Christmas Traditions or A Conversation Heard in Burnstopia
Wife: What are you doing on the blog? You never write on the blog.
Husband: Well, I did write that one time about something.
Wife: You wrote about the birth of our child because I was incapacitated.
Husband: Right. I wrote on the blog once. Tonight, I was going to take a poll.
Wife: A poll of what?
Husband: Now that The Boy is here and this Christmas is our first together, I feel the need to try to start some traditions.
Wife: We have traditions whether you are conscious for them or not.
Husband: Oh yeah. The Christmas Carol. We...well...you read that every year. I try to listen but somehow fall asleep towards the end....middleish...beginning of each chapter. Its a great book though.
Wife: And we read Luke 2 on Christmas Eve.
Husband: Riiiggggghhhhtttttt. I'm the one that does the reading for that one.
Wife: And my mom just taught you how to make the homemade chocolates so we can start doing that every year. And toffee. And the presents wrapped up with brown paper and red string. And the oranges for the stockings. And the Christmas music that starts in November.
Husband: Huh. I guess we do have Christmas traditions in Burnstopia. I still want to ask what other people do though. I'm not above stealing traditions from other people.
Wife: Just because you want to steal from other people does not mean we do not have traditions! You're just asleep for most of them!
So, readers of the blog, as you can see I would like some Christmas traditions from you that involve things with a low likelihood of falling asleep. By "things" I would like to hear stories about food (like cinnamon rolls every Christmas morning or a dish that is made only around Christmas time), spiritual endeavors (yeah, besides Luke 2 I can't think of examples--I apparently need lots of help on this area), behaviors (Santa putting a candy cane in the child's hand during the night, gift opening/giving habits, having a pickle ornament on the tree), service (caroling, working at a food kitchen), or any other traditions that you are willing to share that don't fall into any category. The purpose of this exercise is many: 1) So I can steal some ideas, 2) to try to return the Christmas Spirit to Burnstopia (see angry post below from The Wife), and 3) to help you think about the pleasant things that happen in your family (we all have horror stories about holiday gatherings with family--this is not the place for those--unless that is all you have--in which case, please steal the happy ones from the responses).
On a side note--I really want to make another batch of homemade chocolates (chocolate covered cherries, orange creams, toasted almond and cherries covered with chocolate and fondant, maybe some mint flavor, caramels, and toffee). If you are going to be in the area and would be willing to let us share some of these with you (we really don't need to eat an entire batch by ourselves), please also let us know that in the comment section. Or, if you are already out of town, you can express remorse at not being able to have any delicious, sugary, calorie-laden goodness. But, before you do that, please share some of your traditions first.
posted by M @ 6:21 PM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
Okay, so this is Rick and Stephanie West. We've been "lurking" on your blog and not posting for a long time. I found you on Sarah's blog and I've had so much fun following the story of "The Boy." Congratulations on your baby, by the way. :) And now for our first comment (I think) on your blog:
Christmas traditions:
1) We have been collecting Christmas books and movies since we were first married and after each Christmas we rewrap them and put them away with our Christmas decorations (we stole this from the Isenbergers a few years back). Once Christmas comes around again we've forgotten what is wrapped where and are always surprised when we open them with our kids. It's our family's way of celebrating the "30+ days of Christmas" by opening one a day from Thanksgiving until Christmas. This way our girls have a Christmas present to open each day and we have an excuse to spend family time together every day enjoying our holiday stories and movies.
2) Since my parents are now empty nesters, they decided they didn't need Christmas presents. Instead a few years ago all of the children were asked to prepare 3-5 scrapbook pages highlighting their family that year and then color copy them for my parents and all of our siblings. It works well for us because I DON'T scrapbook. That is, I didn't scrapbook until we started this tradition. We now have a family scrapbook all because of Christmas!
3) Another activity my grandmother suggested (this hasn't been a family tradition, but it seems like it could be a good one) that instead of buying her a present each year she would prefer us to donate to our local food bank instead.
Have a Merry Christmas! I wish I was there to enjoy all those yummy chocolates!
One of my favorite traditions is that we open one present on Christmas Eve, which is always pajamas. It's fun to have brand new pjs to wear to bed Christmas Eve.
Another involving food is that my mom makes these decadently delicious cream cheese, cinnamon pastry things. (I don't know if they have technical name.) They are SO good and I always eat tons.
Okay. So, I've been thinking. I may come up with more later, but here's something.
We give each other 3 gifts to represent gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The gold gift is the most desired gift (aka. a certain Barbie for Kylie, a train set for Dallin, and well, a pair of shoes for Corbin!). Then the other two gifts are: one practical gift and one gift that has to be used with someone else to enjoy it (such as a game). So far, this has been so great for us and we've been doing it for about 4-5 years.
As far as Santa goes, he brings our family "family gifts" that are for everyone's use. He also fills our stockings with smallish items and always an orange.
For Christmas morning breakfast, we have Baked Stuffed French Toast (stuffed with cream cheese and jam). It's made beforehand and either frozen or kept in the fridge overnight. It takes an hour to bake and that ends up being the perfect amount of time for us to open gifts and then eat! It's been great so that I don't have to worry about cooking on Christmas morning, but we have something really yummy to stuff ourselves with. ;)
We don't have a pickle on the tree, but we do have a wooden candy cane that is used just like the traditional pickle. It's hidden and whoever finds it first is the first to open a gift.
I have ideas of doing a secret 12 days of Christmas for someone each year...but have yet to do it. I will make it a tradition someday though!
I believe that's it for now...I'll update if one floats through.
Ok, this is great, I am loving all these comments! One of my favorite traditions growing up was playing sports ALL DAY long on Christmas Eve while Mom cooked up a wonderful candle-lit feast (French Onion soup was always the main course though) and then us kiddos built a fort and slept in it together so we could wake up every 10 minutes to check the clock (we couldn't get UP until 6:00). I had no idea Oranges in stockings was a big tradition, but we do that too. For breakfast, Santa always left a big basket of food (cereals, oranges, special juices etc) on our table and that's what we had. Ta daaaa.
Prepare for a long post ahead. My family traditions revolve around a Christmas program reciting Luke 2 and singing Christmas Carols. We read about the Wisemen and sing "We Three Kings", Shepherds (While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night), the Angel (Hark the Herald Angels Sing), etc. You get the idea.
Ammon's family traditions revolve around food and lots of it. They begin dinner around 7 or 8 on Christmas Eve and finish the last course of many at midnight. Ammon and I don't spend nearly the hours stuffing ourselves, although there is nothing wrong with that, but we do have a large social meal involving a Raclette.
We also have incorporated the three gift idea that Gina mentioned, as well as, hand-making at least one gift given.
The stockings always have an orange and a box of chocolate almonds.
I grew up making fudge, caramel, and almond rocha. We spent days making this and distributing to neighbors, friends, and family. I enjoy this tradtion although it can be quite the production and stressful.
I like the gift wrapping in brown paper and red string. Would you mind if we adopted that one?
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