Christmas tradition gift...ornament, nutcracker...etc?

[megan4777]

We have 2 DD's (3 and 1) and I would love to start giving them the same type of gift each year. Basically, I would like to make it a tradition in our family.

I've thought about a Disney ornament each year but I'm curious as to what others do.
We do give them pj's/bathrobe the night before from Santa but I would like something that they get on Christmas from dh/I that we can give them each year and keep forever.

Any ideas?
Thanks for any help!

 

[babytrees]

We do an ornament each year. We pick ornaments out each year that remind of us of what they were doing that year or a significant event. We've done a Minnie Ballerina...for the year the littlest loved dancing around the house. Last year for the oldest was a volleyball. This year it will probably be something to do with marching band and animals.

 

[RUDisney]

I buy a nutcracker for my DH each year.

For my sister, I buy a rocking horse ornament. She's 24 years younger than I am and the rocking horse represents that she'll always be my baby sister.

 

[Melissa M]

I take DD to see The Nutcracker each year and get her a nutcracker. When she leaves home, she'll take the collection with her.

 

[tmasingo]

I buy my DS an ornament each year with his name and the year. Of course he got a ton his first christmas and at age 1 I went with a firetruck theme. But last year he was really into Blue's Clues and I'd seen a really cute ornament with that theme I had personalized. I'm going to try to buy one each year which shows his interests at that time. Though now that I think of it, I don't know if it's going to be something I'll let him take when he's all grown up and moves away. I might need to rethink that because then I won't have anything to look back on

I like the idea of pj's from Santa, though. I buy him Christmas pj's each year, but that's a nice little touch

Ok...so now I'm getting all excited for Christmas

 

[merrily]

When I was a child, my grandparents always let us pick out an ornament or two each Christmas. When I got married my mom gave me all of my ornaments. I have fond memories every time I place the ornaments on my tree even though some of them are really ugly and have to go on the back! I do the same thing with my kids.

If I see an ornament that I love that reminds me of my kids or one that they pick out that I love also, I buy two. I figure when they move out on their own they can take their ornaments but I'll still have mine.

 

[mickeyboat]

I love the idea of ornaments that you can collect every year, and then give them to the kids when they leave the nest. My SIL does santas for her son and angels for her daughter - she has some really beautiful and original ornaments for each.

Denae

 

[Cindy's Mom]

My best friend is DD6 godmother and the day after Christmas my friend goes to Waterford dot com and gets the current year's ornament and then she gives it to my daughter for the next year. DD has 1999-2004 and this year she will get 2005's edition. DD has several Waterford pieces and when its not Christmas the ornaments are in her room on her "special things" display. Its a lovely collection. I collect signed Waterford pieces, that is where my girlfriend got the idea. I'm hoping that DD and I have many many years building our collections.

 

[CEDmom]

I get an ornament for DD each year. I pick one that reflects her personality or something she loved that year. I only pick from ones that have the year on it. Off the top of my head I know she has a Cinderella one, a Blues Clues one, a Pooh one, a ballerina one. Last year I think I got her a Sleeping Beauty since she was all about pink and princesses.

 

[liamsaunt]

DH and I give each other one or more Christopher Radko ornaments each year. It started because in our first year of dating, we bought a mini tree that we kept at my house, and we both bought each other the same Radko ornament! (It was a lion head.) We've been together for 15 years now, so we've got a full-sized tree full of Radkos! It looks really neat.

 

[minkydog]

As each child was born we chose a different theme and began to collect ornaments for him or her. DS20 has a large collection of Santas that we started when we stayed a a little ski resort at Christmas. He was the only child up there(all singles) so they made a call and Santa came up the mountain to see him in a 4WD Jeep

DD13 collects little bears of all sorts. She started her collection when she was about 2yo--she shoplifted a tiny bear ornament We took it back and the people turned around and gave it to her for free. Thankfully, that was end of her criminal career.

DS11 is our special needs son. He is blond and blue-eyed and so sweet. We started out buying him Snow Babies when we found one that lying on it's stomach on a star, just barely lifting its head. That was all he could do that year(20 months old) but it just looked so much like Christian. Every year since then we have tried to find a Snow Baby which celebrates his latest accomplishment--sitting on a goose, playing in the bath, drumming, holding a toy. We have one large one that we bought when he learned to walk--it's a Snow Baby holding a flag, standing on a globe. It says "Joy to the World"

We keep the kids' ornaments in separate boxes. The day is coming fast when we will need to pack orr DS20 with his ornaments. I imagine it will be a sad day for us, yet comforting for him to have all his familiar ornaments. I don't want to think about it

 

[SC Minnie]

We do ornaments. We buy one for DD that is what every she is into that year. DD now has a box of ornaments that she either received from us, grandparents, or she made. They will be hers when she is out on her own.

We also buy one for our family tree with the year- I started this with DH the first Christmas we were dating. When we go on trips we always buy an ornament from where ever we were.

 

[CEDmom]

We also buy one for our family tree with the year- I started this with DH the first Christmas we were dating. When we go on trips we always buy an ornament from where ever we were.

We do that to. It's fun pulling them out each year and reminisce.

 

[Tazicket]

We went through a stretch where my parents got me a porceline doll every year. I have a small collection now from that and it will go on display when we get a curio cabinet. We also did (and still do) get pj's on Christmas Eve. DH and I also exchange penguins every year (we've collected them the entire time we've been together thanks to his pickup line about fat penguins).

I love the ideas about the themed ornaments! I'll have to remember that when DH and I have kids!

 

[mrsheppo]

I've done ornaments with all my kids and now I'm doing it with my grandchildren. I gave my 2 oldest DD's their ornaments when they got married.

We have 2 new grandbabies this year so I'm currently looking for the right ones for them.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

My family has had multiple traditions along these lines.

Like you do with your kids, we always got a pair of pj's or a robe on Christmas Eve to wear for Christmas morning. We also got a book (or two) to keep us occupied when we woke up too early the next morning. (Mom and Dad had a rule that we couldn't wake them up until 7:00 AM, and they made sure to teach us how to tell that it was 7:00 or earlier...)

We also had a tradition of getting an ornament each year, but we would pick out our own. At some point we would go Christmas shopping to "help" pick out gifts to give each other (as we got older we had less parental guidance in our choices). At the end of that trip, we'd each get to pick out one ornament to put on the tree, and then we'd go out to eat for dinner. Sometimes my parents didn't like my choice of ornament, but they always let me get it if it was in the correct price range.

On Christmas day, we'd always get a new family game, and after lunch we would play the new game together. One year it was Life, another year we got Trivial Pursuit Jr., another time it was Scotland Yard. That was a very fun tradition.

Once VCRs came on the scene (I know I'm dating myself here), we also started getting a family movie for Christmas. We usually watched that after dinner on Christmas Day. It was usually the newest Disney movie to be released, or whatever Disney Classic was out that year that my mom wanted to see again.

Wow...all kinds of memories in answering this question!

 

[cristit14]

We do ornaments for the kids. My parents do angels for my DD.

 

[christineann]

We do PJ's and ornaments on Christmas Eve. The ornaments are chosen to represent a place we visited, a hobby, or something else that is releveant to the past year. My son is rebuilding a boat from a salvage yard.....last Christmas my daughter and I gave him a life preserver ornament. He will need it