“[My kid] and I have a Christmas mailbox we keep under the tree, and we give each other little gifts in it through the month of December. It's so much fun!”

“Christmas isn't big for us, so we leave our kid with my parents and have a fancy date night on the 24th and 25th while the grandparents do the traditional stuff.”

“We always meet up with my parents on New Year's Day and watch the 1979 classic Meatballs together. It's about summer camp and has nothing to do with the holidays, but we always watched it on that day as kids and now we bring our kids over to watch.”

“We do a charity shop secret santa, max £5 per head and it has to be from a charity shop so you can buy silly things without feeling guilty.”

“My dad is Jewish and wanted a way to be a part of Christmas since my mom is Methodist. He created a character called Harvey Wozniak who is similar to Santa. Harvey always gave us silly gifts. One year, my 16-year-old sister got a ‘car seed': a Matchbox car with instructions to plant it and water with oil. Another year, he gave us a calendar with family photos for each month and a weird quirky holiday for each day. It's always something odd and ridiculous. I am almost 40 and have gotten a present from Harvey every year since I can remember. I know I'll continue this with [my own kid] because it's hilarious.”

“We make a paper chain during the month of November on which we write things we are grateful for. We then use the chain to decorate our Christmas tree every year.”

“I've been making handmade ornaments with my kids since my oldest was a toddler. I now have a 6, 12 and 15 year old and we still sit down each year and each make a new one together. Something different every year. Our tree is now basically cram-packed with crafts and kid-art. It's amazing.”

“We do St. Nick's day, too, which is common for Wisconsinites to celebrate on the morning of December 6th. Our kids wondered if St. Nick and Santa Claus we're the same person a few years ago, so we told them how that is a common misconception. Then we told them that they're actually a married couple who look a lot alike and help each other out with their respective jobs, because getting to all the stockings and trees in the capitalist world in one night alone is very difficult.

When my kids asked why everyone thought Mrs. Claus was married to Santa, we had to be frank with the kids. We told them that because it's only been quite recently in human history that gay men were able to be out without fear of being ostracized, or worse, St. Nick, Santa, and Mrs. Claus came up with this ruse so they wouldn't be targeted by homophobia.

Now that some places of the world are safer for people of all sexualities, St. Nick and Santa are able to speak their truth.”

“My parents had one! We would go to the grocery store a few days before Christmas and I was allowed to put whatever I wanted into the cart, no expenses spared. I looked forward to it every year and had so much fun picking out my haul. I went for all my favorites. I distinctly remember thinking that a bag of raw slivered almonds was the height of luxury.”

“We go out in the woods and decorate a tree for the birds and animals, using things like berries, bird seed, and nuts.”

“Since becoming adults, my family and I watch Point Break every Christmas after the kids go to bed.”

“We do 24 Acts of Kindness in December as we countdown to Christmas. Make cookies for neighbors, buy gifts for kids (usually through Reddit wish lists, but essentially digital ‘angel tree’), donate to local charities, make a dinner for someone in need, etc. We do this stuff all year, too, but not as intentionally/daily.”

“Our Jewish family spends every Christmas (eve and day) at an indoor waterpark resort with another Jewish family. We bring games and cook in our hotel kitchenette and enjoy the short lines and uncrowded spaces!”

“We do our own special version of Christmas. We call it Fauxmas. We pick a weekend a few weeks before Christmas, my brother and sister and our family, and spend the night at our parents house. We pretend like it's Christmas morning the next day, we wake up and open gifts and eat tons of food, play games, and it is so much fun. We started doing it when we realized that we spent so much time on the road trying to travel around to squeeze a quick hour-long visit in with each other on the actual holiday. I can't recommend it enough for everyone! Now that we all have our own kids, they love it too! This year my sister, my niece, myself, and my two girls all wore matching pajamas!”

“My husband's family is huge. They have this epic Trivial Pursuit game (usually on Thanksgiving) with teams and it gets super competitive. My family has a super competitive card party where they give a prize to the best and worst player. I feel like both are kind of a rite of passage for anyone joining the family. Can you handle this? Yes? OK, you're in.”

“We each buy ourselves one gift for Christmas. We buy it and secret wrap it up, and put it under the tree. Then we surprise everyone else with what we bought. It's become a really big deal over the years. It's always the first gift to be open.”

"For Hanukkah, we go to the local donut shop for dinner one of the nights. Sufganiyot (jelly donuts) are a traditional Hanukkah food and this is our way of doing it!"

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