Family Christmas traditions

Today - the first day of Advent - the tree goes up. We will go to the local nursery, just down the road, and get the biggest one they have. We've always liked having big trees; sometimes we got carried away chose one that was too tall for the ceiling. More than once, I've had to cut off the bottom foot or two of a tree to make it fit, and more than once the star on top of the tree almost touched the ceiling. About four years ago we moved into a house that has a living room with a two-floor ceiling. So far, we haven't found a tree that is too big to fit the room.

We don't listen to Christmas music or watch Christmas-themed movies until the day after Thanksgiving. That's a few days  before Advent starts, but it works for us. This year the first Christmas movie was Elf, and that will be followed with a few regulars like Scrooged and It's a Wonderful Life. We have a DVD of Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman and the boys watch that a few times too. Last year I told them that when I was a kid there were no DVD or VHS tape players, and we had to wait for those shows to come on TV, and they only came on once! They thought that was pretty strange.

There is always an Advent wreath, though we will occasionally improvise on the color-scheme. Melinda has collected nativity scenes, or creche's if you want to call them that, for a few years now. Every room has one. A few years ago Matthew rearranged one - he put baby Jesus in the middle and everything else was around him in a circle, looking in at him.

We'll go to Mass on Christmas Eve, and then leisurely open gifts on Christmas morning. We take our time opening things, and we take turns doing it. Sometimes we'll take a 30-40 minute break so the boys can play with whatever toys they've opened up to that point.

For the past few years I've served roasted goose for Christmas dinner, which is quite nice. I'd like to have more time to bake Christmas breads & such, and make candy, but this is my busy-time of the year so that never really happens.

We don't travel to go see family members at Christmas. Part of that is because most of them live 11 hours away, but mostly it's because we choose to focus on our immediate family. There are plenty of other times we can go see extended family.

The day after Christmas, all the decorations come down and the Christmas music gets put away. Nicholas' birthday is the 29th, and we want to have a clean break with Christmas before that comes.

Comments

[Talmida]

Tell me you put Bing's White Christmas into the DVD player as you decorate? Tell me that you all sing along? :)

We don't put our tree up for another week or two. When I was little, and we had a real tree, my dad always made us wait until the last weekend before Christmas because the trees dried out so quickly and mother insisted that we keep it up until January 6th. I have memories of combing the needles out of the shag rug. LOL

Enjoy your day!

[Steve Bogner]

Oh, that's a good one! But it's more contemporary around here... Harry Connick, Winton Marsalis, Point of Grace, Mannheim Steamroller, and so on are on the CD player; and we have a glass or two of champagne while hanging the ornaments.

[penni]

love reading about traditions, and can especially identify with not having the Christmas specials on dvd or vhs, only being able to see them once. i remember thinking it odd that the grinch was on more than once season when my children started getting older! you either caught it or you had to wait until next year.

i still like the traditional cd's, johnny mathis, amy grant, harry connick, jr., a charlie brown Christmas; however, i find i am branching more toward the windham hill series and Christmas adagio-type music while i get a bit older (not THAT much older!)

you've made me feel nostalgic, thank you :) (still am not ready to lug out the decorations just yet...)

[David]

This may sound a little strange coming from an orthodox Jew living in Israel... but my favorite seasonal special is 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'. Truth be told, I get all misty-eyed at just about any of the hokey songs that play on US radio this time of year. I miss it all. :-)

[Steve Bogner]

David - A Charlie Brown Christmas is a great show! Stop by any time for some Christmas cheer.

[JulieD.]

We go both traditional and new wave for our tree-trimming and holiday music. A family favorite is Ringo Starr's Christmas cd. Although I don't think I'm quite ready for Rose's latest purchase, "Santa Cause" - punk rock Christmas. Somehow "Christmas is for Zombies" doesn't quite cut it for me. (if I remembered the name of that song right)

[Steve Bogner]

A punk Christmas?! Interesting... in high school I listened to a good deal of punk music. A while ago, my boys tuned in the local 'new rock' station, which at the time was playing London Calling by The Clash. I explained to them that this music was from when I was in high school, and that I had the album (also had to explain what an album was), and I even remembered most of the words. They just kept saying 'no way!'... Dad was into punk, yes he was...

[alicia]

Other than the Advent Wreath and Calendars, no Christmas decorations go up until after December 15 (our eldest child's birthday - this year she turns 30!). The tree stays up until Epiphany (January 6).

[jayson]

We're still trying to figure out what all we're going to do. No big imaginary fat man, that's for sure.

[Nancy Ullrey]

Our Christmas traditions include watching "Bernard and the Genie," "A Christmas Carol" (Alister Sims version) and "A Christmas Story." I must listen to the Chieftains' "The Bells of Dublin" at least a dozen times, and bake a batch of monkey-face cookies (molasses cookies with raisins). When we decorate the tree, the Christmas Fish ornament must be the last one on (it's a Norwegian thing according to Robert).