With the big day nearly here, Christmas may look a little different for you this year. However it’s still important to celebrate our loved ones and the connections that this holiday represents. Each unique Christmas tradition shared between friends and family, however small, is special. I thought I’d share with you a few of our own family traditions that help make our own Christmas special. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas!

Q: What are your Christmas eve traditions?

A: We eat a lot of Christmas cookies, and then everyone gets to pick one present to open on Christmas Eve. We started this when the children were little to try and let off a little bit of Christmas excitement so that we could get them to sleep! We all loved it so much that we have kept it up. 

Q: What time do you get up on Christmas Day and how do you like to spend Christmas morning?

A: Well it’s a lot different to what it used to be when the children were small! Back then it was 5am but we had a rule no one could go down until 6am, so either my husband or I would sneak down, get toast and bagels and we’d all hop into bed and eat before we went down. Now, both of the children are grown we’re lucky if everyone is up by 11am! 

Q: What do you have for Christmas dinner?

A: We have a pretty traditional American style Christmas with turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, loads of sprouts and parsnips and of course pumpkin and pecan pies. 

Q: What's your favourite Christmas treat?

A: My mom’s Christmas cookies that she made when I was little. I still make them and they always remind me of my own childhood Christmases. 

Q: Do you have any unconventional family traditions? 

A: Well, I’m not sure how unconventional it is, but every Christmas Eve we always have fish for dinner. It comes from my childhood days when all the cousins, aunts and uncles piled into my grandparent's teeny house outside of Chicago every Christmas Eve. My grandparents were Sicilian immigrants and celebrated the ‘Feast of the Seven Fishes’ which is a Christmas Eve vigil or fasting day, and the abundance of seafood reflects the observance of abstinence from meat until the feast of Christmas Day itself. 

Q: What's your favourite game to play on Christmas day? 

A: Anything that takes a long time or involves being silly and getting laughed at! 

Q: What are your Boxing Day traditions?

A: We usually snuggle up on the sofa, all of us and the dog, Oreo, and watch a lot of Christmas movies. Early afternoon is a long dog walk and then we come home to a fire, throw something in the oven and just enjoy time together. 

If you enjoyed this blog why not check out what Christmas was like for an evacuee with Clementine, Your 1940s Girl's secret diary.