I remember as a child, waking up so early and not being able to sleep. It’s a family tradition that I have not been able to shift. Having to sit and wait in my bed until it was a reasonable time to get up. Or to get my Mumma up. I used to have a stocking on my door and it would be the first thing I had when I did wake up.
In my stocking I would have oranges, chocolates and small gifts like stationery or socks. I used to love it. That first little bit of excitement that I could do on my own, without any interruptions. I cherished this moment as a child.
When it was time to get up and go downstairs, as a family, around 6:30am the fun would begin. Mumma would have our three piles of presents in different parts of the living room. That sibling rivalry kicked straight in if one had a bigger present than the other. Then within 30 minutes it would all be unwrapped and Mumma would make us a cup of tea and breakfast.
Happy Beds have done a survey recently on what time children wake up on Christmas Day morning, the average time being 6:44am. What time do your children wake up? Or yourself?
Setting our own traditions
When we had children and I started my own family traditions, certain things changed for me. Hubby’s family do Christmas very differently. There isn’t usually a quick barrage of present opening. But everyone opens their presents separately and it’s all a lot more careful. So Christmas Day morning is now a combination of my traditions and Hubby’s traditions.
On Christmas Day morning the children will wake up and Hubby and I will let them do their stockings first. I have cute box stockings now that stack up to make a reindeer and an elf. I love them. We do that up in our room altogether, then when we go downstairs the piles of presents will be waiting for the children. These are the presents from Father Christmas.
We then have breakfast together and do a more civilised present opening session! Where we give presents to each other, from each other. Every other year we have Christmas with Hubby’s family, which is lovely. They all come over on Christmas Eve and we have a night of playing games and eating nice food. After the kiddies have opened their Father Christmas presents we then spend the entire morning all opening our presents, one at a time. It’s lovely to see people’s reactions! The kiddies have learnt to control their excitement and have fun helping people dish out the presents too. They are adapting to both families traditions.
What traditions do you have on Christmas Day morning? I would love to know in the comments below or on social media: @mummyconstant. If you want to find out the estimated time your children will wake up on the 24th December then have a look at the online calculator. It says our children are going to wake up at 6:55am, eek!
