What are your Christmas Traditions? (2 Viewers)

[guidomerkinsrules]

There's some damn TRUTH in this thread
wow
MERRY CHRISTMAS all
Peace

 

[tenordas]

We have a few:

Eating tamales is a must; opening one gift on Christmas Eve, then the rest Christmas Day; watching the Peanuts special, The Polar Express, and It's a Wonderful Life; riding around and seeing the 'yonders' (decorated lawns/houses); making Russian Tea; and listening to Christmas music.

My wife would like to have some more, but it gets difficult because of time allowances. We're just so busy and getting pulled in various directions, it makes it difficult to find time to establish much.

 

[RussTKD]

I wake up about 6:45 on Christmas morning, quietly get out of bed, make myself a pot of coffee, and reflect on what a wonderful life I've got, thanks to my beautiful daughter and loving wife.


Then about 7:00, I turn on my 100 watt per channel 7.1 receiver with the 200w 10" subwoofer, put on Trans Siberian Orchestra's "Christmas Eve In Sarajevo and Other Stories" and crank the volume up until the windows are rattling. Then I laugh as the aforementioned loving wife and beautiful daughter come crawling out of bed looking at me like I'm a madman.

This is after we watch "A Christmas Story" at least 2-3 times the day before on TNT.

8 minutes...

 

[Uk Saint]

presents from santa, breakfast and then off to church after we get back its family presents and then the long phone calls to every family memeber across the globe.... then its food and movies for the rest of the day.

i like boxing day more however because of the soccer on TV/we go to a match

 

[Optimus Prime]

Woman I work with has a cool tradition.

Growing up her family would incorporate a different countries Christmas customs into their own.

They wouldn't go all out it would be a small part of it but there would be a handful of meals, decorations, traditions etc from Italy one year, Germany the next, Mexico the year after that.

She said she and her siblings really looked forward to it and deciding which country they were going to do got a little heated.

She doesn't know why and how is started it was just something they always did.

Her 3 brothers and 1 sister all still do it with their own families. One of them is very well off and actually travels to a different country every other year.

I think that's a very good year to learn and appreciate other cultures than your own.

I've always loved reading about Christmas history and what they do in other countries.

This is something that I could see myself doing.

 

[Big Ugly]

We have a few traditions (or we tend to do things the same way), but I inadvertently started a new one I never expected. When I was living in NJ a few years ago I passed an IHOP near my home that touted "we are open Xmas Morning." So for no particular reason I decided to take advantage of that. Next year, we woke up, opened presents, and my oldest suggested we go to "the place we went last year." So we did. So two years ago we're in a new place and have a bunch of family in town and Xmas morning my three kids say "so when are we heading to IHOP?" I told them we had too many people and that the closest IHOP was 30 minutes (now there's one 10-15 min away) so we're not going to do that. I did not hear the end of this for a year. No exaggeration they would bring up their outrage monthly if not weekly. Thank God for Xmas 2012 because I finally got to bring them to IHOP and shut them up. This year we found out just after thanksgiving that one of my sisters was coming for Xmas and every day since I've had to assure them we are not going to miss IHOP this year because of that. Damn that IHOP sign from 2009. Although, joking aside, I now really look forward to it myself just because they like it so much.

 

[jrdbrn]

I took on the responsibility of doing both turkeys this year for my side and my wifes side of the family. I hope they like salt because I'm brinnig 10lb turkeys for 14 hours.

 

[dtc]

I took on the responsibility of doing both turkeys this year for my side and my wifes side of the family. I hope they like salt because I'm brinnig 10lb turkeys for 14 hours.

No turkeys at my house unless someone else is bringing it.

Instead, I've got a 50# sack of oysters and 14 pork shanks brining. Got a load of duck legs ready for a confit casserole and 4 dozen soft shell crabs.

I hope it doesn't rain because I understand it's dangerous frying outside in the rain and I'd hate for someone to get hurt. I may let my buddies fry on the porch this year instead of in the rain.

 

[bigdaddysaints]

On my side of the family, we all go to my parents house on the Saturday before Christmas for Yule... all the adults do the Chinese Christmas (that's what we call it, most people call it white elephant) exchange. Everyone brings a unisex gift that costs around $25 and wraps it, then the fun begins. The kids draw names at thanksgiving for their gifts.
We eat drink and be merry..
Oh yea, the best part: my mom makes enough Seafood gumbo to feed 50 people...
Then on Christmas day, I only have to go to the in laws... drastically cuts the running around time on Christmas day..

 

[livefromDC]

We have a few traditions (or we tend to do things the same way), but I inadvertently started a new one one I never expected. When I was living in NJ a few years ago I passed an IHOP near my home that touted "we are open Xmas Morning." So for no particular reason I decided to take advantage of that. Next year, we woke up, opened presents, and my oldest suggested we go to "the place we went last year." So we did. So two years ago we're in a new place and have a bunch of family in town and Xmas morning my three kids say "so when are we heading to IHOP?" I told them we had too many people and that the closest IHOP was 30 minutes (now there's one 10-15 min away) so we're not going to do that. I did not hear the end of this for a year. No exaggeration they would bring up their outrage monthly if not weekly. Thank God for Xmas 2012 because I finally got to bring them to IHOP and shut them up. This year we found out just after thanksgiving that one of my sisters was coming for Xmas and every day since I've had to assure them we are not going to miss IHOP this year because of that. Damn that IHOP sign from 2009. Although, joking aside, I now really look forward to it myself just because they like it so much.

That made me smile. That's an awesome tradition. The best traditions are not manufactured, they just happen. Since this is a tradition that the kids created (kinda), it'll be all that much more endearing to them over the years. You get my vote for the best tradition in the thread...despite it being IHOP.

 

[Big Ugly]

That made me smile. That's an awesome tradition. The best traditions are not manufactured, they just happen. Since this is a tradition that the kids created (kinda), it'll be all that much more endearing to them over the years. You get my vote for the best tradition in the thread...despite it being IHOP.

Thanks. Like I said, all jokes aside I have come to really enjoy this because of how much they look forward to it. We've added my mother and, this year,my brother's family into it. It might have been nice if I'd started the tradition at one of the local places (and I could have substituted one of the local places here--and there are some good ones--when we moved), but I do have to say that the IHOP we go to now is actually really good and the food is much better here than the original one we went to in NJ (you would think that wouldn't be the case with a franchise but it is). It seems more like a local place than most IHOPs I've been to.

 

[Optimus Prime]

This year we are going to the Christmas village in Pennsylvania

Koziars Christmas Village - Home

Might become a new tradition.

I've been looking for neighborhoods where most every house goes all out.

I haven't found any yet, tried looking online but can't find anything.

We have done Miracle of 34th St in Baltimore a couple times.

34thstreet

Which was pretty cool but I'm looking for the places that end up on those TV shows that are airing right now.

It seems like when I was a kid a lot more houses decorated. There are houses here and there now but I remember whole neighborhoods.

 

[TheMike62987]

As a teenager I hated Christmas. My parents have been divorced since I was 4, so Christmas meant that I had to travel to Mom's family on Christmas Eve then to Dad's family. Christmas Day was awesome until around noon when I had to do the same crap all over again, only this time it was Dad's family first then Mom's.

Now I love Christmas once again, and I think my wife believes I'm crazy. We started a tradition of eating steak and lobster as our Christmas eve dinner. I make a real effort to go to my dad's family on Christmas Eve night, then we go home and feast like kings.

Christmas morning my wife wakes up bright and early around 6:30am and brews a nice pot of coffee, then she makes breakfast which is usually eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, and grits. Once again we feast, then we open presents. Now that we have a baby, we're just going to visit the in laws and my mom on Christmas Day which should be done before 2pm.

Christmas Night my wife and I always watch Christmas Vacation an sit by the fire. Nothing fancy, but it's what we do.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

As a teenager I hated Christmas. My parents have been divorced since I was 4, so Christmas meant that I had to travel to Mom's family on Christmas Eve then to Dad's family. Christmas Day was awesome until around noon when I had to do the same crap all over again, only this time it was Dad's family first then Mom's.

Now I love Christmas once again, and I think my wife believes I'm crazy. We started a tradition of eating steak and lobster as our Christmas eve dinner. I make a real effort to go to my dad's family on Christmas Eve night, then we go home and feast like kings.

Christmas morning my wife wakes up bright and early around 6:30am and brews a nice pot of coffee, then she makes breakfast which is usually eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, and grits. Once again we feast, then we open presents. Now that we have a baby, we're just going to visit the in laws and my mom on Christmas Day which should be done before 2pm.

Christmas Night my wife and I always watch Christmas Vacation an sit by the fire. Nothing fancy, but it's what we do.

glad you're enjoying it now (and sorry you had to go through that mess as a kid) - i have so many friends who have kids from different marriages who have to make like 5-6 stops over the holidays-- some just in the metro area, some over sela and s. miss.
it's just nuts

 

[TheMike62987]

glad you're enjoying it now (and sorry you had to go through that mess as a kid) - i have so many friends who have kids from different marriages who have to make like 5-6 stops over the holidays-- some just in the metro area, some over sela and s. miss.
it's just nuts

My trek was from Chalmette to Picayune for my Dad's family, then from Picayune to Covington for my Mom's family. I wouldn't get home until 1am on Christmas Day.