As your family grows, so do your traditions. The annual crying picture with Santa becomes the kids who are too cool to pose. The favorite holiday meal needs a change when someone develops an allergy or intolerance. Traditions evolve with us, and there’s no reason you can’t add some new ones into your holiday celebrations. Give it just a little time and they’ll be as sacred to your family as the originals.

More than a Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree is the most celebrated of Christmas traditions. Whether your family does real or fake, the annual choosing and trimming of the tree is often a sacred opener to the Christmas season. If you prefer real trees but you’ve never cut your own, consider visiting a Christmas tree farm as a family. Most farms open the day after Thanksgiving and operate through Christmas Eve. Chances are, once you’ve experienced a real tree farm instead of the garden supply center, you’ll be sold on making the choose-and-cut farm one of your holiday traditions. Plus, you’ll be supporting a local small business.
If your family prefers a different type of tree, you can still spruce up this tradition. Maybe your kids are a bit older now and can enjoy decorating. Consider how you can make this event significant to the start of your season. Maybe everyone gets a new pair of Christmas jammies to wear while trimming, you serve hot cocoa and cookies and play holiday music. Or perhaps you take an afternoon to craft some new ornaments that represent your family’s changes over the last year. Thrifty Little Mom keeps these suggestions simple and affordable enough to become a regular part of your season.

Christmas Book Countdown

Many families count down the days until Christmas. There are religious traditions such as the lighting of advent candles and the reading of scripture. There are also sweet traditions such as opening the door in your countdown calendar to find a little treat. A different way to count down to the big day–while still hitting your child’s school reading goals–is to read a different holiday story each night. Simple as That details how their family celebrates with a nightly book. This is a great tradition that allows you to share books you enjoyed as a child with your children. It can be thrifty, too, since chances are you’ve collected quite a bit of holiday books over the years (or your parents saved yours).

Extend the Season

Knut’s Day is traditionally observed in Sweden and celebrates the season’s close. In earlier years, Christmas trees were decorated with cookies and treats, and children would feast on these while they took down the decorations. Today, the tradition continues, but most families simply enjoy a good meal while they un-decorate and “dance” Christmas out of the house until next year.
This is a fun way to keep the holiday spirit thriving for several days after Christmas Day, and it gives your family a definitive end to the season. Until next year, at least!

Tell us about your favorite family traditions–and any new ones you’re trying out this year!