Santa Traditions

We're a pro-Santa family and this is the first year the jolly ol' man is making a stop at our house. Andi's parents and sister were gracious enough to agree to a Christmas Day celebration at our house this year, so we can truly enjoy Christmas morning with Tory without rushing out the door with somewhere else to be. I'm dreaming of sitting in our pajamas, opening stockings in front of the fireplace and playing with all of Tory's new toys from Santa. It's going to be magical.

Being the first year in our tradition, Andi and I have had a few conversations about the method by which Santa will do his business. It's interesting how every family has their own Santa traditions, which are assumably passed down through generations. In Andi's family growing up, Santa's gifts were wrapped in special "Santa wrapping paper" and displayed in front of the tree Christmas morning. Stockings were laid out underneath the mantle, with some items also wrapped inside.

In my family, Santa's gifts were prominently displayed - unwrapped and out of boxes - in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. Each of our stockings were laid before our pile of presents and that's how we knew which gifts were ours. All of Santa's gifts were toys, especially the one we wanted more than anything that year.

Now that we're parents, Andi and I were discussing which tradition to continue into our own family. We decided to go with my family's version of Santa Claus, if for no other reason than the simplicity factor. Why spend Christmas morning untwisting ties and opening packaging from hell when you could knock all that out beforehand? Andi thought my logic behind it all was comical - it's because Santa made the gifts in his workshop so they don't come in boxes, of course!

We'll carry on his family's stockings tradition. Our gifts will be wrapped in special "Christmas stocking paper" and include a mixture of gifts, snacks/treats and toiletries.

More than anything else this season, I'm anxious to see Tory's face light up when she sees Santa's presents displayed before the tree on Christmas morning. We're sprinkling reindeer food on our lawn the night before so he'll know just where to find us.