How
to Start Your Own Traditions
When beginning your own traditions,
it will help to keep a few things in mind. First, look at
traditions you (and your spouse) had when growing up. Make
a list of things you would like to continue and mark off
those you feel ok about not continuing. Combine the lists
and then negotiate together the list of traditions you would
like to keep as a new family. Second, discuss traditions
you have read or heard about that you would like to try
to start. Discuss how they will fit in with older traditions.
Finally, plan for the future. How will kids fit into the
traditions? What would you like to pass on to your children?
What about if you don’t have children? Will the traditions
hold up on their own?
Depending on your
culture, many traditions are built in. In the United States,
we have the unique perspective of having many cultures
blending together to make fascinating traditions. For
example, while feasting throughout the holidays isn’t
a unique tradition, what one feasts on, is. What country
or region of the United States you live in will most likely
dictate what you find on your plate. Decorations, as well,
can vary from area to area. In the southwest, you will
almost always find luminaries (the paper sacks with candles
and sand) lighting the way to the more traditional displays
of Santa and reindeer. For part member homes or those
who have converted after, nativities and other religious
symbols can exist side by side, as well as celebrating
“non-traditional” offerings that match your
culture, such as the Chinese New Year.
The word tradition
literally means “to hand down”. Most traditions
are priceless. Some of the traditions that are held most
sacred are the ones that are rich in memories, not money.
Whether you gather around the piano singing carols, spend
Christmas Day attending the sick or poor or have lavish
holiday parties with both friends and family, the most
important thing to remember is to create memories to hand
down to the next generation.
As you start your family
traditions, consider the following:
1. You and your spouse
can discuss traditions from your families of origin and
decide which ones you could adopt into your own family.
You can adapt or merge traditions too.
2. Look at your family
history to find which countries you came from. Look into
Christmas traditions from those countries and adopt one
of them as your own.
3. Be open to new traditions
as they come. You might not think that your child's fear
of Santa Claus could create a fun Christmas tradition,
but it did for one Mormonchic.com Staffer. >
Read her fun story. If you have a fun experience one
year, it might just turn into a great annual tradition.
4. Read others traditions
and borrow from them. You can read our Mormonchic Staffers'
traditions below or find other sources such as these tradition
at >
BabyCenter.com.
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| Incorporating
FHE and the Holidays
We always
try to decorate our Christmas
tree on the first Family Home
Evening of December. I like to
put the tree up, an artificial
tree, the night before we decorate.
It is always fun to see the kids
faces when they wake up to the
lighted Christmas tree Monday
morning. That night each child
puts their own special ornaments
on the tree. This brings back
to memory of when they got the
ornament or how they made it.
Christmas
Eve dinner is another traditional
time for us. When I was a senior
in high school, my grandmother
made a wonderful Mexican dinner
for our Christmas Eve. This was
a one time thing in our family
but, it was such a wonderful memory
for me that I always try to have
some kind of Mexican food for
Christmas Eve. I hope this will
be a tradition that my children
remember and continue on with.
 When
our oldest was three, we began
a tradition that my husband's
family always did.
We all sleep in the same room
together on Christmas Eve. We
gather up our blankets, pillows,
and sleeping bags and have a big
slumber party while waiting for
Santa.
We spend one FHE of December talking
about the spirit of giving. We
come up with a few families who
may need an extra lift during
the holidays and then decide what
to do for them. It can be anything
from delivering a secret Santa
gift to delivering cookies while
caroling.
On
Christmas Eve we read Luke 2 in
front of the Christmas tree or
the fireplace and talk about the
wonderful gift given to us, the
birth of our Savior.
We
are trying to begin a few more
traditions this year. We have
scheduled special days on all
the Fridays before Christmas.
We have an ornament workshop,
sugar cookie day, and red &
green day. We look forward to
adding these to our Christmas
tradition list.
-Lisa
James, staff writer |
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| Ugly
Trees & Dogs Dressing Up as
Donkeys
We
always cut our own Christmas tree,
a pinion pine, usually kind of
ugly. It is symbolic to me that
while the tree is imperfect, as
we are, it represents life eternal,
which we are striving toward.
Another tradition is to read the
Christmas story from Luke on Christmas
Eve. When there are small children,
(now there are grandchildren),
they act out the scene. Usually
the family dog even gets pressed
into service as a donkey. We have
done this since our oldest daughter
was tiny.
-Connie
Sorensen, contributor |
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| Treats
for the Big Guy
We always
make chocolate chip cookies for
Santa on Christmas Eve. We also
make reindeer food (puppy chow
mix) and go outside and sprinkle
it on the snow.
-Jennifer
Nuttal, staff writer
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| Reindeer
Food
Our two-year-old
is not very fond of Santa Claus...
he's great in books and maybe
on movies, but in person he's
still pretty scary. So last year
instead of leaving cookies for
Santa - the mere  mention
of his name sent her into orbit
- we left "reindeer food"
on the front porch and walk for
Santa's reindeer. A friend at
work gave me a brown paper sack
of "reindeer food" --
dry oatmeal with red/green sprinkles
-- for my girls to spread out
for the reindeer. Rebecca loved
it... and the following morning
when we went out to see if the
Reindeer enjoyed their treat,
Rebecca found that they not only
ate all their food, but they left
a thank you note and a few cookies
for her to eat and share with
her younger sister. Thus we started
a new Christmas Eve and Christmas
Morning tradition.
-Kathleen Gordon-Ross, associate
editor |
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| Nothing
Set in Stone
I guess
we're different, but with the
health problems and the fact that
we have family all over the place,
we have no set-in-stone traditions.
We do all the typical things -
although this year may be different.
I sew into the wee hours of Christmas
morning, bake when I can, and
do ceramics, etc. etc., and get
cards out - but no traditions.
We just love being with Blake
(our youngest son, who had cancer)
and sharing the warmth of the
season with (my husband) Don's
sister in Dallas. We talk to "the
folks" back home in Utah
and that's that.
-Joan O’Neil, staff writer |
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| Family
Game Night
Since
before I was born, we (as a family)
would drive around town looking
at the Christmas lights. Living
in southern New Mexico, people
would decorate elaborately with
luminaries (the paper sacks with
sand and candles), which were
my favorite to look for.
While we were out looking at lights,
Santa's elves would bring a family
board game and some candy and
nuts and leave them unwrapped
and under the tree for us to find
when we got home. The game would
occupy us those few hours before
bedtime. As far as I know, this
is one tradition that has carried
forward. Out of seven children,
I believe we have all taken this
tradition to our own homes - whatever
the circumstances may be.
-Tawnya Gibson, staff writer |
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 Lights,
Scriptures, and Breakfast
On Christmas
Eve we drive around and look at
light displays. My personal tradition
for Christmas Eve is that before
I go to bed, I always read the
Christmas story out of the Bible.
My husband, Aaron's family always
has homemade cinnamon rolls on
Christmas morning.
-Heather Hales, associate editor
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Piecing
Together Puzzles
My
favorite tradition we have is on
Christmas Eve we have clam chowder
for dinner. Then, we put up a card
table by the Christmas tree and
put together a Christmas jigsaw
puzzle. Everyone helps and it is
a lot of fun. We have eggnog and
treats and I usually read the Christmas
story while everyone works on the
puzzle. We bought most of our puzzles
on sale after Christmas and we have
six or seven now, so we just choose
from them. -Carol
Harlow, staff writer |
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Teaching
Kids Charity
One
of our favorite is doing a sub-for-Santa
project. Each year, we assign each
of our children a "Ten Dollar
Job" which is an extra big
chore they do around the house or
for someone else. These include
cleaning out the frig, the garage,
the gutters on the roof, the pantry
etc, (which helps with getting my
big cleaning projects out of the
way in time for Christmas too!).
After the chores are done, we pay
the kids and they in turn buy or
donate their money to a sub-for-Santa
charity. It's a great way to teach
them charity at a very commercial
time of year. Also,
we love to attend one Christmas
play each year as a family. Usually
we make it a local version of
"A Christmas Carol,"
but this year, we're trying something
different.
We also love
to visit the Old Deseret Village
historical village in Salt Lake
City which is owned and operated
by the Church. They sponsor a
"candlelight Christmas"
each year, and we literally step
back in time to the Pioneer days
when we go. Times were simpler
then, and it is a joyous time
for us as a family to stroll the
candlelit streets of this Pioneer
village and learn about our Pioneer
forefathers. It is one of the
best times we spend together all
year!
We also make
sure we attend one live nativity,
and of course put one together
ourselves for Christmas Eve.
-Janice Porter Hayes, contributor |
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Collecting
Ornaments & Santa Claus
Our family
collects a new Santa Claus figurine
each year. We write the year on
the bottom and put them on our mantle
above our fireplace. It’s fun
to see all of the different Santas
from year after year.
Another
tradition we have is we make a
new Christmas ornament out of
polymer clay for all of our family
and friends. After we bake the
ornaments, we write the year on
them and the family’s name
whose receiving it. Then we spray
them with gloss. Our family/friends
look forward to receiving them
each year.
 We
also drive around town looking
for the prettiest and tackiest
Christmas lights. We verbally
award prizes to the winners while
we drive.
Service is also a family tradition
for us each year. Some years we
buy toys for in-need children,
donate to the Ward Christmas fund,
created wreaths for shelters,
or roll up our sleeves and help
those in need.
Our group of friends does a white
elephant each year. We have a
great time trying to come up with
the funniest, most hideous gifts.
One year someone gave a fast food
uniform. Another year, a friend
gave a sawed off plunger with
a handle that was two inches long.
Our favorite was a gaudy ‘70s-style
lamp. The receiver actually used
it for several months before his
wife made him throw it out.
-Lori Garcia,
editor-in-chief |
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| Christmas
Caroling
The Christmas
event that I most miss when I
don't make it home in time for
Christmas is caroling with my
family. We usually spend a least
one day making Christmas goodies
(always the standards of fudge,
peanut brittle, popcorn balls,
pecan cookies, and pretzels) and
packaging them for our friends
and local family. Then, one evening
during the week before Christmas,
we drive around delivering them
with a song. I love baking with
my family and I love singing with
my family. No Christmas is complete
without the carols.
-Jennifer Slaugh, staff writer |
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Popular Holiday
Traditions:
-Caroling
-Ice skating, playing in the snow
-Going to movies
-Creating either advent calendars or doing the 12 Days of
Christmas
-Reading the Christmas story on Christmas Eve
Ways
to Include Your Kids:
-Teach them the words to holiday songs
-Let them help make up holiday treat plates for friends
and neighbors
-Have a child friendly nativity available for play and
learning
-Have appropriate books out for kids to learn about the
holidays
-Gather and deliver small gifts to their friends
-Have them put together a box for the homeless or less
fortunate
-Attend a lighting festival or caroling group
-Have them help decorate and tell them the stories behind
decorations
Christmas
Party Ideas
A fun holiday tradition
is to have a theme party. Here are some great ways you
can spread some Christmas cheer:
Exchange Parties
• White Elephant Exchange
• Ornament Exchange
• Cookie Exchange
• Holiday Craft Exchange
Activity Parties
•
Gingerbread House/Cookie Decorating
• Sugar Cookie Decorating
• Tree Trimming Party
• Make an Ornament
•
Make a Holiday Craft
• Christmas Caroling
Service Parties
• Deliver Cookies to Local Children's Hospital/Senior
Home
• Group Volunteer at a Soup Kitchen
• Make/Write Christmas Cards to Seniors, Missionaries,
Military & other Service Individuals
• Make an Ornaments/Crafts to Donate to Local Shelter
Our family always receives
a fair number of carolers on Christmas. Last year we were
happy that our friends family stopped by. They are a great
Mormon family and the father has been a Bishop and in
the Stake High Council. They sang a few carols and handed
us a treat of chocolates. After they had left, my brother
unwrapped one of the candies and popped it in his mouth.
It was a round chocolate candy about the size of a golf
ball. As it gushed in his mouth, he gave off a sour face.
"Ugh, this is
horrible, he yelled."
My husband, a convert
to the Church, tasted the candy and announced that the
center was full of rum. My perfect brother who had never
had a drop of alcohol on his tongue, was coughing and
spitting trying to rid himself of the flavor.
The funniest part was
later confronting the former Bishop and High Council man
to describe this blunder. We all had a good laugh...and
they made countless phone calls the next day apologizing
for contaminating the ward with alcohol!
-Lori Garcia, editor-in-chief
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