Christmas Traditions?

Whew! It's almost 6:00 PM, and I'm finally finished with my day! Merry Christmas, internets!

Do you guys have childhood holiday traditions that you remember fondly? We had a few:

1) We got pajamas (usually matching) on Christmas Eve.

2) We had one present that was open and under the tree on Christmas Day.

3) We weren't allowed to call or visit friends on Christmas at all, unless Christmas fell on a Sunday, in which case we saw people at church because back then, the church of Christ did not cancel services for any reason.

4) We made and left cookies out for Santa.

5) Many years, my dad made fudge from a specific recipe and it had to be done two weeks in advance so it could age to perfection.

My kids? They never know what they're going to get on Christmas.

I love Christmas. I wish I were the kind of person who just went all out on the decorations, inside and out, but I don't for the same reason that I've never just swiped a bunch of stuff off of the mantel and broken it or thrown a water-filled vase at a person during a fight: I think forward to the consequences. And while decking the halls for three days in November might be a lark, removing those festive accoutrements a month later is an absolute bummer. So we do it minimally.

In fact, several years, I've not been able to summon the energy to put up a tree at all. The first year I did this was when D was 1. We'd just gotten back into our house after having rented it out to some people for almost a year, and I was TIRED.

I thought that was a festive enough display, but my sister said it bummed her out. We did go see a lot of Christmas decorations that year, and it was cool. But I was too emotionally exhausted to do more than the above that year.

The next couple of times I didn't put up a tree, I made up for it with paper I could easily recycle after the holiday.

This is 2009:

And then 2014:

Sometimes we're traveling on Christmas. Like in 2008 when we were in Atlanta, or in 2011 when D and I went to Las Vegas, or 2015 when we all visited Flagstaff. We usually open presents on Christmas Day. And I typically make some kind of treat, often holiday-themed.

Yes, I built this design from scratch.

James, D, and I made these together on Christmas Day 2013. It took a village. 

But otherwise, we don't really have a "thing." No Elf on the Shelf. No consistent practices.

Except there is kind of one thing that has become a bit of a "usual." It is true right now. More often than not, I have my decorations down and put away by the end of the day on December 25.

"What?!" you ask. "Scrooge!" you accuse.

No. I just hate having outstanding items on my "to do" list. Actually, I hear a lot of people grouse about having to take their tree down. For me, I just use that Christmas energy and momentum of putting presents in their new homes to keep working until it's ALL done. When D was little, and with Mal now, they've been occupied with new toys. It's the perfect time.

Hopefully I'm teaching my kids by example to go with the flow, and not to feel pressured to perform any holiday activity that they don't want. Sounds good, right??