CELEBRATE: After months, weeks or days of shopping, decorating, baking, and rushing around to get everything done, Christmas Day is nearly here.

Do you have family traditions for the day itself? Most families with children likely start the day watching gifts being torn open — and quickly cast aside for the next.

A church service to celebrate the reason for the season is likely in the plans for many.

Back when a white Christmas was a virtual guarantee, we would spend the day sled riding with all the relatives who were there, and Mom would be inside baking something wonderful. Often, a children’s movie was on television that night for us to watch.

That’s a plan for many on Christmas day, watching a film together. With streaming services, it’s easier to find a Christmas classic like The Nutcracker or It’s a Wonderful Life. You might even play Christmas Movie Bingo, with cards made up of common phrases or scenes from holiday shows and films — a bell rings, a child cries, a mall Santa appears.

Do you stay in, or venture outside? Some go caroling, while others deliver treats to places like nursing homes, or places where folks will remain ever vigilant despite the holiday — police stations, fire stations, emergency dispatch centers. While you’re out, take a look at the Christmas lights decorating the neighborhoods.

For some, how they dress is as big a part of the tradition as what they do. Some stay in pajamas all day, while others dress up for dinner or visiting relatives — ugly Christmas sweaters are a plus.

Whatever you and yours decide to do this holiday season, we at The Bradford Era and Bradford Publishing Co. wish you and yours a bright, happy and peaceful holiday season.