Its funny how now Christmas is the saddest and the happiest time of the year at the same time….
Christmas was always the most amazing time of the year in my family. From when I was very little my parents have been making it the most special and magical time of the year. We had lots of Christmas traditions which I cherish now that both of my parents are not with me anymore.
We would dress the Christmas tree the weekend before Christmas Eve. We all had our own decorations which Mum bought for us, usually the same decorations just with a different accent colour. My Mum would always buy a big bag of chocolate sweets which we would tie ribbons on to and then hang on the Christmas tree. The amount of time each of us would sneak to the Christmas tree in the day and at night and try to steal chocolates😂… With time we have worked out the best way of doing it: sneak in and don’t take the sweet off the Christmas tree as the wrapper was making way too much noise. Instead just slip the sweet from the wrapper and try to leave the wrapper so it looks like chocolate is still in it. By the time we were allowed to eat the chocolates (after the 26th) there was only lots of empty chocolate wrappers left 😂
I am Polish and in Poland we celebrate the 24th of December. That’s when we have our Christmas dinner (made of 12 dishes followed by crazy amounts of cakes) after which we open our presents. We always sat down to the Christmas dinner as soon as the 1st star would appear in the sky. I remember my Dad getting all 4 of us (my brother, me, and 2 of my sisters) all excited trying to be the first one to spot the star.
I remember every year my dad calling : “I have just seen Santa Claus!” My Mum would take us to our bedrooms to try to spot Santa who should be coming at any minute… Every time we would get very disappointed as we couldn’t see him and then we would hear my Dad shouting “O MY !!! KIDS KIDS !!!” We would run in to the living room to see lots of presents under the Christmas tree 🙂 and being told that we missed Santa Claus again !!!
Then it’s dinner time full of its own traditions like having an empty plate if someone hungry comes and asks for food, sharing ….. Oplatek…..with the whole family before you start your dinner; all of us kids eating as quickly as possible so we can open our presents . Oh yes we open our presents on the 24th!!!!
Now that I am older, I have my own baby and I miss my parents terribly those memories and traditions have became very important. That’s why me and my husband made a real effort to make sure that we have our own family traditions which hopefully my daughter will love and pass on …
We will be combining Polish and English traditions together:
❄️Letter from Santa is a must every year. I know that right now Chloe doesn’t understand but as she grows up it will be such a lovely and exciting moment for her.
❄️Going to Crews Hill garden centres on the first weekend of December for an amazing kick-start to Christmas. They have the most amazing Christmas decorations and Christmas attractions for kids.
❄️ Every year each of us chooses new Christmas decoration.
❄️ Christmas tree is always getting dressed on the first weekend of December. I know that it seems early to everyone but I love Christmas decorations so I want to enjoy them for as long as I can.
❄️Visiting Santa 😊. Maybe next year it will be a little bit less scary 😂
❄️Family Polish Christmas on the 24th of December. It will be a very traditional dinner exactly as my Parents did it for so many years. After dinner we are allowed to open one present.
❄️Getting milk, cookies and carrots ready so if Santa visits us he can have a snack.
❄️Opening presents in the morning on the 25th followed by Christmas dinner/ day with family.
Do you have any Christmas traditions ? Are there any traditions that you carrying on doing from when you were little ? Please share x
NEW YUMMY MUMMY 