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5athome
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| Posted: Oct 30 2006 at 8:52am | IP Logged
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Can anyone who does not open gifts or all their gifts on Dec 24/25 please post about their gift openings? We are looking for great ideas/options.
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Mary G
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| Posted: Oct 30 2006 at 9:58am | IP Logged
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Since I was little, we've always done stockings on Little Christmas (or the Epiphany). Our stockings are big and some times we do "big" toys in them as well as little things. When we were little, sometimes Little Christmas would be "bigger" than Christmas because Dad didn't get paid till after Christmas (of course, when we were little we just thought the 3Kings were really cool  ).
We like spreading out the season a bit and our kids always look forward to what the 3Kings will bring....
We also don't put up our tree till Christmas Eve and don't take it down till after Epiphany (which we celebrate on the 6th, not the 2nd Sunday after Christmas).
Hope that helps....I can elucidate if you'd like...
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kjohnson
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| Posted: Oct 30 2006 at 10:45am | IP Logged
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Mary G wrote:
| We also don't put up our tree till Christmas Eve and don't take it down till after Epiphany (which we celebrate on the 6th, not the 2nd Sunday after Christmas). |
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We have always put up a tree on the first Sunday of Advent (it is usally dried to a crisp by Christmas morning and I always want to throw it out well before Epiphany  ). This year I was thinking of bringing home and decorating the tree on Christmas Eve and only decorating the house during Advent with those items that are appropriate for Advent (I'm planning on the Advent wreath and a Jesse Tree so far). It seems that bringing out the tree on Christmas Eve and having it new would help the children realize that the Christmas season only begnins on Christmas Day. I feel that in the past we've celebrated Christmas during Advent and forgotten about Christmas during the Christmas season. That's just how I grew up and with Christmas items and decorations already displayed in the stores, it's seems like the norm.
I'm interested in hearing about other families who save the tree for Christmas Eve and how Advent and Christmas are observed and celebrated in other Catholic homes.
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Katherine
Wife to Doug and Mother of 6
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Oct 30 2006 at 11:44am | IP Logged
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Katherine,
We did this last year and I highly recommend it! I wish we had started it years ago. I kept the house simply decorated during Advent - wreath on the door, Advent Wreath on the table, Creche set up etc. I resisted doing any green and red and stuck to purple as far as color goes. Then on Christmas Eve we all went and cut down our tree. We came home and had a dinner of finger foods while we decorated. It was great! Christmas morning was even more special than ever because the kids each got new ornaments on the tree and each child had to find his ornament (they get a new one each year but I usually have them hanging on the tree way before Christmas.) I really like the idea of saving at least one present for Epiphany. We have not done that but I plan to discuss it with dh. Some friends of ours don't open any presents until Epiphany. My kids think that would be really hard, but my friend said it just makes the season even more special. I bet it would be fun to celebrate Christmas in all the other ways until Epiphany and make the gifts sort of the grand finale!
Just my thoughts.
Becky
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mellyrose
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| Posted: Oct 30 2006 at 12:55pm | IP Logged
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We start our gifts on St. Nicholas Day (Dec 6) and end on the Epiphany (which we celebrate on Jan 6). Advent usually starts in the same week, so our nativity sets will be out already, and the advent wreath.
The night before St. Nick's, the boys put out their shoes and wake up to a few chocolate gold coins and a small toy. They also receive some sort of addition to their nativity set (the Fisher Price one - last year they got the shepherds, this year they'll get the drummer boy). My oldest (6 in a couple weeks) decided last year that PJPII helped out St. Nick and that he was the one who brought the extra pieces for the nativity.
We put up our tree the week before Christmas -- DH's schedule is erratic, so we do it on a day when we can as a family, and I don't tie it to a specific day. (there have been many years that he has worked Christmas Eve)
On Christmas Eve, the boys get new pj's. They also open a new ornament to hang on the tree that is relevant to that year.
On Christmas Morning, before breakfast, they open their stockings, and after breakfast they open gifts under the tree. At Christmas Dinner, each plate has a gift and so we open another gift at dinner. That started many years ago when my mom forgot a bag of gifts - and has become a tradition that I've carried into my home. Dinner gifts are often music or books.
On the Epiphany, we take down our tree and end the evening with a gift.
It may sound like there are a LOT of gifts, but I don't really think there are any more necessarily, I just spread them out. I think the gifts are enjoyed more as well, and it's not as overwhelming.
Melanie
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St. Ann
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| Posted: Oct 30 2006 at 3:13pm | IP Logged
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We too put up our tree on Christmas Eve. After evening Mass on Christmas Eve we go home to a special, yet simple, dinner. There are candles lit on the tree (German tradition) for Christmas Eve. We gather around it and the nativity and sing carols and dh reads the Gospel. Finally! The girls get to open their main presents. Usually 2 each. It is already late by then - 9.30pm or so - so it is high time to get them to bed.
Christmas morning we have a Christmas breakfast and head off to Mass. We usually meet with others from our community for a very festive Christmas dinner , that we prepare together. That evening the girls may open another present or 2.
Sometimes a present arrives later from Godparents or friends and then there is great joy to have another gift to open later in the week.
I have noticed with my girls, if they have more than 2 or 3 gifts in one day, then they get way too riled(sp) up.(aufgedreht!)
It is tricky keeping a balance there.
We have kept our tree up until February 2nd before. But that was only once. Our family room-dining room is rather small 20 sq.meters, and we always go for a big tree(as in tall). When the tree finally comes down we are so impressed by the spaciousness of our family room. 
Oh yes, we also have electric lights on the tree that are usually on. The candles are burnt only on the most festive of occasions and in dh and my presence.
Stephanie in Germany
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Marjorie
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We have never had Santa at our house and we do not open all our gifts on Christmas Day by celebrating the 12 days of Christmas. We have never had a one day Christmas although this was not our original design. When our first two children were babies we always spent Christmas either in Florida with my parents or in Indiana with my
husband's family, so we never brought our own little family's presents with us. (We had a very small car.) When we came home we would leisurely share gifts over the remaining days of the season. As our children got older we began to stay home occasionally and we decided to
continue our slow enjoyment and appreciation of the season by putting the emphasis on the mass, being with family and friends and only after thatpresents.
Now we stay home most Christmas Days and I must say that we LOVE this tradition and as our children (now 10,8 and 5) have never known otherwise, they do too. We usually open one gift Christmas Eve after Mass - very often Christmas PJ's and then one or two (if clothes or the like)/day until they are gone - usually a week and that is PLENTY! We have found that the children really appreciate and savor each gift this way. There is no competition or ranking of gifts and they spend a lot of time playing with one another's presents and my girls rarely ask to open the next present. They know it will come at the right time. I have such happy memories of them spending hours enthralled with a beautiful
collection of buttons or helping their brother put together his Playmobil pirate dungeon between Yahtzee matches. Now in honesty I must say that my 5 yo son was very impatient at times, but patience is a
virtue and must be exercised - and this was good exercise:-) This year I will only put out one present/day so that I lead him not into temptation. Our families love it because they know they don't have to rush around buying presents heggledy-peg just to get them in the mail by a certain day. While it may not work for all because we each have our own lovely Christmas traditions, it is one wonderful way to really focus on "the gift of PRESENCE" during this glorious season.
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Marjorie
Lettres de mon Moulin
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CathinCoffeland
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| Posted: Oct 30 2006 at 5:05pm | IP Logged
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We spread ours out...
The tree goes up Christmas eve and colors in the house go from purple to red and green.
It was tradition in my dad's family to open gifts in the eve so when he and my step mom come over the kids open their gifts.
In the morning after breakfast and before mass we open gifts from my in-laws.
We have 2 saints days over the 12 days and my birthday so more giftgiving then.
On Epiphany (12th night) we open family gifts and gifts from my mother-we asked her permission to wait and she was tickeld to have a "special" day.
i guess it worked out since we have three sets of grandparents.
We have a special celebration with a kings cake and music and at the end we take down the tree and some decorations.
We leave the nativity up until candle-mass.
Maggie
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shartlesville
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We put up our Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving. We use an artificial one (mostly for safety reasons).
We celebrate St. Nicholas day on December 6th, this is when the children receive their stocking and 1 gift (usually costs about $20, but no more than $25) from St. Nicholas.
On Christmas Eve if we are visiting with relatives that open gifts, the children are only allowed to open thier gifts from those who we are visiting. Otherwise all gifts wait until Epiphany.
On Christmas Day we have a birthday party for Jesus. We bake a cake and decorate it with a frosting "manger" and place a porcelain baby Jesus in it. My mom made a small porcelain baby and dressed it in "swaddling clothes" - a piece of white fabric wrapped and sewn together around the doll. Unfortunately, last year it broke so we need to find a new one as my mom isn't making dolls any more.
We sing happy birthday and the littles get to blow out some candles. We offer "spiritual gifts" to Jesus and He is the one to get presents since it is His birthday.
On January 6th we exchange gifts. We usually take down the tree late in the day or the next day depending on whether or not Dad had to work.
We started celebrating Christmas this way in 1995 I think. I know the oldest two were around 8 and 10 or so and they were not thrilled about having to wait that first year, but they sure liked getting the stockings early .
After the first year it was easier and now everyone looks forward to the season because there is so much more to it and everything is spread out (including shopping time. We can get some great after Christmas bargains this way too. )
We enjoy having the focus of Christmas being centered on Jesus instead of "us" and "me" and "what did you get ME." For at least that one day it is all about Him.
Blessings,
Krisann
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folklaur
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My Grandmother was from Russia, and Little Christmas is a big deal, so we always do a gift for the children then.
My children also open PJ's on Christmas Eve .
We also do the shoes/chocolates on Dec. 6th.
We usually put up the tree a week before Christmas on Dec. 18th, because that is my birthday, but that isn't set in stone. We never take it down before Jan. 6th. I have thrown out the idea of waiting till Christmas Eve to do it this year. My dh is really big on having our children help decorate the tree (my tree will never be a "Better Homes and Gardens" tree, that's for sure,, and often the ornaments are concentrated in certain areas, as they tend to each pick an area and hang everything there.) But since he works at Church, and needless to say is very busy Christmas Eve/Day, I am not sure how that will work. Oh, we do the Christmas Pickle ornament too  .
I have relatives who love to send too much, and I have tried to figure a way to do this....open their gifts the night before? Earlier? I can't do it later because they are miles away and waiting excitedly for the phone call from our kids.....But then there is just too much on Christmas Morning! Wait on our gifts until Epiphany? Just not sure....
We light our wreath each night during Advent.
Our empty creche gets put up on Dec. 1st -- and pieces show up each night throughout the month.
Our stocking are usually done by the children after dinner, and then dh and I open ours later, after everyone else is FINALLY in bed, as we usually have something special in there (for instance, chocolate that is more expensive than I would ever get for myself, stuff like that...) Dh also gets me a Christmas stocking of some sort each year for my birthday (this started while we were dating). He has made cookie stockings, hand made felt ones, teeny-tiny ones...it is always different each year.
I want to do a Jesse Tree this year.
I was going to say something else that I thought of while writing but now I can't remember what.
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St. Ann
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| Posted: Oct 31 2006 at 1:36am | IP Logged
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Oh Laura, you just reminded me of the Jesse Tree.
We did that last year for the first time. We made the symbols out of modelling clay. It was great fun! I am sure we will do it again. I used real branches with buds on them for the tree part. In the hope that by Christmas they would bloom. No such luck. This year I will get cherry tree branches. They cooperate much better.
Stephanie
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Mary G
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| Posted: Oct 31 2006 at 7:57am | IP Logged
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St. Ann wrote:
Oh Laura, you just reminded me of the Jesse Tree.
We did that last year for the first time. We made the symbols out of modelling clay. It was great fun! I am sure we will do it again. I used real branches with buds on them for the tree part. In the hope that by Christmas they would bloom. No such luck. This year I will get cherry tree branches. They cooperate much better.
Stephanie |
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We did this last year too and it was a big hit! Here's a blog entry from last December that explains what we did:
Lesser known Christmas read-alouds abound. One that can help you prepare the way for the Christ Child is, The Jesse Tree, by Geraldine McCaughrean (Eerdmanns Books 2003). A lovely story of a cranky wood-carver, carving a new Jesse Tree for a Church, and the little boy who wants to know all about the tree. A Jesse Tree takes 24 Bible stories to create Jesus’ own family tree. This year we’ll be making our own Jesse Tree ornaments and hanging them on a bare tree as we read the appropriate chapter from this book each night.
Here's the fabric tree we made and then added Sculpey clay ornaments each night as we read the chapters:
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MaryG
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my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Saving gifts for the Epiphany
