and lots of fun stuff in the snow.
I found this part kind of funny…
I guess I view Christmas in 2 ways.
The Christian Holiday: Baby Jesus reason for the season and all that stuff… Usually what folks think of when they hear “what it should be about”
Commercial Christmas: Cool lights, Santa, and fun stuff in the snow.
So you want to skip out on the Commercial side don’t buy the tree, the lights the santa crap. Want to make memories, go bowling, or to the movies. Want something more outdoors go geocaching. Maybe even plant a Christmas Cache.
Since I’m not religious number 1 never really enters my head. Santa has a legitimate place in Christmas lore before all of the other stuff, even from other countries who have a similar type of person who delivers gifts around the time. To me what I always wanted for Christmas was to actually enjoy spending time with my family and helping out other people to maybe give them a good holiday memory or two like I didn’t have.
And of course, the movies! Elf, A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation are a must. I could also probably perform the Sound of Music for you since we watched it ad nauseum every holiday season. I also loved the crappy claymation Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with Burl Ives singing.
… Santa has a legitimate place in Christmas lore before all of the other stuff, even from other countries who have a similar type of person who delivers gifts around the time. To me what I always wanted for Christmas was to actually enjoy spending time with my family and helping out other people to maybe give them a good holiday memory or two like I didn’t have.
And of course, the movies! Elf, A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation are a must. I could also probably perform the Sound of Music for you since we watched it ad nauseum every holiday season. I also loved the crappy claymation Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with Burl Ives singing.
Santa evolved from St. Nicholas, still tied to religion.
You seem to miss the irony, you don’t want commercialism, but you do want all the things commercialism has brought you, remember even Santa (the version in America today is basically brought to you by Coke)
I think you have a very typical holiday problem, you have watched all the movies seen the Normal Rockwell pictures, and think thats what the holiday’s are. They are not, they are the image the commercialization wants you to try and BUY into. I suggest you don’t try to go big, just have a nice simple happy time, make your “special” thing, not making it special. When I got older I started to better appreciate the folks who celebrated Christmas by going bowling. Keep it simple and have fun
We used to go to church on Xmas eve then get take-out Chinese or pizza and have dinner w/ friends. We used to do dessert with them on Thanksgiving, too, but now that we kids are all grown up and people are in different places, neither of those things happen anymore.
Best memory as a kid is probably the year my dad set the clocks back an hour so he and mom could get more sleep… I was mad as heck that day, but old enough to realize it was a pretty good prank.
Opening one present on Xmas eve has always been a fun tradition.
We also did Giving Trees growing up and that made a good impression that not everyone has it as good as I have. Nothing like getting an ornament that says the kid wants socks and underwear to make you realize how lucky you are.
The town I grew up in has a really cool tradition that it started way back in the mid 1940s where on Christmas Eve, Santa would actually come to your house to deliver one gift and would tell the kids he would be back later that night with more presents if the kids promised to be good and listen to their parents. The gifts were dropped off by the parents the previous weekend and there were about 40 different Santas that had routes around town. We used to look forward to this all day long on Christmas Eve even though he was scheduled until 5:30-7:30 p.m.
When I was in college and for a few years later, I volunteered to be a Santa as part of the program and it was awesome being part of it and seeing kids get all fired up. Some people would have huge house parties and it would be crazy having a bunch of drunk adults wanting pictures taken or women wanting to to sit on Santa’s lap, all while their kids are waiting for presents. I’d have people putting beers and nips in my bag. It was a great program and I was happy that my daughter got to experience it as my parents still had Santa cone to their house for their grand kids.
We’ve decided to start this year by doing an advent calendar with a twist. Since we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas in our house, I figured the last thing the kiddo needed was more treats/gifts so every day of the advent calendar will be a family activity (family movie night to watch holiday movies, board game night, make snow angels together, see the Nutcracker, bake cookies and give to elderly neighbors, etc.) or a charitable activity (buy gifts for a family in need, buy pet food for an animal rescue organization and - as she gets older - that will transition into actually helping out at a charity and not just donating money/goods). My hope is that this will help us create fun memories together that she’ll cherish and find special but will also help us all focus on what’s really important about the holidays and not the commercial ‘give me gifts’ side of it.
Granted this year our kid will only be 4months so the advent calendar will be very ‘mom and dad’ focused (like, one day is ‘make snow cones with real snow - feel free to add booze’) but we hope to start the tradition now so that we stick with it for years to come.
It’s a function of age. When small it was all about quantity and not quality of presents. As I got older it transitioned to getting that higher value item I really wanted. As an adult, I now care less about gifts. The most memorable Christmas in the last 25 years was one year my wife talked her family into going on a trip to San Diego together instead of presents. Do you remember what gift you got 10 years ago? I don’t, but that trip provide experiences I’ll never forget. Unfortunately the rest of her family would rather have cheap crap and exchange gift cards that take no thought.
Obviously when you are a kid you live for the presents, but introduce experiences as your child gets older. Hell, I remember the annual viewings of the Christmas TV shows and movies Moe than the gifts.
I can probably count on one hand the number of cool presents that I remember getting for christmas, as a kid. On the other hand, I have a whole bank of (childhood) christmas time memories, from parties, to family get-togethers, to decorating, to endless days outside in the snow. It wasn’t always fun, but it was fun more often than not.
