Holiday Traditions

by meadow77 7 Replies latest jw friends

  • meadow77
    meadow77

    Every year since I was young, we got to open one gift on Christmas Eve. When I was little I used to get excited wondering what it would be. It took me many years to figure out that it would always be pajamas. I never thought much about it, but as I have gotten older and started the tradition over with my own family, I look back on it with great fondess. Another tradition that my grandparents have, is that everyone brings canned goods to Christmas Eve dinner at their house. The next day my grandpa takes the food to the local food bank. I guess I am getting sentimental in my old age, cause I'm finally beginning to appreciate these family traditions. Do you have any special holiday traditions? If you were raised a JW, are there any that you have started since you left?Please Share.

  • GentlyFeral
    GentlyFeral

    I think we may be starting some. My kids were raised without Christmas, and my husband really appreciated the excuse to not spend money (we've been poor all our adult lives). Me, I've been a Christmas slut ever since I was tiny, and only Great Devotion to the One True God (patent applied for) could tear me away from it.

    Thank the other gods that's all over, but...my husband is still kinda squicked by Christmas, and my kids don't quite get it. But they do it "for me," because they love me.

    I hate that. If they're not liking it for its own sake, I don't wanna. I was seriously thinking about declaring this to be Our Last Christmas, but the prospect of giving it up frustrated me much more than I thought it would.

    We're gradually feeling our way. So far, we have figured out this much:

    • Keep Jeebus out of it! My husband's remarks on "Jesus is the reason..." are concise and unprintable.
    • Start shopping early, even before the store decorations go up. That way you can take your time, pay cash as you go and be all done before the crowds gather.
    • Keep the entertainment weird. "Nightmare Before Christmas" is the obvious choice, of course, along with "The Bells of Dublin" and Mojo Nixon's "Horny Holidays." But if we never watch "It's a Wonderful Life" again, it'll be too soon. We're still looking for weird Christmas movies. We've already seen "The Grinch," thanks.

    And we have just about decided to include these new ideas:

    • It's all about the shiny stuff. This year my lady workmates all got shiny Christmas tree pins. We didn't have a tree, but we put up lights in the house anyway. Shiny wrapping paper and ribbons. Taking the most Christmas-lit route home from work. Whee! Next year I think I'm going to get my daughter a portable battery pack and some ForeverBright LED christmas lights. We're thinking a "Christmas Ent" kind of outfit.
    • My daughter's presents will arrive late. She really doesn't care about presents, either giving or receiving, so there's no particular motivation to wrestle with crowds of shoppers, figure out what the hell to buy in the first place, and so on. She doesn't even begin to brainstorm until about Dec. 22. I'm teaching her how to shop on eBay; we just bought a knife for a friend of hers. I hear everybody else is getting books. Eventually.
    • Plan for the really important holiday -- Halloween. I go all out for Christmas, but Halloween is my daughter's big day. So it's only fair that I spend some time on my favorite holiday helping with hers.
    • Bake a few loaves of bread to give away. Little ones. Just because we can. And that's going to be the extent of our holiday baking.

    Can't think of anything else, yet. This is an evolutionary process.

    gently feral

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    Christian friends of mine almost came to blows in the early years of their marriage over Christmas. Her Christmases had been witness to drunken rages between her parents. No good memories there. Her husband's Christamases were full of family and warmth and food. She and her husband decided set up their own set of rituals. My girlfriend now looves Christmas, thanks to her loving and patient husband. Here are the ones I remember:

    • Buy a box of Christmas oranges. Always the oranges.
    • Oh yes, chocolate, too. Have lots of chocolate.
    • Go to a Christmas Eve candelight service.
    • After the service, open the presents. One at a time.
    • Each gift has to be passed amongst family and oohed and aahed before the next is opened.

    My fond memories include:

    • Making the family christmas cake. It was my job to peel the blanched almonds and flour the raisins and currants. Flouring raisins still takes me back.
    • Dad cursing and swearing over tangled lights. Hearing the hushed cursing again late in the night the year Santa brought a bike, Some Assembly Required.
    • Wishing someone would ask ME to decorate the tree that year (silly me. I never asked).
    • Making home-made Christmas cards. (I continued this with my own children).
    • Oh yes, Gently Feral, I pick out gifts all year. I take in the January sales and scour discount stores for outrageous deals. I have a "gift shelf" (nothing evil there. Even a witness could do this). These cool generic gifts go on the shelf when I get invited to an unexpected event. Last week, I pulled down all the treasures, and figured out what else I needed. I only bought four gifts more. Very inexpensive, and very efficient, too. I am such a scatterbrainy, I need this shelf to salvage the situation at least twice a year (shoot. Was the party tonight?)
    • The music, the beautiful music. Can someone tell me what is WRONG with Handel's Messiah in dubland?
    • The glow of a young child's face in tree twinkle-light.
  • GentlyFeral
    GentlyFeral

    Wonderful post, jgnat

    I pick out gifts all year. I take in the January sales and scour discount stores for outrageous deals. I have a "gift shelf"

    This reminds me of another cool custom I've been meaning to start: When shopping time begins, look through all my possessions and put aside any really cool stuff that needs a new home. (Do I really need six Christmas tree pins? Two pairs of amber earrings? This is a cool DVD, but we only watched it once...)

    gently feral

  • xenawarrior
    xenawarrior

    Great idea meadow!!!! I enjoyed reading these alot.

    meadow- love the pajamas tradition !!!!

    Gently: you have such a great sense of humor "Keep the entertainment weird" - love that !!

    jgnat- oh, the cursing associated with "some assembly required- LOL

    These stories were wonderful to read tonite!!

    I have celebrated Christmas all my life and for my family it is about togetherness. The whole fam damily gets together every year and there is a great deal of kibitzing card playing, joke playing and laughter. Yeah, there are a large number of gifts exchanged but that's always for the children. To watch them throughout that whole process from seeing them eye up the shiny (yes Gently, it's about shiny ) packages under the tree to watching their patience being tested to seeing their faces when they get that one item they wanted so badly is a wonderful thing.

    One of my fondest memories is from when I was very young. My dad's brother lived with us and was probably 20 at the time and my dad was probably 25. I remember sneaking out (I'm about 4-5) and seeing them wrapping gifts in the living room. My dad and his brother, mere kids themselves were playing with all the toys and having alot of fun. There was one of those old metal tops that you'd pump up and down to rev it up and evidently that toy never saw it's intended recipient because those "boys" had wound it up so tight so many times that they broke it.

    Thing is that I can see my mom through all of this- laughing and enjoying it all herself.

    Thanks for triggering this memory for me again tonite with your post meadow!!!

    Keep these stories coming- they are great!!

    Merry Christmas!!

    XW of the "Content" class

  • Princess
    Princess

    We have been celebrating for several years now, but the rest of the family is just joining in.

    Last year Steve and I threw a family Christmas party that was just awesome. All my brothers and their families, my parents, uncle, cousins were able to come. It was a blast and strange to have the King family celebrating Christmas together. It's an annual thing, we did it again this year and had just as much fun!

    Christmas Eve we have my parents over for Prime Rib dinner and the kids open a few presents typically. Tonight they opened everything since we are leaving town early tomorrow.

    My dad, Big Red, reads "The Night Before Christmas" to my kids. I love that part.

    My daughter bakes Santa's cookies in her Easy Bake oven. She is four and loves that part.

    I did a lot of baking this year. I packaged up candy and cookies in holiday cellophane bags and Steve and Zoe went to all the neighbor's houses to give everyone a little something from us. I just ran out of time to go along.

    Those and the traditional things I can think of right now. We add new things each year.

    Merry Christmas,

    Rachel

  • meadow77
    meadow77

    These are all great! GF- for wacky Christmas movies you should check out A Christmas Story and Scrooged. Those are two of my favorites.

    P.S. You'll shoot your eye out

  • Valis
    Valis

    A Christmas elf reminded me I needed to check this thread as to not fall into the spirit of humbuggery...two of my family traditions that I have made are these:

    Breakfast at my house on XMAS day..homemade waffles, eggs, assorted artery clogging meats, fruits, juices and good coffee...oh and liquor for the super jolly..

    For my youngest child I always get her a new teddy bear. I will probably do so till I croak...give or take a few ressurections..*LOL*

    Sincerely,

    District Overbeer of the "Merry XMAS" class

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