Christmas Traditions

I think having holiday traditions is such great part of family and the holiday season. I've always loved hearing about what other people do on the holidays and also how traditions that may be common to everyone differ from family to family.

Some people open their gifts from "Santa" on Christmas Eve while others wait till the night of Christmas Day. Some people don't celebrate Christmas Eve or may celebrate a day or two after the 25th.

I never know what to blog about on holidays and I thought this would be a nice change of pace for me and Royally Pink.

Being Italian, I have a lot of different traditions and a lot has changed over the years. After my parents got divorced, a lot of the traditions changed but some new ones were formed.

As the years go on and I get older, a lot of the traditions are no more because Christmas does change (which is super sad) but a lot of things stay the same.

Like I said before, I'm fully Italian so Christmas Eve is the real holiday. We always have 7 fishes; this year Christmas Eve is at my house and my mom is making the seven fishes and it's honestly always my favorite part of the holiday.

On Christmas Eve, we always open gifts after dinner. Never, ever before! That is such a huge thing for my family. I don't get any of my parents' gifts on Christmas Eve, we always open that on Christmas morning.

When I was younger, it was a lot harder to wait till after dinner to open gifts but now it's only slightly easier. I still get super excited for gifts.

A little TBT action :) 

Another tradition that we used to do on Christmas Eve, mostly with my dad's family, was watch old home movies before dessert and after presents. I loved watching these and learning more about my family. It was one of my favorite traditions.

A few times, Santa would also visit on Christmas Eve, right as we were opening presents. It was sometimes someone my family hired, or one of my uncles but it was so great to see my sister and cousins get super excited for Santa.

On Christmas morning, a tradition used to be that my dad would go get us all breakfast before we opened gifts. My sister and I used to torment my parents (and my aunt & uncle when they would sleep over) to wake up so we could open gifts.

One of my rules is that I open my stocking last, and my sister usually follows suit. I'd open my presents from Santa, then my parents gifts, and then my stocking.

Also when I was younger, I used to leave "reindeer food" on the front lawn and maybe a carrot next to the milk & cookies.

The last tradition that I stick by, whether my mom likes it or not, is putting the baby Jesus in the Nativity Scene on Christmas morning --no earlier. We have a gorgeous Navitiy set that my grandmother MADE and gave to my mom. It's so beautiful and hands down my favorite part of Christmas.

Those may not seem like traditional traditions but they're mine and they make Christmas special!

What are some of your Christmas traditions?

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