The Night Before Christmas
The fun of the holidays for many of us includes pulling out those family traditions, dusting them off and revelling in them for another year. Most people have special traditions on Christmas Eve, but ours differ according to where we spend the holidays. Some years we travel to visit family in Ireland, some years we have Christmas at home and some years we have gone away somewhere sunny and warm. No matter where we are, we are always sure to track Santa’s progress around the world (on the NORAD tracker) because we have cousins in Australia, Ireland and Canada and we always like to know who Santa has visited first. We also like to leave Santa a small glass of Guinness with his cookies—especially when we have Christmas in Dublin.
A quick round up of what some of the savvy moms at HQ do every year on Christmas Eve might inspire you to make some of your own traditions.
“We light a fire and read The Night Before Christmas. The kids of course leave treats for Santa and his reindeer. This year, we plan to track Santa on noradsanta.org.” – Maggie, National Account Manager
“On Christmas Eve, my three children (plus dog) have a ‘sleepover’ in my daughter’s room so all three of them can be together and on the alert for Santa.” – Angela, Director of Business Development
“When Dave and I got married, we decided that we needed to start our own traditions, so even though we are always invited to our respective parents homes, we choose to stay in. It started as just the two of us and is now just the four of us. Usually Dave and I have a nice dinner by candlelight using the good china, silver and crystal after the girls go to bed. Not sure this year if we will include them or not. After dinner, I usually do some last-minute wrapping, and watch White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney, and/or Holiday Inn with Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby (which, in case you didn’t know, is the movie where the song ‘White Christmas’ was first performed).” – Leslie, Sales Coordinator & Project Manager
“Christmas Eve tradition at our house is pretty classic—we just leave out milk and cookies for Santa. Each year, there is a big debate as to which kind of cookie to leave but usually chocolate chip wins out (the kids worry he might be bored with them, but also feel they taste best with milk). My sister-in-law has a tradition which I really like—on Christmas Eve, her three daughters each get to open one present, which is always a new pair of pyjamas, so they can sleep in them and have nice pj’s for the morning.” – Sarah, Publisher & Co-Founder
“Christmas Eve we go to my mother’s for dinner and the kids usually get to open one gift.” – Holly, Production Artist/EatSavvy Photographer
“My children celebrate Christmas with their dad and his family on Christmas Eve, where they enjoy a lovely family tradition. Each family member is responsible for choosing a favourite Christmas carol and photocopied song booklets are distributed to all family members. Then they have a sing-a-long that begins with the youngest child (and their selection) and ends with the oldest adult. Depending on the number of family members and friends in attendance, most traditional Christmas carols are sung.” – Denise, Director of Client Services
“Our traditions have changed over the years, but we usually read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas before leaving out cookies for Santa and carrots and water for the reindeer. We also have a large, decorated Christmas ‘pull’ box with a small gift hidden inside for everyone at dinner. A long string and name tag are attached to each gift, and they poke out from under the lid. After dinner, we pull the strings to discover our small, surprise gifts and unwrap them. It’s our way of getting warmed up for the next day.” – Robyn, Assistant Editor
What Christmas Eve traditions do you enjoy with your family?
