Blogmas Day 11: My Holidays Traditions!

I absolutely love Christmas traditions, as it only happens once a year, its nice to have something to look forward to!

Throughout December

1. On the twelfth day before Christmas, we put our Christmas Tree up! We generally put it up on the weekend after the twelfth day before Christmas. Every year, my mum and Stepdad will get the tree down from the loft. Unfortunately my mum does not buy real Christmas Trees (much to my disappointment!). My mum and Stepdad will put the tree together and then its my Stepdads job to put the lights on. After much cursing and my mum telling him they don't look right, its time to put the decorations on! This is the part we all do as a family, and its really lovely. Each decoration has a nice little meaning behind them, so its nice to take a trip down memory line while we add them. Though my mum is a perfectionist, so its a long standing joke in our house that she encourages us to help out putting the decorations on, but she will generally move the decorations we have put on to a place she prefers! We often use the phrase "Monica has made an appearance again!" as Monica also really likes a perfectly decorated Christmas Tree! (Friends - Season 6, episode 10).
2. The Clothes Show - this has been something i have done ever since school. The Clothes Show runs on the first weekend in December over five days. It is not generally Christmas related but its something that really gets me excited because it means Christmas is not too far away! 
3. My Grandad's birthday is on the 18th December and mine is the 20th. The Sunday that falls after these dates, all of my Dads side of the family get together for a pre-Christmas/Birthday meal. We exchange presents and generally have a really lovely catch up. 

Christmas Eve

As a child, my Dad and myself would go shopping for my mums Christmas presents on Christmas Eve (brave, right?!) and then go to the Pantomime in the late afternoon. This would happen every single year and i really looked forward to that special bonding time with my Dad. As the years have gone by and i have gotten older, and i went through that stage of not wanting to been seen with my parents, the tradition kind of stopped. Over the past five years though i have picked up the tradition again with my friend. We often do a bit of shopping in the morning, go somewhere for a Christmas meal, exchange presents (also a small little present we are allowed to open there and then!), we then head off to the Pantomime! Its still the same Pantomime that i went with my dad to every year so it still holds so many great and special Christmas memories for me. 

Christmas Day!

I love Christmas morning! I alternate who i spend Christmas with each year as my parents are separated. This year, i am spending it at my Mums. We wake up in the morning (yes, i still wake up at 7 am, way to eager and excited!) and open our stockings first. My mum, Stepdad and myself all have stockings, so its really lovely to open them all together. After we have opened our stockings, my Stepdad used to go and pick my Nan up from her house and bring her over to ours. Heartbreakingly, she has now passed away. So as a family, we get into our car and drive to where we scattered her ashes which is by a lovely lake in the middle of a park. We lay down flowers and have a few special moments. Once we have gotta back to the house, we have breakfast and my mum generally sorts a few bits out for dinner while we try to compose ourselves. Once we all feel ready, we start opening the rest of our presents.

I sit on the floor, and pass out everyones present one by one, until we have nothing left to open! In the afternoon, we generally have dinner at 2pm and afterwards we watch Christmas films, drink alcohol and fall asleep in front of the television! 

Christmas Pudding

None of us actually like Christmas pudding so when i was little my mum came up with her own desert and called it "Vanilla Slice". We only have this on Christmas Day, it is amazing and tastes so good!

Boxing Day

As a child i made to stand in the freezing cold and watch the Duck Race. No idea what a Duck Race is? Well let me enlighten you, we go to our near by park, and you are given a rubber duck with a number, you pop the duck in the water at the start line with all the other ducks, and you basically hope your duck crosses the finish line first. Which wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't freezing! 

We don't really have any traditions for Boxing Day anyone, as i have said perviously my parents are no longer together so i alternate my Boxing Day, like i do my Christmas Day every year. 

What are your holiday traditions?