Wednesday, December 23, 2009

What's Your Holiday Tradition?

Posted by Diva's Thoughts at 11:15 AM

In spirit of the holidays, we here at The Diva’s Thoughts have decided to forego Ask Tee this week and resume the feature next Wednesday as scheduled so please don’t forget to send in your Ask Tee letters. All are welcomed.

What I’ve decided to do today instead is to ask you all to tell us what your favorite holiday traditions are.

I’ll go first. When I was a kid every Thanksgiving and Christmas my father would commandeer the kitchen and bake. He would bake for hours and I would love to watch him. He’d bake all kinds of cakes and pies. He’d make pecan pies and sweet potato pies and coconut cakes and chocolate cakes and so many others. The smells emanating from the kitchen were pure heaven.

I used to look forward to the holidays so that I could smell those sweet smells and see my father doing what he loved, and eating those delectable treats.

Man I miss that. Daddy, I miss you.

Happy holidays everyone!

What are your holiday traditions?

TOP

Share |
 

Labels: ,

15 People saying stuff:

Moooooog35 said...

Wake up and yell at my kids.

Actually, that's more of an 'every day' thing.

I would say that the kids decorate cookies on Christmas Eve, put them out, and then wonder why I'm in a diabetic coma the entire next day.

December 23, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Beautifully Complex said...

We always have a Christmas Eve party with finger foods, drinks, cards, etc. In the last 8 years or so, since my sister had her children, it also serves as the opportunity to bake cookies for Santa with them, and a last minute gift wrapping party, once we get the kids to go to bed !

December 23, 2009 at 2:08 PM
Queen-Size funny bone said...

Our entire family gets together christmas eve to eat and laugh. we play all kinds of games and do a chineese grab bag.

December 23, 2009 at 2:44 PM
Liam said...

I think the only tradition we have that is constant other than the traditional meal. Is that christmas is the one day we all know is reserved for family and no matter what. We all get together. This year it's at our house.

December 23, 2009 at 2:48 PM
Renaissance Woman said...

All of Christmas has traditions that I love. My family always does Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family. We eat oyster stew and chili (for those of us not about oyster stew) and share laughs, thoughts, memories, etc. And then Christmas morning is the big day in my family. My dad always plays santa and give out presents to each family member one at a time. It is a joy to experience. Later in the day we eat dinner with my mom's family and have a lot of other traditions. I love this time of year with my family!

December 23, 2009 at 10:17 PM
Noelle said...

When I was a kid, I used to love to make cookies with my Grandparents. I still have their best cookie recipe and now I make them with my kids.

December 23, 2009 at 11:13 PM
Just telling it like it is said...

Awe...You miss him! I don't have any traditions other than spending time with my friends! This year was a change of transition out of one relationship to another relationship...no worries 10 months in between both...I am a relationship kind of person...but then again you read my blog so you know!!!
Merry Christmas!! It means a lot to me to be apart of your blog!!

December 24, 2009 at 5:15 AM
Thomas J Wolfenden said...

Sorry, put this in the wrong post the first time...

Christmas was always my Mother's favorite holiday of the year (and being that my siblings and my birthdays are all around the end of December I'm leaning towards St. Patrick's Day as my Fathers...) and she would go all out decorating the house and the tree.

I'm of German descent on my mom's side, and I was always told that in Germany, they wouldn't put up the tree and decorate it until Christmas Eve. So that being said, we'd always, as a family, put the tree up and decorate it right before going to bed.

In 1992, few years after I got out of the Army and I was working in Law Enforcement, my father died and now it was up to me to come over the house on Christmas Eve and put the tree up so my mom and sisters could decorate it.

This I did, every year, then one time my sister said something about "The Leaning Tree of Christmas..."

Let me explain a little...

Sure I'd come over the house and put the tree up...

But I'd always stop off at the local watering hole, Lengehan's Pub, before the requisite tree erection... So I'd usually have half a load on. My sister told me it always would have a 10 degree starboard list when I was finished...

How was I to know?

It looked fine to me!

So that's my last recollection of Christmas in the home I grew up in... A tree askew in the living room...

December 24, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Anonymous said...

My mom used to tell us that Santa decorated the tree. So every Christmas morning we were in awe of how he got so much done!

Merry Christmas Diva!!

December 24, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Diane said...

When I was little, I baked cookies for my family. Now I bake with my girls. It's a big tradition for us. That and giving away tons of holiday cookies!

December 24, 2009 at 1:04 PM
laughing said...

Our tradition changes every five or ten years or so.

When we were kids we did the whole wake up and rush to the tree thing to see what "Santa" brought for us. Our parents probably made us eat breakfast before we actually opened anything. And then about lunch time we would visit with one of the grandparents, though I'm not sure how it was determined which grandparents and if they came to us or we went to them. And then there was more presents from the grandparents.

When we were teenagers and no longer got so much stuff from grandparents and didn't rush to the tree to see what "Santa" brought, we started the tradition of opening one gift Christmas Eve, which quickly became the tradition of opening all the gifts on Christmas Eve after we had eaten at a local pizza place.

After this being our tradition for many years, the particular pizza place closed. We tried eating at a different place one year, but after that my sister requested that we go back to exchanging gifts on Christmas Day.

My dad died about six years ago, and the year after that my sister got enagaged. The Christmas after that she was a married woman, and she found herself very busy with her new in-laws on Christmas, as they had to visit many different houses to be with his divorced parents and siblings. So we went back to exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve after we have dinner at a nice restaurant.

December 25, 2009 at 7:11 AM
Anonymous said...

We used to go to midnite Mass drunk every year.

December 25, 2009 at 8:52 AM
imbeingheldhostage said...

Wow, I can't imagine a baking father... I'm sure he's sorely missed.
I married a cook who promptly quit cooking when we got married. Even last night on Christmas Eve we got into a little row over the fact that I was in the kitchen with my hand up a turkey's backside while he played the Wii.
Our traditions seem to morph with new locations and kids growing, but we always read Luke 2, open one gift and set out cookies on Christmas Eve, no matter where we're living in the world.

Merry Christmas to you, my blogging friend. I hope you're happy, healthy and surrounded by people who appreciate you!

December 25, 2009 at 9:50 AM
Jeni said...

Growing up here, tradition was always waiting for my Mom's two older brothers and their families to show up -for openers. My grandparents, Mom and I would always have a traditional (very) meal around 5 p.m. Christmas Eve consisting of Swedish Lutfisk(boiled salted codfish that had been soaked for about 2 weeks in a couple different solutions, one of which contained lye all of which made the house stink to the high heaves) served with boiled potatos, creamed peas and a white cream sauce/gravy for the fish and potatoes. After aunts/uncles/cousins arrived, it was midnight church and home to eat all the true goodies of Christmas in a home that still celebrated some of the old Swedish traditions -jellied veal with vinegar, herring, cheeses, home-baked Swedish breads, nut breads, ham, and cookies along with my Aunt Nellie's pineapple cheesecake! Long about 2 a.m., we kids (and the adults too) would open presents, play till about 4 a.m. and then, everyone pretty much did a crash landing at various spots on the floor where Grandma had strategically placed chair cushion, couch cushions, pillow -whatever -for us to rest up till morning when we could go at the new toys all over again! Meanwhile, as we crashed, my Mom and Aunt Nellie would be beginning the preparations for the Christmas Day dinner! Today, my kids and I do our special meal -minus the Lutfisk, jellied veal and herring -and our gift exchange on Christmas Eve with the kids getting their Santa gifts (i.e. toys) Christmas morning. Food items have changed somewhat from then to now but the constant has been attending the late service at our church on Christmas Eve for one of the most beautiful services of the church year. From 1979 until 3 years ago, our tradition on Christmas Day was to go to my Dad's family home and have dinner with my youngest aunt and her daughter. My aunt is gone now; her daughter -who is severely mentally and physically challenged -is now in a nursing home. The memories of so many family members, most of whom are long passed from this earth, is what I keep in my heart though and thinking of those days, years ago, my own children when they were much, much younger and now, enjoying the thrill of Santa again with the grandkids along with the Gift of Christmas all come back to me, in waves of pure sentiment over the holiday -and throughout the year too! Tears of sadness as I miss so many people and tears of joy that they were such an important part of my life and that my kids and grandkids are the glue today that holds us together as a family.
Peace and God Jul!

December 25, 2009 at 2:57 PM
B said...

Aw, that sounds like a wonderful memory and tradition!

I'm not sure I really have a favorite, just everyone getting together and having a good time is enough for me!

December 26, 2009 at 4:51 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)