It’s Christmas! What are your top holiday family traditions? – My husband and I love Christmas with our children, and for that matter, the entire holiday season.

JUST NOT AT 3 A.M!!!

Sorry for the all caps, but I really was giggling as I wrote that. If you can believe it, Brett and I had to make a hard-and-fast rule with our kids a few years back that the annual Nelson family run down the stairs to see the amazing treasures Santa left for us under the Christmas tree doesn’t start until 7 a.m.

Before that, it seemed the kids were begging to get started earlier and earlier each year. Has that happened to you? First it was 6:30 a.m., then 6 … the breaking point was 3 a.m!!

If that’s the only downside to having traditions the entire family can look forward to, I’ll take it.

I chose to talk about family traditions in this blog because 1. it’s the perfect time of year to do it, and 2. it fits right in line with the message – or pillars – I hold near and dear to my heart as a momma, wife and proud business owner. They are faith, family, fitness, fashion and fun.

Without our family, who are we? I know my family has helped make me who I am today! And having traditions we can all rely on only strengthens that bond.

I heard this somewhere … having traditions is not just a family’s unique way of celebrating a holiday, it is a way of creating cohesiveness. Traditions differ from family to family, and that’s totally fine. It’s not how they are being celebrated, it’s that they are celebrated.

So I ask, what are your family holiday traditions?

I’ve heard and seen all sorts of things, from kids making pancakes on Christmas Day to donating food to a local food bank and writing letters to Santa. Some families make their own Christmas candy, others go on a family run, do an ornament exchange, et cetera.

In our household, we can always expect family to come into town. Then there is the famous Elf on a Shelf. If you haven’t heard of this neat holiday item, it started as a children’s story but then became a fun game where we as parents take a doll elf, give it a family-specific name like Lucy or Cinnamon, and hide it in different spots throughout the house each night for the kids to find in the morning.

You’ve probably seen all sorts of crazy pics on the internet of families and their Elf. It’s corny, but cute.

As I’ve said in previous blogs, our family is also heavily involved in our church. So without fail, the kids are always taking part in some sort of Christmas program through the church. We also go as a family to the Gaylord Texan ice show and cook a big Christmas feast with all the fixings.

The kids usually get to open at least one gift to tie them over until the next morning. From there, it’s all about chilling out on Christmas Day as a family – eating and being lazy!

After all, if our kids succeed at getting us up at 3 a.m., we may need every bit of that downtime!

Happy Holidays to you and your family!

Photo By: Leon Brocard