We’ve come a long way in the last 50 or so years. TV become mainstream and colour, we got the Internet, home computers, mobile computers, mobile phones and now smart phones and social media, books can be read on tablets as well as paper, and so on. Our world is a different place.
But has Christmas changed as much?
- Christmas may be more materialistic and about presents for some people – I know my kids get a lot more stuff than I ever did as a kid because things are cheaper and our lives have changed
- it’s more realistic for homes to set up Christmas light displays than it would have been 50 years ago so we have more beautiful displays to watch
- we all have big meals and eat too much on Christmas Day so that hasn’t changed much! Actually, I am aware of more people choosing to have BBQs and salads these days rather than the traditional hot meal on a hot day so maybe it is changing, slowly
- as a kid, I would spend the day playing and being with family. Some kids today spend time playing mobile computer games (which I personally hate as I think they should socialise) so that is different for some families
- people who are so inclined still go to midnight mass or other church services – maybe a smaller proportion of us do this now but I think that change is more than technology driven
- for people who are separated at Christmas, technology is certainly a help – with phones, emails, social media and the like, people can be in touch with distant family and friends on Christmas Day even multiple times.
What about your family and traditions – have they been changed by technology?
* photo courtesy of 123rf
Santa’s Elf is correct 100%……….It’s true
Thanks Shamin – but how does technology impact on your family’s Christmas?
I think that Christmas is still basically the same. Once you take away thoughts of the new technology, the feelings are still the same. Wanting to be with those you love and care about. The happiness, excitement and desire to be kinder and more caring. I think those things are still there. I hope so anyway.
I hope those things are still there, too Mandy – keeping such feelings alive is part of our purpose in running this blog and helping Santa bring joy to children each year.
I just worry sometimes that we loose some good when we rely more on technology so we need to be aware of it and therefore hopefully keep Christmas about the good feelings.
I think Christmas has been made easier and less personal. It’s easier to keep in contact with friends and family with a text, email, or facebook post. This has made it better in that you will be sending out your best wishes to more people, and often friends that 10 years ago you might not have contacted at all. However with these new methods it has also become less personal and those family that you once might have called on the phone or even visited or invited around is now covered with the same impersonal text type methods.
For as long as I can remember we’ve always had BBQ’s with family rather than the traditional hot roasts. Presents are getting more, but these presents are less personal in my opinion. It’s still great of course. But less thought is going into gifts and it doesn’t mean as much as it once did.
I have to agree – so many of us get (and give) so many more presents than we did say 20 years ago, but how many of those gifts are truly thoughtful or represent true care? And that is probably in part because people are so busy it’s hard to be thoughtful with very gift.
Easier and less personal, yes, but often more stressful as people feel greater expectations now – big gifts, fancy decorations, heaps of food, perfect house, etc.
For the adults in my family Christmas is still the same. We all gather around and talk, while the children play. I think that Christmas has changed for the children in my family though. Instead of playing board games or dolls they play video games. I feel like they interact less when they play a video game together. It is more about winning the game than playing with cousins now.
That’s a great point, Kayde – it impacts differently on different age groups. I see that at some family Christmas events, too – some of the kids sit and play video games where we would have run around like mad things, outdoors as much as possible, and enjoyed that cousin and family time. Note my kids don’t have video games and are not allowed to read a book or play solitary games at social events and certainly not at family Christmas celebrations so their Christmas remains family oriented. Some kids may resent such rules but my kids love socialising and know it is respectful to talk to people you visit.
I really love Christmas!?? As the song goes, “People making lists
Buying special gifts
It’s a time to be kind
To one and all
It’s that time of year
When good friends
Are dear
And you wish you
Could give more
Than just presents
From a store.” I just love the feeling and the atmosphere when Christmas is coming 🙂 My family is sticking to the tradition: Close relatives gather together, sit and dance together, eat just anything on the table. My family is not on the trend of technology. We have a Personal Computer at home but only I can use it much. I agree that it is better to socialize on the real life than in virtual life, or play computer games. We also go to mass on the night before Christmas. We just walk to the Church and we see the people playing on the road, some are chatting, too! It’s such a great feeling to have everybody in one house up for anything 🙂 And the gifts! Gifts are part of the season but not really necessary. Presence is the most important, gifts some second 🙂 I also believe that Jesus is the center of the celebration 🙂
Your enthusiasm just shines through your comment – thanks iloveyou78 🙂 I agree that the togetherness at Christmas time is a large part of the magic and spirit of the celebrations.
You have to decide how much technology is going to change your traditions. We do have Christmas decorations(I love to decorate) but we do it as a family, putting the tree together, the kids get input into what decorations go in their rooms and windows. On Christmas Eve, we go to midnight mass. Christmas Day is spent baking, cooking, playing games. I won’t say we don’t do technology, we do. We watch Christmas shows, Frosty, Rudolph, etc every year and we do buy the kids video games. This past year we bought the kids legos and my son spent the entire day playing with them. He didn’t even open his video games for 2 days. Technology is a part of our lives and it isn’t going away but it’s up to the families to decide how it impacts their lives.
Sounds like you have figured out a nice balance for yourself and your family, twinsmommy.
I have only been part of the Christmas celebration recently. You see, I’m not a Christian. I’m actually a Muslim, dating a Christian and since I moved to his country, I was invited to all his family gatherings. The first time I met all his relatives (his mother’s side – as he celebrates it with them every year) was during Christmas 2011. It was a very lovely affair and there were plenty of food. They were accommodating, as I do not eat pork/bacon so they made/cooked everything with turkey, chicken, beef, fish, and many others! I have a sweet tooth, so I was definitely spoiled with all types of desserts.
I have learned from his parents, aunts, and cousins that Christmas is just not the same anymore. In fact, most of the adults/seniors agree that it is more for the kids/grandkids and of course, just being together on their special day.
I’m looking forward to Christmas this year because we had picked out names previously, and I have to pick a gift for his cousin’s girlfriend (phew, it would have been difficult if it were a guy). Also, I’m planning to cook or bake something, since everyone else brought something last year!
I’m so pleased you have had such a beautiful and friendly introduction to Christmas, Mystique. It should be about family and doing nice things for each other, and your boyfriend’s family seems to have that sorted!
Yes, a Kris Kringle for gifts does sometimes mean you get lucky – and sometimes you have to buy for people you struggle with. I see it as a good opportunity to think more about that person, though, and therefore build a stronger relationship.
I hope your second Christmas is just as wonderful 🙂
I often set up video calls with my familly overseas and it really helps my young child to get to know everybody. Without these modern day gadgets i think there would be a lot less of the christmas spirit.
For families (and friends) separated by distance, technology has come a very long to keeping us connected for Christmas which is great. Thanks for adding your voice, olley99.
Technology has impacted my wallet more then my shopping. I know that for me this is terrible to say, but since technology has been around so much I have to get this for my kids and it ends up costing me a fortune!
It’s a reality rather than something terrible to say, I think. It certainly costs more to buy an iPad or an electronic game than a book or toy car!
I have a love-hate relationship with technology for a lot of the same reasons you and other commenters posted. At Christmas get-togethers, many of us are preoccupied with our cell phones, iPads and so on than talking to each other, and the gifts have certainly changed. At the same time, tech also allows my friends and I to connect despite the fact that we’re in university and some of us live on the other side of the country, or in one case, the other side of the ocean! It’s a mized blessing in my opinion.
Thanks for commenting, TOri. A mixed blessing is a good way to put it – technology keeps us in touch with those distant but puts us out of touch with those close!
Technology hasn’t had too much of impact on my family Christmases. Although I’m in my early twenties I like to stay offline and turn my mobile phone off to spend quality time with my family on Christmas. I actually travel to at least 3 different homes on Christmas to visit both sets of grandparents and my step dad’s parents. To be honest I don’t like to watch TV on Christmas either as I want to make the most out of every minute. It’s common for my family to play charades or board games on Christmas evening anyhow.
In saying this I admit lots of the presents my family give are technology related. For Christmas last year my dad surprised my grandma, aunty and myself with tablets. I also gifted my grandma who loves boggle and electronic games with an electronic version of boggle. There are about six cubes that you physically have to move around to make words. You can also play it with multiple people which caused a few laughs, if you’re too slow to make a word the beeper tells you.
I agree with previous posters although modern technology has a huge impact on our lives most people still remember how important it is to spend quality time with loved ones on Christmas. At the end of the day it’s not about fancy gifts. When I was 8 I spent Christmas abroad in Polynesia and didn’t receive traditional presents as there were so many village children and it would be unfair for them. I still had a wonderful time playing with the kids and some balloons and bits and pieces we brought them.
I’m really pleased so many people are saying they minimise technology interfering with family on Christmas Day – and love that you acually turn things off, tajnz 🙂
What a great experience to have spent Christmas in Polynesia and learning how to play with bits and pieces instead of a pile of shiny gifts. No wonder you put technology in it’s rightful place.
I haven’t read every replay here, so I may be repeating, but I believe that, overall, Christmas has changed.
There seems to be more emphasis on buying material objects and having the bestest decoration house on the street than on what the true meaning of Christmas is about.
Now, I don’t want to start any debate about Christmas, so please don’t look for one. Christmas has two levels. First is the obvious religious aspect – the birth of Jesus the Christ.
The second aspect is the one that has changed the most in my opinion. It’s less about reflecting on the year past, about thinking of the future, about being grateful and loving towards your fellow man, etc … and more about the material stuff, keeping up with the Jonses, and more.
I guess I’m more of a traditionalist when it comes to the holidays. Less decorations is more, it’s not the price tag or the popularity of the gift(s) that matter, and I can care less if my house makes it into the newspaper about my decorations.
Seriously, I’m not a Bah-Humbug! LOL =)
You’re not sounding like Bah-Humbug to me at all, Beyre. In fact, I’d say you’re the opposite as you are acknowedgling (in a positive way) the spirit of Christmas, the invisible, undefinable aspects that make it so very special.
I love Christmas decorations and the people who decorate outside to share their ligths etc with the rest of us. I’m not into competitions of who does the biggest or best (and often the ones I like the most are more subtle anyway!), just the sharing of the beauty and magic. So overall more decorations is a good thing to me, more decorations to be the biggest bores me – does that make sense?
Technology hasn’t really affected my Christmas celebrations because a lot of our relatives are older Cuban aunts and uncles that don’t understand how Twitter works or know how to program their VCR. I guess it’s charming that our elderly aunties still celebrate Christmas the same way they did 20 or 30 years ago- with massive amounts of homemade food and a big nativity scene that they construct for the neighborhood to visit and enjoy. And midnight mass, of course.
Mssive amounts of homemade food – YUM!
Something for the neighbourhood to visist and enjoy – awesome!
I think your family has their priorities sorted nicely, ACSAPA 🙂
It’s no doubt that technology has changed Christmas a lot, but in a good way. Without Skype, my cousin, who lives in another country, and I wouldn’t be able to share our joy on Christmas. We used to have long-distance calls whenever Christmas eve strikes, but now we have Skype, things are a lot easier for us and being able to actually see our family relatives on this special occasion brings us even closer.
Another thing is that with E-cards and face book, I’ll be able to greet my friends a merry Christmas without having to mail them traditional Christmas cards. It erases all time constraints and Christmas is more fun with computer animations and 3D graphics, and my friends always manage to give me a really good laugh with different posts on social networking services like face book or tumblr.
Our family and I still go shopping and cook a big dinner on Christmas with other relatives so I don’t think that technology has done much harm to our family relations.
Hi Isabelle, and thanks for adding your story.
Tehcnology that keeps us connected is a great thing, I think – people living far apart is not the separation it once was now we can chat online etc.
Not sure if you would call it technology, or advancement. As I child one of the things I remember was the Christmas shows that came on the tv. Waiting every year was part of the excitement, as a family sitting down all together watching the special. Now a days with DVDs , you don’t have to wait. It kind of loses the charm and the excitement .
That’s true – there is less excitement about a lot of movies as we can watch them at any time (and that’s for all movies, including those in the cinemas not long ago) but obiviously tte convenience of choosing when to watch has some advantages.
Life without video calls at Christmas is tough when you have immediate family living abraod or in a another state and you can’t meet. Technology here saves lives. But the other side of the coin here is that mobile phones are ringing even at lunch table. Things like that.
Yep, technology is definitely giving us good and bad experiences for Christmas.