7th Day of Christmas
12-18-2009 | 12:00 AM | Posted in Contests | Comments (12)

Today’s topic … family traditions. Do you have any you’d like to share?

Growing up, my family would always open the “family” gifts on Christmas Eve, and then Christmas Day was reserved for “Santa” presents. But the year I was about 11 or so, I had a little pocket money squirreled away that I had used to buy extra gifts for my parents. I was old enough to know the real story of Santa Claus, and I knew where those presents on Christmas Day came from, so I enlisted the help of my brother and sister (both younger than me) to help pool our small allowences to buy extra things for our parents. I stayed up late on Christmas Eve and wrapped the gifts, then hid them under my bed so our parents wouldn’t find them with the rest of the family presents.

When I woke on Christmas morning, it was very early. I could never sleep well that day because I was too excited about opening gifts and always woke before my parents wanted us to. I remember my dad was dozing on the couch, and as quietly as we could, my siblings and I carried the “Santa” gifts we had bought for our parents into the living room to stash under the tree.

At some point Daddy woke and demanded to know what we were doing. He probably thought we were trying to steal our own presents, taking them into our bedrooms to open them or something. So I told him, “Santa left a few gifts for you and Mommy this year, too.”

You would have thought he was 6 years old again the way he grinned. Even though it wasn’t even light outside yet, he hurried into the bedroom to wake our mother so he could open his own gifts, and even though the gifts we had bought were nothing big or extravagent, the fact we had thought to buy something extra for the two of them really meant a lot to him.

Every year since then, my sister and I continue the tradition of buying “Santa” gifts for our parents, though now that we both work full-time, we can provide much better gifts than those cheap can openers and cigarette lighters we bought with our measly allowences that first year. It makes me feel good being able to give back to my parents, who always provided for me so unselfishly whatever I needed, and the holidays are one time of the year I can do so without their feeling the need to give back in return.

Do you have any traditions this time of the year that have a special meaning in your family?

UPDATED 12/19: Today’s winner was Joder. Thank you everyone who commented! You have until the 24th to continue to play along so please keep coming back!

12 Comments
  • Gayle O | December 18, 2009 @ 12:08 am

    We open presents from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, we go to my sisters house and exchange gifts at her house after dinner. Then Christmas morning we do the family gifts. In the afternoon, my husbands relatives come and we do gifts again but this time we go from youngest to oldest, one at a time. I especially take my time opening just to make my brother-in-law wait longer. He keeps telling everyone to hurry up as he wants to open his gifts. Then after dinner we all watch Christmas Vacation. We have been doing that for almost 20 years and it never grows old.

     
  • Jasmine S. | December 18, 2009 @ 12:22 am

    Ever since we were teens, my sister & I always attended midnight C’mas Eve mass every year without fail. They’re usually quite beautiful. We did it when we lived in Jamaica for a few years, then in NYC for a few, and now we still do even tho we both live in different states (east coast & west) and have our own families.

     
  • Beth | December 18, 2009 @ 12:31 am

    Our most meaningful Christmas tradition is the day we decorate the tree. We always decorate the tree on Dec. 10th. My husband started that tradition for the kids in honor of his first born Who died on that date of SIDS. He used the tradition to help the younger kids remember their older brother. The youngest is 19 now and is the only one still living at home. As far as I know the older kids have dropped the tradition. I think that’s kinda sad. No, we don’t need to dwell on those who have passed, but I think that we shouldn’t utterly forget them either. Especially during the holiday season that focuses on family.
    On a lighter note, the only other tradition that’s followed religiously in my household is that all the gifts are hidden as they are bought. Then on Christmas Eve I have to remember where they all are, dig them out, and wrap them. Bedtime for me is usually 3 or 4 am. then up again by 8 or 9 am. And for a couple of weeks afterward, finding something and going “OOPS! I missed this”.

     
  • Gillian L. | December 18, 2009 @ 1:18 am

    Our tradition is that the whole family comes into town and spends Christmas Day at my aunt’s house. The whole family is scattered throughout the South, Southwest, and East, so Christmas is the only day of the year that everyone is in one house at the same time. There are at least 3 generations in that house every Christmas and it means so much for everyone to interact with one another — old and young. We eat and share stories and at the end of the evening we dub someone Santa, who passes out all of the gifts, and then we open the presents and share more stories and memories. This really means a lot to everyone and I’m glad that, even as we all get older, this is one tradition that we hold on to.

     
  • Sapphire | December 18, 2009 @ 10:37 am

    Sorry, but I don’t have any family traditions, lol.

     
  • Marisa Canaday | December 18, 2009 @ 12:10 pm

    The most important Christmas tradition we have is to go to Christmas Eve services at church and be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas. We let the kids open one present Christmas Eve containing matching or cordinating Pajamas for Christmas morning pics. Santa arrives overnight and leaves the majority of presents and stocking stuffers in the morning. My kids have to wake my husband and I up first but I remember when I was a kid, the stockings could be opened first thing, My mom says it was well worth the extra hour of sleep she and my dad got! Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

     
  • Rhonda Barnes | December 18, 2009 @ 4:15 pm

    When my daughters were very young, we would mix and prepare at least 5 different cookie dough recipes. We had a blast rolling out the dough and decorating creative Christmas designs with all kinds oflittle sprinkles and candies. We’s spend the whole day baking and then we shared the results with the rest of our family. My daughters are grown now, but we still bake cookies every year.

    Blessings,
    Rhonda

     
  • Joder | December 18, 2009 @ 5:30 pm

    On Christmas Eve we always have chili and pizza. My grandmother started the tradition and we still do it even though she passed on 15 years ago.

     
  • Mary Preston | December 18, 2009 @ 6:02 pm

    Our family is ALL about the traditions. WAY too many to mention. My favorite would be the anticipation of waiting to open the presents under the tree. We wash up, have breakfast, go to church, come home & change out of church clothes into more relaxed holiday clothes, put the kettle & then when everyone has a drink we gather. My father plays ‘Santa’ by calling out the names on the presents & the youngest member of the family hands them out. We do this slowly. The presents opened one at a time. Good fun!!

     
  • Tracey D | December 18, 2009 @ 6:26 pm

    Every year, we went to my maternal grandparents’ home for Christmas dinner (unless I was sick – that’s a another tradition!)

    Anyway, my grandmother always bought 1 person a “big” gift. One year, my father received a chain-saw; my mother, a washing maching; and another year, I received a typewriter, just in time for all of those book reports in high school!

    Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away over 20 years ago but we still try to continue that tradition… and it’s fun.

     
  • Debby | December 18, 2009 @ 9:10 pm

    We have a tradition of buying small presents that are from Santa and we open them after our dinner on Christmas Day. Theya re fun.

     
  • Sheri | December 19, 2009 @ 12:15 am

    Every year I buy an ornament for my kids stockings, then we add it to our tree the following year. When they move out(this will be our oldests last year at home) they can take the ornaments for their own trees, they will hopefully serve to remind the kids of all the fun we had together as a family at Christmas time.