If you celebrate Christmas, what are your plans for the holiday season?

Do you have any traditions that you do that require scheduling?

If you are going to be alone on Christmas this year, is there something you do that makes it still feel special?

I remember when the Kids were little, Mom & I kept a secret calendar with notations on the different dates for events. It included church events, work events and family events. It helped us get organized and buy the needed supplies ahead of time so those planned events were less stressful.

Some of the December events we planned for our family include...

Kid Shopping Day
One of us took each of our kids Christmas shopping so they could buy their secret gifts. Each of us took the kids on separate days with different kids so they could buy their gifts secretly.

Window Shopping Day
This was where we all went window shopping before doing our actual Christmas shopping so everyone could see what the others really had a passion for.

Christmas Lights Tours
We did 3 or 4 nights of touring the neighborhoods checking out Christmas lights and yard displays. Our Lady of the Snows and other festival light displays too.

Live Nativity
The kids loved going to the Live Nativity play at the local church. Riding the camel was always a picture frenzy.

The Christmas Cookie Bake
Every year we donated dozens of homemade Christmas cookies to the local food bank. We had one day where we did nothing but baked cookies, had hot chocolate and played Christmas music. I used to set up the tripod with the camcorder and tape the kids helping to make Christmas cookies.

Christmas Eve/Day Itinerary
Each year, we made appearances at all their Aunt & Uncles houses, all their Grandparents houses and a few of our friends houses. Traditionally, we had a specific sequence and schedule.

Nighttime Sled Riding
We dedicated one snowy night to a family sled riding event with a small camp fire, hot chocolate and a snowball fight. The best ones were when it was snowing and you could see the stars thru the trees. We did this at different places as the years passed but the best for me was the ones when the kids were little and we were out back on Christmas Hill.

Christmas Eve Gift Exchange
Christmas Eve was when we all exchanged our gifts to each other. These were the gifts that were bought by each of us, from each of us to each other. No TV, Christmas music playing by the light of the Christmas display. Before bed someone always read their favorite Bible passage.

Christmas Morning
On Christmas morning we were awakened by the excitement. See, Santa was not welcome in our home. On Christmas morning, the kids woke to find the Angels had visited and left gifts. Baby Jesus was there and they wanted to know if those gifts were for them because there was never any names on them?
We always sat down to a big Christmas breakfast, all helped clean up and would go in and talk about how Jesus was the best gift of all.
Dad (Me) would get curious about all those presents and start looking thru them. (Because we knew what they were and who they were for) I handed out the gifts from the Angels to the children.
One at a time and each kid was given time to reflect on the gift.
The next gift was not handed out until the wrappings were gathered to the bag.

Christmas Now
For the last few years Christmas has been just another day for me. Nothing special and always spent alone. I do miss those days of yesteryear but I still have a good memory and the videos if I get feeling to nostalgic.
Christmas has become a series of Merry Christmas phone calls throughout the day. If, one day, there is someone special in my life, we will make Christmas our special day.

What is your Christmas Thing...?

See, Santa was not welcome in our home. On Christmas morning, the kids woke to find the Angels had visited and left gifts.

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I wish that fat hump wasn't welcome in my house, he cost me a fortune each year.

What an incredible Christmas you had as a child - what wonderful memories! I'm jealous!:

Well I did have plans but now they've kind of..
Evaporated...
.. so apart from dinner with the family.. and my boys... I will probably be spending the majority of it alone

I don't know how much of a Christmas celebration I'll have this year but I do like the holiday. I'd like to put some lights outside which I should have done last week when there a couple of warm days. I'd like like to have a live tree inside to decorate because it was always done in our family, although it's a lot of work for me. This is the first year I'll be really, really alone.

Just family and tradition. I don't celebrate religiously

..Yes so hard to decide how much decorating do you do if it's just yourself..
.. it's nice to have a tree up but if you don't really have the room and no one else is really going to see it but you..then hmmm..
. I think when you're alone... small little Christmas touches... or enough.... the reminder of Christmas but not over the top
.. I know enough people with Christmas trees up if I really want to look at a tree I'll go look at theirs..lol

As a kid myself, there wasn't much of a Christmas (realized I spelled the topic title wrong, doh) because there wasn't much of anything to do with family at my house growing up.

I made it a point to make the holidays something special to remember for my kids.

Really, for me, now... No holiday has much significance, mainly because I am alone.

This time of year used to really get me down. Its a bad time of the year for most people that are alone because of many factors that reinforce depression.

For those of you having a bad time of it, what works for me is my memories and the joy I witness in others. I don't really long for those feelings as much anymore. What I long for during this time of year is just one certain special someone to make new memories with.

I no longer decorate at all, I don't watch those old Christmas Specials or attend any Christmas functions.

No holiday is much more than just another day to me. I no longer even celebrate my birthday. I do miss Christmas Snow tho.

Yeah, I used to but my personal views on religion has changed.
That might be part of it.
(Christ)mass is meant to celebrate Jesus Christ.
There are also pagan meanings to the season but those are religion based as well and I may still be spiritual but I am no longer religious.

What are some of the family traditions that you keep alive?

let's see with my family christmas stuff starts on thanksgiving day.while the last of the cooking is doing it self we would be outside hanging the house lights and such. and mom's gimormous wreath. then at the beginning of december up would go the tree and all the inside decorations. most of us are early shoppers so we all do a bunch of visiting all month and local tree lightings and such.
as for family that was always very routine my father's side of the family always got together christmas eve at his parents. then christmas day moms side of the family shared hosting in the afternoon for dinner feasting.
one of the most memorable events was hanging stockings. always by the fire with treats for santa and the reindeer. but come christmas morning they would be full and hanging on our bed posts.

amazingly mom and dad got to sleep just a wee bit longer christmas morning, because of it

One of my favorite traditions was getting the tree and decorating it. I like to see a lighted and decorated tree in my house, even if I'm the only one to see it. I like to drive around at night to see all the houses lit up. I think I'll do that this year and also bake some cookies.

For a long time we didn't have a Christmas Tree.
I repeatedly asked people how the Christmas Tree fit into the celebration of Christ and nobody could give me an answer. The closest answer I got was symbolism or Paganism.
Religions are full of symbolism and if you believe in religion you likely believe in the associated symbolism.

Thing is, In my take of The Reason For The Season, the tree just didn't fit any better than Santa Clause and I hate the idea of Santa Clause.

Facing a dismal view on Christmas I feared my children would adopt my scrooged disdain. I decided to substitute the tree with a manger scene, substitute Santa with Angels and Gifts with treasures. It gave me back my Christmas spirit and allowed me to really enjoy Christmas with my family.

When I go out in public I look for the Christmas spirit in people's eyes. That is my fix for feeling Christmas.

The other day I went grocery shopping. The Coca-Cola truck and Santa were in the shopping center parking lot. There were families all around trying to get that "Picture" with Santa.
The kids were grumpy and whining from impatience and the parents looked fed up with the whole ordeal but trapped by their kids ... Christmas Thrill.
There was very little Christmas spirit to be found, even with the blaringly loud Christmas music being blasted from the truck's loudspeakers.
No Thank You.

Santa, Rudolph, Frosty...

we probably will be attending one of the xmas parties
drinking with my parents and their friends
maybe i stay home.

No plans , everyday I live like a zombie .

When I changed away from the Christmas Tree, I did away with the Stockings as well. Who wants goodies in a sock?

What we did instead was let the kids use decorations to decorate their own treasure chests.
We made it a family event. As the kids got older, we let them pick out their own chests to decorate.
Those chests, were the replacement of the stocking and were filled with stocking stuffers and assorted goodies. Each one had our names on it.

One year my daughter asked me "Daddy, how come you and mommy's treasure chests are smaller?" I responded with "Baby Girl, because we already have four little treasures ... you and your brothers"
I got really good sex that night from the Mrs. It goes down as one of my finer dad/husband moments, lol.

So, pagan based, There are many that celebrate it that way.
To each their own. No one way is more right than any other.
What is important is the meaning and enjoyment each of us finds.

I considered doing something like that.
Spreading the joy.
Problem is, I would get to the first room with a lonely person and probably get stuck there.

Oh, Christmas Parties can be fun or disasterous.
Some of the work parties we had were way out there.
But then, we were truck mechanics partying with truck drivers and office staff.

.. well if you wear something risque you will really be bringing the Christmas joy to the ward