Tell us about your Christmas (Holiday) Traditions

[Sparrow]

How many people will be camcordering the pressie openings?

That seems to be a new tradition with many people I know in the past few years; but I feel a bit ambivalent about it. They want to capture the moment; but is the moment genuine if you know you've got a camera recording your every move?
These days I'm reluctant to throw one of my tantrums if I don't get what I want, for fear of being made to watch it afterwards.

[pshrynk]

Get up on the day we celebrate, ususally not Christmas, and watch the grandkids taz through their presents. Then eat a big breakfast and watch football.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

Oh yeah, and the tree (fake, always fake) goes up right around this time and goes down sometime after new yearʻs.

The Tree!!! I was always a die hard "Its gotta be a REAL tree dammit!!"..........

Until the night I had to rush my 8 yr old daughter to emergency, wondering if we were going to make it before she died unable to breathe........

Turns out she had an allergy to an invisible mold that is rampant on many trees from the northwest......which is where our lot got theirs...

Seriously.......we were sitting by the tree, happily wrapping presents, and suddenly she starts wheezing.....which quickly turned into a "I can't catch my breath, mommy" in a tiny, scared voice.

Got to the ER.........she was give a shot of something, "ephridine" I think, and when they pulled up her shirt, she was covered in huge red welts, which disappeared before my eyes as her breathing improved.

The doc asked what we had been doing.......I explained and he told me about the trees.

Went home, she stayed in the car while I yanked that tree , lights, ornaments, tinsel and all, thru the doorway and out into the yard, then vacuumed and opened the windows.

The neighbors much have thought they were living next door to crazy people.

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Thank you for that uplifting post, Harry.

Now, being thoroughly depressed, I shall go shave my head, wear a hair shirt for penance, and walk thru the streets beating my back with a strap studded with small nails.

Need any help sweetie?

[pshrynk]

The tree in the yard probably contributed to that, as well...

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

The tree in the yard probably contributed to that, as well...

Not to mention me cursing at it whilst trying to fling it.......no easy feat with a 6 1/2 foot tree......

Its funny now............

[Greg Anos]

South Texas is such a hodge-podge of people that I can't give any one custom. here are a few varied ones.

Tamales!!!! (In the hispanic community) Yum, Yum...

Going out in the sun to do things (weather permitting. 10 points extra for a Green Christmas...Yes, 3 out of 10 years we have a Green Christmas in San Antonio - No freeze before Dec 25)

Rednecks like to BBQ in the sun, if it's sunny.

See extended families....

[Katti's Cat]

Christmas for me is as much about Christmas as the period leading up to it with the traditional German Advent - for 4 sundays prior to Christmas you light a candle, starting with 1, 2 3 and last sunday before 4 candles. It's about the smell of baking cookies, cold winterevenings, mulled wine.

Christmas for me is about family getting together, enjoying some downtime.

Since I moved to Australia, I only partake in Christmas when I get to go home to Germany. I grew up with real Christmastrees with real beewax candles. Christmas at 40 degrees Celcius just doesn't do it for me.

[Donnageddon]

Our family is pretty traditional (ie. BORING!)

We start the festivities on the day after Thanksgiving, when we inject the soon-to-be-harvested Christmas trees with invisible mold.

Then two weeks before Christmas (NO SOONER PLEASE!) we begin fattening the Xmas Cats. Lots of organ meat and bacon grease, supplemented with catnip to make it palatable. As the Xmas Cats are being readied for the traditional Christmas feast we all exchange the Christmas beanies (I said we were traditionalist, didn't I? I know some people don't bother with these details, but we find it comforting to do it RIGHT!) I always hate the day I have to wear the Three Wise Men beanie, but I am always uplifted and pretty much strut like a prize winning Xmas Cat all day when it is my turn to wear the Little Drummer Boy beanie. It is these little things that make for a happy Christmas memory

Now, three days before Christmas, we begin weighing the Xmas Cats, and releasing the ones that are not meeting traditional expectations.

The night before Christmas, we go trick-or-treating. Oddly enough, this rarely ends well. Traditionalists like us, are far and few between. Most people stare at our bunny suits and laugh, until we inform them that unless they give us candy we will TP their house. Sometimes the Police get involved. I think we will skip this tradition this year, although it breaks my heart to do so. <sigh> Oh well, one must learn to get along in a multicultural world.

But all this painstaking preparation is worth it when we see the joy in the Xmas Cats eyes on Christmas day when we release the Xmas mice, and gather the children around to watch them being chased around the miniature manger.

You just cannot manufacture that kind of joy in China and buy it at Wal-Mart.

I just love Christmas!

[kindlekitten]

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

Our family is pretty traditional (ie. BORING!)

We start the festivities on the day after Thanksgiving, when we inject the soon-to-be-harvested Christmas trees with invisible mold.

Then two weeks before Christmas (NO SOONER PLEASE!) we begin fattening the Xmas Cats. Lots of organ meat and bacon grease, supplemented with catnip to make it palatable. As the Xmas Cats are being readied for the traditional Christmas feast we all exchange the Christmas beanies (I said we were traditionalist, didn't I? I know some people don't bother with these details, but we find it comforting to do it RIGHT!) I always hate the day I have to wear the Three Wise Men beanie, but I am always uplifted and pretty much strut like a prize winning Xmas Cat all day when it is my turn to wear the Little Drummer Boy beanie. It is these little things that make for a happy Christmas memory

Now, three days before Christmas, we begin weighing the Xmas Cats, and releasing the ones that are not meeting traditional expectations.

The night before Christmas, we go trick-or-treating. Oddly enough, this rarely ends well. Traditionalists like us, are far and few between. Most people stare at our bunny suits and laugh, until we inform them that unless they give us candy we will TP their house. Sometimes the Police get involved. I think we will skip this tradition this year, although it breaks my heart to do so. <sigh> Oh well, one must learn to get along in a multicultural world.

But all this painstaking preparation is worth it when we see the joy in the Xmas Cats eyes on Christmas day when we release the Xmas mice, and gather the children around to watch them being chased around the miniature manger.

You just cannot manufacture that kind of joy in China and buy it at Wal-Mart.

I just love Christmas!

Me too!

Err! What planet did you say you were from?

[montsnmags]

My family would have a tree put up whenever before Christmas. We'd open presents on Chrissie morning. There'd be a hot lunch of roast something (beef and/or pork) with roast potatoes and pumpkin and sometimes onion, with a side of steamed beans and carrot, all smothered in pan-juice gravy. There'd be a flaming boiled pudding served with custard, fresh cream, or icecream (or, in my case, "Why must I pick just one?"). There was Christmas fruit cake, covered in marzipan and icing and decorated with these little dwarf/Santa's helpers ornaments and Santa and his reindeer. Lunch usually ended up being about 3pm, and continued a few hours later with dinner of reheated the same. All this was often in a hot, RAAF house on a 35-40C summer day, or in similar heated circumstance at a grandparents' house. Hot roasts on Christmas Day in Oz... probably not the most practical of traditions. But Pools and surf also generally feature highly in Christmas memories.

Now, I might put a Christmas tree up here... or not... it depends how I feel. I'm sure as hell not driving 1200km to Mum's to sleep on the floor with my two dogs and deal with a whole lot of families (brothers' and sister's) crammed into a small house and getting on each others' nerves. We'll have cold roast meats and assorted salads and nibblies here at Chateau Pompette, and still probably a boiled pudding that mum will send in the post or bring up some time beforehand. There will be no Christmas cake, because I don't like fruit cake. If any of my family want to come over, they're welcome. If they all want to come and stay, they're welcome. If none of them do, they're welcome to that too. If any obligation is raised and enforced by "tradition", the tradition becomes meaningless to me. Most of the time, that's the way it is in our family - they're so busy tallying up the ways expectations and obligations of "Family" and "Tradition" aren't met, that they have no idea just what the terms even mean to themselves anymore ("It's important", but none can say why). To me Christmas is about pleasure... pleasure of good company, pleasure of relaxation, pleasure in the food, and pleasure in the giving of thoughtful presents. Mostly though it's a nice day when most folks around are pretty happy and laid back, the food is good and plenty, the drinks are nice, and kids are in the streets playing with their toys, or families are wandering or driving down to the beach in the afternoon. It's a good day that's mostly lost its meaning in my family, because for some it has become the end rather than the means. But I don't care, as I've no tie to the day (being an atheist), and so I enjoy it as I choose to enjoy it.

Feel free to make your own way here. I'll be here. There's plenty of food & drink, there's the pool, the beach, a place to sleep, and no-one obliging you to do anything and every encouragement given to do nothing. Screw tradition if it's become a watchword for obligation. I'm all about the hedonism.

Cheers,
Marc

[GeoffC]

two artificial trees
two main rooms decked out - one in a blue/white theme, the other red.
pressies wrapped in blue/red, and we move between rooms to open them
games, films, food, wine/beer,
joy
happiness
brilliant !

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

And then there's the "traditional" Father Christmas, of course, who comes from Coca Cola advertising in the 1930s .

And they got him from Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas), who was the patron saint of children, unmarried women, merchants and sailors....

When I was young, Saint Nicholas was for presents for us, children. We got toys and such (the stuff kids "really" want). We also "celebrated" christmas. We did decorate a tree and the house, but more in the original sense of christmas trees: making light in the middle of the winter when it was darkest outside.

We also got presents under the tree. But those presents were more meant for the entire family (board games, for example) or for mental advancement (such as books). We always unwrapped them in the morning, at breakfast. Which was always very elaborate on christmas morning and could take hours! No lunch (breakfast was too long ) and a fun dinner, most of the times gourmet (typical Dutch, apparently, where you prepare your own food at the table).

Christmas for us was most often a time to get together, and relax.

These days, I completely agree with Harry. It's only a commercial celebration where most people don't even know where it all started. Why do you give gifts? Why do you put a tree in the house and light it up?

Oh, we're going to my mother's this year, and we'll be giving small presents, those you don't really need but are fun to give. For me, that's the most enjoyable part of christmas, the giving of completely useless gifts!

[phenomshel]

Ok, well my mother was truly twisted. When I was small, we put up the tree a few weeks before Christmas (usually a live tree). Santa Claus was always under strict instructions to "Slam the front door" when he left as a signal for me to get up and open gifts. Of course, this usually ended up being around midnight on Christmas Eve (when mom and dad got done putting together/setting up whatever the big gift was that year). After opening and playing with for awhile, I'd always get sleepy and go back to bed.
Later, after dad died, we started spending Christmas Eve at Aunt Audrey's house. We always had a family Christmas Eve party at one of the relative's houses, then we'd go back to my Aunt Audrey's and my cousin and I would wait til everyone was asleep and then creep into the living room and get into our stockings. One year my mom caught us, and after that they either put embarrassing stuff like underwear in the stockings, or wrapped every last thing including pieces of candy so we couldn't see anything even if we got into the stockings (spoilsports!).
Then a big dinner, which was usually a joint effort between my mom and my aunt, after my dad passed away, then the adults would yell at football on tv, and me and my cousin would go to her room and listen to her latest music CD and nap.