Are your teenagers too cool for lots of your Christmas traditions now? Mine too!
Here’s some Christmas traditions that even your teenagers will enjoy!
Ever since we had kids, one of the best things about Christmas has always been the Christmas family traditions that we’ve either started as a new family or carried on from when Mr Frugal and I were children ourselves.
Last year though, we really noticed a difference in the things that the kids wanted to do with us and some of the things we’ve done ever since they were toddlers didn’t go down as well as they used to. This was a poster I made a few years ago with some of our favourite traditions…
(You can make your own free Family Christmas Traditions poster here by the way)
It’s all changed now though.
Our Christmas Elf for example barely moved from his spot over the whole of last Christmas whereas when the kids were younger, I’d spend ages thinking of creative things to do with him and they were always super excited to get up and see what he’d been up to overnight. I gradually relinquished control of the elf to the kids themselves who, as they hit their early teens, loved being in control of him and finding ways to help him get up to mischief. There was zero interest last year though and eyes may have rolled on the 1st of December when the elf appeared as he always has in the past with the advent calendars.
Another thing they didn’t really show as much interest in was our alternative advent calendar which is something I used to make to get us doing something together every day in December.
And don’t even get me started on crafting because there was no way that was happening. I had to go visit Jen at The Madhouse to get my Christmas crafting fix which was fun but not the same as the fun I used to have with the kids when they just got so involved with it with so much enthusiasm as they were so excited for Christmas.
I’m not going to lie, I did feel sad last year when I realised how much things had changed but I decided to go with it and start some new traditions that even my hard to impress teenagers were happy to go along with. I also learned that there were some family Christmas traditions that are not to be messed with…
A day out that includes friends!
When we decided to go on our usual family day out to Stockeld Park last year, as we always do, we invited a friend along for each of the kids which made the day even more fun for them both. We’ve spent years having days out where we’ve tailored what we do to what the kids wanted to do or what we knew they’d enjoy but now they’re older, we let them go off on their own and if we want to have a hot chocolate and watch the world go by while they’re doing everything they want to do then it’s a win-win situation. We could be sad that we’re not all doing the maze for the third time in a day or we can choose to be happy that we get to do things with them but also enjoy time on our own at the same time. Does that make sense?
Our Christmas Eve Snowball
My Nana always used to make me a cheeky Christmas Eve Snowball and I started this with my two when they hit secondary school – theirs is considerably weaker than the ones my Nana used to make me but they enjoy them all the same.
Christmas Eve Box
I always make the kids a Christmas Eve box which the pyjama fairy has always brought mid-way through the day on Christmas Eve. We used to do it because the kids were so hyper on Christmas Eve that we needed something to bring them down from the ceiling and this did the trick. It used to include a Christmas DVD, a new game to play, some pyjamas, a homemade snowman soup and some pet-friendly reindeer dust. These days, I tend to go with the pyjamas and snowman soup and add in a couple of extras so Miss Frugal might get some pamper things like a facemask and a bath bomb and Master Frugal might get a little Xbox voucher and some daft gadget to keep him occupied.
Bedroom Door Stockings
The kids both hang stockings on their doors all through December and every now and again, a little treat appears in them. That’s apparently a tradition that isn’t going anywhere.
Board Game and Christmas Movie Nights
Obviously, it wouldn’t be Christmas without a board game night and at least one Christmas movie night and we’re lucky that the kids are still happy to join in with things like that. I’m not strict about family time being no phone time or anything like that as I want them to enjoy being with us and not feel like it’s a punishment – my goal is to make sure they’re having so much fun that they forget to check their phone. 😉
Stand up Comedy Night
We’ve started having one night where we’ll watch a stand-up comedy DVD or show from Netflix and last year, I laughed so hard I had tears rolling down my face.
A tour of the Christmas lights in town
We’ll always go for a walk or a drive to see if we can spot the best Christmas lights in the town and I really hope that never gets old as I love doing that. Especially because we usually come home to a hot chocolate with all the trimmings.
Things have definitely changed but I don’t necessarily dislike the changes, having older children gives me the chance to do more things for me at Christmas and the things I do with the kids are just as much fun when I think about it.
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