Throughout my childhood, Christmas was always a special time. When I used to live in Essex, UK, we would have a huge Christmas party every year since I was born. Family and family friends would come from far and near, stay over in our house until 30th December. We would eat, laugh, watch movies and do that over and over again for days. Once we moved from the UK to Switzerland and dispersed across the world, our Christmas traditions of having a party with 20 + people fell to six people in a space of a year. I remember that year being very different. That was the moment that I realised we didn’t have any traditions as a family outside of those parties.
Now that I am older, I’m learning to create new Christmas traditions with my siblings. We meet up every year for during Christmas and this is the time to create something new. I had a conversation with my sisters a couple of weeks ago of an idea that I had and they were ready to adopt it. Reminisce about past traditions but also, be open to creating new memories. Today, I’m going to share my experience on making new Christmas traditions as an adult.
How To Make Christmas Your Own
It is noisy, materialistic and can socially overwhelming. Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the nostalgia. I know that Christmas isn’t a time for joy for everyone, that sentiment didn’t exist for me until I lost my paternal grandmother on Christmas Day last year. My siblings and I couldn’t celebrate the season as we went through so much grief and had to find a way to process it individually. Although I will always use that day to remember my grandmother, it gave me a new perspective to bring a new meaning to the season. I decided that I wanted to make my own Christmas traditions that could be repeated yearly. It’s important to have traditions with people but also, with yourself.
Christmas Pyjamas
We don’t give Christmas presents in my family but we spend the day together. I’ve seen movies, TV shows and people on social media wear matching Christmas pjs with their families. I’ve always liked that idea but I don’t think it makes sense to only wear it on Christmas morning. My sisters and I agreed that we will adopt this tradition but wear matching pjs throughout the month of December. Of course to make it democratic, we are discussing the style that we want for this year. Hopefully, this is something that we will continue throughout adulthood. If not, it’s something that I will continue as part of my solo Christmas traditions.
Decorate Small Spaces
Ever since I moved into my flat in 2019, I have been excited to decorate it into my personal oasis. As my place is small, I have learnt that decorating the small spaces really makes the atmosphere feel cosy and wrapped in a bubble of joy. Instead of just putting up a tree and adding candles to each room, I made sure to utilise every corner and make decorating into a fun activity. To tie everything up, I add a wreath to the front door and cute ornament to welcome myself into my flat.
Collective Christmas Dinner
My family and I enjoy cooking but we don’t like the idea of spending the entire day cooking. We all decide what dish or dishes that we are cooking and try to start on Christmas Eve. Keyword: try. We have not managed to finish in a day but there is always next year. As we are Nigerian but grew up in the UK, Switzerland and all studied in the US, our collective Christmas dinner is always Nigerian food with additional dishes from the places that we lived in. One thing that we do leading up to Christmas is that we go out to eat at restaurants and spend quality time with each other.
Christmas Tradition For Living On Your Own
For me, Christmas isn’t just a singular day. The reason that I have so many cherished memories of the season is because my Mum put so much effort into making it a magical for us growing up. As I have gotten older, I started to emulate that and continuing to make the season just as magical and more for myself. This year I’m putting a lot more effort into trying new activities and getting into the joy of spending the most of the season on my own.
Once Thanksgiving is over (even though I no longer live in the US), I decorate my flat, I visit Christmas markets. I start playing Christmas music in the evenings, and watch all the Christmas movies that I can on Netflix. Shameless plug: Make sure to follow me on Instagram as I share the movies I watch with a quick review. Here are a few new activities that I am doing this year:
- Making a gingerbread house – I’ve never done this before and I’m excited!
- Christmas cocktails and mocktails – I like learning new skills.
- Having A S’mores night – My first month in college, I tried s’mores for the first time. It’s not a thing in Europe but I like the memory attached to it. I want to do an indoors s’mores night.
Regardless if you are single or not, make the season as magical as you want it to be. What magical looks like is dependent on the individual. As long as you are doing something that is intentional and authentic to you, that is all that matters. With self-compassion, mindfulness and a little effort, you can make this an empowering season for yourself.
That’s it. My experiences and new plans to make Christmas traditions for myself in adulthood. What Christmas is to one person isn’t the same for another person. Not everyone wants to spend the season with family. However, if you want to reinvent the season into something that is authentically you and for you, do so. I hope that this post gave you some ideas. Make sure to subscribe and join the blog squad so you don’t miss out on the rest of Blogmas.
Until next time,
Folakemi
