Holidays are a time for celebration, reflection, and the joy of coming together with loved ones. While the core essence of holidays remains universal – love, togetherness, and gratitude – the way we celebrate is unique to each one of us.
We asked the Little Sleepies team about their favorite holiday traditions, and we loved hearing about everyone's vibrant and diverse traditions. Here’s how our team celebrates the holidays in their holiday jammies!
Inspired by Movies
Watching movies with family and friends in matching pajamas during the holiday season evokes feelings of nostalgia and helps us connect with our own holiday traditions and experiences. Our team especially loves this long-standing holiday tradition.
Hannah, Customer Support
Watching a 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Story! I usually have it on in the background while doing things around the house, but make sure I watch it once in its entirety without distractions.
Lorelei, Operations
We have fun with our version of The Polar Express. I surprise the kids with train tickets on their pillows, and instead of going to bed, we all get in the car with blankets, hot cocoa, snacks, and holiday music, and we drive around looking at light displays.
Tree Trimming
The Christmas tree is a central fixture of homes and traditions during the holidays. Many families get comfy in their Merry & Bright jammies and decorate the tree to make it the focal point of Christmas morning. The Little Sleepies team has fond memories of this evergreen giant.
Rebecca, Operations
Every year we make a homemade star for the top of the Christmas tree. It's a tradition my dad started in 1986. We hang the stars from previous years in the "Star Hall of Fame." My dad passed away in 2016 and I continue the tradition with my own family.
Isabel, Product
Our family has diverse holiday traditions. My husband’s family in Arizona has unconventional Christmas trees, plaid pajamas, “decorated” dogs, egg casseroles, and dairy-free desserts as Christmas traditions. On the other hand, my Chinese American family celebrates Christmas with a Cantonese roast duck substituting turkey, and we hang Lai See, a red envelope or red packet with a monetary gift given during holidays, on a Christmas tree.
Emily, E-commerce
I like to use Christmas cards as a way to keep in touch with people we moved away from or don't keep up with during the year. I started drawing my cards in 2015 and have kept the tradition going. It’s a way to add personalization to my holiday message.
Hanukkah
Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) is a Jewish holiday that typically falls in December, lasting for eight days and nights. It is also known as the Festival of Lights. Read these Hanukkah traditions from our community and from our team member, Brittany, below.
Brittany, Merchandising
For Hanukkah, we get together with our large family and play games; my favorite is the white elephant. Half the gifts are real, while the other half are jokes – it's a lot of fun when everyone starts stealing from each other!
We celebrate the eight nights of lighting the menorah, reciting the prayers, and giving each other gifts. The reward is seeing my kids now recite the prayers and watching their eyes light up this time of year.
This year, our Hanukkah Lights & Love design becomes a part of our Hanukkah tradition.
Gather Around the Table
Many families set a festive table for Christmas dinner with special tablecloths, napkins, and holiday-themed dinnerware. Feasts are prepared with care as families and friends make their favorite dishes and tell stories. Here are some of our team’s favorite traditions.
Ilana, Creative
On Christmas morning, my dad always makes Daddy's Breakfast, a tradition passed down from his dad. Daddy's Breakfast began as a way to use leftover rice from the stew and rice dinner the night before. It consists of Spam (I know, but tradition is tradition), rice, scallion, and tomato.
After opening gifts, my dad takes an egg count from the kitchen, screaming "HOW MANY EGGS?" Everybody responds "two" and he’ll cook the dish in his Santa baseball hat.
Hanna Y, Growth Marketing
Our family traditions have changed as we got older and are now mostly food-based! On Christmas Eve, my mom and I cook dinner together - french onion soup, prime rib, and yummy sides like scalloped potatoes. We also make the exact coffee cake and eat it in the morning as we open presents. As a kid, we would enjoy it with apple cider … but now it's mimosas.
Kylie, Creative
We make kolacky, an Eastern European cookie, each year and they were usually our cookies for Santa. For a few years, I had a tradition with my great aunt who lives alone - I'd go sleep at her house and we'd decorate her entire home and we'd watch Hallmark movies and drink hot apple cider.
Here are tips for holiday cooking with your kids this season!
Bright Lights
Stringing up Christmas lights both indoors and outdoors is a widespread tradition. Many neighborhoods have competitions for the best holiday light displays, attracting visitors from all around. Including our team!
Anna VK, E-commerce
After dinner and opening gifts, we pile into one car (it's a tight squeeze) and drive around my aunt's neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. Her neighborhood has a huge contest for Christmas lights and they even get custom-made beanies to hand out! My mom will do a silly variation of an "oooooh!" and we all mimic her with our "aaaaaah.”
Click Here to Download Printable Holiday Activity Sheets
How do you celebrate the holidays with your family and friends? Share with us by tagging us @littlesleepies or joining our Facebook VIPs group.
