All over social media, people have been stating that the Christmas Eve Box tradition is a waste of time, a waste of money and another way for people who sell Christmas items to capitalize on parents need for giving their children the perfect holiday. To those people, I say Bah Humbug!
Every year since Punky was a baby, I’ve been making him a Christmas Eve Box. Why? Well, I’ll explain that in just a second, but first I’d like to explain what a Christmas Eve Box is. A Christmas Eve Box is a way to extend the excitement of Christmas with an assortment of small gifts, a movie, a pair of pajamas, hot chocolate, and a small snack.
But why do I make one?
Growing up, my parents would wake us at an absurd time in the morning, like 2-3 am to unwrap gifts. I’m assuming it’s because they just couldn’t wait anymore and wanted to see the look on our faces as we unwrapped our presents. My brothers and I were super excited but also exhausted the next day. (Mom, care to weigh in here?)
To continue this ritual (in a slightly more family-friendly way), I make up a special box to open on Christmas Eve so that we can extend the magic just a little bit further. You’ve probably seen this floating around on social media in recent years. I’ve been doing this since Punky’s first Christmas in 2010.
Christmas Eve is special for us. The Husband gets out of work early, and we are able to sit down as a family without feeling the rush of needing to be more than one place on Christmas Day, without me rushing around the kitchen, and The Husband spending the day in a pile of toys that need to be assembled.
We spend the evening together watching movies and reading stories. We spend the evening utterly focused on our family unit, which for us, is completely necessary with how rushed we all are the rest of the year.
It is not about extending the commercialization of Christmas. It is not just another excuse into buying way too much unnecessary crap that nobody really needs. For us, it’s all about family togetherness.
It’s a tradition I’ll keep going long after it is no longer trendy. This is a tradition that I’ll pass onto my kids, grandkids, and their kids too.
So what’s in your Christmas Eve Box?
In our Christmas Eve Box, I place new pajamas for Punky, hot cocoa, marshmallows, a new book, a Christmas movie, Christmas themed mugs (that we reuse every year), a new ornament, movie snacks, and our stockings to be hung on the mantel hooks. The box isn’t filled just for Punky – it’s for all of us to enjoy.
How do you spend your time on Christmas Eve?
After dinner, we sit down all piled together on the couch to watch the movie with our snacks while wearing our pajamas. The tree is twinkling, the candles are all lit, and we all have blankets on our laps. It’s cozy. It’s comfortable. It’s actually heartwarming.
When the movie is over, we hang our stockings on their brass hooks, place the star on the top of the tree, and hang our new ornament in a prominent place. We then leave out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Then it’s hugs and kisses all around, brush teeth, and in bed for Punky. We read one chapter of his new book, tuck him in one last time and say goodnight.
After Punky is finally asleep, our home is a flurry of activity. The Husband and I drag all of the presents out of the closet, wrap whatever we have left to wrap and place them under the tree. I fill the stockings, then he and I sit down to relax for the evening.
Give me your opinion!
As stated above there has been some discussion on social media about whether a Christmas Eve Box is totally unnecessary or not. What do you think? If you make a Christmas Eve Box for your family too, please share what you put in it. I’d love to hear it! If you don’t do this tradition, why not?
Until next time,
