Arguably nobody “does Christmas” like the Germans (especially the Bavarians) but, seasonal festivities can highlight cultural differences. I want my children to enjoy all that their home country (which after all is Germany) has to offer at Christmas, without feeling left out in any way. However they are half English, so I throw in a healthy spattering of English/ British Christmas traditions on top, in the hope they can maintain that half of their identity.
In the twenty first century the world is full of families who combine 2, or more, cultural backgrounds. This section of the site has posts on our 2014 Christmas, showing how we go about combining traditions. Just for added flavour, the children’s “German” Grandma is in fact Croatian by birth – so their German Christmas at Oma’s has a dash of Croatian to it.
Posts on Christmas Markets, Nikolaus and the 6th December tradition, 24th versus 25th of December as “main” gift giving days, food and recipes, and more to come very soon!
AlienInBavaria 
I love reading this! Alex has one very clean boot outside tonight while hte other one lies in a muddy heap. Katie has a wellie out as a) it is easier to clean than her boots and b) it is bigger so she’ll get more stuff! (apparently!) Alex is still confused about Nikolaus and Father Christmas. And then there is the Christkind…
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