The one thing I love about reading Elisabeth’s posts is the amount of comments she gets creating a great thread of reads. Today she’s posting about her Top Favourite Christmas Traditions which, of course, got me thinking about traditions my parents created for us, as kids. Sadly, we don’t have that many these days.

The one’s I remember the most were:

1. We were only allowed to open items in our stockings however much, or little, that might be, till the adults were up. Then, and only then, could we start the present unwrapping.
2. Main presents were unwrapped in order. In other words, oldest to youngest or, alternate years, youngest to oldest. This meant our unwrapping ceremony could take upwards of an hour or two depending on how many presents everyone had. In later years it took longer as we all had more money to spend. But, as a small child? We had maybe 2 main presents max so it didn’t take too long back then.
3. A full English breakfast was always after the presents were unwrapped and everyone sat around the table together, no exceptions. The same for our main dinner, which came usually around 3-4 pm in the afternoon.
4. Decorating the tree and the house, where ever we were living at the time, was always done as a family.
5. Because we were military brats, we always got to go to a concert, on mass, Christmas eve, and sang lots of carols. The bribe? The after party.

Our traditions now consist mainly of going to my sister in law’s on Christmas Eve for a party and dinner followed by present swapping. And though most unwrap their gifts then and there, me and mine always bring at least one home to put under the tree, joining our own, to open on Christmas Day.