I am big on the holidays-- Not only physically big (from the pounds of holiday desserts that I stuff into my pie-hole), but also big in the metaphorical sense.  Christmas is my time of year.  Yes, I am that person who could sing carols and display holiday lights year-round if it wouldn’t make the Hubs and kids question my sanity.   

What makes this month my favorite time of year are the traditions that I enjoyed when I was a kid.   We didn’t formally declare them as traditions but somehow over the years, my brother and I came to expect them and the holidays didn’t feel the same without decorating my parents’ Christmas tree while listening to my favorite music (on cassette) or leaving each other silly notes in our stockings so we could read them the following year.

As I raise my own children, I want to make the holidays as magical for them as they are to me.  I look forward to starting rituals that make my family feel festive and grow closer.   

As a start, here are 9 unusual holiday traditions that I’ve thought about starting with my family.  

1) Take a goofy annual family photo.  We all want that beautiful photo of everyone in their holiday best but starting a tradition of wacky photos relieves the pressure and keeps things lighthearted when that photo doesn’t turn out.  Try using specific props that you change up each year like: everyone needs to wear their favorite sports jersey one year, funny glasses the next, have their favorite drink in hand the next.

2) Write a letter to your kids reflecting on their proudest moments, funniest activities or greatest accomplishments that year.  Surprise them with it on New Year’s Eve. 

3) Have your kids write their Holiday Wish List and tuck them away in a binder each year.  Reflect on prior lists each year (and have a good laugh)! 

4) Decorate a Gingerbread Person together…less intense than a house and everyone designs their own!  Bonus points if you can make yours look like someone in the family!

5) Select a book you read with your kids each holiday season. The Nutcracker or Sound of Music, anyone?   Have everyone write a one-line memory from the holidays in it (“Grandpa made the best snowman!”, “Max actually ate a brussel sprout!”) so you can re-read them when you take the book out year after year. 

6) Initiate something special that your family does only during the holidays like completing a 1000 piece puzzle (for patient families only) or watching a cheesy movie

7) Honor a different family member each year.   If they are living, have them share a story about themselves that no one knows about.   If they have passed, get relatives to share stories and photos about that individual.  

8 - Select a wacky food that will enter your home every year – like snowcones or cotton candy –and make that a fun way to distinguish this holiday from the rest of them. 

9) Have your kids invent their own family tradition to start.    And no matter how crazy…unless it’s illegal or flammable…adopt it!

Here’s to every family’s unique holiday traditions and starting the season off right!  What’s your holiday tradition?