When I was growing up, my family, like many of yours, had a very specific routine we followed every Christmas season. The Saturday before Christmas, we would head up to my paternal grandparents’ house for a party for my dad’s side of the family. Cousins under 18 would open gifts, and those of us that aged out of receiving gifts were included in the Yankee Swap with all the adults. Then we would go to the 4:00 family mass on Christmas Eve, put on new Christmas pajamas, and watch A Christmas Story. (As an aside, even though I know I can stream A Christmas Story anytime I want, there’s just something so special about watching during the 24 hour marathon, commercials and all.) The next morning my sister would usually wake up the exact second the sun started coming up, we’d open presents, and prepare for my mom’s side of the family to come over for dinner and dessert. Much later that night, we would bundle up and walk across the street to our best friends’ house. The parents would share holiday stories, leftover desserts, and wine, while the kids would move from room to room in a pack powered by not enough sleep, too much sugar, and new toys.

Those are my absolute favorite memories from my childhood. Not being able to share my childhood experiences with my kids is the hardest part of living so far from where I grew up.

Before the kids were born, I always assumed that we would travel to our families for the holidays. I figured we’d spend Thanksgiving with one side, then Christmas with the other, and reverse the order the following year. We attempted that routine the first year we were married, and by the time the New Year rolled around we were absolutely exhausted. I suspected the logistics of maintaining that schedule once we had kids would be too much, and I was right. Instead, we decided that it was time to build our own traditions, and give our kids the stability of waking up in their own house on Christmas morning every year.

I’m pretty proud of what we’ve managed to accomplish with our Christmas traditions so far. We’ve managed to build them around “portable” stuff/events. None of it is earth-shatteringly unique, but it’s all stuff we can make happen no matter where we happen to be stationed that year. Here’s a few of our “must-do’s” regardless of where we’re living at the moment.

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1) Bake Cinnamon Rolls: I don’t do a ton of baking from scratch anymore. My kitchen is small, and I’d just as soon streamline the baking process with a boxed mix if I’m going to be baking with Addie. However, every Thanksgiving and Christmas I make the most delicious cinnamon rolls completely from scratch. I have to pull them out of the fridge an hour before I put them in the oven in the morning, and I look forward to that hour of peace and quiet every year. I drink my coffee, listen to Christmas carols, and go over my plans for the day. I hope that, even if the kitchen changes frequently, my kids will grow up to associate the smell of my cinnamon rolls with the holidays.

2) Go Find Christmas Lights: We’ve managed to find pretty awesome drive through light displays everywhere we’ve lived so far. Early in December, we put some hot chocolate in thermoses and head out to experience the lights. We may not be going to the same neighborhoods year after year, but the experience is the same, and I hope that will stick with the kids.

3) Personal Christmas Ornaments: I love looking at a perfectly themed tree as much as the next person, but for us, I’m all about personal, meaningful ornaments. We buy a new ornament at every duty station, and everywhere we travel. I love that the experience of decorating our tree is becoming a chance to relive all the happy memories, and wonderful people, that have become part of our story.

4) Christmas Song List: During our first Christmas season together, I learned that Mr. Cheesecake has a very specific list of “acceptable” versions of common Christmas carols. It became kind of a running joke to figure out what the correct renditions were, and making sure that we owned them on iTunes. It may have started as a joke, but I’m actually really glad that we’ve amassed the collection of songs that we have. I don’t start playing them until Thanksgiving morning, and now hearing Andy Williams sing “Happy Holidays/The holiday Season” is what makes Christmas feel real to me.

5) Christmas Eve Traditions: Every Christmas Eve I let Addie open one gift, and it’s always brand new pajamas. This year, we’re getting the brothers in on the action, and I spent way too much time finding charmingly coordinated pajamas for the three of them (and Scout. Poor dog.) Then, we turn off all the lights (except for the tree, and the candles in the windows) and read ‘Twas the Night before Christmas, Addie puts out Oreos and Dr. Pepper (According to Dad, Santa’s sick of milk by the time he gets to our house) and everyone goes off to bed.

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Our tree won’t always be in the same corner of our house, and we won’t always have a fireplace for hanging stockings. We won’t go to the same Christmas Eve mass every year, and my kids won’t be able to run across the street on Christmas night for fourteen straight years. But, I believe that our traditions are just as meaningful.  My hope is that someday, twenty-ish years from now, my kids treasure their Christmas memories just as much as I treasure mine.