Saturday Chit-Chat (December2)
Do you and your family have special traditions for the holidays (primarily Christmas or any holiday in December)?
JD: For us, it’s just all about spending it with family. That’s our tradition, and it’s pretty simple. When I first met my husband, he and his family celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve, which we still do. This is nice because it leaves Christmas day open for my family, and we don’t feel like there is a “tug-of-war” issue of who to spend Christmas day with. We know that we’ll be at his family’s on Christmas Eve, and after we open our presents on Christmas morning, we spend the afternoon with my family. It’s a nice balance and has saved us from feeling “split in two”, so to speak! I think when my own girls are married we’ll do the same thing — celebrate with them on Christmas Eve, and let them have Christmas day to spend with their husband’s family.
CP: Hmmm … We always say the blessings and light the Menorah before the kids get their gifts. Of course this is supposed to ensure that they appreciate the holiday traditions and reasons behind the holiday but you know the truth. They’re kids and they want to rush through the candles and get to the presents! Still I know that when they get older, the fact that we kept this tradition will push them to keep it with their families too. I also put an electric Menorah in a window in the front of the house and we light it at night, one more bulb each night, just like the Menorah with the wax candles in the kitchen.
LK: I remember so strongly growing up with very special traditions unique to my family, so when my girls were born, I wanted to do the same thing for them. So to this day, as soon as Santa Claus marches by in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, my hubby puts on the same Christmas CD. We are NOT allowed to have ANY evidence of Christmas in the house before that moment–no movies, no music, no decorations. (Of course, I’ve been shopping & stashing gifts away for 11 1/2 months!) Thanksgiving night we typically watch a Christmas movie–quite often The Muppet Christmas Carol. We all watch our entire collection of Christmas movies over the next few weeks. The same ones–year after year. Then, on the day we decorate our Christmas tree, I make a big pot of my spaghetti sauce (this is a big deal, an all-day thing.) We all put everything on the tree, but there are certain “special” ornaments that have to be put on the tree by one person or another. And we all put our name ornaments on together.
After that day, I freeze the sauce, then thaw it out on Christmas Eve. I make a big tray of lasagna, so my Italian hubby gets a little taste of the food he grew up with during the holidays. That night, we all get in our jammies–quite often the girls’ would be new, and matching–and we sit around the tree for hubby to read The Night Before Christmas. Drinking hot cider (sometimes with the A.C. blasting in Florida, just so it would “feel” like Christmas…lol!) After that, we each get to open just one present. Then it’s cookies & milk & wine for Santa. (Hey, Santa likes coming to my house!) When they were little, the girls would go to bed and about five hours later they would finally fall asleep and we could bring in big haul from all the places in the house where I’d hidden it. Now that they’re older, the two teenagers love being “in on” the big bringing-out ceremony. They love finding out where I’ve had everything hidden throughout the holiday season and they inevitably sucker us into letting them open a Santa gift or two.
Boy, this is going on so long…sorry! To finish up–Christmas day is filled with presents and food and friends and family. Sometimes we go to relatives, or they come to our house. Some years it’s just been the five of us, which is every bit as special. Funny, we’ve got this new’ish tradition: for the past few years we’ve been watching Monty Python & the Holy Grail on Christmas night! The girls now expect it. Boy, I love the holidays!
JEL: I have so many Christmas traditions in my family, but my favorite is Christmas Eve. We celebrate Noche Buena (the Cuban Christmas Eve) with all the trimmings…roast pork, black beans and rice, platanos, the works. My aunt makes the most delicious deviled crabs in the universe and it’s a goal to see who can eat the most. Now keep in mind we have about 40 people for this event, so she makes hundreds of the suckers and they go fast. She can barely get them out of the deep fryer before people are picking them off, dousing them with hot sauce and inhaling what’s left. If someone is going to be late, others have been known to take a few and hide them for the late arriver…but sometimes, we forgot where we hid them. I remember the year my mother had a very funny smell coming from her cookbook cabinet…where she discovered moldy deviled crabs two months after Christmas Eve! (She rarely uses cookbooks!) We eat a lot, we laugh even more and at the end of the night, we sing happy birthday to my brother, who was a Christmas baby. And yes, we open presents. I’m the Christmas Elf, replete with hat…my father was always Santa, but after a surgery a few years ago, I took over and I’ve been doing it ever since. Good times, this! My favorite night of the year.
Got to say out christmas was like that however since every one is gone it’s grandpa and grandma house they all gather at and I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF MY CHILDRED AND GRANDCHILDED WITH US
HAPPY HOILDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by sue — December 2, 2006 @ 8:38 am
LK- your tradtions sound exactly like ours- except I have to get the outside decorations up early to beat the snow and frozen ground. But right after the parade all bets are off!!
CP- this year we will be going to NYC for a Hanaaka (sp?) party with our son, daughter-in-law (who is Jewish) and our twin grandsons. I am looking forward to adding one more tradition to our family holidays.
Maybe because in our family we have so many different celebrations, wishing someone Happy Holidays doesn’t rankle as much with me. But I still prefer
Comment by ev — December 2, 2006 @ 10:57 am
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!
(the puter got away from me!!)
Comment by ev — December 2, 2006 @ 10:57 am
We are pretty traditional around the holidays and Janelle’s Christmas Eve and Day, family visits have always worked well here too. After my granddaughter was about 3 we developed a new tradition. She hated spinach so my dh wrapped up a can and gave it to her. It was all about getting that “ewwwe photo op” The following year she hid it in something and when he openned it even her Mom was surprised it was in the box. Now every year the one who has the Christmas spinach slips it into someone’s gift and it always gets a laugh. Just a silly thing that makes for some holiday cheer.
Happy Holidays all!
Comment by jeannie — December 2, 2006 @ 11:29 am
Jeannie — I love that tradition. Very cute!
My girls are bugging me to drag out the Christmas tree and ornaments today. It’s about 70 degrees here in Southern California, and it so doesn’t “feel” like Christmas, LOL!
Comment by Janelle — December 2, 2006 @ 12:42 pm
Love reading about all the Christmas traditions……….
Comment by Cryna — December 2, 2006 @ 1:21 pm
Oh Janelle give in. I have so down sized over the years. When I was young I had the tree with all Hallmark ornaments and being a teacher I got lots of them around the holidays. The neighborhood kids loved to visit for hot chocolate and the special tree. We have a small fiber light tree now it is easier for us working and age etc. My favorite thing is to watch the childrens eyes light up as they oooo and ahhhh. There is something very special about the look on a child’s face where they are shining in the glow of lights or candles. Does anyone remember when all the store windows had small villages and moving people. Every window was different. I’m sure it still happens in some big city windows but I haven’t seen anything like ones in my memories for 40 years. My favorite thing at the holidays is the way the house never loses it’s delicious aromas. Back to work here so I can afford :present::present:
Comment by jeannie — December 2, 2006 @ 3:00 pm
Love these insightful Saturday blogs!
Comment by Estella — December 2, 2006 @ 3:55 pm
I love reading all the unique and different Christmas traditions everyone has. My husband and I like to make special tags on our presents for each other that say something funny or special. We have kept them all from the past 21 years! (I need to scrapbook them into a binder)
Our traditions are going around each year and looking at all the Christmas lights in town on people’s houses. Then, we like driving through the large parks near us that have these huge light displays that we like to drive through at least a dozen times!
We always watch all the Christmas specials every year, Charlie Brown, the Grinch, etc. We play Christmas music through the holidays. Little by little I decorate the house inside and out. We just started buying a live Christmas tree last year. We used to put up an artificial tree.
We gather at my mom’s for Christmas. We usually have a nice dinner and open our presents after that. We go to our church for the special Christmas program they have every year. Also, my husband and I always go the Madrigal dinner that our high school puts on every year. That is always so much fun and puts you into the spirit.
Also, my husband and I just started a tradition last year of going to the Star Plaza Theater in Merrilville, Indiana to see the Christmas concert special. This year it is Peabo Bryson, Stepahnie Mills, James Ingram, and Deniece Williams. That should be fantastic!
Have a blessed and Merry Christmas everyone!
Comment by Michele L. — December 2, 2006 @ 10:55 pm
Our Christmas eve tradition has always been homemade pizza by my dad(I still really only like his pizza to this day). We always left pizza and beer for Santa(as a child I never really thought this was strange either)LOL. Christmas eve we always go to the 11 pm Christmas service and are just finishing up the service when Christmas day arrives.One of my family’s biggest traditions now actually happens the weekend before Christmas. All of my Dad’s brother’s and sister’s and all their families come in to town on the same weekend and we just sit around talking, eating, drinking, visiting, eating and just having a blast!!! I look forward to that day all year long.
Comment by Liza — December 3, 2006 @ 9:19 am
It sounds like everyone has some fun traditions for the holidays. Since I am divorced the traditions have changed & changed more when my daughters became adults & started their own families. One daughter has always lived close by & the other daughter has mostly lived in other states, several of them! I often spend Christmas Eve alone & that is okay it gives me an evening of calm & doing anything I want! Christmas Day I usually go to my daughters. When my grandson was younger he & his mom use to come to my house for Christmas Eve but now that he is a teenager we don’t do that any more. My daughter works at a hospital & I don’t know what her schedule is yet for Christmas & Christmas Eve. What ever I do will be enjoyable.
:love2:
Comment by Donna M — December 3, 2006 @ 4:08 pm
You ladies have wonderful traditions.
A guess one of the nicest we still do is load up the family and drive to all the houses and subdivisions to look at ther Christmas decorations. This includes the family dog. :doggie:
We always go over to my mom and dads house Christmas Eve (like Janelle) and open presents. Like you Julie I am Santa’s helper (yep, I wear the red hat) and pass out presents. We have been doing this everyyear since I married in 1984.
The Christmas Eve meal is usually lasagne or pizza.
I remeber when I was a kid having to get up Christmas Morning open presents then we had to leave for grandma and grandpa which was over an hour away. I could only take one of my new toys with me. I hated going. I think all my cousins felt the same way. We wanted to stay home and play with the new toys.
Comment by Gigi — December 4, 2006 @ 9:42 am
I really enjoyed reading all the plot monkeys holiday traditions. I am Jewish and my husband in not. So we have the Menorahs and a tree. I felt so comfy and happy reading your pieces. My mom-in-law( we get along-mostly) is cuban and we do x-mas eve with her and my husbands family. It was a culture shock for me at first but after 20 years of marriage I really look forward to it. If it is during Hannukka we bring a dreydil( they all have one too, from us, so we have lots of dreydils spinnning about!) and play and I make or bring the Potato Latkas( w applesauce of course). It is a nice blending.Happy Holidays everybody!
Comment by Sue Mont — December 4, 2006 @ 3:17 pm