So, in class this week we were talking about Christmas traditions from around the world. They simply defined a tradition as something that you do every year: birthdays, holidays, vacations, etc. And while that's true, it seems that me slacking off on my blog has become a weekly tradition. Sorry.
Nonetheless, now that my vacation has started, I'm here. (On a side note, you may have noticed my love for commas. I am a bit comma-happy, and I tend to overuse them. I just figure that anyplace I would pause in conversation deserves a comma...if only for dramatic effect. Oh, and I realize I overuse ellipses too...but whatever.)
As the countdown to Christmas is nearing an end, I thought what better time to talk about Christmas traditions (not around the world, but among our friends and families).
When I was young, Christmas always started the weekend after Thanksgiving. That's when we would buy our tree and decorate the house. It was also usually when Advent would start. We would spend the next 4 weeks getting things ready for the big day. We would buy and wrap presents, bake cookies, and write letters (or in my case, terrible poems) to Santa. But we would also light the candle on the Advent wreath, read Bible stories, help out and church, and celebrate the true meaning of the season.
Sometimes we would go to South Dakota to be with our extended family, but I don't remember much about those. What I do remember are the ones we spent at home. We always went to the children's mass on Christmas Eve (they do a short little reenactment at that mass). We would eat supper, and after we got the kitchen cleaned up we would open presents. We all had our own spots around the living room (Brad at the table in the corner, Mom on the love seat, Jaime on the bricks between the fireplace and the TV, Dad and Josh on the couch, and me on the floor next to the piano). We would get the gifts from under the tree and pass them out to each of our designated spots. We would then try on any clothes we got, play with the toys we got, set out cookies and milk for Santa, and go to bed. When we woke up, we would go down stairs to find our stockings full, a gift for each of us under the tree, and that the cookies had been eaten!
When I met Kevin, it was just another sign that we were meant to be together when I found out that his Christmas traditions would fit like a puzzle piece with mine. They always opened all of their presents on Christmas morning, which left him available to spend Christmas Eve with my family, and I was available to spend Christmas morning with his.
And now that we're married, not much has changed...theirs just a little more travel involved. We still buy our tree and decorate our house the weekend after Thanksgiving. We still celebrate Advent as a way of preparing ourselves and our kids for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. We still buy and wrap presents. Then in the days right before Christmas, we drive home to Abilene so we can enjoy the time with our families. We still do Christmas Eve with my family (including the Children's mass...only now it's my kids who participate in the reenactment). We still have our spots in the living room...only now we have spouses and children to fill out those spots. And after the gifts have been opened, clothes have been tried on, toys have been played with, and cookies have been set out for Santa, we put our kids to bed. The grown ups get to stay up late watching movies and/or playing games, eating Santa's cookies, and filling stockings. In the morning, we get to watch our kids wake up and be amazed by the fact that Santa ate his cookies and left more presents. Then we go to Kevin's side of the family and open presents with them. But more importantly we play games with, talk with, laugh with, and spend the day with them. And when we get back home, we get to see that Santa remembered to visit our house, too!
Kevin and I are so blessed to have both of our families in the same town. It truly makes holidays so easy. We get to share the joy of gift-giving with everyone, while not missing out on quality time with anyone. This year is sure to be one of the best Christmases ever! All of my siblings will be together with spouses and kids in tow. But this year we will also be joined by a newcomer to our family...my baby brother's fiance. I'm so excited to be able to spend so my time with my family (both sides), get to know my future sister-in-law a little better, watch Hannah and Mason spend time with their cousins (all 11 of them), and celebrate the birth of our Savior with everyone I love most.
So Merry Christmas! What are some of your traditions?!
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Hmmm...looks like your traditions ARE my traditions. But here's how it was when I was a child:
ReplyDeleteChristmas Eve was our time to open gifts. But first we would have supper and it was ALWAYS a bowl of oyster stew. (We kids loved the broth but couldn't stomach the oysters) This is one tradition I didn't carry on, because my kids thought oyster stew was horrible. We now have homemade cheesburger soup and sandwiches.
After supper we all attended church. Our Sunday School children would put on a Christmas pageant. It was just like the one that they put on in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" TV special. I can almost recite the whole thing from memory after having done it for so many years. At first we were characters in the pageant, and when we got too old for that, we were either helpers with the younger kids or sang in the choir. The cool thing was that when we left the house, there was nothing under the tree, but when we got home from church all the gifts were there. (Dad always snuck home during the pageant to put these out and still get back to church before the service was over, so we never noticed him gone.) Dad would tell us that we must have been one of Santa's first stops. I guess we weren't too bright, because we fell for that even though the gift tag said "from Mom and Dad" on it!
We didn't get many gifts but we always had two for each of us from Mom and Dad one from Grandma and Grandpa. Sometimes one gift would, out of necessity, have to be something practical like new socks or new mittens, and the other one would be a toy. As we got older, we sisters would draw names with each other.
Weather permitting we would go to Grandma and Grandpa Stoley's farm on Christmas Day. After they moved to town, right across the street from us, they'd come over on Christmas Eve. Grandma always brought fruit cake, but I think she and Grandpa and Mom were the only ones who ever ate that. The rest of us feasted on Mom and Grandma's cookies and caramels! Yum.