Fragile Bird Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 It's close enough to the holidays now to ask, isn't it? :) We always put up our tree very late, a few days before Christmas, and often, Christmas Eve day. Presents went under the tree, we went to midnight mass, and on our return we were allowed to open one present, the rest having to wait until the morning. But the tree stayed up for at least another 2 weeks. I am always shocked to sometimes see Christmas trees discarded on lawns the next day, on Boxing Day. My tree still isn't up. Maybe tomorrow... I'll give the food story a pass, we've discussed Christmas food a few times before, but go ahead if you do something special. :) Friends of mine have a Christmas Day tradition of going to a park by the lake to feed the geese and the ducks, ignoring all the signs that say Do Not Feed the Ducks, of course. It started one year when my friend had saved up way too much stale bread for making stuffing, so dad took the kids while mom took a quick break from the morning's activities, present opening and brunch, before the big evening dinner started. What is a tradition that is your favourite, or that really says the Holidays, to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rrachel Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 We celebrate the night of Christmas eve with the close members of the family on a special dinner made for the date. The main tradition my family has is that every year my grandmother sends us Turrón from Spain, which is a solid sweet of almond and honey. The store that sells this traditionally made Turrón in Barcalona only opens on November/December for Christmas so is a very special thing to wait all year long to eat it. She sends us the 4 most popular types of Turrón: the normal one, of almonds and honey, the soft one, that is the first one but triturated, one of almond and chocolate and the last one, my favorite, made of egg yolk... best thing ever. We open all the gifts at 12 of the night, and the next day we really don't do anything special. In Chile, Christmas eve is more important than the 25 of December itself. We eat left overs of the dinner, which is nice though ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted01 Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 Finally! I was waiting for this thread, and I knew you would start it, FB. :) I guess we have a typically traditional British Christmas. Our tree and decorations go up on the 1st of December, at my insistence. They usually come down around New Years. Christmas day itself involves presents in the morning, cooking and stuffing ourselves with a big dinner, then lazing around watching Christmas films and specials on TV. I tend to read for a while, and maybe nap. It's pretty relaxed - no extended family, no visitors. That's for Boxing Day and beyond. This year, my SO and I are going to the cinema to see The Hobbit on Christmas Eve, then heading to his parents' to see his sister and brother-in-law. I'll spend most of Christmas day at mine, and he'll be at his, until I pick him up in the evening. We'll exchange presents when we get back to mine, and spend Boxing Day together. I love hanging up Christmas cards I've received around the room - mine are hung on tinsel this year. And my Christmas CD comes out of the glovebox and spends a month or so in the car, annoying all in earshot. The thing I love the most is spending time with various people, and exchanging presents. My birthday was on Thursday, and so it's usually the last time I'll see certain people before Christmas. I don't mind combining the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Flashheart Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 Festivus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Leaving it all behind for someplace warm, if only for a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theda Baratheon Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Just being in my house with family, a big Christmas tree on the corner cwtched up on the couch with my dog ahhhh i am so looking forward to going home in a few days *_* *_* wake up rly early open presents, take dog for a walk, come back, watch crappy xmas tv, eat big dinner, eat lots of chocolate, watch some more xmas stuff with mum and sister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted01 Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Leaving it all behind for someplace warm, if only for a week. Ah, if only. Though a warm Christmas would be pretty weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Lately we've spent a great deal of time bitching about what my youngest brother and his wife have decided they need to personally do as their traditions at the expense of the rest of the family... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 Ah Christmas, that wonderful time of year for family tension... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Preach it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted01 Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 My SO has his brother and his family coming over for Christmas this year. His youngest daughter will be there (his older daughter lives with her mum), and, well, there's no other way of saying this - she's a spoilt brat. They give her everything she wants and more, and so when we (read: everyone else) get her something small, like a blu-ray (note, not a DVD) or a book, she throws it on the floor and stamps her feet. I got so mad last year when she chucked The Lion King blu-ray across the room. That cost £20! A fairly large amount of money for us at the moment. And not a peep was heard from either of her parents.His brother is an absolute arsehole sometimes. At least they're not insisting on kicking my SO out of his bedroom this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 We usually put up the tree some days before Christmas. This year, my brother and I did it ourselves last Monday because the parents were not home. We spend Christmas at the relatives' (grandmother (grandfather when he was still there) and aunt's family), going there on 24th when school/work ends. They used to put the tree up on the 24th, so brother and I could help, but in the past few years, they have it set up already by the time we get there. On the evening, we eat dinner together, then chat/watch TV/play uno. Grandmother is the only one who goes to midnight mass every year, a few times aunt went with her, once my brother did just to see how it looked like, but most of us are not religious. The gifts from that side of the family wait under the tree on the 25th morning, but I always understood it as a "prequel to New Year" - because we were not going to see that side of the family until late into New Year, we exchanged presents in advance. We stay there till a day or two after Christmas. The bigger part of the present-giving and partying with the close family (brother, parents, I) is done on New Year at home. Good festive dinner, sweets, playing games, staying up till 12, champagne popping, chatting with neighbours ... a few times we were with friends of the family, but mostly it is just us. The presents wait under the tree on 1st January morning and are opened then. The New Year's concert from Vienna on TV is a must for me on that day. We try to visit the other grandparents on the 1st or the 2nd (depends on when school/work starts again) too. So there is a lot of driving around. The tree stays up till some time into January. Just being in my house with family, a big Christmas tree on the corner cwtched up on the couch with my dog ahhhh i am so looking forward to going home in a few days *_* *_* wake up rly early open presents, take dog for a walk, come back, watch crappy xmas tv, eat big dinner, eat lots of chocolate, watch some more xmas stuff with mum and sister That ... cannot possibly be a word. :wacko: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlefingers In The Air Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 My recent Christmas tradition is to avoid celebrating Christmas. I stay in bed all day. Why? Who cares? Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King in Black Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Giving 100 bucks or more to any homeless person I meet during holiday season. Will that seriously help them ? I dont know, but this is what my dad used to do, and apparently his dad before so it's a tradition I guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theda Baratheon Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 We usually put up the tree some days before Christmas. This year, my brother and I did it ourselves last Monday because the parents were not home. We spend Christmas at the relatives' (grandmother (grandfather when he was still there) and aunt's family), going there on 24th when school/work ends. They used to put the tree up on the 24th, so brother and I could help, but in the past few years, they have it set up already by the time we get there. On the evening, we eat dinner together, then chat/watch TV/play uno. Grandmother is the only one who goes to midnight mass every year, a few times aunt went with her, once my brother did just to see how it looked like, but most of us are not religious. The gifts from that side of the family wait under the tree on the 25th morning, but I always understood it as a "prequel to New Year" - because we were not going to see that side of the family until late into New Year, we exchanged presents in advance. We stay there till a day or two after Christmas. The bigger part of the present-giving and partying with the close family (brother, parents, I) is done on New Year at home. Good festive dinner, sweets, playing games, staying up till 12, champagne popping, chatting with neighbours ... a few times we were with friends of the family, but mostly it is just us. The presents wait under the tree on 1st January morning and are opened then. The New Year's concert from Vienna on TV is a must for me on that day. We try to visit the other grandparents on the 1st or the 2nd (depends on when school/work starts again) too. So there is a lot of driving around. The tree stays up till some time into January. That ... cannot possibly be a word. :wacko:cwtch is a welsh word. Kinda like a hug and a cuddle but not quite, more a 'safeplace' hard to explain but it's lovely either way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 cwtch is a welsh word. Kinda like a hug and a cuddle but not quite, more a 'safeplace' hard to explain but it's lovely either way It has a "w", I should have guessed :P Christmas tree is usually up by December 11th. Christmas shopping for me at least) is usually done by December 1st. Barring the last minute bits and bobs or impulse buys. My dad, in typical male fashion, usually leaves his shopping until the last second. I think his record is going out on Christmas Eve and buying a £600 widescreen TV (having won big on a scratchie that morning :rofl: ). This year, since I have been at uni and not around to nag him, he has not even started thinking about what he will buy. So I've been doing online Christmas shopping for him today. Christmas Eve we collect our turkey and veg etc. from the Farm Shop. This includes other foods to tide us over the festive season though. Me and my Mam will prepare a dessert for the next day and bake some homemade stuff for Christmas night. A final tidy around the house (I am a clean freak so this doesn't take long, the house is usually pretty tidy anyway), then out for a nice long walk (we usually are out for 3-4 hours) and home for a hot cuppa and and Christmas film Christmas Day - We usually have my grandparents over. For a while this meant my Uncle driving one of my nannas over to our house after she had been to church (she is the only one of us to do so) and my mam and me picking up my nanna and granddad from their house and bringing them over. While we waited for my other nanna to arrive from church we would potter about in the kitchen, making sure the turkey and veg was prepped, setting the table etc. Me and my mam would make some kind of dessert the night before and we'd usually decorate it Christmas morning if it was something that could be decorated. My nanna would arrive at around 1.p.m and we would spend some time opening presents while the veg steamed, potatoes roasted and Yorkshire puddings cooked. Once presents were opened we would sit down for dinner, brew some christmas blend coffee then have dessert. Afternoon would usually involve Christmas music, Christmas films and enough tea and coffee to float a submarine. Oh, and a tin of biscuits or chocolates would probably be left out for people to graze on. About 6/6:30 we'd make some turkey sandwiches, some cheese sandwiches and some ham sandwiches, bring them out on a big tray along with Branston pickle, mustard, beetroot etc. and some homemade scones, pies and biscuits. People would then help themselves. We would usually take our relatives home at about 8:30/9 and then come home, change into our new pyjamas and just laze around. This is mostly the same now, with a couple of differences. My granddad died a couple of years ago, so now my nanna stays with us on Christmas Eve because she did not cope well with losing him, and she feels this most at Christmas. We let her stay with us so she is not alone on Christmas morning. Usually we pick her up after we have collected our food order, then we take her to the cemetery tolay holly wreaths on the family graves (my nanna's sisters and her mam; my granddad; my other granddad)and then drive her back to ours and proceed as normal. My other nanna has been really ill and is no longer able to get out of the house very much, so she will usually go to Church on christmas eve and come along earlier in the day. Other than that, things are about the same. Does not sound like an awfully exciting day, I admit, but I would not change it for the world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch-MaesterPhilip Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I go see It's a Wonderful Lifeeling in the movies every year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kairparavel Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Our only tradition is that we have established no real traditions. Each Mercenary Christmas has been different.Tree for a few years, then no tree for a few years. Exchange gifts and stockings. This year is stockings only. The only consistent tradition is tourtiere Christmas Eve. But that's only when we are at home and not visiting my family. And I tend to forget to pack up something when it's all over. One year our stockings hung on the wall year til the following Christmas. Lately it's a Santa mobile dangling from the fire sprinkler in the dining room. He's been up for two years now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mladen Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Since we are multicultural board, people won't mind me sharing some Serb traditions for Orthodox Christmas that is on January, 7th. First, on Christmas Eve, January 6th, we burn "badnjak". It is performed usually at homes, or at town temples and churches. In my father's family, which originates from Montenegro, it is believed that badnjak should be burned at homes. Men brings the badnjak inside the house and burn it, while ladies welcome it with pogača, candle and wine. Christmas Eve (Badnji dan) is strictly day for fasting and we eat fish, vegetables etc.(so no meat, milk, eggs). Our tradition also is that Badnji dan is house holiday meaning you celebrate it at your home with only family. The badnjak burns (actually, more of them as every male brings inside a house one tree), and the end of the tree is saved to lit a fire in the morning of Christmas on January, 7th. As for Christmas, we start the morning with visiting cousins or friends. Each home has "položajnik", a traditional first male guest on Christmas morning. According to tradition, položajnik lights a fire at home, and uses the end of badnjak saved from last night to spark as more as he can singling a traditional song "Koliko varnica, toliko srećica, koliko iskrica toliko parica..." (The more sparks, the happier home, the more sparks, the more money etc...). Then, Christmas is also the end of 40-day fasting so the usual food is pork, cheese, traditional recipes etc. On Christams, special "pogača" is baked with a coin inside it, and according to belief, the one who finds it, will be plentiful throughout the year. Christmas is spent with family, cousins, close friends etc... The usual saying is "Hristos se rodi" and the reply is "Vaistinu se rodi" So, those are some Christmas traditions from Serbia... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3CityApache Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 We put up a Christmas tree yesterday, and it will stay with us at least to late January (sometimes it's even beginning of February), depending of how we feel about it. Though we are going to spend Christmas far from home, as usual. Christmas Eve at my mother-in-law with her and my wife's brothers and their families, the rest of it with my parents and sisters' families, this year. Thankfully I only needed four days off at work to be able co come back here on January 4th. We are going to attend Midnight Mass as well FB. :)And presents are under a tree, but we open them all just after the supper, on Christmas Eve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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