How do we know it’s Christmas?

In the holiday season leading up to Christmas, you can often feel rushed as you try and get everything done. There’s not much time leftover between Christmas shopping and your everyday responsibilities. However, making time for your family to celebrate family Christmas traditions together is exactly what makes the holidays so unique.

Every family that celebrates Christmas has their own unique set of family Christmas traditions and a host of memories. Whether that’s decorating the tree, gifting on Christmas Eve in pyjamas, throwing a Christmas party, or organizing a special Christmas family photo. Here are a few things synonymous with Christmas.

It’s time to put up the Christmas Tree

Many families have made a tradition of decorating the Christmas tree together. For some, it starts with the hunt for the perfect tree, whether that means going into the woods with an axe or picking one from a local market. Did you know decorated trees date back to Germany in the Middle Ages, with German and other European settlers popularizing Christmas trees in America by the early 19th century?

Elf on the Shelf

Whether you love it or hate it, since 2005, parents have either joyously or begrudgingly been hiding a toy elf each night from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Did you know that more than 13 million elves have been “adopted” since 2005 when Carol Aebersold and her daughter, Chand Bell, published the book Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition that comes with a toy.

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

We can blame our northern neighbors for this silly and ironic tradition that really gained steam in the 1980s. According to the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Book, these sweaters became a party trend in Vancouver, Canada 2001. The trend is here to stay. The ugly sweater industry is now multi-million, with websites such as Tipsy Elves and retailers including Macy’s, Kohl and Target jumping on the ugly bandwagon.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Is there anything more American than A Charlie Brown Christmas – first aired 56 years ago, CBS executives initially rejected this, beloved by many, TV special? Did you know that almost 50% of all U.S. TV sets tuned in to the first broadcast on December 9, 1965, and the show went on to win an Emmy and set a trend of “Charlie Brown” Christmas trees?

My favorite Christmas Movie

Most families’ Christmas holidays will include at least one seasonal movie. The traditional favorites are, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “Miracle on 34th Street’, “Elf”, “A Christmas Story”, and even “Die Hard” which is considered by many as a Christmas Classic. My personal favorite is an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, “Jingle All the Way”. If you are not familiar with the movie, it is about two rival fathers, both desperately trying to purchase a very popular and in short demand action figure, Turbo-man, for their respective sons on a last-minute shopping spree on Christmas Eve. Yes, it was made in 1996 … before Amazon.

A time for giving

On Christmas Day, there will be millions of people diving for presents under the tree and tucking into turkey and stuffing with their kids, grandkids, aunts, uncles, cousins and mums and dads. Christmas is indeed a time of giving, and we should all remember and include those who are less fortunate. The Turner Group would like to wish happy holidays to all, with a very special thanks to those who have helped make Christmas something special for the less fortunate and the care workers who will be working to ensure everyone has a safe holiday.

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