{"id":20004,"date":"2022-12-13T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2022-12-13T14:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20004"},"modified":"2022-11-24T10:40:45","modified_gmt":"2022-11-24T15:40:45","slug":"10-ideas-to-build-christmas-traditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2022\/12\/10-ideas-to-build-christmas-traditions.html","title":{"rendered":"10 Ideas to Build Christmas Traditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

a\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you have Christmas traditions? Perhaps this is the year to revive them or begin new ones.<\/p>\n

I was thinking about this because I overheard a group of millennials talking about how sad they were that they had no traditions for the Christmas holiday. This was something they longed for and wished their families were more intentional about creating traditions.<\/p>\n

Well, it’s never too late. Anyone can begin to establish Christmas traditions. \u00a0Year after year, traditions bring a continuity to life, a marking of time and memories.\u00a0Here are a few tried and true traditions to consider:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Take a family photo<\/strong>\u00a0but make it creative–ugly sweaters, unique setting, something fun that you can all remember with fondness. The photo\u00a0seals the\u00a0memory of that year. I have saved our family photo Christmas cards over the years and like to look back on them. Time does seem to fly, and those little children dressed in their Christmas outfits are now all grown up.<\/li>\n
  2. Make a few of your own decorations<\/strong>\u00a0like a popcorn or paper garland. Put on the Christmas music and decorate the tree as a family. Some families are very creative and make their ornaments and more elaborate decorations. Even the outing to purchase a tree can become a family tradition, especially if you like to find a farm and cut your own. We have a tradition of getting or tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.<\/li>\n
  3. Make a ginger bread house<\/strong>. You can make the pieces from scratch (look at You Tube) or buy kits you assemble. Assemble and decorate with your family or other families. And big and little kids enjoy this as it provides a fun activity together. I am not a fan of gingerbread and found an Oreo house to assemble this year!<\/li>\n
  4. Drive around and look at lights<\/strong>. When we lived in Virginia Beach, there was an annual Christmas light show at the beach called, Lights on\u00a0the Beach. You could purchase hot chocolate at the entrance, listen to a CD they provided of Christmas music and drive on the boardwalk through the display of the 12 days of Christmas. Every year, we did it as a family and it became a tradition. Find a lighting display in your home town and make it a yearly visit.<\/li>\n
  5. If you live in a cold climate, make it a tradition to shovel snow for an elderly person<\/strong>\u00a0or couple<\/strong> and leave a Merry Christmas note on their doorway! And if you don’t live in snow country, then do an act of kindness for someone, but involve the entire family.<\/li>\n
  6. Sledding, making snow men and ice skating were all part of my Christmas tradition<\/strong>\u00a0growing up. And if you have a snowmobile, get out and drive through the woods–maybe not to Grandma’s house but certainly through\u00a0the countryside. Then back to the house for hot chocolate.<\/li>\n
  7. Find an angel tree and shop for gifts as a family<\/strong>. Develop the tradition of giving to the needy during this and other times of the year. And my own children loved to pick out the gifts for other children.<\/li>\n
  8. Do an advent calendar and\/or wreath with the kids.<\/strong>\u00a0OK, it may be a little late this year if you haven\u2019t done a calendar or advent wreath, but pick one up on sale for next year. Our advent calendar was felt with pieces of the Christmas story. It was a signal that the season had begun\u00a0and was used as a countdown to Christmas as it hung on the kitchen pantry. This way, our children learned the story at a young age and decided the order of the pieces. Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus\u00a0were placed on the calendar the last three days. We also have an advent wreath that we light each Sunday of advent and review the spiritual meaning.<\/li>\n
  9. Organize a caroling party.<\/strong>\u00a0Make a pot of chili, practice a few songs before you head out and go to a nursing home or neighborhood. It’s an old tradition that seniors love. And singing is a stress reducer!<\/li>\n
  10. Read the Christmas story before you open gifts<\/strong>. Children can act out parts or people can take turns reading portions of the story. Then give thanks for the gift of God’s Son and celebrate the birth of the Savior with a birthday cake. Also, make it a tradition to go to a Christmas eve service to hear the story read. \u00a0This is a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There are many more traditions you can establish that your family will remember in years to come and pass on to their children. This holiday season, create memories and continue those Christmas traditions!<\/p>\n

    \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    a Do you have Christmas traditions? Perhaps this is the year to revive them or begin new ones. I was thinking about this because I overheard a group of millennials talking about how sad they were that they had no traditions for the Christmas holiday. This was something they longed for and wished their families…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[914],"tags":[398,4128,6744,6747,6729,4316],"class_list":["post-20004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-relationships-2","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-traditions","tag-creating-memories","tag-family-traditions","tag-holiday-memories","tag-holiday-traditions"],"yoast_head":"\n10 Ideas to Build Christmas Traditions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I was thinking about Christmas traditions because I overheard a group of millennials say they had no traditions for the Christmas holiday.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20004\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Ideas to Build Christmas Traditions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was thinking about Christmas traditions because I overheard a group of millennials say they had no traditions for the Christmas holiday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20004\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-13T14:00:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-24T15:40:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2022\/11\/new-years-eve-3895511_1280-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 Ideas to Build Christmas Traditions","description":"I was thinking about Christmas traditions because I overheard a group of millennials say they had no traditions for the Christmas holiday.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20004","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"10 Ideas to Build Christmas Traditions","og_description":"I was thinking about Christmas traditions because I overheard a group of millennials say they had no traditions for the Christmas holiday.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20004","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2022-12-13T14:00:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-11-24T15:40:45+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2022\/11\/new-years-eve-3895511_1280-scaled.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20004","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20004","name":"10 Ideas to Build Christmas Traditions","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20004#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20004#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2022\/11\/new-years-eve-3895511_1280-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2022-12-13T14:00:38+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-24T15:40:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"description":"I was thinking about Christmas traditions because I overheard a group of millennials say they had no traditions for the Christmas holiday.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20004#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20004"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20004#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2022\/11\/new-years-eve-3895511_1280-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2022\/11\/new-years-eve-3895511_1280-scaled.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=20004#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10 Ideas to Build Christmas Traditions"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice & Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20004"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20013,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20004\/revisions\/20013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}