Curious about traditions

[Joy in FL]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! I have been rushing around like crazy this year and have found myself over doing it regarding my arm. Thus, the reason I am looking for a distraction. I have always been interested in how others celebrate holidays. So would you all mind sharing with everyone a few of your special traditions for this time of year. I think that would be a pleasant distraction!

Christmas has always been special with my family. Even more so when my son, Adam, was born on Christmas Eve! He will be 18 on Monday! When I was a kid the one tradition we had was to openONE present before going to bed. After having Adam on Christmas Eve I joked that I had opened the ultimate present that year! I also felt that with the name of JOY it is only fitting I should have a baby at Christmas time! LOL

I was just kind of curious as to how others celebrate their holiday. Especially, those in other countries.
Does everyone remember getting an apple and an orange in the bottom of their stockings as kids? Do you remember watching the weatherman track Santa's progress all over the world. How many can't sleep past 6 in the morning on Christmas Day, because they are too excited?!

Can't wait to hear some of your stories.

Joy

[lizzyb]

Hi Joy..don't know about traditions, but this parody of a well known poem reminded me of all the sleepless Christmas eves' I spent doing almost exactly what the following is all about...I bet some of us here can relate to it!!

sorry if you have all seen this before...Happy Christmas everyone....!! ;0)

Twas the night before Christmas
when all through the house
I searched for the tools to hand to my spouse
Instructions were studied and we were inspired,
in hopes we could manage "Some Assembly Required."

The children were quiet (not asleep)in their beds,
while Dad and I faced the evening with dread:
a kitchen, two bikes, Barbie's town house to boot!
And, thanks to Grandpa, a train with a toot!

We opened the boxes, my heart skipped a beat-
let no parts be missing or parts incomplete!
Too late for last-minute returns or replacement;
if we can't get it right, it goes in the basement!

When what to my worrying eyes should appear
but 50 sheets of directions, concise, but not clear,
with each part numbered and every slot named,
so if we failed, only we could be blamed.

More rapid than eagles the parts then fell out,
all over the carpet they were scattered about.
"Now bolt it! Now twist it! Attach it right there!
Slide on the seats, and staple the stair!

Hammer the shelves, and nail to the stand."
"Honey," said hubby, "you just glued my hand."
And then in a twinkling, I knew for a fact
that all the toy dealers had indeed made a pact
to keep parents busy all Christmas Eve night
with "assembly required" till morning's first light.

We spoke not a word, but kept bent at our work,
till our eyes, they went bleary; our fingers all hurt.
The coffee went cold and the night,it wore thin
before we attached the last rod and last pin.

Then laying the tools away in the chest,
we fell into bed for a well-deserved rest.
But I said to my husband just before I passed out,
"This will be the best Christmas, without any doubt.
Tomorrow we'll cheer, let the holiday ring,
and not have to run to the store for a thing!

We did it! We did it! The toys are all set
for the perfect, most perfect, Christmas, I bet!"
Then off to dreamland and sweet repose
I grateful went, though I suppose
there's something to say for those self-deluded-
I'd forgotten that BATTERIES are never included!

[MarcsOnFire]

Drink, Drink and...........ummmmmmmm...........Drink!!!!!!!!

[Mindy]

I love Christmas! We start getting ready for it in November on St. Martin's Day. From that day forward it is the Christmas season. This is when I put out the stable and all the characters are spread all over the house and ever day I move the characters until finally everyone but the wiseman are at the stable on Christmas eve.
On the first day of Advent we go go to the Christmas tree farm and cut down our tree, have a sleigh ride, and drink hot apple cider. From this day until Christmas eve we call our tree a Jesse tree. Every day of Advent the kids open a present with everything they need to make an ornament that tells part of the prophesy of the promised Messiah.
On St. Nicholas's day my children get their most wished for present plus their shoes. In their shoes they get an orange for prosperity, goid chocolate coins to remind them of the story of St. Nicholas, a small toy, a piece of spiced cake, and as much candy as I can shove in them. We also celebrate a variation of St Lucy's day.
Finally on Christmas Eve day we decorate the entire house, yard, tree, and all the presents are put under the tree. Christmas is the start of the twelve days of Christmas. On Christmas morn all the presents are opened and we have a birthday party for Jesus. The Christmas story is read and we have a lot of fun just enjoying the holiday.
On each of the twelve days of Christmas we open a family present. It is a tradition in my family that it is a book that gets read aloud every night. So we end up with twelve beutiful books that remind us each night never to forget Christmas is a time of sharing.
Finally it is Epiphany and the wiseman arrive. I have a very old book that tells the real story of the wiseman and we read it together. The next day all the decorations come down and our tree is taken out to the garden where we have a bonfire and roast marshmallows and tell our favorite memory of this Christmas season. I live in Minnesota in the USA so it is usually twenty degrees outside and my neighbors think we have lost it having a bonfire in the middle of winter!
I tried really hard to shorten everything so I did not take up too much space... I am third generation born in the United States so I was raised with a lot of the older customs that America forgot about plus I added some of my own!

[lizzyb]

WOW! Mindy!! I want to be at your house next Christmas!!

I LOVE the bonfire part...!, we have one in our garden on New Years eve whenever we have friends round...the neighbours think we're a bit whacked too....hhaahaaa!

[Arnold]

My Christmas tradition has been to work on my 1969 Mustang. It kind of makes winter here in Michigan go by a little faster.

[Kristie]

We actually try to do a lot of the things that Mindy mentioned! Our families had different traditions and we wanted to do stuff that focuses on Jesus more. So we had to search out ideas and I found a great book called Celebrating the Christian Year by Martha Zimmerman. It has been a blast for my family. Right now we are in the middle of a move so things haven't been quite the same but our nativiy people are on the way through the house and every morning my daughter has to find where they have gone to! She seems to enjoy it!
Kristie
In case you are wondering who the heck I am... I am the mother of an BPI child. His name is Ian and he is 10 months old. I read the adult board alot to gain perspective from your situations and experiences... I just felt this was a topic I could post too! Hope you don't mind!

[marymom]

SEASONS GREETINGS Joy in FL, its mary in S FL
This year we celebrated Solstice(birth of sun) Channukah, and christmas, (not in that order)
it diluted a bit the hoopla surrounding the one day, the 25th, but I thik for my family, that worked well-
For Channnuksh we lit a candle eaCH NIGHT, SAID TH E BLESSING AND ON DIFFERENT NIGHTS WE READ DIfferent things,(excuse caps) we also played the dreydle,, the kids realy like that, we used chocolate $ to bet with -
Solstice ;we talked about it the night before(this was our first year observing it as a family) thinking about the sun and moon and earth , and then that morning we did a candle ceremony with the eldest daughter and sun taking the parts of the goddess(earth) and the sun-
On Christmas eve we went to the childrens mass-the nuns are my neighbors, RIGHT behind our house, and that was very nice- then Christmas, the younger kids went to their dads- There were no santa presents at our house for the kids but there were stockings which...had small things - We kind of did the 12 days which was more like 17 days really, from the first day of Channukah...but THEN Christmas night we drove to Atlanta which was like a present , very fun, to see my mom
thanks for asking about different traditions,
I'm hoping to incorporate KWANZA next year , into our household observances at least!
peace and love to all and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

[francine]

Mindy , I am awestruck by the traditions you have created/used/incorporated into your holiday celebrations. WOW! Your children will have awesome memories of this time as they grow up.

We celebrate Chanukkah here but this year Maia had surgery the first day of Chanukkah so we were pretty zilched out on the preparations and celebrations.

But I bought a chanukkah book that had pop out stuff and there was a menorah in it that you could pop out each candle one at a time and that's what we read and did while we were in the hospital.

On the actualy first night of Chanukkah - a friend of our brought us a beautiful lavender candle and we lit that and read our book.

Once we got home, it is our tradition to light the menorah and say our blessings together before we eat dinner and then we sit at the dinner table until the last flame has gone out. We read a different book about Chanukkah each night and each child gets a small present. We also cook potato pancakes (latkes) one night and another night we do jelly donuts. And at least once during this time we try to gather with extended family for a dinner...but that didn't happen either. Last year we added putting up Blue lights on our windows - which was just gorgeous - so that we felt more community with our Christian neighbors and friends and we also lit the menorahs a second time and put them in the window as well.

Each year the children make another menorah and each year we light them ALL - I guess some will retire eventually or we will have to rotate which ones get lit which night.

Last year was the first year that Maia wasn't post op during the holiday season so it was REALLY fun. This year she was again and I think that if she needs more surgeries done, I won't do them around holiday time again. It really puts a damper on things.

Happy New Year,
francine