Our BetterMost Community > The Polling Place
Christmas Customs
Brown Eyes:
Well, I'm not a religious person at all. But, I love Christmas and I've been raised with Christmas traditions as a major part of my life all my life... but primarily social traditions (my parents aren't religious either).
But, I love things like having big get-togethers with family and friends... I love all the food and the pretty decorations. I love giving presents more than I like receiving presents. While Christmas shopping can be stressful... I actually really love doing that too. I'm an only child so lots of my traditions are really specific to what my parents and I have come up with. One of our particular favorite traditions... is on Christmas Eve we (just the 3 of us) go out to a really nice restaurant. We try to find a historic inn or a really old restaurant (or something like that) with lots of seasonal character. Also, because my immediate family is small, we've developed lots of customs involving good, good friends of the family... which I love. I love that our traditions very firmly extend to friends as well as family.
This is a really nice poll David. :) :-*
David In Indy:
--- Quote from: ineedcrayons on November 19, 2007, 01:11:02 am --- :laugh:
Fun thread, David! I do most of the things except the deeply religious ones and Christmas cards (I gave those up a few years ago). What's smudge the creche with sage about?
--- End quote ---
That is a tradition on my Mother's side of the family that goes back for generations. The Native American side of my family traditionally smudges the manger or creche on Christmas Eve night just before going to bed. Smudging with sage is a type of blessing. So, we are blessing the manger for Christmas. :D
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: David on November 20, 2007, 01:05:09 am ---That is a tradition on my Mother's side of the family that goes back for generations. The Native American side of my family traditionally smudges the manger or creche on Christmas Eve night just before going to bed. Smudging with sage is a type of blessing. So, we are blessing the manger for Christmas. :D
--- End quote ---
Interesting blend of cultures and traditions, David!
:)
I'd be interested in hearing of other unusual holiday traditions. When I was in first or second grade, I remember being really enchanted when a classmate's mother came in to tell the kids about Christmas in Norway. This woman was an actual Norwegian immigrant, but since this was Minnesota, Christmas in Norway (or Sweden or Finland) was probably just a couple of generations back for half the class. :laugh: I thought it was very cool, though.
David In Indy:
--- Quote from: ineedcrayons on November 20, 2007, 01:45:02 am ---Interesting blend of cultures and traditions, David!
:)
I'd be interested in hearing of other unusual holiday traditions. When I was in first or second grade, I remember being really enchanted when a classmate's mother came in to tell the kids about Christmas in Norway. This woman was an actual Norwegian immigrant, but since this was Minnesota, Christmas in Norway (or Sweden or Finland) was probably just a couple of generations back for half the class. :laugh: I thought it was very cool, though.
--- End quote ---
Well, as you know we have members from all over the world here. Maybe some of them will post their country's Christmas customs in this thread. Chrissi already told us about one of her customs in Germany which I found very interesting! :)
dot-matrix:
When I was growing up we always had the advent wreath on the dining room table and an advent calendar on the refrigerator door. You open a little window on the calendar every day and reveal another piece of the bigger picture until you get to Christmas Eve. We always had sleigh rides, and we would paint apple rings with peanut butter and roll them in birdseed and then string them with orange slices, cranberries and stale cake donuts and then hang them in the trees for the birds. Much to my Dad's dismay my Mom always put out pans of chopped apples, carrots and celery for the deer too.
I still have an advent wreath and calendar. I still bake cinnamon cookies using my Grandmothers molds on December 6 for the feast of St Nicholas. We put our tree up around the 15, nothing fancy just tons of ornaments that have lots of special meaning for us. We put a Victorian snow covered village underneath complete with trees, operating skating rink, carousel and train. No presents until Santa comes on Christmas Eve. We also begin putting our nativity together on the 15.... I put it on top of the entertainment center and surround it with potted palms and other green growing plants. Then I put the painting away that normally hangs there and hang three angels. Then we add the statues a few at a time starting with the animals and ending with the baby Jesus on Christmas Eve.
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