Christmas Traditions – Festive Fun with the Fam

Ahh family traditions! Whether your old man’s on the morning brandy or you’ve dressed the little ones in matching elf onesies, they’re quirky and won’t make sense to anyone else – but that’s okay – we fa-la-la-la love them. Here are some of Team Sassy’s favourite, family traditions. Merry Christmas, mamas! 

Each year on the 1 December, we put the tree up and decorate it – although my brothers are getting a bit old and over this now! A retro CD with carols gets played and we make a big mess in the living room hanging all the ornaments up and getting in a tangled mess with the fairy lights that get wrapped around the balcony bar by the big bay window. It puts us all in the Christmas spirit!

 
My family is notorious for our Christmas Cards. Ever since I can remember, my mum would come up with a theme that would require us to be dressed in some ridiculous outfit and make us take photos. My siblings and I have been cowboys, chefs, football players and even Disney characters. I kid you not! Even though there is constant complaining during the process, we love looking back on them now and having a good laugh. This year’s theme is still up in the air… any suggestions?

We’re not really massive Christmas tradition people (gasp) but we do believe in Christmas shopping… except we do it in the few days before or after Christmas as a family – we’ll wander around shops and pick out presents and have each other buy them!

I cook a massive vegetarian Christmas meal for my family of five, which is scheduled for 7pm but due to unforeseen circumstances every year (aka too much mulled wine the night before) the first dish only leaves the kitchen at 10pm. We end with a Christmas movie, which of course my dad complains about every three minutes, but begrudgingly watches ’til the credits.

My family is pretty traditional, so there’s nothing particularly special that we do at Christmas. For us New Year’s Eve is almost as important as Christmas, so do the 12 grapes of New Year’s count? It’s probably the most extended tradition in Spain for New Year. The whole Spain (literally) gathers together in front of the TV at midnight, and when the clock strikes the 12 bells, we eat a grape for each stroke as a sign of good luck. It can look super quirky from an outsider point of view, but in Spain that’s as normal as it gets.

 
We always leave a mince pie and glass of sherry out for ‘Santa’ on Christmas Eve, along with some carrots for the reindeer too. On Christmas morning my brother and I (still) open our stockings together, usually in my Mum’s room before gather around the Christmas tree to open presents. When all the presents are opened and wrapping paper is strewn across the floor everywhere (which my family dog used to love playing in, and which my family cat despises…), we celebrate with a glass of buck’s fizz. The rest of the day consists of drinking, eating, present opening, watching a Christmas film and sometimes playing games (if we’re not passed out in a turkey/mulled wine coma). Not particularly quirky, but pretty great nonetheless!
Ever since we were little we’ve each had our own Christmas themed pillowcase, and every year we embrace our inner Sheldon Cooper and sit on the same part of the sofa (god forbid if anyone were to sit in our ‘spot’) and open our presents from Santa. As we got older, we have attempted to introduce new traditions however – flashback to the year of the crazy hat. Actually the only tradition that’s stuck in recent years is the annual wind-up Santa races. A commentator is chosen and the stakes are made (a shot, a gulp, a down) and the Santas are wound. We tend to get a little too into this game, the Davey’s are a competitive bunch…