traditions

[so1970]

what if any are your christmas traditions? in my family we always watch its a wonderful life. ring each others bells and hand out wings to the angels

[joynerk]

We usually have A Christmas Story playing on (TNT/TBS?) the 24 of Christmas Story channel! Eat too much, sit around playing with our new swag and drinking mimosas.

[The J]

My sister and I have a tradition of trying to figure out how we can escape from my mom's quickly....

[whoisjohngalt]

We usually have A Christmas Story playing on (TNT/TBS?) the 24 of Christmas Story channel!

Yeah, my DH does that too and we don't even celebrate X-mas.

[resolution]

We have started going to DH parents for Christmas. They have the tradition of his dad making a humongous barrel of rum balls and we sit around eating rum balls and playing cards.

[The J]

Oh yeah. I also watch Emmitt Otter's Jugband Christmas every year. Greatest DVD purchase ever.

[ChiTownVenture]

We watch A Christmas Story every year. We also try to go ice skating on Christmas eve, sometimes it works out sometimes not.

[Cheesy FL-Vol]

I was just telling DH the other day that I realized we did not have any traditions. We were married 8 years ago, and I already had 2 girls 14 & 15, and he had a son 7, so it has been difficult to establish something so late in the family.

We did have a neat tradition when I was growing up.

When we were younger, we went to Christmas eve children's Mass around 5, and after Mass, there was a restaurant in town that stayed open for us to pick up fried lake perch, potato salad coleslaw and fries. We had dinner when we got home, and after dinner Dad read the birth of Jesus from Luke in the Bible.

After that we had a small procession to the manger, and my younger brother carried baby Jesus, and I carried a single candle to represent the Star. We sang silent night while my brother placed Jesus in the manger. My oldest brother then put the angel on the tree and we sang Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Then the fun began, my next oldest brother plugged the tree lights in and we sang O' Christmas tree.

We always exchanged gifts from one another on Christmas eve, and Santa gifts on Christmas day (even when none of us believed in Santa anymore)

Have a wonderful, warm Christmas, and enjoy your time with family and friends!

[cronewitch]

I don't have much now, newest is Niece does Christmas Dinner. Nothing for Christmas Eve at all, Nothing for Christmas morning at all. I have 3 gifts to wrap we don't do many gifts.

Christmas growing up was cousins coming for far away to stay at grandparents house but we saw them and invited them to stay with us leaving parents with grandparents. Santa came to grandparents house Christmas Eve about 8 PM. The adults stayed upstairs and the children went to the basement. We opened nuts in shells and played darts, parents were drinking and playing cards upstairs. Then Santa would come parent called down the stairs to hurry if we wanted to see him. Big kids would make sure little kids didn't make it up the stairs quickly so they never saw Santa. There would be more gifts under the tree and something big in front unwrapped like a bike or scooter or several.

Then we would sit in the living room and someone would hand out gifts. My great grandmother, great aunt, great uncle, grandparents, parents, aunt and uncle and cousins would all be there and my brothers. We then played with the new toys and tossed aside any new clothing until about midnight when we went home taking our cousins with us.

Christmas day was at my grandparents again but was just dinner.

The past 30 years my SIL took Christmas until 2 years ago. Her kids were little and she said she was making traditions for them and we could join them but she wasn't taking them anywhere.

She let them open one gift Christmas eve, it turned out it was always pajamas or a robe they could put on and go to bed then. Christmas morning they were allowed one gift then they needed to have homemade cinnamon rolls while she had coffee before opening the rest. Then she cooked Christmas dinner for everyone. She is making homemade cinnamon rolls tomorrow so her kids are probably coming to her house in the morning. Her daughter is doing Christmas now but she will bring the dinner rolls and probably pies, she makes good pies

We all bring food for Christmas I always bring deviled eggs and usually a raw veggie platter and sometimes Chex party mix. I will bring deviled eggs, stuffed celery and Chex mix as well as folding chairs since I have some and a truck. So I will spend Christmas morning making the food to take.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Every year, we go to a local park at some point during the day and feed the ducks. This year, I'll do that without my wonderful DH (he's deployed) ... but the ducks will be happy.

[joynerk]

Dec 24, 2010 12:53:54 GMT -5 cronewitch said:

. Santa came to grandparents house Christmas Eve about 8 PM. The adults stayed upstairs and the children went to the basement. We opened nuts in shells and played darts, parents were drinking and playing cards upstairs. Then Santa would come parent called down the stairs to hurry if we wanted to see him. Big kids would make sure little kids didn't make it up the stairs quickly so they never saw Santa.

That's great! I love the idea that they just missed Santa!

[Deleted]

When I first got out of college, I was living 5 hours away from family so I sent out Christmas cards with 2-page letters to everyone. They were individualized letters, not a photocopy of one single letter. I've kept this up for 35 years now. Every year at least one person tells me how much they look forward to my notes and it always makes me feel good- it's something I can do for not much money and without going to the malls, and it's very personalized. The letters were a bit late this year since I was in Zurich the first week of December and the week after was crazy at work (and then I'd get sleepy at 7 PM).

I guess our other tradition is to visit my parents in Myrtle Beach and stay in the Best Western, where we have a room with kitchen facilities and a balcony on the ocean for under $50/night. My Dad just turned 80 and Mom isn't far behind, so we know these visits won't go on forever and treasure the time we have with them.

[Deleted]

My new DH has started (and ended) a few traditions. Ever since my divorce 12 years ago, the tradition was pizza on Thanksgiving and chili on Christmas eve. My adult kids loved it because they got plenty of turkey, etc. at the other half-dozen places they went.

My DH couldn't stand it. He did give in on pizza for Thanksgiving because we were late on the circuit, and he recognized a third turkey dinner in one day might not be appreciated. But on Christmas eve. He completely changed the menu to ham, green beans, and boiled potatoes. Um, we are Southern, and we don't do boiled potatoes much. My kids kept telling the grandkids that these were DIY mashed potatoes.

The new tradition, though, is cool. Last year he found them stockings where you insert pictures. They hang them on Thanksgiving. On Christmas eve they found them filled with all the little junky things that parents won't buy. There were bouncy balls, stickers, some balloon pump shooter, yo-yos, mini play-doughs, a splatter ball, etc.

The grandkids liked the little presents better than the bigger ones. Of course, the oldest of the four is now seven. There were also two fours and a two-year-old.

[kgb18]

We have so many Christmas traditions that it's hard to keep up with them. Pretty much from the 23rd through the 26th we have dinners, parties, go to church, eat, drink, make merry, play board games, have gift exchanges. It's like our own little Christmas festival. Watching "A Christmas Story" is part of that tradition.

[Nazgul Girl]

We have started to travel frequently on Christmas, usually to Florida, either to WDW or to Marco Island to spend Christmas with my father and stepmother. They are really up there in years so we're trying to grab all of the good times while we still can.

Also, we always absolutely MUST watch "A Christmas Story" at least twice each year. We tell each other the best parts before they come on next. It's weird, but then, Ralphie & Randy exert a powerful, unexplainable influence over us.