Paulin Family Christmas

We don’t have a ton of holiday traditions at my house, in fact I’m a bit non-traditional. The tree picture on the blog today is my Christmas tree. If I had to have a tree, I wanted it to be special. I wanted something my kids would remember and laugh about when they get older. My family didn’t have a lot of traditions when I was growing up, but I have created a few for my husband (who didn’t celebrate Christmas as a child) and kids.

There are a few things we always do.

Cookies. There must be cookies. The kids and I make several kinds throughout the season. Additionally, I make special Czechoslovakian nutroll cookies every year on the 24^th to celebrate our heritage.

Family. My mother, brothers and their families and my family get together on Christmas eve to celebrate the holidays and that is the official start of our celebration. We eat and visit and open gifts. Afterward, we go to church.

Togetherness. On Christmas morning, I get up early and light the tree. The gifts were put out the night before, and it looks pretty all lit up. But we know we weren’t the first ones to check out the tree. As my husband and I lay in bed, we always hear one of the kids go out and peek then report back to his brother. The four of us eat breakfast together. I always make egg bake. Afterward, we gather around the tree and open our gifts. One thing we’ve always done on Christmas is reserve the day for us. We don’t do outside family obligations on Christmas day. It’s the four of us. We stay home and relax and spend time together.

Movie. In the evening, we go and see a movie together at the theatre. It’s always something the entire family can watch. Last year, it was National Treasure 2. This year is Bedtime Stories.

Do you see a theme? It’s togetherness and memories. That’s our family tradition.