It's the time of year where practically everything we do during the month of December has some tradition swirled in. Whether it's baking cookies with your mom, going caroling in your neighborhood, or playing board games with your siblings when you all get together, Christmas time is the time for traditions!
And one of the most fun times to start a new tradition (or keep up with your old ones) is Christmas Eve! The night before Christmas usually leaves our littles keyed up with excitement, constantly checking the clock, and jumping around waiting for the Big Man to show up.
If you're looking for a few fun things to do this Christmas Eve with your family to start some new traditions, then take a look at what our family is doing the night before Christmas:
Open Matching Jammies
This is one that we started once we started having kids, but I think would be totally fun for a couple to do even without littles. My mama heart cannot get enough of seeing my babes dressed in flannel or plaid matching me and their daddy and cuddling up getting ready for bed. It's a fun way to get their excitement under control because those presents under the tree are just taunting them! Check out our selection of Christmas pajamas at The Baby Cubby and you've got yourself a new (and adorable) tradition!
Panettone and Cocoa
My husband's family is Peruvian and they do almost all of their Christmas celebrating on Christmas Eve. We decided once we started having kids that we wanted to have an exciting Christmas morning instead, but we didn't want to completely forget about the night before. So we do let our kids open 2 gifts (their jammies and a movie) and we have a family movie night while eating panettone and hot cocoa. Panettone is a bread-like fruitcake that is super popular in Peru during the holidays, and dipped in cocoa is so yum! Try it out (you can find it at most grocery stores) and you'll have a tasty new tradition!
Sibling Secret Santa Gift Exchange
One thing that makes the holidays much more stressful than necessary is trying to find presents for every single sibling, sister- and brother-in-law in the fam. Instead we do a sibling (including spouses) secret Santa. It's so much fun! If we're all together like we will be this year, we will meet up and exchange gifts in person, but if not, it makes it much easier to ship. We all fill out our wishlists online and that way everyone gets what they want! Check out BabyCubby.com to get some goodies for whoever is on your list this year.
Open Up a New Movie
Like I said before, we like to make sure that our kids open up a couple of gifts on Christmas Eve to carry on the tradition of my husband's family, and one of those we have them open is a new movie. This is always a fun way for us to spend our Christmas Eve, and I love watching our kids get excited to turn it on, get cozied up with our blankets and in our new Christmas jammies, and drink our cocoa and eat our panettone. Such a simple way to start a new tradition!
Story of The Christ Child
The last thing we do on Christmas Eve is read the story of the Birth of Christ in The Scriptures. We don't expect much from our kids because they're still little, but we do like to show them the scene of the nativity while we tell the story of the true meaning of Christmas. Whether you choose to watch a little video, read a story from a board book, or sing hymns, reminding our littles of the reason for the season is really important to our family, and we make a point to do it before the crazy day of fun and celebrating on Christmas!