Families Provide Own Christmas Traditions

When it comes to holiday celebrations, many families have their rituals that they perform every year. While some of the family Christmas traditions are rooted in their religious beliefs others are the result if years of habit. They will often vary from family to family depending on their history of how things worked, often for generations. Among the many Christmas traditions observed are which set of parent will a couple spend Christmas day with and which will they be with the night before.

Some Christmas traditions are the result of convenience and have carried over to subsequent generations. For example, a family may decide to spend Christmas Eve with the wife's family and Christmas day with the groom's family. Once their own children are grown and on their own, their children will likely continue the Christmas traditions established by their parents. Not so much due to convenience, but rather that is the way it has always been done.

Many parents succumbed to the children's wishes and allowed them to open one present of their choice on Christmas Eve. These types of Christmas traditions are often carried on for several generations, having much the same meaning as the traditional meal on the holiday. Many families choose turkey for their Christmas day dinner and other have Christmas traditions calling for ham or another family favorite.

Some Traditions Born Out Of Necessity

When many families are first starting out they may not be able to afford a lavish holiday meal or tons of presents for their children. Other families may choose to share their good fortune by taking the money they would normally spend on themselves and donate it to charity so that others may enjoy the festive time of year. Many Christmas traditions involve buying and distributing presents to families less fortunate, teaching the children that the best part of Christmas is giving.

The red kettles hanging in front of stores during the holiday shopping season is one of the Christmas traditions to which most people can relate. Seeing Christmas merchandise appear in stores before Halloween is one of the Christmas traditions that many people would like to see go away.

As a result of Christmas traditions many families may have trouble adjusting to a change in their holiday routines and despite their best effort may not be able to overcome the mental power of the ceremonies or visitation days they have endure for many years. Often when loved ones are not around for the first holiday it can be difficult to find new Christmas traditions to institute for a family.