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Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families podcast.

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Speaker 2: It's the podcast for the time poor parent who just

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Speaker 2: wants answers.

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Speaker 1: Now, Well, this is the week that we celebrate and

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Speaker 1: get ready for everything Christmas related. Hello, this is doctor

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Speaker 1: Justin Coursone here with Kylie, my wife and mum to

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Speaker 1: our six kids, and today a conversation about Christmas traditions.

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Speaker 1: By the way, if you don't like Christmas, you are

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Speaker 1: going to hate this week. Because Kylie, what have we

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Speaker 1: got today? We're doing about Christmas traditions. Let's starve into it.

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Speaker 1: I mean, Christmas is a time where everyone talks about

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Speaker 1: the importance of traditions, but do we really have them?

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Speaker 1: We ask some of our Happy Families listeners, and Jess

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Speaker 1: told us that these are her Christmas traditions.

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Speaker 3: We usually watch the Christmas Carols on TV on Christmas Eve,

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Speaker 3: and we always put snacks and milk out for Santa.

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Speaker 3: Santa writes a letter to the kids and always leaves

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Speaker 3: and orange or mandarin in the bottom of the fact.

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Speaker 4: I think our kids would be highly disappointed with an

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Speaker 4: orange or amandarin. Our tradition has been a mangoing. They

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Speaker 4: just love it.

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Speaker 1: Yes, yeah too, right, we'll talk about our tradition shortly

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Speaker 1: as well. I was impressed by the way. So we've

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Speaker 1: never sat down and watched carols. We've tried once or

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Speaker 1: twice and everyone's like, bo, this is boring. So so

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Speaker 1: we've given up on the carols on the TV. But

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Speaker 1: Santa letters. Sata actually writes a letter to each of

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Speaker 1: the kids. Can you imagine how much letter writing Santa

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Speaker 1: would have to do in our home for that many people.

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Speaker 5: Maybe it's only short.

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Speaker 1: This next one is from Lisa. Lisa has really impressed

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Speaker 1: me with what she does. And I've got a feeling, Kyler,

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Speaker 1: that you might be a little bit jealous.

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Speaker 6: Putting up the Christmas tree. We love doing that as

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Speaker 6: a family. I'm in the interior design industry, so I

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Speaker 6: love decorating the house, decorating the front door, and I

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Speaker 6: try and get my children involved in that and just

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Speaker 6: spending time with family, like Christmas Eve. We love celebrating

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Speaker 6: Christmas Eve just as much as Christmas Day.

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Speaker 1: So Kylie a little bit jealous? You love mean I

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Speaker 1: put up the Christmas tree. I reckon you could actually

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Speaker 1: have an interior decorator. You could put that on your

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Speaker 1: business card and pretend that you are on because yours

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Speaker 1: looks so good. But this is your thing, right make

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Speaker 1: the house look amazing. After us laughing about how we

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Speaker 1: didn't even have our tree up. Over the last few

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Speaker 1: days you have with the kids just gone crazy and

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Speaker 1: the house now looks so Christmasy and so beautiful, and

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Speaker 1: there's lights everywhere.

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Speaker 2: And.

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Speaker 5: Little Miss seven is a little bit upset with me.

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Speaker 4: Though we normally do two Christmas trees because we have

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Speaker 4: family Christmas with extended family come and so we like

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Speaker 4: to keep the present separate. I've always put up two trees,

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Speaker 4: but this year we're not hosting family Christmas, and so

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Speaker 4: I've only put up one.

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Speaker 1: She's really not happy about it, and I'm breathing a

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Speaker 1: sigh of relief. Let's talk about Rachel. Rachel's got really

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Speaker 1: strong religious foundations, and I think it's really important to

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Speaker 1: acknowledge this at Christmas time. This is how their family

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Speaker 1: creates christ traditions.

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Speaker 7: We have an advent stringline that we hang up that

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Speaker 7: each day of December until Christmas, we add a card

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Speaker 7: that shows the name of Jesus his various names that

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Speaker 7: are shown in the Bible. We focus on the birth

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Speaker 7: of Jesus and what that means for us. We will

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Speaker 7: set up a very basic Christmas tree and a string

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Speaker 7: of lights as a bit of an acknowledgment of what

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Speaker 7: happens in our culture, but we definitely keep it simple.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I really like that, And I'm thinking, because there

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Speaker 1: are so many names that you could actually continue that

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Speaker 1: for like half the year if you really wanted to.

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Speaker 1: That would be a very very heavy stringline by the

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Speaker 1: end of it. Our next one comes from Larissa. Larissa

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Speaker 1: said this about her Christmas traditions.

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Speaker 2: One of the ones that our kiddos really like is

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Speaker 2: that they get matching Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve, so

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Speaker 2: they get to unrup them and put them on for

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Speaker 2: bed that night. And what of our new traditions. Last year,

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Speaker 2: we decided to become Christmas Ninja's. Our children make things

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Speaker 2: for their friends and then we go to their houses

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Speaker 2: and we drop them off on the doorstat trying not

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Speaker 2: to get caught.

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Speaker 4: So anyone who's been following the podcast for a while

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Speaker 4: now would know that you get a little bit frustrated

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Speaker 4: when you spend unnecessary amount of money on things that

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Speaker 4: you don't deem important.

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Speaker 1: I know what you're going to say here, By the

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Speaker 1: way you're going to go for the pj's, aren't you.

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Speaker 4: Well? A few years ago, Peter Alexander had a massive

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Speaker 4: after Christmas sale and they had all of the right

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Speaker 4: sizes in matching pajamas, and so I kind of said

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Speaker 4: to you, can I get these? And you look at me, like,

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Speaker 4: what do we need those fours?

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Speaker 1: He's the thing, right, So we're buying nine pairs of pajamas.

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Speaker 1: There's eight in our family plus a son in law,

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Speaker 1: so we've got nine pairs of pajamas and you want

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Speaker 1: to buy it. And I love what Laris is doing

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Speaker 1: with the pjs, and I love that it's a tradition,

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Speaker 1: but I'm just too tight. So I'm like, we only

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Speaker 1: wear those pajamas one night of the year.

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Speaker 4: So we are recycling our Grinch pajamas from last Christmas

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Speaker 4: for this Christmas because you only let them wear them

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Speaker 4: on Christmas Eve.

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Speaker 1: That's right, but it is a tradition.

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Speaker 4: You just loved it, and it was so nice because

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Speaker 4: it was the first Christmas that our eldest daughter married

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Speaker 4: now with her husband, came and stayed with us. So

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Speaker 4: they got all dressed up as well. The dog had

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Speaker 4: his antlers to fit in with it all, and it

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Speaker 4: was just it was such a nice way to spend

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Speaker 4: Christmas morning, waking up all dressed the same.

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Speaker 1: So, Larisa, I'm with you, except I'm not buying pj's

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Speaker 1: every year were by one.

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Speaker 4: I did see the gingerbread ones this year, and I

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Speaker 4: was really excited about maybe introducing that this year.

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Speaker 1: Oh boy, you know what, And I love Laris's Christmas Ninja's.

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Speaker 1: We've done that on and off periodically over the years

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Speaker 1: and it's a really delightful way to enjoy Christmas. Right

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Speaker 1: after the break, we're going to talk about our favorite

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Speaker 1: traditions in the course on home to make Christmas a

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Speaker 1: Happy Families celebration.

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Speaker 4: It's the Happy Families podcast, the podcast for the time

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Speaker 4: poor parent who just wants answers now, And today we're

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Speaker 4: talking Christmas traditions. Yes, we've heard a few really cool ones.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Carol's are opening gifts nice and slowly and savoring

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Speaker 1: the moment Christmas, Pj's, Christmas Ninja's, decorating the house like

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Speaker 1: an interior designer at vent calendar, event calendars, Yeah, and

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Speaker 1: so many more our favorite Christmas traditions. We were talking

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Speaker 1: about this and your initial response was we don't have any,

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Speaker 1: but when we paused and thought about it, We've actually

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Speaker 1: got a whole bunch of Christmas traditions and we're just

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Speaker 1: going to share with you just a brief handful of

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Speaker 1: our favorite let's call it our favorite five.

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Speaker 4: Well, we're just going to back it up a little

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Speaker 4: bit there because I said that we didn't have any

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Speaker 4: because we've spent so many years traveling from grandparent to

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Speaker 4: grandparent for Christmas time. It was either your family or

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Speaker 4: my family, and so we never actually got to do

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Speaker 4: the things that we wanted to with our kids. On

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Speaker 4: Christmas morning, they always woke up in nanny's house, yep,

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Speaker 4: whether it was.

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Speaker 1: Yours or my, or they woke up at the cracker

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Speaker 1: dawn so that we could drive to grandma's house.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, And so it really kind of interfered with the

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Speaker 4: things that we wish we could have done with the kids.

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Speaker 4: But over the last handful of years, as our family's

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Speaker 4: got older, we've kind of, I guess, tightened up our

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Speaker 4: Christmas traditions in that we've really seen Christmas Day is

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Speaker 4: a time for our family.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so much so that Christmas tradition has become Christmas

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Speaker 1: Day is our day. Yeah, So we have family Christmas

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Speaker 1: Days in the days leading up tour following Christmas, because

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Speaker 1: we just want to have December twenty five with our family,

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Speaker 1: and that has become in.

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Speaker 4: Our home and in our home, I think all those

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Speaker 4: years of traveling to and from on Christmas Day, the

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Speaker 4: kids have just got to that point in their lives

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Speaker 4: where they just want to wake up in their own

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Speaker 4: bed and just have us. Because, like Jess said, one

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Speaker 4: of our favorite traditions is the kids know that they're

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Speaker 4: not allowed to touch anything under the Christmas tree when

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Speaker 4: they wake up, but whatever time they wake up, they

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Speaker 4: can grab their stockings and they land on our bed.

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Speaker 4: It's a pretty full bed by the time we've got

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Speaker 4: all six of them sitting in there, especially with the

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Speaker 4: sun in law laying across the top of all of us,

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Speaker 4: and they love opening their stockings and it is one

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Speaker 4: by one they they just revel in watching each other.

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Speaker 1: So because of the way we approach the Santa question,

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Speaker 1: the stockings are really the primary Santa vehicle, and there's

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Speaker 1: a tradition there's always a Bundanberg ginger beer.

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Speaker 5: Which doesn't actually ever fit in there.

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Speaker 1: Now, no, it doesn't, because Santa seems to be filling

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Speaker 1: those stockings more and more old, right, and there's also

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Speaker 1: a mango in there as well. So that's that's the

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Speaker 1: central element, right, the stocking on Christmas Morning with the

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Speaker 1: mango and the ginger beer.

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Speaker 5: And when they were younger, it used to be yogured

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Speaker 5: as well.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, they have a nutritious breakfast those squeezy chips. Our

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Speaker 1: second Christmas tradition, and we've actually kind of go back

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Speaker 1: in time a little bit, is that on Christmas Eve,

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Speaker 1: we try to go to bed as early as possible

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Speaker 1: and we all read a book. You know.

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Speaker 4: I actually it's one of my favorite traditions because when

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Speaker 4: the kids were younger, obviously there was so much excitement

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Speaker 4: about Santa coming that they wouldn't go to sleep on

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Speaker 4: Christmas Eve, and then they would wake up at the

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Speaker 4: crack of dawn and then we would do all of

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Speaker 4: that driving to and from families houses, and the day

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Speaker 4: was just chaos. Everybody was cranky, everybody was tired, everybody

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Speaker 4: was over sugared. And now we've got this beautiful tradition

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Speaker 4: where everybody gets a book that they've never read before.

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Speaker 4: They get to go to bed and read for as

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Speaker 4: long as they want. But the reality is they don't

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Speaker 4: read for very long at all, and everyone wakes up.

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Speaker 1: Refreshed in the morning. It's Iceland's Christmas book flood. But

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Speaker 1: that's where we got the idea from the tradition in

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Speaker 1: Iceland jeelobog. I can't say it. This is Embarrassinglabo Jelabica

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Speaker 1: flood book.

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Speaker 5: Oh my goodness, that's a good thing.

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Speaker 1: I wasn't bornt in Iceland because I can't speak the language. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: Iceland's Christmas book Flood. We got the idea from there,

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Speaker 1: and it's become a real treat in our home.

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Speaker 5: And initially chocolate the block of chocolate that comes with it.

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Speaker 1: May I didn't like the idea initially because I was like, no,

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Speaker 1: Christmas Eve, we should be together. But now I relish it,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, kids, get your book, go to bed. I

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Speaker 1: want to read. I'm saving this all years. I'm so

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Speaker 1: excited for it. Christmas tradition number one, stockings on the bed,

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Speaker 1: Christmas tradition number two, giving a book on Christmas Eve.

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Speaker 1: Christmas tradition number three.

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Speaker 4: There is always a service element to our celebrations at

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Speaker 4: Christmas time.

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Speaker 1: We just love to be helpful, We love to give,

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Speaker 1: and we do that in all sorts of ways. I

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Speaker 1: don't want to make a big deal about that. It's

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Speaker 1: just something that we do, and I think we should

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Speaker 1: move on. But if you can find ways for your

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Speaker 1: family to give and serve, whether it's through donations or

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Speaker 1: whether it's through like charitable giving or volunteering or the

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Speaker 1: Christmas ninjas, I love that.

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Speaker 4: Like Larissa talked about Knock and Run, it's not about

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Speaker 4: the size, it's actually just about the giving.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, fantastic stuff. And I think something else that

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Speaker 1: we've really started since our daughter has been married, the

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Speaker 1: Christmas Eve sleepover. I mean you kind of touched on

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Speaker 1: that before anyway, but just having her and her husband

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Speaker 1: hanging out in our house on Christmas Eve and waking

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Speaker 1: up on Christmas morning, it's become a tradition. I don't

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Speaker 1: know how long it'll last, but I'm savoring it while

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Speaker 1: it's happening.

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Speaker 4: Well, I've watched over the years, you know, it was

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Speaker 4: different couples have navigated who has who for Christmas and

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Speaker 4: it can get really really messy.

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Speaker 1: So we had on Christmas Christmas morning, Well, I had.

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Speaker 4: No expectations whatsoever. I figured that they'd actually want to

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Speaker 4: spend their first Christmas alone, but all they could think

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Speaker 4: about was if they didn't spend it with us, they

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Speaker 4: weren't going to get a Christmas stock the.

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Speaker 1: Ginger beer in their mang go. She even said to

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Speaker 1: me this year, she.

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Speaker 5: Said, so, Mum, you are doing Jared's Christmas stocking, aren't you.

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Speaker 5: That means I don't have to.

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Speaker 1: So anyway, they're a handful of our Christmas traditions. I mean,

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Speaker 1: we love to sing Christmas songs on Christmas Day and

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Speaker 1: had the Christmas music blaring. We always read the Nativity

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Speaker 1: on Christmas Day or on Christmas Eve with the kids,

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Speaker 1: depending on what the schedule is for the day. And

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Speaker 1: as a result of what we've decided for our family,

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Speaker 1: we really do keep it low key. And that's not

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Speaker 1: a tradition so much as a mindset or an attitude.

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Speaker 1: But boy, our boy, does it make a difference in

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Speaker 1: terms of making Christmas delightful for the family. We hope

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Speaker 1: that these ideas from Jess, Larissa, Lisa Rachel, and from

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Speaker 1: our family will help you to establish some Christmas traditions

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Speaker 1: that are meaningful for you and your home and help

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Speaker 1: you to have a happy family at a happy Christmas.

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Speaker 1: The happy Families podcast, as always, is produced by Justin

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Speaker 1: Rawand from Bridge Media. And if you're still looking for

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Speaker 1: last minute Christmas gifts, Happy families dot com dot you,

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Speaker 1: check out the books that I've written to make your

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Speaker 1: family happier, or buy a Happy Families Premium membership for

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Speaker 1: the other parent in your life that will help make

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Speaker 1: your family happier, because a happy family doesn't just happen.

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Speaker 1: All the details once again at happy families dot com

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Speaker 1: dot you