Christmas traditions
It seems like most everyone is having a small Christmas this year. Our family is going to join that growing group. We've had a tough year financially, so not many people are getting gifts from us. In fact, if it weren't for Grandparents, our girls would not be getting many gifts at all. Instead, we're going to focus on continuing traditions.
Unfortunately, we won't be able to visit family this year (part of my Christmas tradition), but there are other parts of the holidays that I plan to pass on. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and I hope to pass that sense of enjoyment on to the girls. Some of my favorite memories of this time of year are making Christmas cookies with my grandma. We would spend a weekend making cookies, breads, and candies that would be distributed among family members for Christmas. When I was in Lubbock, I was surrounded by people who also loved to bake; so, each year before everyone left for the Christmas holidays we'd have a cookie day, where everyone would bake different types of cookies, and then mix and match samples to take home to their families. So, this weekend, I will be making Christmas cookies with Erin and next year I will include Moira. I hope to continue as they get older as part of our holiday tradition.
We're also going to put up decorations this weekend. Trimming the tree was a big deal in my family as well. We all helped and it was something I really looked forward to. For many reasons, we're not putting up a big tree, but we have a small tree with all the trimmings and lots of other decorations to make the house look more festive. As the girls get older, I'd like to make trimming the tree a special event. I had a friend in Lubbock who had a large tree trimming party every year. Lots of people, lots of food, good drinks and tree trimming. Each person there would put an ornament on the tree and by the time the night was over, the tree was beautifully decorated. I'm not sure it will go that far with us, but it's a good idea.
John and I had different experiences in terms of opening presents and how they appeared under the tree. Because I was surrounded by lots of family and we had multiple stops to make, Christmas spread out over multiple days. Our presents were always under the tree on Christmas eve. After midnight mass, we got to open one present and then saved the rest for the next day. At night, Santa deposited a few more gifts and filled our stockings. My brother and I would wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning and try to contain our excitement as long as we could, but presents were normally opened before 5 AM. Then we had Christmas at my Grandma's on Christmas day and Christmas at my Grandpa's later in the week. John's family always put the presents out on Christmas eve. When he was little, they would put the presents out after he had gone to bed so that when he woke up in the morning it was magical, and up until a certain age Santa delivered all of the presents. Both John and I love the excitement and anticipation of Christmas. We're not going to focus on the gifts (or commercialism) but there is a certain magical quality about presents appearing under the tree. So we're going to go with John's tradition. Christmas presents will appear after the kids have gone to bed on Christmas eve and, for a time, Santa will be the one bringing them. After they no longer believe, we can decide, as a family, what to do but I would like to stick to my family tradition of Santa filling their stockings. Even after Russ and I no longer believed, Santa filled our stockings and continued to do so until we left the house. We discovered at a young age that Santa didn't exist, but we like the idea and myth of Santa and he was a part of our tradition, so we'd like to share that tradition with our kids.
Other Christmas traditions: watching the Peanuts cartoon, claymation Rudolph movies, and White Christmas; lots of traditional music (none of that new pop crap) but Bing Crosby, choirs, etc; Midnight mass - once I find a good church that I like; family and friends; good food; driving around to look at lights; etc, etc, etc.
No matter how you celebrate, I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday surrounded by loved ones!
Unfortunately, we won't be able to visit family this year (part of my Christmas tradition), but there are other parts of the holidays that I plan to pass on. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and I hope to pass that sense of enjoyment on to the girls. Some of my favorite memories of this time of year are making Christmas cookies with my grandma. We would spend a weekend making cookies, breads, and candies that would be distributed among family members for Christmas. When I was in Lubbock, I was surrounded by people who also loved to bake; so, each year before everyone left for the Christmas holidays we'd have a cookie day, where everyone would bake different types of cookies, and then mix and match samples to take home to their families. So, this weekend, I will be making Christmas cookies with Erin and next year I will include Moira. I hope to continue as they get older as part of our holiday tradition.
We're also going to put up decorations this weekend. Trimming the tree was a big deal in my family as well. We all helped and it was something I really looked forward to. For many reasons, we're not putting up a big tree, but we have a small tree with all the trimmings and lots of other decorations to make the house look more festive. As the girls get older, I'd like to make trimming the tree a special event. I had a friend in Lubbock who had a large tree trimming party every year. Lots of people, lots of food, good drinks and tree trimming. Each person there would put an ornament on the tree and by the time the night was over, the tree was beautifully decorated. I'm not sure it will go that far with us, but it's a good idea.
John and I had different experiences in terms of opening presents and how they appeared under the tree. Because I was surrounded by lots of family and we had multiple stops to make, Christmas spread out over multiple days. Our presents were always under the tree on Christmas eve. After midnight mass, we got to open one present and then saved the rest for the next day. At night, Santa deposited a few more gifts and filled our stockings. My brother and I would wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning and try to contain our excitement as long as we could, but presents were normally opened before 5 AM. Then we had Christmas at my Grandma's on Christmas day and Christmas at my Grandpa's later in the week. John's family always put the presents out on Christmas eve. When he was little, they would put the presents out after he had gone to bed so that when he woke up in the morning it was magical, and up until a certain age Santa delivered all of the presents. Both John and I love the excitement and anticipation of Christmas. We're not going to focus on the gifts (or commercialism) but there is a certain magical quality about presents appearing under the tree. So we're going to go with John's tradition. Christmas presents will appear after the kids have gone to bed on Christmas eve and, for a time, Santa will be the one bringing them. After they no longer believe, we can decide, as a family, what to do but I would like to stick to my family tradition of Santa filling their stockings. Even after Russ and I no longer believed, Santa filled our stockings and continued to do so until we left the house. We discovered at a young age that Santa didn't exist, but we like the idea and myth of Santa and he was a part of our tradition, so we'd like to share that tradition with our kids.
Other Christmas traditions: watching the Peanuts cartoon, claymation Rudolph movies, and White Christmas; lots of traditional music (none of that new pop crap) but Bing Crosby, choirs, etc; Midnight mass - once I find a good church that I like; family and friends; good food; driving around to look at lights; etc, etc, etc.
No matter how you celebrate, I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday surrounded by loved ones!