Christmas Traditions in America: How Our Family Celebrates the Holidays

Christmas traditions in America vary widely from family to family but most family traditions include gatherings, decorating for Christmas, Christmas trees - real or fake, baking cookies and Christmas lights. Our family pretty much does all of the above and we make so many great memories year after year.

For me, decorating for Christmas has always been done the day after Thanksgiving. I'm not one of those people who enjoys the whole "Black Friday" shopping experience unless it can be done online - I'd much rather be in my warm home making it look festive for the upcoming holiday that is Christmas.

We begin by putting up the tree. I always have an artificial tree because we have 4 small children and 2 bulldogs. I can't imagine the mess of needles we'd have if we were to buy a real tree! Once we get it standing and all of the branches situated just so, we pile on the lights! I am a sucker for Christmas lights - the more the better. I'm a big fan of red, green and clear lights. They look most Christmas-y to me.

Once the lights are on, we let the kids help decorate it with all kinds of ornaments. I've always preferred the homemade ornaments or ornaments that have been received as gifts. Sometimes I'll buy a set of bulbs, but I typically enjoy looking at ornaments the kids have made, or ones that I made when I was younger.

We finish off the decorating by hanging up stockings on the railing - along with more Christmas lights thrown in the mix and then I like to use window clings, wall stickers, fake snow and stencils to decorate the walls, mirrors and windows of our home.

One other must-do during the holiday season is bake cookies which is usually done either one or two weeks before Christmas. I LOVE baking cookies with our 4 children. They get so excited to make them and decorate them. We always make the gingerbread men and the chocolate covered Ritz crackers with peanut butter sandwiched in between. Those are the two staples that we have to make. Each year we choose another recipe or two to try to make it more fun and different.

We also love to make gingerbread houses and decorate them. Last year the kids each made a miniature house and left them for Santa. They couldn't believe that he ate them all!

Christmas Eve is probably my favorite day of all. We begin the night by opening gifts at a larger family gathering and save the immediate family gifts for Christmas morning. This gets the kids excited for Christmas and they know Santa will be coming that night. 

After we get home the kids will each choose a couple of snacks to leave for Santa. Of course these are always items that we baked together but I let them each choose what they'd like to leave for him. We leave them on a plate with a glass of milk for Santa to snack on.

We end the night by reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore (author) and Mary Engelbreit (illustrator). We all love the story and this particular version has such beautiful illustrations that are so colorful and fun to look at. It's my favorite of all the children's books in our home.

Once the kids are in bed I go all crazy! I never put presents out prior to Christmas Eve because of the kids and also our dogs. Placing all of the presents under the tree is so fun! Then the kids wake up and can't believe what they're seeing. They get so excited because the tree is surrounded with gifts, wrapping paper, ribbons and bows. I love seeing their faces on Christmas morning!

On Christmas morning the kids rush out to get a peek at the Christmas tree and all of the gifts. We take the time to remind them of the real meaning of Christmas - the birth of Jesus - and we all say a little prayer together.

Soon after, we watch the children open their gifts and stockings and quickly realize that we're going to be putting out a lot of garbage that week!

To me, Christmas is about spending time with those you love. It's not about getting presents but more about giving and remembering what Christmas is really about.

We can't forget about the Christmas movies! We make sure to watch each TV special. Usually the Christmas cartoons begin as soon as Thanksgiving is over and we always gather around the television to watch them. Our favorites are Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty the Snowman and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original cartoon version!). They have been my favorites ever since I was a kid - they're classics!