Give and share your family tree at Christmas

Christmas is the one evening of the year when three or four generations sit at the same table. It is the right moment to bring out the family tree, give it to those who have never seen it, and ask the oldest what is still missing.

1. Get the tree ready before the 24th

A complete tree is not necessary, a readable one is. Aim for three or four generations around the people who will be at the table, the grandparents, their brothers and sisters, their parents. That is where everyone finds themselves, and where the questions come up on their own.

Start with what you know, then add the dates and places you find in birth and marriage certificates. If you already have a tree in genealogy software or on a genealogy website, export it as a GEDCOM file. Most tools can import it, and it saves you evenings of typing.

Keep a week for the photos. One portrait per person changes everything, even a blurry one, even one cropped from a group photo. The guide Making a family tree with photos explains how to scan them with a phone.

2. The gift, printed or online

A printed, framed family tree is a real gift, especially for grandparents. You can start from one of our printable family tree templates, free, to print at home or enlarge at a print shop. Fill it in by hand, the handwriting is part of the gift.

A printed tree has one limit. It stays with one person and never changes. An online tree opens on everyone's phone, keeps the photos, the videos and the voices, and keeps growing after the holidays. The two go well together, the poster for the grandparents and the link for everyone else.

3. Show it at the table

Avoid the phone that goes around the table while the conversation carries on without it. Two ways work better.

On the living room TV, if it can show a phone or computer screen. The whole family sees the tree on the big screen, and whoever holds the phone opens people as they are asked for. That is when you hear “wait, who is he?”.

Or by sending the link to the family group chat at dessert. Everyone opens it on their phone and looks for their parents, their children, their own childhood photo. The youngest go first, and they show the oldest.

4. Let the elders tell their stories

A tree on display gets people talking. A wrong date, a forgotten first name, a photo nobody had seen. Write it all down, and above all, record. Three minutes of a grandmother's voice telling a story are worth more than a page written for her.

Put the phone on the table, start the recorder, and ask for one specific story rather than memories in general. The guide Telling your family's story has the questions that work best.

5. Let the family fill it in

That same evening, someone will say “grandpa’s sister is missing” or “that is not the right date”. It is the best moment to add it, while the person who knows is there. In a shared tree, anyone can suggest what they know from their phone, and you approve it before it shows. The uncle with the wedding photos adds them himself, the cousin fixes her mother's place of birth.

6. After the holidays, send the link again

Christmas photos end up buried in the family group chat, with those of the years before. Put them on the tree, each photo on the people it shows, each recording on the person speaking. Then send the link again in early January, with what was added since Christmas Eve. Those who were not there discover it, and the tree keeps growing until next Christmas.

Parenthèse is made for this moment. It is an online family tree where each person has their photos, their videos and their voice. The family opens it with a link and a password, without creating an account, and suggests additions. You stay in control of what is published. It is free, and it will stay free.

Frequently asked questions