Boxing Day Traditions

I recently read an article in Hallmark Magazine about a family who celebrates Boxing Day. Growing up in Canada, the words "Boxing Day" meant the day after Christmas, which quickly translated into "biggest shopping day of the year", much like Black Friday. We would trek down to the mall, fight for a parking space and buy all those items that we didn't get for Christmas, and on sale!

While this was fun back then, the article I read made me realize that there are better ways to celebrate this holiday. The author describes how she gets the family together for a really fun, laid-back day full of games, laughter and leftovers. A highlight of the day is popping open the Christmas crackers (a definite favorite of mine). These are shiny, cardboard tubes filled with paper crowns, jokes, small gifts and trinkets. When pulled at each end, they "crack" open.

I think that this is a wonderful idea to have one last casual celebration before taking down the tree and decorations. I would love to start doing something like this each year. How about you? What do you typically do the day after Christmas?