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This will be the first year that Richard and I don't have to travel for Christmas. It is also the first year that the Sprout can help us celebrate (he is still small, but at least he will be awake and can take part in the eating). It got me thinking about family traditions. I haven't lived at home for almost 12 years, but it seems that the A-S-B traditions applied until I moved countries, and even then, I would travel over land and sea to take part in any little morsel I could.
Stockings
In the past, I have talked about the A family Christmas stockings. This is the first part of the new tradition I have to address. After much thought, I have decided that it is not necessary for the Sprout to wield an A family stocking. In fact, I don't even need Richard to put out his A family stocking. If I ever got around to making a stocking for the Sprout, I might try to combine Richard and my stocking styles. It would sort of serve as a family tree.
The Tree
The next tradition I have to decide on is the tree. When will we put up the tree? How will it be displayed? My family has always gone to find the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. In England, we have a fake tree and therefore have no need for a hunting party to find the perfect Christmas Tree. In the past I have put up the Christmas tree as early as the second week in November and as late as the last weekend in November. I think I will continue to put the Tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving so I can have it up for my English Thanksgiving Dinner. We still need to buy our tree for this year, last year's tree got moldy from being stored in the cellar.
Christmas Eve
How will we celebrate Christmas Eve? My family had a regimented Christmas Eve tradition of eating crab, opening our presents, going to church and watching "It's a Wonderful Life" while we all fell asleep. Somehow, 4 years ago I became allergic to crab, something I discovered on Christmas Eve. I have always wanted to eat Salmon for Christmas, a kind of homage to the Pacific Northwest, but everyone else hates fish. We may just have to have a thick steak for dinner. I like opening presents on Christmas Eve, because it makes the Santa presents that much better and more pronounced. Our Santa presents were always wrapped in sparkley paper and fancy boxes (Fredrick & Nelson boxes to be exact). Because I have a baby, I get to think up how I would like to handle the Santa issue. I think Santa is important, and therefore there will be a Santa, and he will have flying reindeer and he only gives presents to GOOD children. I was reading up on some traditions that other families have regarding Santa and I like the idea of magic flying reindeer powder that Santa gives out in his letter to the children. I guess you take glitter and spread it outside the front door so that the reindeer know where to go. I just thought that was really cute.
Christmas Day
Christmas Day is tricky for me. For more than half of my life, I spent Christmas Day whizzing from one house to another, the product of having divorced parents and grandparents who still had Christmas dinner at their houses. There is no more whizzing. I only have one family to visit. It almost takes all the fun out of Christmas, to be allowed to settle and relax. I like the idea of a nice breakfast and presents from Santa, then letting the rest of the day be up to the in-laws.
I am new to Boxing Day, but I am sure there are people with traditions for that day too. I am sure I won't be one of the ones scrambling to the shoppes.
I am sure establishing traditions has allot of trial and error, but I am excited to start new ones and keep old ones going.
4 comments:
I love the glitter for the reindeer thing. That might be something we do with Mason. We will be traveling to Canada for the next few years. Barry's extended family all gets together and the hockey tournament is a tradition we all look forward to. One Ukrainian Christmas eve tradition I particularly like is setting an extra place at the table for the holy ghost or a wayward stranger in need of a good meal. I like to also think of it as a place for the loved ones near or far that cannot be present. I also think it is a great beginning to a B horror flick. One tradition I still feel awful about is that we used to get a new set of pajamas every Christmas eve. That would be the present we would open the night before. Well, one year my brother and I complained and that was the end of that tradition. Sorry mom. D
I love reading about and thinking about family traditions. I want to make an advent calendar, go to church on christmas eve and of course watch it's a wonderful life. I think i have more to say about this so I will write a post too.
D- I love the new jammie tradition, my mom still does it every couple years for all of us.
J- did it snow yet?!
So many people do the PJ thing, it must be so you look good for the morning pictures. I love the empty place setting thing. We may have to fit in a webcam thing too once we get that figured out.
It did not snow in Shipley, but I heard it snowed a little in Skipton. I have decided not to trust Google Weather, it keeps giving me a snow day.
I will keep thinking about the tradition stuff, there are so many to figure out.
A tip about the stocking tradition: Its not about them, its about you. In a couple of years, they, yes THEY, will be coming into your bedroom at 0 dawn hundred, bouncing on the bed, yelling, "We want to open presents!!!!" (Remember? I do.) If the tradition is in place, you calmly say, "Go open your stocking." Now, if you have added the right trinkets, you will get a couple more hours of sleep, until 8 or so, which I consider reasonable on Xmas morning. After a while they will do this tradition automatically and you will sleep right thru. Otherwise... :(, especially since one of you will have been up 'til all hours putting "something" together.
Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas time. But for me, I think Manhattans is my favorite tradition!
:)
Dad
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