Day 2 – Favourite Christmas Tradition
No time to waste 🙂
It’s Day 2 of the Advent Calendar, and of course we are back with a new post and mini challenge!
A big thank you to all of you who have introduced themselves already in the comments yesterday. It was lovely to hear/read from so many of you and to learn a little bit more about the people on the other side of the screen!Don’t worry though if you haven’t got around to join us yet. Remember, you can always go back to previous days and join in all the activities until the 24th. We, and I’m sure other MLT Clubbers as well, will revisit all the posts during the whole month to read up on new comments!
Today we would love to hear about your favourite tradition by which you usually ring in the Christmas season. We all have our little routines to get into Christmas mood, whether they’d be local customs or something that your family in particular has always done. Or maybe you recently started your very own tradition!
We want to hear about it! The more unique to you the better 🙂
DAY 2 – CHRISTMAS TRADITION
Task of the Day:
Tell us what your favourite Christmas tradition is. If you want you can also add a photo.
Achievable Points:
5
Our annual tradition to get ourselves into the Christmas spirit is something that we actually haven’t gotten around to doing in quite a few years but we LOVED it as kids: making our own Advent Wreath.
We just did some reading up on the tradition and as the name probably suggests, it has some deeply religious roots in Christianity. However, in Austria we mainly grew up around people who weren’t particularly religious and yet Advent Wreaths were still to be found in everyone’s home, including our own family’s.
It’s part of the holiday experience in Austria and very peaceful: You’d get a wreath for the dining table with 4 large candles on top of it. Every Sunday leading up to Christmas we would light an additional candle so by Christmas they could all be lit together.
Every candle stands for a different concept: hope (week one), peace (week two), joy (week three) and love (week four).
But while we think it’s a lovely tradition the fun part was MAKING the wreath.
Most years we would buy one from the store but on a few occasions, we would actually make our wreaths from scratch. If we had the time right now, we would absolutely do it again.
We’d venture out into the woods (or maaaybe also the neighbour’s yard 😉 ) and cut off some twigs from pine trees and other decorative greenery. At home we would crunch up some newspaper into a hoop and loop lots of wire around it until we had a sturdy frame to which we could then add the green stuff, decorations and stick in the candles at the end.
Our grandpa found some pictures of 2006 when we and our grandparents got together to create wreaths for both homes. It’s something we’d definitely love to do with our own kids one day, too.
But now we’re looking forward to hearing your stories!
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”190″ gal_title=”2006 – Adventkranz Wreath”]
I normally post a poem around x-mas – this years poem is not planned yet but you can get one from previous year
A year is coming to an end for many who fared,
also for those who have been/are a little scared,
afraid of what all the unknown brings,
when we hang the tree with sweet memories, decorations, things.
How will it go for all of us in the unknown new year,
and will it be secure to be together again to have a beer.
We must never lose hope against the bad,
when you are sitting alone in the dark and sad.
Pick up the phone and call your friends and dear,
a good way to keep distance even though we rather be near.
Use digital media and write a story in a positive tone,
about yourself, the situation to show you are alive in your dome.
There’s probably a sweet, exciting memory you can share,
even if you can not remember it all or do not dare.
Grab the pen old friend and let us hear your thought.
There might probably be something for what you fought.
May you all have a very merry yuletide
in each of your cozy little shelter hide.
the old Scandinavian nisse
Leif Hoergren Mortensen
I’ve always loved not only the first lighting of the Christmas tree but also walking about to see how everyone else has decorated their homes. It’s so cheering!
New traditions are excellent, as well. Thank you!
Cooking the ham for the family dinner, and having all the family together.
Hi my Christmas tradition every year is going up the pub on Christmas eve every year is meeting up with friends(can’t do that this year) have Xmas dinner early so we can watch top of the pops
When I posted, I momentarily spaced what might have been my most memorable Christmas. My best friend in high school had been left single with 8 kids not too long earlier. Instead of sitting home feeling sorry for herself, she put together a Christmas dinner and warm wonderful bonfire at a neighbor’s house. She gathered up all the homeless people she could find and made sure they had a wonderful dinner and night. I had just had my office building burned down and was in a little bit of shock over it. Her selfless gesture helped me have good memories that Christmas as well as all those others she helped.
A couple traditions come to mind. One of the most memorable was making a large candle for the front porch. We would scavenge the house for all the candles we could find and using a leftover cardboard tube from a roll of wrapping paper. We would then melt the candles down to create about a four foot candle for our front porch. I’ve never run into anyone that had the tradition or knew about it, so I’ve always wondered if it might be from our German heritage or just because our family tended to be a bit “Pyro-maniac”.
Another was performing our best excited acting when we unwrapped our ski equipment we had been using for two months 🙂
The best isn’t annual, but has persisted for about 15 years. My brother’s son was an EMT (Ambulance driver) and had a heart attack after a long night of saving a young woman from a drug overdose. The first Christmas after his death my kids and I made and secretly delivered a “Jason” tree. We made ornaments of pictures of him and motorcycles, skiing, etc. – the things he loved. Eventually they found out who did it. I just received a picture of the tree that they put up every year along with a touching note about how much it means to them. My kids remember how cool it was to make it and sneak it onto their back porch.
The last several years I have taken my guitar with me to work (Hospital ICU) and played carols for staff and patients during my breaks. Won’t be this year, but hopefully next. Maybe this year I can play this wonderful CD I bought here last year and has been added to my Beach Boys and Elvis Christmas albums as a must for the holidays.
The Christmas traditions here in Brazil are quite common, like Santa Claus, Christmas tree, decorations etc.. unfortunately there is no snow and snowman because it’s summer here when it’s Christmas time. So I’m going to talk about a tradition of my family..at home there was never a lack of the crib (Christmas nativity scene ) and the delicious ‘rabanadas” ( French toast) in cinnamon, condensed milk and chocolate flavors. Merry Christmas everyone !!.
Christmas is about family when I was a boy and then a teenager on Christmas eve the front room at home was opened up and the tree was set up and decorated Christmas morning the fire was set in the grate ready for Christmas with the family
My family has never really had any traditions as such. We just try to see as many family members as we can and enjoy the occasion.
My favorite Christmas tradition is pulling out my 1963 Beatles Fan Club Flexi Disc and spinning it on the turntable. I was lucky enough to find an uncirculated copy way back in 1989 at the annual Beatles Convention (Fab Time ’89 – still have the shirt though it doesn’t quite fit any longer). Bought it from Mark Lewisohn who was there promoting his “Complete Beatles Sessions” book, which is HIGHLY recommended to anyone who doesn’t already own a copy.
Growing up, our family always got to open 1 gift Christmas eve (it was clothes that we wore to midnight mass.) Then Christmas morning the rest of the gifts would be opened. If we were living close enough to relatives, we drove there for Christmas dinner.
Hey Mona and Lisa!
Without a doubt, my favorite Christmas tradition is putting up and decorating our Christmas tree! We do it Thanksgiving weekend. We have many years of Christmas decorations and we add to them every year. Our tradition includes enjoying a bottle of champagne and listening to Christmas carols while we are decorating the tree! I’ve attached a picture of this year’s tree.
the local shopping mall has “giving trees’ during Christmas with paper stars listing first name age and desired gifts for elderly and also young people from the needier families in our local area. Each year I take 2 stars 1 elderly 1 youth and try to take care of their gift wishes, If I take a male elder I will take a female youth and next year switch that. Have been doing this for about 14 years
Now my 7 children are grown up I don’t have any tradition now but when they were little I had a Father Christmas suit incase they were not asleep when I put their presents at the bottom of their bed.
That’s such a nice tradition! For me, unfortunately, I haven’t been able to perform my favorite Christmas tradition since I was nineteen. That is, my father, brother and I would go out in the woods next to our house and cut down a fir tree and take it back home. We would put it up in our living room in front of a large picture window facing the street below the hill our house was on. That night we’d have popcorn and hot chocolate and, with our Mother’s help, decorate the tree. We would do this the first week in December. We enjoyed out tree until December thirty-first when we took all decorations down to prepare for our New Year’s Eve party. Another tradition we enjoyed, and so did most of the locals. Our Presbyterian Church was right across the street from our house. One of my brothers or I would go across the street and ring the Church bell at Midnight. There was a technique to ringing it properly, so it was thrilling when I was old enough to learn it and earn the privilege to be the one to ring in the New Year.
Now our tradition is going out to buy a tree to bring home and decorate. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May your Christmas be, “All [You] Want Christmas To Be!”
Attached is a picture of a neighbor, my brother, Blacky and me with the plastic Mama tied on my head. 🙂
The big tradition in my family is the Christmas Eve gathering…going on 40+ years. Dinner is like a duplicate of Thanksgiving in it’s magnitude. All the gift giving was done after dinner, except for the kids who still had to wait until morning. The kids are adults now. The eldest members of the family have passed. And we’re needing to skip this year because of the pandemic. But the exciting news is we’ve got a new member on the way (due April) so next year 2021 will be a renewal with the start of a new generation. Seattle Bob.
We clear the snow off our pond and go skating…
Our favorite(mine especially) is to set up our
Disney train & band which plays different Christmas songs. Cheers to all!
Hello,
A day late, sorry but my favorite tradition is putting up the tree and listening to Christmas Music. Then go to the light up park to see the lights.
once more in Hanau/Frankfurt and/or atop the Zugspitze
I have pretty much seen all my favorite Christmas traditions disappear over the years, as most were tied to people and places. Most of those people have gone on or are near to doing so, and many of the places were related to them or other stages of life. Now I have replaced them in many ways, and many of those I have tried to continue or “pass down” just don’t translate well without the same people and places. They are getting replace by new ones. It will be interesting to ask my kids the same question when they get older.
I guess my favorite tradition growing up, and maybe still, is that no presents are opened until after breakfast, but the stockings are fair game as early as you want to get up.
I’m a bit of a Christmas grump, the tree used to go up the weekend before Christmas and came down the weekend after. The highlight was Christmas Dinner at my parents, my mum always goes seriously overboard with presents for the grandkids and always finds something special, the look of joy she has as the kids work their way through a second sack of presents makes the day for me. Now it is great grandkids she spoils but the feeling of joy is still there. But for me, it’s being on stage. Being in several bands it was a gig everyday, if not two, and often some daytime busking for charity in there too. OK the set list didn’t vary much, there’s a lot of songs everyone expects, and always the worry in the bands with a vocalist that their voices would last out. But being on stage watching people getting into the Christmas spirit will always be part which gets me into the swing of the season.
Growing up, the extended family would get together on Christmas Eve for an awesome dinner, which always ended up with a visit from Santa, before getting back home and asleep before midnight. There were as many as 25-30 kids plus parents and grandparents. Sadly, as we kids grew, our more mobile generation move from the Chicagoland area, to all areas of the U.S. and this tradition came to an end.
To date, my two adult children, my ex and I still spend the Christmas holidays together, but growing families and distance are threatening this.
I feel blessed for any time I get to be with my family.
My favorite personal tradition is I generated a Christmas playlist on my pc where all my music is stored and I start listening to it. By this time my tree is up and on. Every year I pick up more holiday music so it gets updated when ever I get new music. My music is a full range of music but is heavy on jazz of course your album is amoung them. I do put it on scramble so I don’t here whole albums but songs. I do add just songs, for example I have the Grateful Dead doing Run Rudolph Run and also Jimi Hendrix playing The Little Drummer Boy.
From the first advent onwards, we decorate all window sills with Christmas lights. Now with no snow on the ground, the whole village is full of various lights. They make the darkness dissappear.
Make sure the house smells of cookies baking
Remaining Christmas traditions include watching what are now old Christmas movies—Home Alone and The Family Stone especially—with my daughter and my year-round mantle display of fake pointsettias, a Coca-Cola Santa and a dusty Christmas card with a gorgeous photo of the Dent (no relation) Head Railway Viaduct in the snow in Yorkshire Dales National Park, a quick 150 kilometres north of you guys.
I’m not into Xmas so no current tradition, apart from catching up with the family I’m able to. I have five siblings and we live between two states.
As children, the tradition I remember most is Xmas lunch, as there was lots of food and our mother’s home made Xmas pudding which had been hanging out for days prior to Xmas day. It contained threepenny pieces, something you could do in the sixties as they contained some real silver. If you were lucky, you could score one.
Also, we had roast chicken and vegetables (a real traditional English meal), even though it was in the middle of our very hot summers. Chicken was a treat for us as we rarely had it during the year. Yes, we were a very poor family.
These days I prefer a cold seafood lunch with beer and white wine on Xmas day. Something more suitable to our warm climate.
We did have a tradition of decorating a christmas tree, but nothing as creative as the Wagner family. Thank you for sharing your Christmas tradition with us.
One of the Christmas traditions I do is to watch two version of Christmas Carol.
The Alastair Sim and George C Scott version. I try to also watch It’s a wonderful Life
with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed and The March of the Wooden Soldiers with Laurel and Hardy.
Hi Joe. I often like to watch It’s A Wonderful Life at Christmas too. My little sister use to rent a couple dozen VHS tapes, later DVDs, at Blockbusters (remember them?) over the Christmas break. Gave us something to enjoy with all the eggnog, nuts, cakes, cookies etc we accumulated, and oh pop corn too! That was a kind of holiday tradition too.
I would love to have something cool to share but growing up we didn’t really have any set traditions other than going to church, and as really young kids, tearing into our gifts. Then Christmas dinner with the grandparents. In my later years, on both Christmas and New Years, I enjoy a nice cigar bundled up outside, enjoying the stars. Living alone in the mountains, in ‘Big Sky’ Montana, the skies are incredible at night. I put a lawn chair out and get inside my winter sleeping bag, and just enjoy the view. It’s the reason I live here.
Getting together with the family… especially with the cousins. Circa 1999. https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-0/p280x280/129561156_3444071068974470_4743350831037267663_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=2&_nc_sid=ae9488&_nc_ohc=cwMaNdY58WgAX9NPTNS&_nc_ht=scontent-sea1-1.xx&tp=6&oh=0cf440c3716667677922f9704c58538b&oe=5FEF8215
Christmas preparation involved setting up and decorating the Christmas tree. Also we set up the Lionel train around the tree.
William Hauslein
Hope this doesn’t double post – Mine is an new/old tradition that we started when we became a couple twelve years ago, but goes back to the time my wife spent living in Switzerland – decorating the tree with candles and lighting them on Christmas Eve.
When we were kids my parents would bring the four of us, one brother and two sisters, to the local Sears store to see Santa. Santa had a little hut outside in the parking lot where you could visit and tell him your Christmas wishes.
I can still remember the thrill I felt when he knew my name. It was magic. My older sister had previously told me Santa knew everyone’s name, and this proved it.
It’s funny how I have held onto that memory for fifty years. Oh, and there was a photographer too. I think my parents have those pictures somewhere. If I can get my hands on them, I’ll be sure to post. I think the photos are B&W.
Happy, happy, everybody!
JP
(sorry for the previous blunder) I found one of the Santa pics. I am the third of four siblings. I think this is 1967 so my younger sister had not arrived yet. So here I am a two years old on the right.
The annual MLT Christmas song/video, and the month long MLT Advent Calendar has been my new Christmas tradition. Up until a few years ago the Christmas spirit evaporated for me for a number of years as we dealt with my mother’s steady decline with dementia. I have to say your Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy rekindled that Christmas spirit feel I hadn’t felt for a long time, and then the following year with All I Want Christmas To Be and Christmas album. Christmas’s are getting better again!
Growing up, it was just the normal Christmas things that were special, buying the gifts, decorating the tree and putting up the lights around the house and feeling it get more exciting as we drew closer to Christmas. Being with family and the ones you love and sharing that time together was what Christmas was about. The big highlight was getting together for the big Christmas dinner and my mom’s legendary cooking where she would go all out and we’d have delicious foods and snack that stretched on for many days after. After dinner with all the nieces and nephews and my brother and sister’s family, we would exchange gifts, and there would be the gift opening frenzy. Other enjoyable traditions around the Christmas period were the evening walks around the neighbourhood to see all the beautiful Christmas lights, and if it happened to snow that year, even better. Just love the peaceful quiet when the layer of snow silences everything. The last few years I’d walk around my neighbourhood really late at night to look at the lights. Brings back the fond memories and voices from Christmas’s past.
Here are some pictures from 2000 with my parents, my older brother and his wife, and my younger sister. The other pictures are of my older sister and nieces and nephew, and me playing santa.
BTW, thanks for sharing your tradition with the wreath and pictures. The wreath looks great, very Christmassy. 🙂 🙂
More pics from the 90s. Sorry for the grainy pics, they are screen shots from 8mm video which are the only records I have from those times.
Hi Jung. So sorry about your mom and dementia. We just went through the same this year with my wife’s mom. She finally passed away in May, so I know the pain this horrible illness can cause. I am happy you are getting your Christmas spirit back! And, by the way, you have GREAT taste in music! I hope you have a great holiday season.
Hi Gary. Thanks so much for your kind words! My condolences to you and your wife. It is such a cruel disease indeed, and in the end it is just our love for them we have left to embrace. Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
I usually spend christmas watching movies that aren’t about Christmas, hanging out with friends and buying eggnog. This year I am really looking forward “A Night and Miami” and the Wonder Woman’s sequel. We are more a December 31st kind of people.
A big part of Christmas in my youth was making special gifts for each member of our household (it was larger then than it is now) but it was always a challenge to find something unique to each person instead of just flipping thru a catalogue and ordering whatever was available.
I know this is going to sound “corny” but hear goes. I also have a twin. He’s my brother & also best friend. We have been living together for most of our lives (with the exception when we we’re in are mid 20’s thru early 30’s).
Our tradition is(and has been since we we’re kids) has been to take turns in hanging an antique Christmas Bell ornament on the family Christmas tree. John does it in the even number years and I have the honors in the odd number years(guess I got the odd numbers because I’m the strange twin at times). Anyway it’s our little tradition and always something we enjoy doing. Looks like it’s John’s turn this year to hang the “bell” on the tree this year
Love the pictures of my favorites as young ladies at Christmas. Our family has many traditions from the 12 ft Christmas tree to the family dinner to the new ornaments every year in the stockings, so choosing a favorite is a big challenge. I especially love decorating the house outside to help spread joy and the happiness of Christmas in the world.
it seems weird but for the last 45 years we get together with all our friends and family order Chinese food, so one has to cook, and spend Christmas eve with everyone. and Christmas day everyone can spend time with their families. we were going to stop it one year but didn’t realize how much everyone looked forward to it.
To my MLT friends. I do not have any Christmas traditions but I do have Chanukah traditions. Getting the candles together every night and helping out making latkes in the kitchen are wonderful memories. Stay warm and healthy everbody!!
Besides gathering with our small but close family, we always invite basketball players from our local community college who can’t make it home for Christmas. There are usually a few international players on the men’s and women’s teams. Last Christmas was the first year everyone was able to go home, and it didn’t seem the same. Also, I always make sure to listen to Paul’s “Wonderful Christmastime” and Elton John’s “Step into Christmas” every year, and will definitely add your Christmas album from now on!
Fish dinner on Christmas Eve
We decorate our house with lights, drive around the neighborhood to look at other people’s beautiful decorations, and go to various church and community displays. Christmas lights are obviously a big thing for us! Here (assuming that I’m successful in adding a photo) is a picture of us visiting the Christmas holiday celebrations at Busch Gardens Old Country near Williamsburg, Virginia, USA.
Tradition…never really thought about it but now I’m thinking that on Christmas Day we would open gifts..you know Mom and Dad and us three kids…go to church service…then travel from relative to relative…cousins…grandparents and exchange gifts…somewhere along the way we’d have Christmas dinner with somebody and of course there were those years that we would be the Dinner Hosts as people came to our home….it’s harder to do now as we are all spread out around the states…Texas..New York…Florida…Washington…Ohio…..but here’s wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas ????????
My favorite was when my parents were alive was my wife making a big pot of chili for them when they came for Christmas Eve
Each and every Christmas Eve I turn off all the lights except for those on the Christmas tree, pour myself a glass of good wine (only one!), and watch this movie. It is my favorite film rendition of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, starring Alastair Sim as Scrooge. There is nothing better to bring me into the spirit of giving and redemption than this movie.
I agree! Over the years, I’ve seen many renditions of this story but the one with Alastair Sim is definitely the very best. I watch it every year!
We never had any strange Xmas traditions. As a child, I felt like I got 2 Xmas’s since we celebrated on the 24th with grandparents (full deal with opening presents, etc), then again on the 25th with just immediate family. Later with in-laws, etc., the big event was the Xmas feast in the afternoon. Like many, our pets were always included (see attached). Now we open presents together as a family on Xmas morning with Xmas music playing in the background (guess which music will be playing this year ????). Treasured memories, especially of those no longer with us.
Yes we had 2 Christmases as well. Christmas Day with my mother’s family nearly always at our house as all our relatives were elderly (my mother was an only child) and then Boxing Day (26th) with my dad’s family at his sister and her family’s house. It was not possible to have a joint celebration as the houses weren’t big enough.
Our cat used to also sit amongst, on or under the presents around the tree. One year we wrapped a can of cat food (that was how it was sold then) and hanged it on a stout branch of the Christmas tree to give him on Christmas morning. We awoke to find the tree on the floor, decorations everywhere and we can only presume that he could smell the contents of the tin and had tried to get to it. As he was a very large cat (not fat just big) the tree stood no chance.
We had a dog that would go after the Christmas Tree ornaments. Some were quite precious to my wife. I had to take some of the ornaments and put Cayenne pepper on them. It was hilarious watching the dog make a long arc around the tree after that point.
I am one of five children in my family, and this has been happening for as long as I can remember. We’re more spread out around the country now, but every Christmas morning, all of our family members who are available come over to my parents’ house for breakfast, after their own family Christmas morning. It’s always the same, and for the last ten years or so I have been doing the cooking. Scrambled eggs with onion, dill weed and cheddar cheese, sausage with sage, and popovers, which I finally mastered about seven or eight years ago. Plenty of fruit jellies that my Dad and I make every year: peach, blackberry, blueberry and a favorite, elderberry. Afterwards everyone goes home until we converge on someone’s house later for Christmas dinner. We get together in a like fashion throughout the year, but it’s different at Christmas.
There in Russia any religion was not welcome during the Soviet time, so all the Christmas traditions all together with their magic – Christmas tree, gifts, Father Christmas (whom we call Grandfather Froze, “Ded Moroz” in Russian) – were transferred rather to New Year’s night yet a hundred years ago. After Perestroyka Christmas was restored but it’s a pure religious day now. It’s is expected from religious people to stand up the whole night in the nearest church for liturgy. Russian Orthodox Church follows Julius calendar, so Christmas is the 7th of January. Thus our winter holidays starts with New Year and ends with Christmas. All the children still waiting impassionately rather for the New Year’s night and all the typical Christmas traditions are still there. Most people meet with their families that night, eat traditional food and watch old movies. In our home town (Chelyabinsk) it is typical to celebrate 3 points during the night: 10 PM – the old year farewell, 12 PM – the new year (champagne and fireworks), 2 AM – Moscow New Year (as it has +2 hours time zone). The last part is usually outdoors. As a family tradition for several years already we watch Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather movie each year at December, 25 (which we refer as Western Christmas). British Puddings is something we all heard about since childhood, and yet before coming to the UK we were eager to have a real Christmas with Pudding. Our dreams came true a year ago. In opposite Mince Pie is a something we never heard about before coming here, but what we were glad to discover.
Hello Sasha!
I really enjoyed hearing about your Christmas in Russia Ivan! Hope you and Sasha get lots of pudding this Christmas!
My families biggest Christmas tradition has been a family Christmas Eve party at my in-laws. I have attended for 45 years, since my wife and I met in high school. On Christmas morning my kids would open presents followed with a big breakfast of everyone’s favorites. This has continued even as the “kids” became adults. Unfortunately, with this crazy situation this year we are going to have to go virtual this Christmas.
A tradition that started in my hometown was relatives coming over to the house, we’d socialize for a bit, then we’d all move on to the next relative’s house…like a pub crawl, but with family members houses. And we haven’t done that in a while, Haven’t lived in my home town for…(inaudible whisper) years, BUT…I’m picking up the tradition started by my favourite aunt. She has recipes for THE GROOVIEST peanut butter and chocolate fudge. Mom and dad used to make hard tack candy and Aunt Pat’s fudge. Well, dad has passed, so I help mom every year with the fudge, and I think I’m doin’ pretty well.
Peanut butter and chocolate fudge are my favorite. Keep on helping your Mom…
When we were Children We really look forward to getting home from Thanksgiving dinner either at my Nana’s house or Grandmothers Mom & dad would start playing Christmas records. Christmas was right around the corner.
I think, my Christmas tradition (but depends on the definition of tradition) is just sitting at the table with all my relatives and eat my pastina ( I think the closest English translation would be soup) and the various chicken, duck and other foods talking about food with my grandfather.
The event that always launched the Christmas season when I was growing up was going out and getting the Christmas Tree. This was forbidden to be done in my family until after Thanksgiving. In fact one of the biggest “topics” of discussion I listened to leading up to Thanksgiving was how much earlier and earlier stores and some houses were already putting up Christmas decorations! But, the first chance my Dad had, my mom and he and my two older brothers and I would jump in the station wagon and head to the tree lot and pick out a tree. This was no small accomplishment because my folks (pretended) to make it a democratic process and getting all five of us to arrive at a consensus usually took all day. Finally we fit it into the car, took it home, trimmed the bottom so I would fit into the tree stand, drug it inside (without ruining the doorways and walls) and set it up. Trimming the tree was a big deal and every year my mom would tell the same stories behind each heirloom ornament as they were hung. After I was married this process was pretty much repeated with my own two kids, and so the tradition of starting off the Christmas season continued. Now I go out with my daughter’s family to pick out a tree and it seems as though not much has changed, especially arriving at a consensus.
Here’s a photo of us picking out which tree to cut last Christmas (I’m taking the picture).
When we were kids, just before we went to bed on Christmas Eve our dad would read “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” to us, first straight and serious, and then again with humorous improvisations. He would remember the lines that got the biggest laughs and keep them in future iterations, so the story got funnier each year.
Here are a couple of the chestnuts that were always roasting on our open fire:
“Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters, and threw up.” (Long pause while turning the page…) “The sash.”
“And laying a finger aside of his nose, he blew hard.”
They weren’t all gross, but gross was comedy gold at that age.
I think what I enjoy the most is the music.
Going through youtube and finding new (and old) favorites.
When I find something awesome, I share it with my friends on facebook.
Guess who is at the top of my list to share 😉
Hello again everyone.
I have two favourite Christmas traditions.
The first is getting together with my family. There seem to be many families who do not like big get togethers as they end up in arguments etc. Well my family (and hopefully all yours) is the exact opposite, we love meeting up. One of my brothers has told me that when we do he loves to just sit back and watch the interactions, listen to the laughter and sense the general chaotic fun. Sadly we may not do it this year despite the Christmas amnesty from only meeting in your ‘bubbles’.
My second is Christmas Pudding. Sometimes referred to as Plum Pudding (it doesn’t contain plums but 200 years or so ago the word was used to also mean raisins) most of you outside of the UK may not know what this is but please look it up online to avoid me giving a long boring explanation. I’ve added a picture to help. It is a heavy pudding served with any of custard, brandy butter and single cream. It is served hot, often after being doused with brandy and set alight. Our family tradition is to serve it with green and red jelly (jell-o to Americans) which has been mixed together and also with single cream. I always pray for there to be some (hopefully a lot) left over so that I can have cold helpings over the next few meals. My grandma and mother used to make their own, usually a month before Christmas to let it mature.
I always go for long walks afterwards to work of the extra calories!
We have this as a family tradition too! I look forward to Christmas pudding all year long!
With Jelly? Many people in the UK think that we are a bit odd (they may be right).
The first Christmas after my parents were married my dad apparently commented as such. The next Christmas he wanted to know why there wasn’t any jelly!
No, I’ve never had it with jelly – will have to try that!
Please do, the two are a good juxtapose.
The Christmas Pudding sounds wonderful! And gathering with your family is the best! Thank you!
I want some now! Yum. We used to have that tradition but it passed along with my aunt who made it. I did get her recipe for what I think is the best pumpkin pie I’ve tasted. I hadn’t known that Brandy was one of her secret ingredients.
May favorite Christmas tradition is simple but beautiful. It comes as far as a childhood. We always had real candles on our Christmas tree then and I still have. Don´t worry, it´s safe if you do it right. Nothing is more beautiful than watching Christmas tree with the candles burning on its branches. Little chocolate and red wine will taste fine too when you spend a peaceful Christmas evening.
One thing I like to do to kick off the Christmas season is lighting candles on an advent wreath as well. But I usually light all four candles at once for symmetry…:-) I didn’t know the four candles symbolize hope, joy, peace and love. That’s a nice thing to think about!
I have a very small wooden wreath which I got from a trip to Denmark once. You can replace the little trees with flowers and such to use it all year round.
This picture was taken during our breakfast this Sunday where we also listened to… the MLT Christmas album! 🙂
This tradition goes back to my childhood years and is one of my fondest memories. I lived in a large farm house with my mom, dad two older brothers plus my aunt and uncle and cousin. My Grandma also lived with us. Since this was grandma’s place (I only knew one grandparent. The others had passed before I was born) everyone else would gather at my house on Christmas. Every aunt, uncle, cousin would be there and there was much merriment and tons of food. It was the biggest day of the year! Those days are long gone but I have always strived to give my own kids Christmases they will fondly remember.
Some of our usual Christmas traditions included big family dinners and parties with white elephant gift exchanges, and having family visits – those won’t be happening this year. My wife loves decorating the house and tree, and spends hours upon hours doing it. She bakes cookies and I make peanut brittle to send to family and friends. There will be lots of gifts under the tree for Christmas eve and day, and while no kids will be here, the stockings are already hung. Christmas music is of course part of it all.
Here in New Mexico, USA, many of us put out luminarias on Christmas Eve (paper lunch bags with sand and a candle in the bottom – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminaria ). Traditional Christmas time food here in New Mexico includes biscochos ( https://muybuenocookbook.com/biscochos/ ), home made tamales ( https://www.mylatinatable.com/how-to-make-authentic-mexican-tamales/ ), and menudo ( https://www.mexicoinmykitchen.com/menudo-soup/ ) or posole ( https://foodfolksandfun.net/new-mexico-posole/ ) . The recipes were handed down for generations for large family gatherings – a typical biscocho recipe includes a pound of lard and 6 cups of flour. This area was originally mostly Catholic, and there was a midnight mass preceded by an hour of singing Christmas songs, and followed by family gatherings where one would eat too much of the above mentioned food.
Driving around town to look at the best decorated homes is a tradition here, with long lines of cars in some neighborhoods as Christmas nears.
When the kids were young, Santa Claus came on Christmas Eve and we had to hide the big presents until the kids went to bed. They heard stories about Santa bringing a lump of coal if they were bad.
We gather our family pictures taken during the year to share at gatherings and to bring everybody up to speed with events from the previous year. This year will be a doooooozie. Working from home and comparing the office setup, kids and distance learning, so many new things for a new social norm.
As a child, I use to love sitting in a room with the only lights being the blinking christmas tree lights. I would just sit there and quietly play the guitar.
I don’t think it’s getting near Christmas until the tree goes up and then the Christmas Cards start getting put up on the living room wall, it’s always sad when they come down in January.
We also (like Rick) like to look at the houses with Christmas lights, there seem to be more of them every year round here. Plus the displays seem to have got much more elaborate over the last couple of years. However we just stick to decorating the tree and we try and get as much on it as possible though we don’t have any Beatle decorations! (yet).
For my family, it’s become tradition to play our 3 favorite Christmas movies (Christmas Vacation, Elf and Christmas Story) in the background while we place nearly 1000 ornaments on a 12 foot tree. We’ve all seen these movies so many times that we practically have all the dialogue memorized and someone is always quoting something while we decorate. “I don’t know , Margo!” This year was extra special because we had a new helper. This is Penny our 10 month old Siberian.
Our tradition has always been to decorate our Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving. This year, however, because we only had family over on Thanksgiving Day we decorated a day early. Here’s one of my grandsons putting the star on top
I suppose I should say that, in the U.S., Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November. Just last week, in other words. Don’t want our Canadian friends to think we’ve had a Christmas tree up since October.
Oh darn Lynn, I was just counting the weeks from October and imagining how brown the tree would be by Christmas. 🙂
For years our Christmas tradition was to go to the early Christmas eve service with our best friends and then drive around town looking at the Christmas lights.
Photo of the Nativity that I have at home. (it is incomplete, but has the spirit of family tradition)
Here are pictures: first 3 card samples, (from top to bottom to right) when Meriel was 4, 11, and 17. The other is of our Advent star ladder. Oh dear, the attachment button isn’t working for me. Sorry!
Here is the Advent star ladder. Thanks, Nigel, for helping with the photo attachment process.
Got it to work! Here are the three cards I mentioned.
My favorite tradition started when we were all adults. Each year on Christmas Eve we, would all gather together, exchange gifts, and spend time together. One fun part was my sister, Sharon and I would exchange gag gifts, which added to the merriment. Sadly, I am the only one still alive of my Parents, 2 Brothers, and my Sister. Fond memories though.
That sounds like a lot of fun! I can imagine all the laughter! I hope the memories still bring smiles.
They do indeed, Jeannette. Always. Thank you!
Sad to hear that you are the only one left. But the memories will always be there and give you that smile inside.
My dad died many years ago and my mother has Alzheimer’s and I may not be able to see her over Christmas (I have done so only once since March due to care home restrictions). Hopefully I will and I always try to find what memories I can lead her to think about at each visit.
That has to be hard, Philip. Memories are gold. Thank you.
VIrtual hug, my brother. Groovy that you have the memories of love.
Very good memories, Lance. Thank you for the virtual hug. I think we can all use one this year
We have so many lovely Christmas traditions! There are two that stand out in my mind this morning.:1) My daughter, Meriel, (now 19) created our annual Christmas card to send to family and friends, from the time she was 2. I still have copies of each one and they are fun to look back on because as she drew, she talked about what she was drawing and I wrote down her comments. Reading them brings those Christmases back quite vividly! 2) The Advent calendar I created for her when she was little and which we used every year until recently. It consisted of a “star ladder” – one star for each day until Christmas. At the top was an angel made of unspun wool. She carried in her arms a spirit baby. Each day, she descended on star closer to the empty manger in our creche below. I created it to balance the over-emphasis on receiving at Christmas. So, each star was a pocket that contained a message from the angel which Meriel would eagerly look forward to each day. The messages were focused on giving. Many were as simple as smiling at someone, helping her teacher, being kind to a child at school. Others were more involved projects like standing by a Salvation Army donation kettle, working at the local foodbank, donating gifts to children in need, etc. By Christmas eve, the angel would be at the manger and while we were at our church’s Christmas eve service, the creche baby would magically appear in the manger. We both enjoyed the projects involved in the Advent calendar more than anything else. Thanks for reminding us all about the meaning of the Advent candles. Our world could use more hope, peace, joy, and love!
My family’s tradition when I was growing up was to not decorate the tree until the Saturday before Christmas. If Christmas was on a Sunday, that meant we did not decorate it until Christmas Eve! Then the tree would stay up until Epiphany on January 6th. We did not always manage to take it down on time, but it was never decorated too early. LOL!
My tradition these days is to watch my grown kids and their kids make their own traditions.
I hesitate to call it a tradition but my Christmas season starts late October or early November (earlier’s better but sometimes I don’t get around to it for a while) when I make fruitcake. For anyone who thinks fruitcake is nasty you’re entitled to that opinion but only if you’ve had real fruitcake, not the horrible stuff most store-bought fruitcake is. No lurid red and green shoe leather texture candied fruits in mine — aside from small and tender bits of candied lemon peel the fruit is all dried fruits mixed with nuts and brandy. A very dark, dense batter made with molasses and spices. More brandy added to top, bottom, and sides after baking. It’s good. This year’s is sitting in an airtight canister in the basement, aging until mid month when most of it gets sent off.
Oh you are so right.
My grandma and mother used to make our Christmas Cake (UK traditional fruit cake plus a few extras) in October and let it mature until Christmas Eve. It would then be covered in a thin layer of marzipan and followed by a thick white icing to make a snowy scene. Once that had hardened small plastic or ceramic models of snowmen, Christmas trees and other Christmassy things would be added plus silver balls. It was a sight to be seen and then eaten and enjoyed. It was so heavy that you could not eat a lot and so one could last until mid January, even with the hungry mouths of me and my two brothers!
Fruit cake. My oldest brother loved fruit cake, and he was the only reason we had fruit cake in the house every Christmas. After many, many seasons, I started to like it, and I enjoy a nice fruit cake too now.
Our family tradition started about 20 years ago on Christmas Eve when we’d make our way to a local garden centre for a brunch meal. I would cycle there with both of our daughters (not twins) and help the younger one back up the hill on the way back after the meal. My wife would drive there and offer an ambulance for anyone unable to cycle home. Now it’s my younger daughter (pictured) who has to help me back on to my bike when I fall off, while my wife now walks to the garden centre with the older daughter who gave up cycling in her teens. This year, we’re not so sure, but if the garden centre’s open, I hope at least three of us (the younger daughter’s now married) will make the effort to continue this “tradition” of sorts.
This a photo of one of the cyclists.
My favourite Christmas tradition is glazing and cooking a ham, usually with brown sugar and cloves, to be able to cut at for sandwiches. Tastes delicious.
My favorite Christmas tradition was opening gifts Christmas morning with mom. This photo is from the awesome 60’s. That’s me and my late mom and late sister. Gone but never forgotten.
Here’s a photo from of my Christmases Past….One year, I had the keyboard player from my fave Canadian band Glass Tiger request to sign this photo fo me for Xmas…I mailed it to him, he obliged…lol…That was a bonus Xmas treat that year..1991as the photo says…lol
My tradition is spending some time with family and friends. Me and 3 of my friends get together every December to give each other gifts and play board games which is nice as we don’t see each other often as we live in different cities. 🙂
It’s gotta be the oyster soup – on Christmas eve (when we traditionally received presents from Santa et al). My Dad still makes it – my daughter loves it – so I think that tradition will carry on. Mostly butter, cream, oysters – and crackers.
Here are the images
Having been raised in the former GDR, there may be differences to some traditional preferences in the Western part of Germany, but I think there still are a good amount of shared ones, too: What I remember first when thinking about Christmas and being a child, it’s waiting for the Bescherung (gift giving) by sitting in the living room and watching a Christmas special of the Sunday kids show “Zu Besuch im Märchenland [image 1] and when it was ready I (later my brother and me) were called into my room (I lived at my grandparents in my mums former room) and the vinyl “Bald nun ist Weihnachtszeit” (“Soon now is Christmas Time”) with very festive songs by children choires was played [image 2]. In the living room we had a Christmas tree, a wooden incense smoker [image 4], a wooden pyramid with candles [image 3] and a several large Christmas plates with oranges or mandarins, cookies, gingerbread (German lebkuchen), chocolate and candy [image 5].There were – still are on Germany television – many fairy tale movies – especialls from the GDR, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union – like “Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel” [imagde 6] (which is is shown on several television programmes all over Germany on Christmas holidays now) and “Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot” [image 7]. I loved listening to a vinyl with several popular characters from East German television called “Zu Besuch im Märchenland” [image 8] and to watch one ore several movies from the children’s television series “Zu Besuch im Koboldland” [image 9] with a popular character called Pittiplatsch who went home to his family and experienced adventures with his friends. Nowadays I added making an online Advent Calendar for family and friends [image 10] and playing the computer game “Heroine’s quest” [image 11].Of course watching Christmas shows and Nativity movies and plays as well as listening to Christmas music belongs to my Christmas traditions, too 🙂
I like Pittiplatsch and those old fairy tale movies, too 🙂
A great seguay into the Advent Calendar for Day 2….Love your creative festive homemade Advents wreaths…one year a cousin of ours whom we used to babysit their children for while she and her husband at the time both worked, decided to give us a homemade wreath for our front door, complete with pinecone, etc, we had it for years until it finally came apart from years of use on front door. Decorating the real Xmas tree for years and eventually fake tree was a highlight in our home, I still have some of those ancient ornaments, that have survived 50+ yrs. !!!!
A long standing tradition we had in our family up until my parent’s ill health for each of them… my aunt/uncle , my cousins and our own family would alternate having Christmas and New Years Day at each of our homes, that is, one year it would be Christmas Day at our home then on New Year’s Day it would be spent out at their home on their farm, eventually my aunt/uncle sold farm at moved into a bungalow in a nearby town just outside from where they had previously lived. The following year the celebrations would switch homes. It was potluck to bring food, wine, soft drinks/juice to each other’s homes for the celebrations. We went to Xmas Eve evening church service. We’d open our own family gifts Xmas Morning, while with my Aunt whether at our house or hers for Xmas, it was after all the dishes were done up from our main noontime big Xmas Day meal of turkey, etc…
Fast fwd yrs after parents ill health, we just started going to aunt/uncles place only on Xmas Day, fast fwd again to when my oldest brother got married, then just our family got together but I also started going out to my one cousin’s farm to celebrate Xmas Day if my oldest bro wasn’t having it but we’d go instead on Boxing Day to my oldest brother’s. I at some point, started a tradition of making Fudge for Xmas Day and cookies/squares to have … I loved going to my aunt/uncle’s to play around on her piano/organ as she was a church organist/pianist for her church. This Xmas , still not sure what is going on…I may have to celebrate solo. Oh yes, have to crankup MLT Xmas CD, and listen to my other Xmas song choices that I have done for years. All in all, some happiest Xmas memories and traditions I’ve had over the years, now my parent’s spirits are in my family’s hearts now since their passing on during Xmas time.
Been by myself in recent years but growing up we had a Tree and Opened Presents and had a Big Meal. These days I usually volunteer to switch with coworkers to give them Xmas and Thanksgiving off instead. Since I’m alone.
That is very generous of you – I’m sure you have given great joy to many coworkers! I hope that gives you joy too!
Yes I used to do that as well. It is the season of goodwill after all.
As we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK we have a 2 day holiday over Christmas, the 26th is referred to as Boxing Day. Unless the 25th is a Tuesday or a Wednesday this means that Monday – Friday workers have a 4 day break. Many take of the whole week until the New Year but I always worked to help provide the skeleton staff required and allow families more time together.
Yes Jeanette it did give me joy but they used to do the same for me at other times of the year.
Hello Eric. I was just on my way to bed, it is 11.15 here in the UK, and I suddenly felt awkward about my earlier post. I wasn’t trying to lessen your gesture of working at Christmas exactly the opposite. Sorry if my words came across in an unintended way.
The beginning of Christmas when I was a child was always marked by what we called the ‘mini Christmas tree’. My grandmother bought it back in the 1940s and although we had a real tree’ this mini tree would come out every year. As time passed it has less and less branches which was a problem when you wanted to hand lots of chocolates on it! It finally retired a few years ago, but we took a picture of its final Christmas and we always put that on our real tree.
For years we would have a family dinner at our house,then when my sister had my nephews(Twins),the dinner was at their house.Now my oldest nephew(by 2 minutes) is father to 2 beautiful girls(Caitlin,& Erin),we have had Christmas Eve at their house for the last several years.We exchange gifts,and when the girls are in bed,we place all the gifts from Santa under the tree.
This will be the first Christmas without my Mom,who passed away in October.So it will be a mix of emotions I’m sure.
One of the unusual things we do each Christmas time, is to make sure our pets can join in with us at this happy time. Here we have ‘Rosie’ in her Santa Costume and on the big day, she’ll even get a special plate of turkey dinner all for herself! LOL
However, she doesn’t look too impressed in this photo…..
I tried to send a picture of my cat similarly decked out but the attach button wouldn’t work for me!
Hi Jeanette, I had the same problem at first. I found that replying to my own post allowed me to get the photo link, then I uploaded the photo, then deleted the original post/comment. Not sure why this worked, but it did. 🙂
Thanks for the instructions! I got it to work! This is one of my cats, Campfire, in her festive garb.
If I’d tried to do that to my cat when I was a child the hat and scarf or whatever wouldn’t have lasted long and my hand would have been rather bloodied.
Yep, we had the same problems with some cats, but Rosie is a little sweetie and she seems to enjoy the festivities although you wouldn’t believe that from this photo….LOL.
My favourite christmas tradition is spending time with family and friends
I always watch ” Meet Me In St Louis ” on Christmas Eve especially the scene where Judy Garland sings ” Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas ” to Margaret O’Brien. Makes me feel all nostalgic for those childhood days when Christmas really meant something.
We have had a long standing tradition of putting up a large outdoor nativity scene with lots of animals and figures of the Holy Family, Three Kings and angels and shepherds. This was started by my oldest brother back in the 1960s. When he died in a surfing accident in 1968, my father and I carried on with doing it. As the years went by it grew in size and scale. It actually made it on to the front page of our local newspaper one year with the story behind it which was a thrill for my parents. We don’t do an outdoor nativity anymore but have always set up an indoor version now. I’m sure my kids will carry on the tradition in the future. It was always fun to go hunting for trees and plants to decorate around it and to do the lights. Our cats certainly liked living in it with all the hay.The attached picture is the last one that my brother put up in 1967. That’s a parachute that my Dad found at an army surplus store that was used to create the cave like setting.
What a wonderful tradition to carry on for so long! I’m sure that many memories are attached to it.
When I was younger, and also when Maria was little (daughter) we would have a count down chain (made out of construction paper) we would make little circular rings for each day until Christmas, and attach them together. Each day you tear one off.
Another is getting in the car and driving around looking at Christmas lights.
And Lastly, one I still do., making Nuts and Bolts, a snack only made once a year.
2 cups cheerios
2 cups corn chex
2 cups rice chef
2 cups pecan halves
2 cups pretzel sticks
Mix
1/2 stick of butter (melted)
1/ cup worstichire sauce
Table spoon salt
Table spoon pepper
Tablespoon garlic salt
Pour some over cereal and mix in
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes
Every 10 minutes add a little sauce and stir again.
Allow to cool and you have nuts and bolts.
You can store in Tupperware
Also decorate the house with lights, tree, and all the usual. Then leave out cookies and milk for Santa. Carrots for reindeer too.
I remember your Nuts and Bolts recipe well, from a very early post. Sounds delicious.
I’ve had to have a think about this one as I’m traditionally not traditional at Christmas time.
One tradition that I have come up with though is making sure we get a group family photo on Christmas day. It’s the one day of the year where at least 90% of us are all together at the same time and place.
In this day and age of camera phones, traditional (there’s that word again) photos have taken a back seat. Pictures seem to be ad hoc of whatever takes your fancy at the time. Aunty Jeanette* with a mouth full of turkey, Uncle Jim* taking a whizz on the lemon tree down the back, sure, got you covered. But a posed pic of the entire family all smiles just never happened.
Sure I have to put up with whinging and moaning, and trying to get everyone together in one room is like herding cats, but after the photos are done everyone wants a copy!!!!
This is the one day of the year that I can make this happen, and the family now has a few years worth of lovely family pics. Something that future Boyds will be proud to display in their digital holographic photo albums.
*names changed to protect the guilty
P.S. just wanted to say what a wonderful photo that is of you two in the candle light. One of my favourites.
We would put up the Christmas tree the weekend of Thanksgiving and Advent wreaths and calendars were a tradition when we were kids.. At our neighborhood church an advent candle would be lit every Sunday. Christmas Eve we would go to Midnight mass. when we got home the gifts would miraculously be under the tree. and the cookies we left for Santa would be gone.
Here’s a picture of the tree last time!
Here’s the 2020 version of the Beatles Christmas Tree ????♀️????????????
My Christmas tradition for the past 10 years or so has been putting up a second tree, just dedicated to The Beatles. It was solely Beatles until the last couple of years when MLT item started appearing on it too!
Making the Christmas Cake. My father used to make it but passed away a long time ago so i try and carry the tradition on. I have 7 to make. Happy baking xxx