Modern Christmas Day Traditions with a Twist of Magic

I didn't grow up celebrating Christmas. My mother joined a religion when I was 5 years old that didn't celebrate it. My last memory was when I was 5 years old, sitting on the steps, peeking into our living room on the night before Christmas watching my mom add gifts under the tree. The scene was magical to me and in my mind the kind of scene you see in movies. But for the next 20 years, I didn't celebrate the day. 

When my kids came into the world, I was in a unique position to create Christmas the way I thought it should be for my family. There were no learned habits or traditions that I needed to follow. 

I wanted to bring in the joy of the season, not the pressure of making sure everyone get what they asked for. I wanted Christmas morning to carry on into the day with slower gift opening and sharing the excitement of each gift. I wanted to teach my kids more about the giving aspect vs the getting aspect where generosity toward others is the focus. I wanted the day to be a day of unity where no arguing was allowed. I wanted the Christmas season to be filled with the magic of festive lights, singing and familiar music that everyone knows the words to, fun activities and baking, and most important, an emphasis on family togetherness. 

Here is what I came up with and raised my kids with and the traditions they will be passing down to their kids with their own unique traditions added in. 

 

Christmas Lists

Every year I would ask my kids to create their Christmas list with 3 categories: What I really want, what I dream of having, and small stuff that would be cool. As a single mom, they knew the budget was tight so their expectations were never too high. But I do believe that the act of wanting something and dreaming of it is almost as good as getting it! 

Cultivating an Atmosphere of Giving

To foster an atmosphere of giving, I shared the lists with each child and let them all pick something to buy for each of their siblings. Note, I have 4 kids, so this was not always easy for me to accomplish as a single mom, but it was something I felt was the most important part of Christmas, the act of giving. They had to shop with me, pick the wrapping paper (though some frugal years this was newspaper!), and decorate the gift themselves. Honestly, they typically didn't need the list because they knew already what they wanted to get for each of their siblings. 

Then on Christmas eve, when it was time for bed, they would each bring me their gifts one by one so I could put them under the tree for the magical Christmas morning. 

This not only extends the joy of gift-giving but also teaches the kids the value of thoughtfulness and the pleasure of giving. 

My kids truly enjoyed watching their siblings open the gift they got for them as much as opening their own gifts. The excitement always set a special tone throughout our gift opening time. 

Christmas Eve Family Time

Like most families, Christmas eve is a time for good food and family togetherness. Every Christmas eve, the father of my kids would come over and cook dinner and I'd fix a dessert (often with the help of my kids). We'd have a nice sit-down dinner, then there was always one gift under the tree from "Santa" for the family. Note, my kids never believed Santa was real, they just understood the magic of the character. This gift was always a movie, typically a new release that was a family-style movie. We would watch the movie after dinner, then have dessert, then we'd watch a Christmas movie before heading off to their beds. 

Wish I had done the matching pajama's, which I didn't do because of a limiting budget. In all honesty, I could have had them match colors at least, which would have made for a fun family tradition changing the theme colors each year, so I'd highly recommend to any parents with yound kids, start this tradition early and set the trend! 

 

Morning Magic: A Gift to Keep Them Joyfully Busy

I was a freak about making Christmas morning so magical with extra lights, the gifts perfectly placed, the stockings filled to perfection, that I would often be up until 3 or 4am on Christmas eve. So it goes without saying that I didn't want to be woken up at 6am! With 4 kids and an amazing daughter who had the perfect "big sister" mentality, I decided to start the tradition of morning sibling activity time. 

Every Christmas morning, whichever kid woke up first would then wake up the others and they'd go to the family room and awe at the Christmas excitement, with a tree filled with gifts under it, stockings overflowing, and Christmas lights warming the room. Here they would find a special gift with a message such as "Mrs. Clause has been busy and needs a bit more sleep! This is your time that is for kids only! So open this gift and see what surprise awaits!" Or something to that affect. It was always the message "Don't wake up Mommy just yet!"

This morning activity gift keeps the kids busy and starts the day off with excitement that brings them together with their "kids only" time. 

The Morning Activity

The key to setting up this morning activity is to choose something engaging that will keep them happily occupied while mom and dad catch a few extra minutes of sleep. This became a trend in my family and my kids were just as excited to see what the morning activity would be as they cherished the "no parents allowed" sibling bonding time. 

Here are some of my examples that were highly successful! Of course it depends on the ages of your kids! I have found that a movie doesn't work because getting kids to sit with a tree full of presents and stockings overflowing doesn't really work! And gingerbread or other candy related activities (without supervision) just puts too much sugar in their bellies before the day really gets going! Here are a few of my kids favs: 

• A special elf hunt (like a treasure hunt) where each clue leads to another, leads to another, and they have to work together to get to the gift. 
• Jingle bell toss - this one is so easy, simply save some jars and bottles of different sizes, put a value on each one based on how hard it is to throw a jingle bell into it. Then set them up on the floor or coffee table, add some tape for the distance to stand (add various distances for different aged kids), and set the rules to "first one who gets 100 points wins," or something similar. 
• Guess the jingle bells in the jars - fill various jars with jingle bells and have the kids guess how many are in each, then they have to count them to see who wins! 
• Any Christmas craft activity that your kids can do on their own - there are millions of ideas you can google! Or buy a construction activity such as legos or other building activity. 
• Quick card or word games, activity books, brain puzzles, coloring or drawing sheets. As my kids got older, the word games became more fun! 

 

Savoring the Morning Atmosphere

Once everyone is up, take a moment to enjoy the morning atmosphere. The tree twinkling with lights, the anticipation of the day ahead, and the quiet joy of being together. Instead of rushing to open presents, make it a tradition to have a leisurely family breakfast first.

In my family, we did our stockings before breakfast, then prepared a special sit down breakfast that wasn't too time-consuming to cook. Enjoying the meal and talking about the morning activity and excitement for what's ahead, has always been a special time for my family. It sets a chill and relaxed tone for the rest of the day. 

 

A Slow and Thoughtful Gift Opening

After breakfast, we gathered around the tree for the gift opening. Instead of the kids ripping through all the presents at once, we created a tradition of opening one gift at a time. Each person takes a turn, starting with the youngest. This allows everyone to appreciate each gift, share in the excitement, and see the joy on each other’s faces. 

What I loved most was watching just as much joy on watching their siblings open the presents they got for them, as opening their own gifts. 

 

Lots of Talking and Laughter

Throughout the day, keep the focus on talking, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company. While the kids are enjoying their new things, it's a good time for the adults to enjoy each other's company. Eggnog anyone? 

Without the pressure of expectations or the focus on receiving, the day becomes about shared experiences and the simple joy of being together. Encourage the kids to express their gratitude, not just for the gifts but for the love and effort everyone has put into making the day special.

 

A New Kind of Christmas Magic

By starting these new traditions, you’re creating a Christmas that celebrates the values you hold dear, love, generosity, and togetherness. A secular Christmas can be extraordinarily magical and meaningful, filled with the warmth of family, the excitement of giving, and the joy of creating new memories together.

Here’s to a Christmas morning that begins with creative play, a leisurely breakfast, and the slow, thoughtful opening of gifts, surrounded by laughter and love. Happy holidays!

 

Christmas Seasonal Fun

Our seasonal activities were not much different than most. We enjoyed all of the seasonal activities leading up to the big day. 

Christmas Cookie Baking

I love to make cookies and bake. It probably stems from my mother who was an amazing baker! This is something I wanted to be part of our holiday tradition. Of course, this is not unique! Christmas cookie baking is a popular activity particularly with kids! Oh what fun it is to create cookie cutouts and decorate them with your children! 

Gingerbread Houses

Cookie decorating is not the only creative activity for kids. Ginerbread Houses was an annual tradition in my home that was by far a favorite anticipated event. With 4 kids, I would buy each of them and myself (so 5) gingerbread house kits. Then I would get some extra decorations and candies to add our own twist to the houses. Everyone would get to make their own creation to be on display for the week or two leading up to Christmas day. 

Decorating the House

Putting up Christmas Tree Lights was a family activity. As a single mom, I couldn't do it myself, so my kids were very much a part of it. Every year we'd buy a few more lights, different colors, and I'd let them decide how they wanted the outside lights to be. The inside was more my design and ideas. I liked to really make it magical so I kept most of the indoor decorating to do myself while they were at school or other activities. 

Christmas Light Drive-bys

When my kids were young, we liked in a fabulous neighborhood that had light competitions each year and the community didn't disappoint! Like most people, driving around the week prior to Christmas or on Christmas eve (for us it was Christmas eve eve), is a fun way to enjoy all the hard work people do to make the season more magical. 

Christmas Outings

There are so many places to choose from, if you are close to a big city, for an annual Christmas outing. For us, it was a chocolate factory that decorated their grounds with the most specatular lights, the local zoo, also with amazing light displays, and well, Disney World! We moved around alot when my kids were growing up so we never established an annual place that was "our thing". But I do love the idea of creating that special place where you visit each year to enjoy the nostalgia and joy of being active together. 

Seasonal Performances

One of the best things about the holiday season is the Christmas shows that are prevalent in all aspects of the community - schools, churches and community. My daughter was in theater and choir and it became an annual event for my family to go and watch her performances.