The date was December 24th; the temperature was usually below zero; the time was always around 7:oo Pm, just after dinner. I can still remember standing with my face pressed to the cold plate glass. My breath on the inside of the window turned to thin ice as I stood there, knowing if I stared long enough, I might spot a twinkle.
Oblivious to everyone, my mother would ask my older sister to help me get my bath. Why now, I wondered? He'll be here any minute! Pleading with her did me no good. She always told me that if I hurried, I would get done before he came. One of my clever brothers tipped me off and suggested I mix the shampoo and the creme rinse together to save time. (He could have patented this idea and been the inventor of the first 2-in-1 shampoo.)
But it never failed. Every year, while the water was going down the drain and I was still dripping wet, I heard the echo of the jingle bells just before the door slammed shut. I scurried to get pajamas on my wet body, accomplishing very little. Frustrated I would miss him, I exchanged being half-naked in front of my family, for a chance to get a glimpse of his sleigh in the cold, December night sky. Then came my dad's famous words, "You just missed him!" But I was sure I had seen his shadow.
What happened next was nothing short of chaotic. We opened presents until we were silly and sleepy. Going to bed wasn't very hard as I usually slept with one of my new toys, knowing that the next day would be filled with endless hours of play and our traditional Italian feast.
Eventually, I learned the Christmas secret but I still can't figure out why I fell for it every year!
In no less than at least two paragraphs, describe your favorite Christmas tradition with plenty of details.
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Well, at my house we have this original tradition of giving each other presents. And then there's the very authentic tradition of eating Thanksgiving food (minus the pumpin pie and plus a few dozen sugar cookies) at a relative's house. Oh, I forgot to mention the pre-Cristmas preparation. We go shopping each year on the day after Thanksgiving when things are quiet to avoid the Christmas rush. We are so innovative.
But our most enjoyable tradition happens on Christmas Eve. Every year on the 24th we go around town looking at the best Christmas lights. We also go visit the FAKE Santa who hands out toys in some neighborhood that we only ever go through in December (I think it only apears in December). From there we go to the rich hood known as Secret Cove. The streets are filled with luminaries, and the lights are the best you will ever find. One year someone somehow strung together lights on his roof so that they made the Grinch.
When we get home from our outing we each open up a new ornament to hang on the tree. They usually vary alot from year to year. One year I recieved The Magic Schoolbus and another I got Santa riding on a chicken with its eggs held in front of it so it would run after them.
Next we go to bed and attempt to go to sleep. Then either my brothr or I wake up early and catch my dad wrapping presents at 5 A.M. That's when he yells at us telling us to go back to bed. Then we wake up again and have a muffin filled breakfast that my mom has prepared.
my favorite Christmas memory stands to be nearly all of the Christmas parties me and my family have attended at my grandma's house, my dad's mom to be exact.
my grandma and grandpa have a very tine house, which has been lived in by them for over 50 years, and to have almost all of my dad's side of the family (who live in Jacksonville) in this house is nothing less than crowded, but I would get gifts from all the relatives who were present. I remember getting some awesome toys and whatnot, and then in my later years, I would receive good amounts of money.
not only were there the presents and family, but there was (and still is) the food. my grandma makes the best macaroni and cheese, along with endless ham and other assortments of amazing food.
all of this and more stands out the most in my head.
Hmmm. This is probably my most favorite time of year.
My favorite Christmas tradition of all time has to be decorating the Christmas tree. I love getting all of the ornaments out and looking at the one's that we have had for years. Putting the lights on the tree is fun too. I wish we had colored lights though because I cant stand white lights.
My second favorite tradition is making cookies. I love to eat cookie dough, but most of the time i get yelled at for it.
Christmas is hands down in the favorite time of the year.
I also love the cold weather. =p
One of mine traditions is baking cookies on Christmas eve. Even though there really isn't a santa, I still like to stay up and bake. Instead of saving them for someone that isn't real, I enjoy them myself!LOL. I also like to play Christmas music all night until i fall asleep.
OOO! Sounds like fun. Is this a tradition that you do every year? Just wondering-
Josh, I'm with you on all three points: decorating with colored lights, eating cookie dough, and cold weather. Growing up, I was used to very cold weather. Every winter, my dad would flood our small garden with water and I had my very own ice rink. That was cool.
Daniel,
I have never been to Secret Cove during the Christmas season but intend on checking it out this year. Sounds like your tree has some very cool ornaments on it. I'd love to see your collection some time. My sister taught me to give each of my kids an ornament every year, so now it has become a tradition. My son and his wife just bought their first home so I will need to pack his keepsake ornaments up and put them on his tree where they belong. Looking at them brings back wonderful memories.
Nathan,
It seems that gatherings like the one you described are the best. All those people and good food crammed into such a small space. I can almost feel the love. I don't have a good Mac & Cheese recipe, being from the North and all. If you can manage to get it for me, I'd be grateful. Do you miss the cool toys? I still buy my married son a Hess truck every year (OOO, hope he doesn't read this comment!)
My favorite christmas memory was last year, I opened presents and ate stuff it was great. Oh and our tradition is every year we open presents under the tree.
-HUNTER RICE
Christmas traditions at my house are simple. As we put up our Tree, we must watch Charlie Brown's Christmas and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (Not the lame HD version either. I hate it when people redo movie and make them "Politically Correct"). My mom sort of hates the movie, because of how mean everyone is, but my dad, my brother, and I just laugh. I can now sing every song word for word.
Anther thing we do is on Christmas Eve, we watch A Christmas Carol and A Christmas Story(love this movie). My mom hates this movie too, but mainly because she thinks it's stupid.
That's our Christmas tradition wrapped up in a nut shell.
Kyle,
Your Mom is a good sport to watch movies every year that she hates. I love the music in "Charlie Brown's Christmas," in fact, ask to hear my ring tone.
As far as "The Christmas Story" is concerned, I can sympathize with her. It truly portrays an era in time which I can relate to, especially the frozen pole. Every northern kid fell for that at least once before the movie revealed the outcome. (I can still feel the burn on my tongue!)
Well, are christmas tradition. well first we wake up check our stockings. Then we wait for uor parents to wake up so we can open uor gifts. then after we sit down enjoy some eggnog well watching the christmas parade.
next we wait usaualy until three oclock to go to my aunts house. To celebrate the rest of christmas. We basically eat the same thing as thanksgiving but ham insteed of turkey. then we play some games and me and my cousin play halo 3 alot its are get together tradition. and thats about it busy you might think but its the best day of the year.
My Christmas traditions are very similar to Kyle's. We mainly just put up the tree, (I've kinda grown out of that..Booooring) also we watch all the old Christmas shows. Rudolph the red nose reindeer (personally I love that movie, we watched it last night and its scary how much of those words I know!) we watch Frosty the Snowman (duh! =P) Umm and Charlie Browns Christmas (I hate that show so much except for Snoopy. Who doesn't love Snoopy??)
Another tradition we do is on Christmas eve we go look at Christmas lights also. I enjoy it somewhat but most of my family's traditions are LAME to me.
They may have been fun in the past..and to all 5 of my younger siblings but at age 15, I am bored of them. (good thing Christmas only comes once a year)
~Alyssa T. xD
Wow it seems like I say "I'm 15" in every comment I post lol
kyle ur so cute and funny
Alyssa,
I still identify with 15, even though it was a hundred years ago. It's such a great age, but you are right, some of those traditions mean more to your siblings than to you right now. The funny thing is, when you get older, you cling to those seemingly foolish habits during the holidays. What feels stupid and boring now will again be meaningful later on when you have a family of your own.
One of my favorite traditions growing up was going to the 11:00 p.m. Christmas Eve service at church. There was something wonderful, sweet and holy about the congregation singing "Silent Night" at midnight while in a circle around the inside perimeter of the sanctuary. The service was the perfect transition to usher in Jesus' birthday. It was especially magical if at the end of the service we greeted a crisp, clear, starlit night.
Another favorite tradition that my dad carried over from his childhood was him waking us up on Dec. 24 by saying, "Christmas Eve gift!" Cheap and precious, it was a simple kiss on the cheek. Even after I married, Daddy would call me early that morning and give the gift over the phone. My dad's last Christmas Eve gift was nine years ago, but the tradition continues in my own home. To my children, it's probably just another peck on the cheek from an overly sentimental mom. But when I'm long gone, they'll wish they had just one more Christmas Eve gift.
There is also the hated tradition of going to my uncle's house to open presents and feast. We don't hate him, his family, or his house, just his two dachshunds Dot and Daisy. They're these foot-long demons that feel the need to bark loudly just to make my sister cry or get a belly rub. But, the good news is that my uncle recently got a black lab named Jethro (after the guy from NCIS). Hopefully he'll be big enough to eat the two over-sized rodents by next Christmas. "<"
Mrs. Brooks,
I just may adopt the Christmas Eve gift with my kids as well. They have already started asking me if they can open one gift early (on the morning of the 24th.) In my eyes, this would be the perfect gift.
When our loved ones are no longer with us, carrying on their tender traditions is one way for us to impart the legacy, as you have done.
Daniel, looks like you have some new commands to teach Jethro!
My special Christmas tradition is heading over to my Uncle John's house on the evening of Christmas Eve to celebrate with my dad's side of the family. Leaving our gifts under the tree, we first catch up with with everyone, telling each other what is going on in our lives. Usually at this time, we have not seen some of them for quite a while (at the most, a year), so it's great just to hang out and talk. Upon the sound of "Dinner's Ready!", we all head over to the kitchen to enjoy ham, macaroni and cheese, pineapple casserole (the best ever!!), green beans, and mashed potatoes. After eating and resting, we come to the opening of the gifts. The order goes from youngest to oldest, so my cousin James always opens first. After many oo's and ahh's, we enjoy Uncle Ted's famous, delicious, spectacular apple pie. After that, we just have a good time being together as a family.
who left the comment saying "kyle, you're so cute and funny." ???!
Nathan, here are some investigation tips and hints for you:
1)Narrow your list of suspects to the people in your class or who know of the blog.
2)The first anonymous author post could be by the second anonymous poster. Narrow it down to the people who can bake.
3)Compare the spelling errors made in this (lower case "kyle", "ur", "i", no period) post to those of previous posts.
Well...we have plaenty of traditions in our family at Christmas time...
The first thing we do when getting up on Christmas Day is read the Christmas story form the Bible.
My mom has a weird fetish that forces us to ope one present per person at a time...it's horrible and i'll never force my child/children to do so.
Next we head over about 2 miles to my Grandma's house to have Christmas with the family for the rest of the day...
My favorite Christmas tradition is opening one present each Christmas Eve. This started when we used to go to our Grandma's house (now we live to far) for Christmas Eve. We would always open one present
Sunny, never say never as a child what you would do as an adult with/to your children. Been there, done that. The reason we parents like each person to open one gift at a time is so we can vicariously experience the receiver's anticipation, record the expression, feel the joy. Did you get your mom anything for Christmas? If it was something you knew she wanted, and you shopped diligently for it (or perhaps hand-made it) wouldn't you want to see her face when she opened it, minus the distractions of everybody else barbarically ripping paper? What today you think is lame will look really clever in 15 years.
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