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Post by sheyd on Nov 20, 2008 10:42:03 GMT -5
With the holiday season approaching, I know there are people looking forward to them, and people dreading them. Part of that is the traditions we either can or can't keep, or need to create.
So... please add to this thread the traditions you have or have had for the holidays that you like or would like to start - or any other ideas you have heard about. I know at least one person looking for ideas to start new traditions.
It would be great if we could think up some single or small family traditions as well as sharing the large extended family ones...
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Post by redskyatnight on Nov 20, 2008 11:46:28 GMT -5
On the day after Thanksgiving, we take our Halloween pumpkins to a foot bridge over the river and throw them in.
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Post by rocko on Nov 20, 2008 12:36:37 GMT -5
The days immediately following Thanksgiving we get out all of our Christmas stuff and decorate together. The kid's grandma from their biological dad's side spends a week with us at Thanksgiving so we do all the decorating with her. It kinda lets her have Christmas with us in an odd kinda way.
Christmas Eve we go to my parent's house and have a yummy steak dinner and exchange gifts with them.
They always give the boys PJs to wear that night (they look better in Christmas morning photos this way!!) and a toy of some sort.
Christmas morning the kids play with the one item that santa left unwrapped until my parents and my husband's parents (including my step-son) get there and then they open presents.
After all the presents are opened my mom and I cook breakfast for everyone.
Then we stay home the rest of the day and nap and relax (and put together toys and things)!! The kids play and make lots of noise.
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Post by jules on Nov 20, 2008 13:49:52 GMT -5
Ok, so I used to be a freak about Christmas and all of the traditions it entailed. I loved every bit of it and got into every aspect -- the decorating, the gift buying, the music, the festivities, the family stuff. My ex and I did every bit of it together since he was as into Christmas as I was. When we bought our house, we were all over the Christmas decorations in the stores (and I have two upstairs closets full of the crap to prove it), and we were so psyched to have a full-sized tree (as opposed to a little apartment-sized 3-footer) and bought the coolest ornaments we could find for surprises as each other. We made all kinds of plans for how we would do Christmas when we had kids (decided I would host Christmas Eve -- traditional Polish Wigilia, of course -- since it wasn't fair to lug kids all over creation on Christmas Eve.) We'd actually go to the mall and watch the kids going to visit Santa. Hell my ex owned a Santa suit. We watched A Christmas Story on TBS before going to bed on Christmas Eve, and wake up early on Christmas morning to have our own quiet time to exchange gifts before setting off to see the families. It was the happiest time of year for me.
And now I say bah humbug. Not for nothing but traditional holidays and their traditions seem like nothing more than a cruel joke for the single and childless. And as if you don't feel crappy enough, you're bombarded with those stupid cards from people you never even talk to of their offspring in various versions of santa or elf wear accompanied by chatty letters about what a wonderful life they have. Whoop de doo. (For the record, even when I was a Christmas freak with visions of Norman Rockwell Christmas mornings, I swore I'd never subject friends and family to that sort of self-involved drivel.)
The one tradition I did start last year was having a girls' night holiday celebration with about a dozen of my girl friends. Dinner consists of appetizers and desserts. (That's the best part anyway, right?) Oh, and many bottles of wine. The only males invited are so if they are breastfeeding. We do a white elephant yankee swap gift exchange (which, for those of you unfamiliar, consists of finding the most hideous gift you've ever received and still have for some bizarre reason, wrapping it up, and people take turns unwrapping, and have the ability to "steal" already unwrapped gifts or unwrapping a new monstrosity.) Hysterical and budget friendly! Hosting it last year was the only thing that inspired me to actually put on some lip gloss, hang a wreath on the door, and spend an afternoon cooking and baking.
But other than that... bleh. I really hope one day to enjoy the holiday season once again, but it's not looking promising. Maybe I need to rent a child for the month of December or something just to feel like a part of things.
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Post by amola on Nov 20, 2008 13:58:25 GMT -5
Maybe I need to rent a child for the month of December or something just to feel like a part of things. hey, i have a buy 1, get 4 free deal going on right now...........just give me your address and i'll ship 'em off to you!!!  i am hella into christmas. always have been. but, at the same time, we don't have many traditions. i have no family out here, but my ex does, so i stay pretty flexible so that the kids can spend time with his family too. a couple of years ago, he took them for a week (which did kill me) and we held off on having christmas until dec. 30 i think. i want to start our own traditions, but at the same time, i don't. i hate to see when people get so mired in their own traditions that they can't do anything else, and i don't want the kids to have to deal with it when they get older and have their own families and have to go through the why-can't-we-do-our-own-thing-instead-of-being-forced-to-go-to-mom's-house-at-a-certain-time thing. i have no idea what we're going to do this year. we were supposed to go back to pennsylvania for thanksgiving for my mother's 80th birthday, but my hip screwed that up. assuming that i'm totally back on my feet by christmas, i'm going to make cookies, wrap presents, get a ginormous tree, and just enjoy it. |
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Post by hoodieprincess on Nov 20, 2008 15:24:32 GMT -5
From now until sometime in the unforeseeable future, I will have both kids one holiday and then neither the next. I alternate holidays with their dad's but made sure to have them the same holiday (either Thanksgiving or Christmas depending on the year) so that we can have at least one all together. We don't have a ton of traditions it seems.
There is usually the big Christmas Even dinner at my mom's house which could be anything from lasagna to steak and crab. We exchange gifts with them and have an evening. Since this is the first year in so many that we've lived by ourselves, it's the year to start our own family traditions. I am sure we'll do Christmas Eve at my mom's but it will be home early to do our own thing too. Christmas day always rotates between a family member to have the festivities and it's back for more food, a million people, and the gift exchange which we drew names for.
This year, being a piss-poor year and all, I have tried to put the focus less on what we can get and more about what we can give. The kids and I have found some recipes for cookies and we have all kinds of containers. They have already started making Christmas cards for the special people in their lives.
The one thing with me is I love decorating for Christmas. The last 3 years, all I kept saying is I couldn't wait to be in my own house with my own decorations again. I missed my things! For me, it's special to get to open the boxes and unwrap each special ornament. Our tree is always filled with ornaments made by the kids or even me, significant ones handed down from my grandmother or great-grandmother even, or ones bought on special trips. This year, we get to have our own tree and our own things. The kids want to make popcorn garland to hang. Though my marriage has been done for over 3 years, this will be my 1st real Christmas alone and ironically, aside from the no money thing, I am kind of excited.
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Post by rocko on Nov 20, 2008 15:31:46 GMT -5
From now until sometime in the unforeseeable future, I will have both kids one holiday and then neither the next. I alternate holidays with their dad's but made sure to have them the same holiday (either Thanksgiving or Christmas depending on the year) so that we can have at least one all together. We don't have a ton of traditions it seems. There is usually the big Christmas Even dinner at my mom's house which could be anything from lasagna to steak and crab. We exchange gifts with them and have an evening. Since this is the first year in so many that we've lived by ourselves, it's the year to start our own family traditions. I am sure we'll do Christmas Eve at my mom's but it will be home early to do our own thing too. Christmas day always rotates between a family member to have the festivities and it's back for more food, a million people, and the gift exchange which we drew names for. This year, being a piss-poor year and all, I have tried to put the focus less on what we can get and more about what we can give. The kids and I have found some recipes for cookies and we have all kinds of containers. They have already started making Christmas cards for the special people in their lives. The one thing with me is I love decorating for Christmas. The last 3 years, all I kept saying is I couldn't wait to be in my own house with my own decorations again. I missed my things! For me, it's special to get to open the boxes and unwrap each special ornament. Our tree is always filled with ornaments made by the kids or even me, significant ones handed down from my grandmother or great-grandmother even, or ones bought on special trips. This year, we get to have our own tree and our own things. The kids want to make popcorn garland to hang. Though my marriage has been done for over 3 years, this will be my 1st real Christmas alone and ironically, aside from the no money thing, I am kind of excited. This is very exciting. I remember my first Christmas alone. I bought some really cheap ornaments that were snow flakes to make the tree different than how it had been with the ex. It was beautiful. |
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Post by finding on Nov 20, 2008 19:28:58 GMT -5
We decorate the day after Thanksgiving and take the decorations down New Year's Day. The ornaments are hung from the ceiling with strands of lights hung on the perimeter. It looks awesome with the lights off and when the furnace kicks on, the ornaments sway just a little bit.
Every year the kids get a new ornament that they get after all their gifts have been opened. They are always excited to see what the new one is to add to their collection.
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Post by soupnazi on Nov 20, 2008 23:44:50 GMT -5
When I was a kid, we wouldn't decorate the tree until after my brother's birthday (first week of December) so as not to detract from his "time". Once we had his birthday party, my parents would put on the records that I still love today, and we would decorate the tree. On Christmas Eve, my entire family would get together and do a pot luck sort of dinner, and then after, my Aunt would play the piano and we would all sing Christmas carols. Once we got home, my Mom would get out the crystal glasses, pour some egg nog, and my Dad would get his bible, and read the story of Christmas, straight from the source. :-) We always got to open one present on Christmas eve, picked by my parents, and it was usually pajamas. Once I had kids, we did sort of a fun day with them. I would get up in the morning on a weekend, put on a bunch of Christmas CD's, and got all the decorations out. I would make some hot chocolate or some cider, and all of us would hang things on the tree. We would always make at least one trip to the mall, to see the lights, visit Santa, and listen to the music. The past couple of years, post divorce and kids grown up and moved away, I have put out a small Christmas tree, I have some great cd's that I play for weeks around the holidays. But...this year, I have a girlfriend with a small boy, who lights up at almost anything, and I can't wait to put the tree up, point at the star on top, sing the songs, and start some new traditions.  |
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Post by rocko on Nov 21, 2008 8:41:19 GMT -5
But...this year, I have a girlfriend with a small boy, who lights up at almost anything, and I can't wait to put the tree up, point at the star on top, sing the songs, and start some new traditions. How exciting it is to get a second chance to do it all over again. |
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Post by JimB on Nov 21, 2008 11:21:38 GMT -5
Humbug.  |
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Post by Phyxius on Nov 21, 2008 14:03:45 GMT -5
Humbug. I see your humbug and raise you BAH! |
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Post by amola on Nov 21, 2008 16:12:54 GMT -5
oh yeah, my kids do get new ornaments every year, and they get wrapped individually and put into their stockings. i usually just write their name and the year on them so that when they move out (in like 30 years  ) they can take them all along. good thing we usually get a 9' tree......because with 6 kids each getting a couple of ornaments a year...........whew. |
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Post by rocko on Nov 21, 2008 17:37:04 GMT -5
My kids get new ones, too! I think it is really fun to get the hallmark ones of the characters they like.
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Post by AngelBaby on Nov 21, 2008 19:17:36 GMT -5
Every year, we put up Christmas decorations the day after or weekend after Thanksgiving. The tree, all the trimings, everything. Then Christmas Eve, we go to church, come home, eat some cookies that were made earlier in the day, and then my dad reads "Twas the Night Before Christmas."
I'm not going to get that this year, since my parents had to up and move to freaking Texas on me.......so I think this year, J and I will try and start our own traditions. Although, I think that's going to be difficult this year since it's the first holiday season without his mom......neither of us are really much in the mood....but I'm going to try and break that, and put up decorations and play music and bake lots and lots of cookies!
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) they can take them all along.