Christmas Quotes and and Magical Holiday Traditions
Beautiful Christmas Quotes
A Christmas candle is a lovely thing;
It makes no noise at all,
But softly gives itself away;
While quite unselfish, it grows small.
- Eva K. Logue
A Christmas shopper's complaint is one of long-standing. - Author Unknown
A goose never voted for an early Christmas. - Irish Saying
A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together. - Garrison Keillor
A scientist said, making a plea for exchange scholarships between nations, "The very best way to send an idea is to wrap it up in a person." That was what happened at Christmas. The idea of divine love was wrapped up in a Person. - Halford E. Luccock
A white Christmas fills the churchyard. - French Proverb
And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, Which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." - Luke 2:10-12
Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world - stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death - and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas. - Henry Van Dyke
As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December's bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same. - Donald E. Westlake
Ask your children two questions this Christmas. First: "What do you want to give to others for Christmas?" Second: "What do you want for Christmas?" The first fosters generosity of heart and an outward focus. The second can breed selfishness if not tempered by the first. - Author Unknown
For Christmas comes but once a year.
- Thomas Tusser "The Farmer's Daily Diet"
Bless us Lord, this Christmas, with quietness of mind; Teach us to be patient and always to be kind. - Helen Steiner Rice
Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. - Hamilton Wright Mabie
Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. - Mary Ellen Chase
Christmas day is a day of joy and charity. May God make you very rich in both. - Phillips Brooks
Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart... filled it, too, with a melody that would last forever. - Bess Streeter Aldrich
Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect. - Oren Arnold
Christmas has lost its meaning for us because we have lost the spirit of expectancy. We cannot prepare for an observance. We must prepare for an experience. - Handel H. Brown
Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves. - Eric Sevareid
Christmas is a race to see which gives out first - your money or your feet. - Author Unknown
Christmas is a time when everybody wants his past forgotten and his present remembered. What I don't like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day. - Phyllis Diller
Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone. - Charles Schulz
Christmas is for children. But it is for grownups too. Even if it is a headache, a chore, and nightmare, it is a period of necessary defrosting of chill and hide-bound hearts. - Lenora Mattingly Weber, Extension
Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself...
- Norman Wesley Brooks, "Let Every Day Be Christmas," 1976
Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts. - Janice Maeditere
Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. - Calvin Coolidge
Christmas is not just a time for festivity and merry making. It is more than that. It is a time for the contemplation of eternal things. The Christmas spirit is a spirit of giving and forgiving. - J. C. Penney
Christmas is the day that holds all time together. - Alexander Smith
Christmas is the gentlest, loveliest festival of the revolving year - and yet, for all that, when it speaks, its voice has strong authority. - W.J. Cameron
Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart. - Washington Irving
Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas. - Dale Evans Rogers
Christmas - that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance - -a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved. - Augusta E. Rundel
Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given - -when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes. - Joan Winmill Brown
Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. - Norman Vincent Peale
Do give books - religious or otherwise - for Christmas. They're never fattening, seldom sinful, and permanently personal. - Lenore Hershey
Don't expect too much of Christmas Day. You can't crowd into it any arrears of unselfishness and kindliness that may have accrued during the past twelve months. - Oren Arnold
Even before Christmas has said Hello, it's saying 'Buy Buy'. - Robert Paul
For many of us, sadly, the spirit of Christmas is "hurry". And yet, eventually, the hour comes when the rushing ends and the race against the calendar mercifully comes to a close. It is only now perhaps that we truly recognize the spirit of Christmas. It is not a matter of days or weeks, but of centuries - nearly twenty of them now since that holy night in Bethlehem. Regarded in this manner, the pre-Christmas rush may do us greater service than we realize. With all its temporal confusion, it may just help us to see that by contrast, Christmas itself is eternal. - Burton Hills
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulders; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6
From home to home, and heart to heart, from one place to another. The warmth and joy of Christmas, brings us closer to each other. - Emily Matthews
Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas. - Peg Bracken
Good news from heaven the angels bring,
Glad tidings to the earth they sing:
To us this day a child is given,
To crown us with the joy of heaven.
- Martin Luther
Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home! - Charles Dickens
He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. - Roy L. Smith
Heap on the wood! - the wind is chill; But let it whistle as it will, We'll keep our Christmas merry still. - Sir Walter Scott
I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the word seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses. - Taylor Caldwell
I do come home at Christmas. We all do, or we all should. We all come home, or ought to come home, for a short holiday - the longer, the better - from the great boarding school where we are forever working at our arithmetical slates, to take, and give a rest. - Charles Dickens
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
- Longfellow
I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. - Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol
I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month. - Harlan Miller (Better Homes and Gardens)
If Ifs and Buts were candies and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas. - Author Unknown
If there is no joyous way to give a festive gift, give love away. - Author Unknown
In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukka' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukka!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!' - Dave Barry "Christmas Shopping: A Survivor's Guide"
Instead of being a time of unusual behavior, Christmas is perhaps the only time in the year when people can obey their natural impulses and express their true sentiments without feeling self-conscious and, perhaps, foolish. Christmas, in short, is about the only chance a man has to be himself. - Francis C. Farley
It comes every year and will go on forever. And along with Christmas belong the keepsakes and the customs. Those humble, everyday things a mother clings to, and ponders, like Mary in the secret spaces of her heart. - Marjorie Holmes
It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. - W. T. Ellis
It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, "God bless us, every one!" - Charles Dickens
Jennifer Bofinger, media spokeswoman for the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said despite the shabby treatment of deer in general, her organization has not received any complaints about how Santa Claus treats his reindeer. - Los Angeles (LA) Times
Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years... Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart. - George Matthew Adams
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas;
Star and angels gave the sign.
- Christina Rossetti
Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen. - Author unknown, attributed to a 7-year-old named Bobby
Many banks have a new kind of Christmas club in operation. The new club helps you save money to pay for last year's gifts. - Author Unknown
Next to a circus there ain't nothing that packs up and tears out faster than the Christmas spirit. - Kin Hubbard
No more lives torn apart,
That wars will never start,
And time will heal our hearts.
Every man will have a friend,
That right will always win,
And love will never end.
This is my grown-up Christmas List.
Nothing's as mean as giving a little child something useful for Christmas. - Kin Hubbard
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him." - Matthew 2:1-2
Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice. - Dave Barry
One good thing about Christmas shopping: it toughens you for the January sales. - Grace Kriley
One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly. - Andy Rooney
One of the nice things about Christmas is that you can make people forget the past with a present. - Author Unknown
Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. - Laura Ingalls Wilder
Peace on earth will come to stay,
When we live Christmas every day.
- Helen Steiner Rice
Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles. - Author Unknown
Probably the reason we all go so haywire at Christmas time with the endless unrestrained and often silly buying of gifts is that we don't quite know how to put our love into words. - Harlan Miller
Selfishness makes Christmas a burden, love makes it a delight. - Author Unknown
Some businessmen are saying this could be the greatest Christmas ever. I always thought that the first one was. - Art Fettig
Somehow, not only for Christmas,
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others,
Is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing,
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing,
Returns to you glad.
- John Greenleaf Whittier
The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others' burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas. - W. C. Jones
The magi, as you know, were wise men - wonderfully wise men who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. - O. Henry
The merry family gatherings - the old, the very young; the strangely lovely way they harmonize in carols sung. For Christmas is tradition time - traditions that recall the precious memories down the years, the sameness of them all. - Helen Lowrie Marshall
The message of Christmas is that the visible material world is bound to the invisible spiritual world. - Author Unknown
The rooms were very still while the pages were softly turned and the winter sunshine crept in to touch the bright heads and serious faces with a Christmas greeting. - Louisa May Alcott
There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions. - Bill McKibben, Author, Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case For a More Joyful Christmas
There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child. - Erma Bombeck (I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression)
Time was with most of us, when Christmas Day, encircling all our limited world like a magic ring, left nothing out for us to miss or seek; bound together all our home enjoyments, affections, and hopes; grouped everything and everyone round the Christmas fire, and make the little picture shining in our bright young eyes, complete. - Charles Dickens
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring - not even a mouse:
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. - Clement C. Moore
Two things upon this changing earth can neither change nor end; the splendor of Christ's humble birth, the love of friend for friend. - Author Unknown
Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won't make it 'white'. - Bing Crosby
Until one feels the spirit of Christmas, there is no Christmas. All else is outward display - so much tinsel and decorations. For it isn't the holly, it isn't the snow. It isn't the tree, nor the firelight's glow. It's the warmth that comes to the hearts of men when the Christmas spirit returns again. - Author Unknown
What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace. - Agnes M. Pharo
Whatever else be lost among the years, Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing: Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears, Let us hold close one day, remembering Its poignant meaning for the hearts of men. Let us get back our childlike faith again. - Grace Noll Crowell
When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs? - Gilbert Keith Chesterton
You know you're getting old, when Santa starts looking younger. - Robert Paul
You might as well do your Christmas hinting early.- Author Unknown
Christmas Shorts
A three-year-old gave this reaction to her Christmas dinner. "I don't like the turkey, but I like the bread he ate."
Mother decided that 10-year-old Cathy should get something "practical" for Christmas. "Suppose we open a savings account for you?" Mother suggested. Cathy was delighted. "It's your account, darling," Mother said as they arrived at the bank, "so you fill out the application." Cathy was doing fine until she came to the space for "Name of your former bank." After a slight hesitation, she put down "Piggy."
There was the little boy who approached Santa in a department store with a long list of requests. He wanted a bicycle and a sled, a chemical set, a cowboy suit, a set of trains, a baseball glove and roller skates. "That's a pretty long list," Santa said sternly. "I'll have to check in my book and see if you were a good boy." "No, no," the youngster said quickly. "Never mind checking. I'll just take the roller skates."
From "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas"
Narrator: All the Who's down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot,
but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not.
The Grinch hated Christmas -- the whole Christmas season.
Oh, please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
Or maybe his head wasn't screwed on just right.
But I think that the best reason of all
may have been that his heart was two sizes too small.
Grinch: Blast this Christmas music! It's joyful and triumphant.
Grinch: Are you having a holly, jolly Christmas?
Lou Lou Who: I'm glad he took our presents. You can't hurt Christmas, Mr. Mayor, because it isn't about the... the gifts or the contest or the fancy lights. That's what Cindy's been trying to tell everyone... and me. I don't need anything more for Christmas than this right here: my family.
And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more? - Dr. Seuss
More Christmas Quotes
-George Mathhew Adams
There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions.
-Bill McKibben, Author, Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case For a More Joyful Christmas
Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.
--Norman Vincent Peale
Somehow, not only for Christmas, But all the long year through, The joy that you give to others, Is the joy that comes back to you. And the more you spend in blessing, The poor and lonely and sad, The more of your heart's possessing, Returns to you glad.
-John Greenleaf Whittier
It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, "God Bless Us, Every One!
-Charles Dickens
Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.
-Mary Ellen Chase
Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles.
-Unknown
If there is no joyous way to give a festive gift, give love away.
-Unknown
Time was with most of us, when Christmas Day, encircling all our limited world like a magic ring, left nothing out for us to miss or seek; bound together all our home enjoyments, affections, and hopes; grouped everything and everyone round the Christmas fire, and make the little picture shining in our bright young eyes, complete.
-Charles Dickens
Why does Scrooge love Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Because every buck is dear to him
-Unknown
What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.
-Agnes M. Pharo
Many banks have a new kind of Christmas club in operation. The new club helps you save money to pay for last year's gifts.
-Unknown
Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!
-Charles Dickens
Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world - stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death - and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas.
-Henry Van Dyke
The magi, as you know, were wise men - wonderfuly wise men who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents.
-O. Henry
I do come home at Christmas. We all do, or we all should. We all come home, or ought to come home, for a short holiday - the longer, the better - from the great boarding school where we are forever working at our arithmetical slates, to take, and give a rest.
-Charles Dickens
-Marjorie Holmes
I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.
-Charles Dickens, Ebeneezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol
Christmas is a race to see which gives out first - your money or your feet.
-Unknown
The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others' burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas.
-W. C. Jones
The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
-Burton Hillis (Better Homes and Gardens)
Whatever else be lost among the years, Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing: Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears, Let us hold close one day, remembering Its poignant meaning for the hearts of men. Let us get back our childlike faith again.
-Grace Noll Crowell
Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given--when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes.
-Joan Winmill Brown
Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart... filled it, too, with a melody that would last forever.
-Bess Streeter Aldrich
Peace on earth will come to stay, When we live Christmas every day.
-Helen Steiner Rice
Christmas is a time when everybody wants his past forgotten and his present remembered. What I don't like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.
-Phyllis Diller
There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.
-Erma Bombeck (I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression)
I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.
-Harlan Miller (Better Homes and Gardens)
Christmas ... is not an eternal event at all, but a piece of one's home that one carries in one's heart.
-Freya Stark ("The Wise Men" Time and Tide)
And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, Which shall be to all people. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David A Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, Lying in a manger.
-St. Luke ii. 10-12
From Home to home, and heart to heart, from one place to another. The warmth and joy of Christmas, brings us closer to each other.
-Emily Matthews
A Christmas shopper's complaint is one of long-standing.
-Unknown
Heap on the wood!-the wind is chill; But let it whistle as it will, We'll keep our Christmas merry still.
-Sir Walter Scott
-Unknown
Bless us Lord, this Christmas, with quietness of mind; Teach us to be patient and always to be kind.
-Helen Steiner Rice
From the Editorial Page of The New York Sun, written by Francis P. Church, September 21, 1897
We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:
"Dear Editor--I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in The Sun, it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon
115 West Ninety-fifth Street
Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.
-Calvin Coolidge
A Christmas candle is a lovely thing; It makes no noise at all, But softly gives itself away; While quite unselfish, it grows small.
-Eva K. Logue
Christmas--that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance--a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved.
-Augusta E. Rundel
Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.
-Washington Irving
Don't expect too much of Christmas Day. You can't crowd into it any arrears of unselfishness and kindliness that may have accrued during the past twelve months.
-Oren Arnold
The merry family gatherings-- The old, the very young; The strangely lovely way they Harmonize in carols sung. For Christmas is tradition time-- Traditions that recall The precious memories down the years, The sameness of them all.
-Helen Lowrie Marshall
He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree.
-Sunshine Magazine
The holidays are an excellent time to revisit some of our favorite memories, and traditions are one way of doing so.
What are your Christmas traditions?
Another play that I remember told the story of the Dead Shepherds, a fictional musical band from the time when Christ was born. At first the band's songs were literally about "nothing." Then, they find the baby Jesus - after the angels tell them of his birth - and they really have something to sing about! Even now, my sister and I will often mention a song that we're hearing on the radio is about "nothing."
Ready for our close-ups: Several years ago, I bought a video camera that is basically for children; it was very inexpensive, it tapes in black and white, and it has to be hooked to a VCR to record. I bought it to practice for job interviews, but I have mainly used it to tape our family as we open our Christmas gifts on Christmas day.
Jesus' Birthday Cake: "Each Christmas Eve, my children and I make and bake a birthday cake for Baby Jesus. It isn't fancy, and we use a cake mix and frosting, but we always have one candle, and we write 'Happy Birthday Jesus' on it. We sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and the youngest member of the family gets to blow out the candle. It helps us remember why we celebrate Christmas."
A gift to Jesus: "Each Christmas Eve we sit down as a family and write out (younger children draw) what we will do as a gift for Jesus for the coming year. It could be "I will read my scriptures every day", or "I will try not to fight with my brothers." Each person writes down something they need to work to improve themselves, and thus, act better for Jesus. We put the papers with the goals in an envelope and place it under the Christmas Tree. That is the first 'present' we open on Christmas Morning."
"We attend Midnight mass on Christmas eve, have a special breakfast on Christmas morning, and prolong the gift opening: every person takes a turn opening one gift at a time while everyone else watches - it is fun to see what everyone has gotten, emphasizes the importance of giving as well as receiving, and makes the fun last that much longer!"
Christmas Tradition Ideas
Want to try something different in your holiday routine? Consider these suggestions for a new Christmas tradition.
- Cut clutter by rounding up unused gifts from previous years and giving them to a worthy cause.
- Attend Christmas programs at church.
- Watch Christmas shows or movies together with hot chocolate and popcorn.
- Make decorating the tree a family event. Serve hot chocolate and play Christmas music.
- Go caroling, in a neighborhood, at a nursing home, in an apartment complex, etc.
- Go for a drive and see who wins for the best lights in town. Make an award for the winner and present it to them.
- Have the kids write and act out a Christmas play.
- Borrow new Christmas videos and books from the library.
- Make up a Christmas scavenger hunt.
- Organize a special reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas, A Christmas Carol, etc. at a local church/library/community center. Invite seniors/families. Maybe get a local store to donate some cookies or cocoa.
- Ask the local supermarket if your youth group or older kids can help carry groceries out for senior citizens. (Those turkeys are heavy!)
- Learn how different cultures celebrate Christmas, and about what people did years ago.
- Have a Christmas Past, Present and Future evening/afternoon. Get out your photo albums/scrapbooks and talk about Christmas Past, remembering those who are no longer here to share it with us; for Christmas Present, discuss what one thing makes Christmas special for each person; for Christmas Future, talk about your hopes and dreams for the coming years ahead.
- Replace the annual Christmas letter in your holiday cards with a brief letter of appreciation for the recipient.
- Create or purchase new ornaments each year for the tree. Create or shop for an ornament that reflects a defining event or sentiment for the year.
- Enjoy a Family Night with special holiday crafts or games.
- Start a Christmas-themed puzzle somewhere in your home. A puzzle table, placed in a quiet room is great for holiday visitors. Whenever your guests want to get away from the action, they can retreat to work on the puzzle. This can be a great stress reliever, and it's wonderful for those guests who always have to be busy doing something.
- Take a photo of your children standing in a particular spot each year -- in front of the tree, by the front door -- anyplace that will be consistent from year to year. Make a special holiday ornament or scrapbook album that depicts the growth and change of your family each year.
- Research the holiday traditions of your nationality. Adopt a few of these traditions into your annual celebration each year to celebrate your heritage.
- Adopt a special cause each year and spend some time as a family helping those in need, or raising or donating money for a charity of your choice.
It's Christmas all over the world!
How "Merry Christmas" is said around the world.
Afrikaans: Gesëende Kersfees
Afrikander: Een Plesierige Kerfees
African/ Eritrean/ Tigrinja: Rehus-Beal-Ledeats
Albanian: Gezur Krislinjden
Arabic: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Argentine: Feliz Navidad
Armenian: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Azeri: Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun
Bahasa Malaysia: Selamat Hari Natal
Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!
Bengali: Shuvo Naba Barsha
Bohemian: Vesele Vanoce
Brazilian: Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo
Breton: Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat
Bulgarian: Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo
Catalan: Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!
Chile: Feliz Navidad
Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
Chinese: (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan
(Catonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
Choctaw: Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito
Colombia*: Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Cornish: Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth
Corsian: Pace e salute
Crazanian: Rot Yikji Dol La Roo
Cree: Mitho Makosi Kesikansi
Croatian: Sretan Bozic
Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Danish: Glædelig Jul
Duri: Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak
Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar or Zalig Kerstfeast
English: Merry Christmas
Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Esperanto: Gajan Kristnaskon
Estonian: Ruumsaid juulup|hi
Faeroese: Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!
Farsi: Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad
Finnish: Hyvaa joulua
Flemish: Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French: Joyeux Noel
Frisian: Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!
Galician: Bo Nada
Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr! German: Froehliche Weihnachten
Greek: Kala Christouyenna!
Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka
Hebrew: Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova
Hindi: Shub Naya Baras
Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaian: Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!
Hungarian: Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket
Icelandic: Gledileg Jol
Indonesian: Selamat Hari Natal
Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuit, or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat
Iroquois: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay.
Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie
Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Jiberish: Mithag Crithagsigathmithags
Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Latin: Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!
Latvian: Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu!
Lausitzian: Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto
Lettish: Priecigus Ziemassvetkus
Lithuanian: Linksmu Kaledu
Low Saxon: Heughliche Winachten un 'n moi Nijaar
Macedonian: Sreken Bozhik
Maltese: LL Milied Lt-tajjeb
Manx: Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa
Maori: Meri Kirihimete
Marathi: Shub Naya Varsh
Navajo: Merry Keshmish
Norwegian: God Jul, or Gledelig Jul
Occitan: Pulit nadal e bona annado
Papiamento: Bon Pasco
Papua New Guinea: Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu
Pennsylvania German: En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!
Peru: Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo
Philipines: Maligayan Pasko!
Polish: Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie
Portuguese: Feliz Natal
Pushto: Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha
Rapa-Nui (Easter Island): Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua
Rhetian: Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn
Romanche (sursilvan dialect): Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!
Romanian: Craciun Fericit**
Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
Sami: Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Sardinian: Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou
Serbian: Hristos se rodi
Slovakian: Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce
Sami: Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Scots Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil huibh
Serb-Croatian: Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina
Serbian: Hristos se rodi. Singhalese: Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Slovak: Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok
Slovene: Vesele Bozicne. Screcno Novo Leto
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Swedish: God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År
Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon
Tami: Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal
Trukeese: (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!
Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai
Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian: Srozhdestvom Kristovym
Urdu: Naya Saal Mubarak Ho
Vietnamese: Chung Mung Giang Sinh
Welsh: Nadolig Llawen
Yugoslavian: Cestitamo Bozic
Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye'dun!
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