Whats Yours?
Every year my Christmas traditions grow in number, such as Christmas Jumper day and Christmas eve box.
Here are some of top traditions for Christmas
The Christmas Cracker has been part of my Christmas since i can remember but I didn't actually know why, here is why we love to pull a cracker!
Christmas crackers are a traditional Christmas favorite in the UK, They were first made in about 1845-1850 by a London sweet maker called Tom Smith. He had seen the French 'bon bon' sweets (almonds wrapped in pretty paper). He came back to London and tried selling sweets like that in England and also included a small motto or riddle in with the sweet. But they didn't sell very well.
However, one night, while he was sitting
in front of his log fire, he became very interested by the sparks and cracks coming from the fire. Suddenly, he thought what a fun idea it would be, if his sweets and toys could be opened with a crack when their fancy wrappers were pulled in half.
So there you have it a typical English tradition.
Mistletoe
Kissing under the mistletoe anyone? Apart from that awkward kiss from that creepy colleague did you know why mistletoe was introduced?
When the first Christians came to Western Europe, some tried to ban the use of Mistletoe as a decoration in Churches, but many still continued to use it! York Minster Church in the UK used to hold a special Mistletoe Service in the winter, where wrong doers in the city of York could come and be pardoned.
The custom of kissing under Mistletoe comes from England. The original custom was that a berry was picked from the sprig of Mistletoe before the person could be kissed and when all the berries had gone, there could be no more kissing!
Christmas Carols
Carols were first sung in Europe thousands of years ago, but these were not Christmas Carols. They were pagan songs, sung at the Winter Solstice celebrations as people danced round stone circles (The word carol originally meant to dance to something). The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, usually taking place around the 22nd December. The word Carol actually means dance or a song of praise and joy! Carols used to be written and sung during all four seasons, but only the tradition of singing them at Christmas has really survived.
Love these 36 most popular carols.
Turkey anyone?
Turkeys were first brought into Britain in the 1520s. At that time, people would eat boar’s head, goose or even peacock at Christmas; it has been claimed that Henry VIII was the first person in Britain to eat turkey for his Christmas meal.
By 1573, farmer Thomas Tusser noted that turkeys had started being served at English Christmas dinners, but that goose and capon - a castrated rooster - remained the roast of choice at the festive season for some considerable time.
In 1615 turkey appears as a meat used in English households in Gervase Markham’s book The English Housewife. The London Poulters’ Guild records note that in the 1680s they began to give the company clerk a turkey as a Christmas gift.
Research shows that today, you only need to work for 1.7 hours to afford one, but as recently as the 1930s, a turkey would cost the average person a week’s wages to buy. 
Have a lovely traditional or non traditional Christmas totally up to you. Just make sure your happy.
Merry Christmas
Tina