Canadian Christmas traditions: Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without...

All in the family

Nova Scotia Christmas
One of my favorite traditions in NS would be on the first weekend in December to go to a town called Forties, just out side of New Ross. Where they have a wonderful Christmas festival every year. First we go to the farm and go on a sleigh ride into the woods. Some years have been very soggy. Then we cut down our Christmas tree and play in the snow, which is a lot of fun because we don't usually have snow in Halifax that early in December. Then we come out of the woods to enjoy the hospitality of the farmer and his wife and children with some hot chocolate and homemade cookies. Then off we go to the community center for one of the best deals. Hot Turkey Dinner for $6.oo and a free craft table to keep the kids busy while you enjoy this lavish meal. I have moved from NS this May and this weekend will be a sad one thinking about what I am missing in the thriving community of Forties
- Judi Wensel

Christmas season
The day of the Santa Claus Parade, we pull out all the Christmas decorations and get them sorted out and test all the lights. We head out to the parade with our friends and neighbours to watch for Santa. The kids are all excited, dancing to the bands music and screaming for joy as the cartoon characters approach them. As Santa approaches they all get so excited, it is well worth the wait in the cold to see their faces when he finally pulls up past them yelling Merry Christmas.

We head home to make hot chocolate and start decorating our home. My youngest (5) gets the bottom of the tree and she has her own pile of decorations to hang. My eldest (18) helps me decorate the top of the tree. Once the entire house is done we sit down and watch Miracle on 34th Street and eat pizza for supper.

The first Sunday in December is always my open house Christmas Party where all my friends and colleagues come by for some goodies and wish each other a Merry Christmas. Sometimes I have as many as 70 or more people through my house. It gets more and more expensive each year as more and more people come. Although it is an expense I find hard sometimes, it is worth it because I am sharing that special time with my friends and family.

Christmas Eve we go to the family Carol Sing at the church.

Christmas day we are on our own, but Boxing Day we all get together at one sibling or another's house for our big Christmas dinner. It is one of two times per year that we all get together. The other is Easter at our parents place. Family is one of the most important things in our lives and we value the times we can share together
- Lynne Bard

Kid's bingo
My great aunts have handed down my holiday tradition. With no children of their own they put a lot of effort into their nieces and nephews and then great-nieces and nephews.

Every Christmas Eve they would host a bingo party. Each child received three numbers. When your numbers were called you went to the middle of the room where there was a HUGE basket overflowing with gifts. You would choose a gift and sit down. As all the numbers were called the basket became empty upon which time the real fun began. When you called Bingo the next time you would steal a present from another child (a unspoken rule says you stole from cousins not siblings!) When the buzzer went off the presents still in your possession were yours to keep!! All the presents were small things my aunts would collect over the year -- restaurant jams, hotel soaps, homemade cookies etc.

Now every year 2 weeks before the holidays I have a huge Bingo party. My daughter, my 7 nieces and nephews, my husband's 10 nieces and nephews, a few godchildren and neighbours make up the party. I now have all the kids choose 2 gifts to bring wrapped to add to the pile in the center and the tradition continues!
-harrysvac

Holiday movie-fest
I have so many things that my family and I do for Christmas from parades, to cutting our own tree, cookie baking and singing carols BUT I have to tell you about our family's favourite. On Christmas Eve, we set up a bunch of delicious appetizers and go down to our family room, which is all decorated in colored lights, garlands, Santas, etc. You know the kind we all had as children, kind of tacky. Then my 3 kids, my husband and I all sit down and watch our favorite Christmas movie, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. We watch a Christmas movie a day for the month of December but we always save this one for last .We all laugh our heads off, its a break in a busy season that we all love. Now we are ready for Santa!
- coffeemom

Sand and snow
It's amazing how the small things you do with your children over the holidays end up being traditions. I grew up in 100 Mile House, B.C., where there was always lots of snow at Christmas, and once I was married and lived on Vancouver Island, I missed the skiing, ice fishing, and skating. We've made many new traditions.

We visit the beach every Boxing Day, armed with a thermos of hot chocolate and a picnic snack. We walk on the beach, listening to the waves and collecting seashells. Our Christmas dinner is the sumptuous buffet at a nice hotel in town. Every Christmas Eve, we read "The Polar Express" and drive through town, looking at the lights.

We also go to Bethlehem, a wonderful event put on by a local church where they literally transform their gym into the town of Bethlehem, complete with actors, live animals, a market, a synagogue, and Roman guards.

However for me, my favorite tradition doesn't have to do with going anywhere or doing anything. My son was born December 21st. I will never forget his first Christmas Eve, where in the hospital I held him sleeping in my arms while I gazed out the window at twinkling Christmas lights and snow lightly falling, and "Silent Night" played softly in the background. Eight years later, every Christmas eve, I still hold him in my arms for a quiet moment and remember that I have my very own Christmas angel.
- khumphrey