Your Holiday Thing?

[Anderson'sAllPurpose]

I'm bad at traditions, although I'm reaching that age when I'm realizing that if I don't keep them alive, nobody will. Still, the only thing I've done for decorations this year is I put up the angel chimes next to the laptop.
Also, since I don't have a TV I won't be able to participate in The Most Important Swedish Christmas Tradition Ever!!! (Sure, I could watch it on YouTube but that defies the whole point.)

[Greyhaunt]

I don't have any holiday traditions at all...

Well it's time to make one! I think you should do something with your dolls every year

My family do the gifts on Xmas Eve as well - and yes, it's a german tradition. My parents both emmigrated to the US long before I was born and they come from Germany! We had a lot of old world traditions, but it's my mother who decided Xmas was only for kids and cut most of them out. I'm the Xmas junky of the family, but the past few years have been hard ones for me to build up the spirit.

My dream is to one day have a home of my own (not an apartment) where I can put out a display of tacky light up plastic decorations in my front yard. None of those new fangled inflatables for me- I want plastic snowmen!!!

[coloredimage]

We can't watch Kalle Anka here for obvious reasons, but my mother and I love this tradition!

[KitKat]

My husband and I watch The muppets christmas carol and Hogfather. Then we get to open one Christmas Eve present.

[Trethowan]

Luckily the husband's side does Christmas on the 24th and my side on the 25th. On the 24th with the in-laws we do the Christmas poppers with the little crowns inside, sing carols, then open gifts after a reading of Scripture that talks about the origins of Christmas: Luke chapter 2: vs.8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Personally I hate singing carols but my mother in law is a musician and was choir director at her church so by golly we sing. Well, she sings. I sort of warble. You don't want to hear me sing.

My side is a little different. On the 25th my husband and I will do our presents then drive to my side of the family. We'll have a big fancy breakfast together (Mom will make a quiche or eggs Benedict.) We usually do presents, go shooting, have a lunch with my husband's family then go back to mine for the big Christmas dinner. We'll generally watch the George C. Scott Christmas Carol that evening.

We bounce back and forth a lot between families but we're just lucky both his parents and mine are in teh same town and here for the holidays. This will be the first Christmas without my grandmother so I don't know what Granddad will do. For Thanksgiving he shut up in the house and wouldn't do dinner with anyone and we don't know what will happen for Christmas this year.

[Kirahfaye]

I know what you mean Trethowan - if my mom's best friend didn't threaten to come over and force-ably drag her over for any of the holidays, she'd just sit in that too big for one person house by herself. And probably cry. I hate that she's so far away and there isn't the money for any of us to travel for a visit, but she flat refuses to move up here with us ...

My mom does have one interesting Christmas tradition that only she could accomplish - she would wrap everyone's presents up (with festive ribbons and bows to boot), but not put a single name tag on any of them until either very late on Christmas Eve or very early Christmas morning. She never got anyone's gifts mixed up and to this day we still don't know how she did it, though my sister and I used to inspect each present every year to find out.

[Evelien]

I don't have any holiday traditions at all...

Well it's time to make one! I think you should do something with your dolls every year :

Perhaps I should. I'll think about it . You know, Christmas isn't big in Holland the way it's big everywhere else. We hardly exchange gifts, we do that on December 5th. To me Christmas is about having dinner with your family and your inlaws. First Christmas day is spent with my inlaws this year, second Christmas day is all about my own family. We're having my parents and siblings over for dinner on the 26th. We're gonna try and serve a luxury restaurant-like dinner

[Nella]

Well I'm spending part of the 24th and Christmas dinner with my boyfriend's family. My family's tradition is opening one present on Christmas Eve, if we have multiple presents but since my older sister is in Japan, there aren't many presents under the tree. On boxing day, my granny gets four rooms at a nice hotel for the day and my family has a huge pool party.

The pool party is my granny's present to the whole family. It all started when my great-grandfather looked at his daughter, 6 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. He figured that buying everyone a present would be too much work, so instead he would rent some hotel rooms so we could party without having to worry about cleaning up plus use the hotel pool with water-slide. After he died, my Granny looked at her 6 children and 10 great grandchildren and decided to keep the tradition going.

There's also the usual Christmas stockings and watching of Christmas specials. When I was little, we would watch The Nightmare Before Christmas for both Halloween and Christmas. We only have the VHS copy though and our videocassette player died a few years back.

[Lamia of the Dark]

........ I don't have one.

[Linteia]

Christmas Eve is a throw up: sometimes we spend it with family sometimes not. Regardless of what we do earlier, Christmas Eve night we always bake Santa cookies and Kiddo opens one present (pajamas for Christmas photos) and then bed. D and I stay up late watching Christmas specials and enjoying the more adult Christmas luxuries like real eggnog until there's no chance A is awake anymore and we fix up the stockings, put out the Santa presents and try to sleep ourselves. As a rule Christmas is off limits to family. Christmas Eve is fine, but Christmas is just for us to spend time together. I love right after the presents are open and we sit back with our gifts, turn on our Christmas repertoire and stick the goose in the oven for Christmas dinner. It feels so special getting out my great grandmother's china and my grandmother-in-law's crystal and setting the table. The house gets warm and aromatic as dinner comes together and then we sit down and stuff ourselves silly as we talk about Christmas growing up.

Yeah, we love Christmas! Unfortunately there's no goose this year, and we do have guests, but despite getting a late start at everything (we just finished Christmas shopping and decorating today) we're still stoked about CHRISTMAS IN TWO DAYS!!!!