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Old 12-06-2002, 01:59 PM   #1
SarahJ
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Holiday Traditions

Since its Friday and I have nothing better to do at work I was wondering what everyone's holiday traditions are. Silly or sentimental, it doesn't matter, just share!

One of ours is that my dad and I always bake Christmas cookies together. I'm 30 now and I can't remember a year we haven't done this.

The other one which is kind of silly started when we were kids and couldn't wait for Christmas to open presents. Santa's elves [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] would leave a little something in our stockings periodically during the few weeks before Christmas. It was usually an ornament or some little toy or game to keep us busy. To this day when I go to my parents and see the stockings hung I feel to see if there's something in it and guess what, there usually is. Its usually something my dad has picked out just for me like a pin or earrings. [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]
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Old 12-06-2002, 02:18 PM   #2
allysonh
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Re: Holiday Traditions

We don't have many traditions, but here are a couple:

-We always have lobster or chinese food on Christmas Eve.

-We always open the presents on Christmas Eve at my mom's. We go to DH's parents house on Christmas Day.

DH and I started a little tradition of our own. Our friends Jen and Steve used to live upstairs from us and one year they came down and helped us decorate the tree while I baked brownies and we all watched 'A Christmas Story' (the best Christmas movie ever). So now, we do it every year! We all look forward to it!!

This will be our 4th Christmas knowing them and our 3rd Christmas with them helping us trim our tree! We didn't have a tree last year because I had broken my ankle.

[img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img] Have a great day!

[ 12-06-2002, 02:21 PM: Message edited by: allysonh ]
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Old 12-06-2002, 02:23 PM   #3
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Re: Holiday Traditions

Quote:
Originally posted by allysonh:
We don't have many traditions, but here are a couple:

-We always have lobster or chinese food on Christmas Eve.
<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">Wow! My DH would love that tradition! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] When I was growing up, my Dad always treated Christmas Day like any other day. One year the neighbours came round for a drink and he was cleaning out the greenhouse [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] and another year, when I was learning to drive, he took me out for a lesson to get him away from his MIL! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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Old 12-06-2002, 02:35 PM   #4
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Re: Holiday Traditions

When I was growing up Christmas was our day that is it belonged to my brother and I. We stayed home and had dinner as a family.
I recreated that with our 2 sons. When they were little they didn't have to get dressed at all on Christmas if they didn't want to. When the youngest was about 12 my brother wanted us to come to his house for breakfast and open presents. Keith was so upset when we told him that his uncle wanted him there for breakfast and presents. Now, we do presents with my brother's family usually at Mom's. We always open presents at our house Christmas morning.
I think Christmas belongs to children and they should be able to enjoy the day without a lot of fighting with cousins and other relatives.
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Old 12-06-2002, 02:56 PM   #5
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Re: Holiday Traditions

Growing up, we always had a candy making day. We went to my Grandmothers to pull taffy, make fudge, caramels, peanutbutter cups, mints, and lots of other sweets. My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimers a year ago so the tradition has kind of stopped. It's something I really wish I could keep going. My parents divorced in February so we're trying to forge some new ground and start some new traditions. We've decided that getting our tree the day after Thanksgiving, making Spritz cookies and having a bottle of wine is good for us! Since this is our first Christmas at WDW that just may be our new tradition!!
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Old 12-06-2002, 03:17 PM   #6
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Re: Holiday Traditions

Our biggest tradition is the Christmas Eve pajamas. When we were little, we always wanted to open a present on Christmas Eve and mom and dad always wanted us to look good for Christmas morning pics, so they killed two birds with one stone. I'm 25 now and my brother is 22 and we still get new jammies on Christmas Eve...and now even DH is included in the tradition that I'm sure we'll pass down to our own kids someday [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]
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Old 12-06-2002, 04:48 PM   #7
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Re: Holiday Traditions

Don't you just love traditions that started during your childhood and that you can now pass on to your own children?

A few...
Christmas Eve we always open 1 present each after we return from church and riding around looking at lights.
We put out reindeer food in the back yard and I cut up some shiny ribbon and mix in so they can "see it from the sky".
We do the traditional cookies and milk for Santa.
DH gets his boots out and makes boot prints on the hearth from the ashes in the fireplace. A couple of years ago, our DS was interviewed by the newspaper on what happens when Santa comes and he told them about the footprints left each year. The next morning he was quoted on the front page of the newspaper (which we have several copies of [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ).
Since Santa has never wrapped his presents, DS must come and get DH and I up before going into the den so I can take pictures of his surprised face - just as my father did with us as we were growing up. There's that picture each year of all three of us in our jammies with mouths wide open in wonder. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Great question.

Debbi
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Old 12-06-2002, 06:57 PM   #8
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Re: Holiday Traditions

The first year DH and I were together he had to work 6am-6pm on Christmas day. We didn't open our gifts to each other until he got home in the evening. Since we have been married, we continue that tradition. We go to my mother's on Christmas morning and open gifts there with all my brothers and their families. We then do our holiday visiting, but we wait until we get home to open our gifts to each other. It gives us quiet time to enjoy each other and extends the day just a bit.
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Old 12-06-2002, 07:33 PM   #9
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Re: Holiday Traditions

When we were little our Grandmother lived with us. My two Uncle's would come over on Christmas Eve. We didn't have a fireplace and the 'Santa key' hadn't been invented yet so Santa came to our side basement door. We would hear "Santa"(my Dad) yell Ho Ho Ho(deep voice) and my Dad would say Hi Santa(normal voice) and Santa would say Hi John and we would be freaking out hiding our eyes in our grandmothers lap and our Uncle's would come over and 'hide' too! Then we would open our presents. We always got new pajamas too from our parents and would be wearing these already when Santa came. We also had an Elf, Elmer who kept an eye on us before Christmas and would ring his bell (oven timer) when we were bad. I have to give my family kudos for thinking of all of this stuff. Once we had gone to the store and my Mom had a little cart that we pulled along. It had snowed on our way home. My father called us to the door after we had been home a little while and said, you had better go put on your PJ's, look Santa must be near there are the marks from his sleigh in the snow! LOL! were we stupid or what!!? I continued this stuff with my girls. They don't live here anymore, but they still usually get new PJ's.

[ 12-06-2002, 07:35 PM: Message edited by: Wondcat ]
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Old 12-06-2002, 09:46 PM   #10
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Re: Holiday Traditions

We didn't have much, but we always got new gloves and hats on Christmas Eve. Christmas was reserved for Dad's family (divoced parents) and then, Mom's family was either before or after, except never on the 27th. That is MY birthdy, and I was the only one allowed to open gifts on that day. I remember once meeting a little girl who had the same birthdate and thinking how sad it was that she had to open HER gifts AFTER her birthday, since I was the only one on he 27th.
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Old 12-06-2002, 10:50 PM   #11
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Re: Holiday Traditions

We do Christmas Eve at our house. Santa (played by DH's brother's partner} shows up and brings down the house for DN & DD. We open a few presents on Christmas Eve and then spend Chirstmas day opening presents, focusing on DD and just hanging around the house and have prime rib for dinner. A few years ago, the adults decided to stop buying gifts for each other and just buy for the kids. This move has made Christmas a lot more fun and stess free for all of us.
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