Marty Jean-LouisNot everyone grew up with Christmas traditions. For some, childhood holidays were chaotic, quiet, or even painful. So when you’re building a home of your own, it can feel both exciting and intimidating to create something different—something warm, joyful, and worth remembering.
The good news is this: you get to start fresh. You are not bound by the past. You can choose what your holiday season looks and feels like, and those choices, over time, can become the traditions your family holds dear.
Start with what feels meaningful to you. You don’t need a dozen ideas, just one or two. Maybe it’s writing handwritten cards to each child on Christmas Eve. Maybe it’s cooking a special breakfast together that only appears once a year. Maybe it’s making space for others by inviting someone who has nowhere else to go.
Traditions don’t need to come from childhood in order to be meaningful. They grow from intention, repetition, and love.
If you’re parenting, you may find that your children look forward to the smallest things—a certain book read each year, a song you sing while decorating the tree, or hot cocoa served in mismatched mugs. These simple choices communicate comfort, safety, and connection.
You’re not too late to start a tradition. You’re right on time.
One beautiful way to start is by choosing one evening during the season where everything slows down. Phones away. The lights dimmed. Maybe a fire, maybe just candlelight. A Christmas movie playing, or a story read aloud. Presence over performance. Stillness over stress.
And if no one else you know is doing it that way, that’s okay. What matters most is that it’s true to you and the family you’re building. The Christmas season is not about recreating someone else’s story.
It’s about writing your own.
