Your Favorite Holiday Traditions?

[zombiemiko]

With the holidays quickly approaching, I've been thinking of traditions a lot lately. My family didn't have too many when I was growing up, but now that I'm (kind of a) grown up and living with my husband, we've been slowly creating our own traditions as we go.

• As a kid, we'd always get new pajamas on Christmas Eve, the first present to be opened! I've kind of stuck with this one into adulthood, so now I'm keeping an eye out for cute new PJs while I'm out shopping
• Opening presents on Christmas Eve. I'm not sure how this one started for my husband and I, but we always go to a mega-big family get together on Christmas Eve, then when we get home, we give each other our gifts. Christmas Day is spent with more immediate family
• Goose and wassail with friends. This started a few years ago when we all realized that none of us had ever had a Christmas goose, so we had a dinner party one evening, and now it's become an annual event! We also have a second tree dedicated to our friends, that is decorate with ornaments they bring.

What kind of traditions do you and your loved ones do for the holidays?

 

[MyDigitalpoint]

In my family Christmas tradition started with setting up all together the holidays decoration on the first Advent Sunday and start baking cookies or preparing some food that need to be done in anticipation.

Then we observed the 9 days of "posadas" (piñata party) which is the pilgrimage of Joseph and Mary remembrance.

On Christmas Eve mom, my sister and Ispent the early morning and part of the afternoon getting ready for Christmas dinner around 10 pm, while my father used to came back and fort to "steal" some food because nothing but snacks were served in between.

At midnight, everybody used to run to the Christmas tree to find their gifts, loads of them for each one. I remember to have opened once over 40 gifts, but all of these came only from mom, dad and my sole sister, because we were only 4 family members celebrating and no more people were invited.

On Christmas day, some friends may stopped bye, but it was like a sort of boring day watching TV and enjoying last night's leftovers. The real important day for us was Christmas Eve.

Actually tradition has not changed at all, but my father is not longer with us and we don't longer open any gift that night nor receive friends the next one.

 

[mommy42]

Both of your traditions sound very nice!!
We too give the kids pjs for Christmas. They always open them on Christmas Eve. We go to church, and then out for Chinese food (only thing open Christmas Eve), drive around and look at the lights in some of the neighborhoods that go all out. We then come home, open one gift and then it is usually time for bed. We open gifts Christmas morning, lounge around in our pjs, watch TV, and then usually have prime rib for an early dinner. We play a new board game that evening too (that was also a tradition we started with the kids).
My son is 18 and this may be one of the last Christmas' he is home. I hope not because that makes me really sad!!!

 

[Christine Mlinek]

When we were growing up, we went to Midnight Mass, and then home to bed. Ya right! we are kids and pumped! So we got to open one gift from Mom and Dad, and then in the morning, the Santa gifts.

Another tradition was hungarian pastry and coffee before gifts. Kolach is a nutroll with raisins, and my grandmother taught my mom how to make it, and now it is our turn to do it.

 

[mommy42]

Ooooh, the Kolach sounds really good!! My Mom did something similar to that. She's Irish and German though.
Not sure what it was but when I saw your post it brought yummy memories flooding back!!!
When she would make pies - always from scratch - there would be leftover pie dough. We would spread
butter on it and sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar and bake them. Sooo good!!!!

 

[Christine Mlinek]

My mother is Irish and German as well. My father's side is Hungarian so grandma helped my mom with it first. MIL / DIL thing I guess!
The Kolach, will have to dig out that recipe and post.

 

[MyPaperBleedsInk]

I remember when I was young we'd always go to church on xmas eve, and I'd sleep through it or write in a notebook because I hate church and I'm an atheist. Always have been, but was always made to go on holidays. After that my parents, brother, and I would hop in the car and drive around the town looking at Christmas decorations. We'd head home and my brother and I would dash inside to see if "santa" came, then just later on for presents our parents got us. Gifts in the stockings were always opened first and they were usually small items that were useful but not the toys kids would expect. We'd get toothbrushes, themed toothpaste, band-aids of our favorite characters/tv shows etc. and chocolate coins.

 

[ACSAPA]

My daughter and I usually watch a different Christmas movie every night until Christmas, starting after Thanksgiving. And we usually go on walks around the neighborhood to see the neighbors' flashy Christmas light displays. There are also certain candies, like pecan Divinity that we buy around this time of year, but we've been distracted by moving to another apartment, so things are disorganized this year and we didn't really do all the usual stuff.

 

[dreamseer]

In our family, we always ordered pizza on Christmas eve (because mom was too busy cooking for Christmas day) and opened presents after eating. We opened all of our presents from mom and dad and would play with them until we were ready for bed.
Then we would try to sleep, knowing that Santa would be there sometime in the night. Come the "break of dawn", we would rush downstairs to see what we had laid out under the tree from santa, and what was in our stockings!
We would stay busy with our new treasures while mom finished up the meal preparations. My grandparents, aunt and uncles would come to our house on Christmas day and we would eat and open more presents.
My favorite tradition was each of us getting a new ornament every year.