For most of my childhood, Christmas meant abundance in the most literal sense.

My mom baked twelve kinds of Christmas cookies. She also made three different layered desserts. She did all this while preparing a five-course Christmas Eve dinner. The table was full, the kitchen never rested, and somehow everything was done with love — and a lot of exhaustion.

This year, my Christmas looks different.

Not because I don’t care.
But because I care about how it feels — especially now that I have a six-year-old.

Choosing a Slower Christmas (Without Losing Tradition)

Slowing down Christmas doesn’t mean rejecting Central European traditions.
It means translating them into a life that looks different from our mothers’.

We are a family of three. We never manage to eat everything anyway. And I’ve learned that more food, more baking, more pressure does not automatically mean more magic.

So here is what I’m actually doing this Christmas.

Baking Less — and Doing It Together

I baked two kinds of Christmas cookies:

• crescent cookies
• gingerbread cookies

They are not perfectly shaped. Some crescents are thicker than others. The gingerbread shapes are a little uneven. And that’s exactly the point. We used various cookie cutters collected over the years. A good starting kit could be bought here: https://amzn.to/4iYXdUN. You can also see on the picture I use wooden rolling pin like this one: https://amzn.to/4oZimQe.

My six-year-old helped. We baked together. We laughed. The kitchen was messy. And the cookies taste just as good.

I may also bake one Christmas dessert — not three.

I’m deciding between:

• a honey cream slice (a layered honey cake with custard, known at home as medový krémeš), because it’s my absolute favorite
• or a layered sponge cake (often called a meter cake), because I’ve been craving it for weeks

One dessert feels generous enough.

Keeping the Advent Wreath Ritual

Some traditions stay — because they slow us down instead of speeding us up.

We kept the Advent wreath.
Every Advent Sunday, we light one more candle. Next year I would love to remember it ahead of time and buy a real beeswax candles like these: https://amzn.to/4oZisHA.

No rush. No performance. Just a quiet moment that marks time passing in a gentle way. This ritual anchors December for us more than anything else.

Christmas Crafts, Not Perfect Decorations

We don’t decorate everything by hand — and that’s okay.

But we did make Christmas crafts together, mostly drawings and pictures. They’re now part of our decorations, slightly crooked, full of personality, and deeply ours.

Children don’t need perfect aesthetics.
They need to feel involved.

Simplifying Christmas Eve Dinner

In many Czech, Slovak, and Austrian homes, Christmas Eve dinner is a multi-course affair.

We simplified it.

We cook one main course:

• fish with potato salad

That’s it.

We actually enjoy it more this way — and we finally eat everything we prepare.

Moving Sauerkraut Soup to New Year’s Eve

Instead of adding another course on Christmas Eve, we cook sauerkraut soup on New Year’s Eve.

It’s warming, nourishing, and perfect for winter. We make it hearty, with:

• lots of smoked sausage
• our own dried mushrooms from autumn foraging

Sauerkraut is healthy, grounding, and deeply seasonal — exactly what winter food should be.

(If you’re curious about mushroom picking, I’ve shared a simple foraging guide here →https://slowlivingincentraleurope.com/2025/10/07/explore-natures-bounty-edible-plants-throughout-the-seasons/)

What Slowing Down Really Means to Me

For me, a slower Christmas means:

• fewer expectations
• fewer dishes
• less rushing
• more presence

It means choosing traditions that support us, not exhaust us.

My child will not remember how many cookies I baked.
They will remember that I was there — sitting at the table, baking beside them, lighting candles, eating dinner together.

And that feels like enough.

A Different Kind of Central European Christmas

Our mothers did Christmas their way — and they did it with love.

We can honor that without repeating everything exactly as it was.

A slower Christmas doesn’t mean less tradition.
It means making space for breathing, connection, and quiet joy.

And that, to me, is the most beautiful Christmas I can offer.

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