Have yourself a Babipur Christmas

So whether you are a ‘tis the season to be jolly’ person or a ‘tis the season to be panicked’ person, either way that jingle all the way time of year is almost on us, in fact we are already in the ‘build up period’.  October can feel a bit early for Christmas music in the shops, but late November feels a little more real especially once we hit November 25th.  

I remember once visiting a Christmas shop that was open all year!  I greatly admire those who work there, even though I love Christmas I don’t think I could cope with listening to Christmas songs in a shop all year long.

Babipur Hangout has constant ‘gift ideas posts’ and it has been helpful to see the Christmas gifts for various ages and in various budgets posts.  There will be more in the December build up too.

What are Christmas traditions?  I think quite often we don’t actually set out to have a specific tradition, sometimes we like something from our childhood, other times this just organically happens depending on what ideas we stumble across, or what new ways and new toys we have discovered and from what we hear from others, and a new awareness of ideals and ethics that are new to us and something we want to incorporate.  The thing to remember is that traditions don’t have to be big and grand and can even be something as simple as going for a Christmas day walk.  When we tend to do the same thing at the same time every year it just becomes what we can class as a ‘tradition’.

As a family (well maybe mostly me…) we love the actual build up to Christmas.  Both of our children have their birthdays either side of Christmas so by December I have had to buy four lots of gifts for four different events plus give ideas to friends and family.  My mother in law prefers if I order from Babipur and she wraps and gives, so she gives us her budget in our account then it is up to me to shop from Babipur with someone else’s money which is a rather exhilarating experience I must admit.  Because of the party planning and needing to think ahead I do actually start thinking about Christmas in September, the summer holidays are behind me, the kids are back to school, not too long and the weather starts to get cooler, Christmas starts creeping into my thoughts.

I love getting out the Christmas story books that I tend to pack away with the decorations each year.  Some people have the tradition of twenty-four wrapped books under the tree to read. We love reusable advent calendars, even twenty-four paper bags do the trick, Babipur sell lots of cute little wooden animals and figures that you can pop into a reusable advent calendar.

One tradition that has developed naturally in our family and not because we set out to make it a tradition, or think we should do it, it just happens to occur every year, is that my mum always invites someone to Christmas dinner who doesn’t have any other family to go to.  I know Christmas is a personal family time and I fully understand that inviting non family members who need somewhere to go isn’t for everyone, in this particular tradition for us my mum has really inspired me with this and in years to come I hope that I have the same mindset.

In 2017 Heather Calver wrote an article for the Babipur Blog entitled “ten ways to enjoy a slow Christmas” I think this ties in beautifully so please do click on the link to read it.

On Christmas day in our house we all contribute to the meal and take food to my mums house, by the end of the day we are eating turkey and stuffing sandwiches and wondering why we are still eating.  Boxing day we chill out at home taking time to slowly look through the gifts and open those that we didn’t open on the day.  I like to let the children take their time with each gift and not stack up a pile for them to open, they will eventually get opened just maybe not all on the Christmas afternoon at my parents house.  Our Christmas giving is including more and more Babipur items and I am so excited with our Babipur Christmas presents this year, the most we have bought yet!  They are safely stashed in a new wardrobe which my son isn’t using yet, so I thought this would be safe but recently my daughter asked “mummy why do the wardrobe handles have string tied around them?”….

On Christmas Eve I dress up as an Elf and knock on the front door with a little Christmas Eve box for them.  They find this hilarious and the box itself just contains pyjamas, hot chocolate powder, popcorn and DVD but it’s the fun surrounding it that counts and not the amount of presents.

Babipurian Christmas Traditions

I value the thoughts and advice of the wonderful group that is Babipur Hangout, so I asked our lovely Babipur Hangout members if they had any Christmas traditions that they would like to share.  Thank you to all who contributed.  This is what they had to say in their own words including emojis!

• We have a Lanka Kade nativity (the Starry Night one) which has become one of our main decorations at Christmas – I chose it because I wanted things that looked nice and festive, but also that my children could play with without worrying about them getting damaged etc. – the Lanka Kade totally fits the bill ? (looking forward to having the new LK festive bits out this year too).

We also have a celebration ring and this year I’m hoping to use it as an advent calendar – got the numbers to change each night, and putting a little chocolate or message in the middle for them to find each day (might get some Cocoa Loco stars / chocolate buttons etc. for the choc days).

• Last year we moved our Santa one step along the 12 piece celebration ring (displayed in a line ) for the 12 day run up to xmas so my daughter could visualise it better.

• Our perpetual calendar helps all year round for counting up/down to events. This year we have the Lanka Kade 44 (40,45? Can’t remember now and it’s hidden away) piece nativity set for our new reusable advent calendar. The Christmas Lanka Kade will also make an appearance the morning we put up our Christmas decorations.

We don’t really go out or take part in activities due to my son’s developmental difficulties, but I’m very much looking forward to our first fully Babipurian Christmas

• We go on a boxing day walk and our close playmat is an essential as well as KK’s full of hot chocolate

• We do Christmas Eve boxes. This year the kids are getting matching pjs and a story sack each which includes Eric and Albert animals. They get their stocking in the box too for them to put out before going to bed.

• Cold all weather walking at national trust sites, or going up hills with an insulated KK from Babipur each, the children and I have hot chocolate and their dad/husband has coffee??

• Since being a part of the group I have started wrapping my presents in ways that are 100% recycled, eg material scraps, recycled ribbons, brown paper etc

• We have a winter solstice/Christmas Eve box depending on when we gather as a family, with small, useful, warm and comforting things for the whole family as the start of our time together over this period. This year space themed with Frugi pjs and socks for our toddler ?

• We have been adding polar animals gradually, this year a Holztiger and Ostheimer penguin will join the gang ?

• Since joining this group, wrapping is recyclable (BP packaging) or reusable bags and fabrics and ribbons, and parcels will this year have the lovely new elephant tape! ?

• Parts of our celebration ring and figures, both Grimms and Ambrosius fairies, travel to/live with different family members during the year, going to and fro at birthdays for example, and all come together at Christmas completing the ring ⛄️

• Christmas Day/Boxing Day walks along the coast or by a river are a lovely part of our time together with pop in play mat, KK’s and now Tony’s in the backpack ?

Jo is a stay at home mum and writer who also has her own blog called Fresh Bread and Faith. Find her on Instagram @Freshbreadandfaith