Holiday Traditions

Everything seems to be gearing toward Christmas now, and I thought this might be a good time to start sharing some of your beloved traditions for this time of year. A lot of people have many traditions aside from the common ones for any given holiday. A few examples to get us started:

Being religious, every year on Christmas Eve each member of my family writes a promise to Jesus on a piece of paper, folds it up, and puts it in a stocking. That same night, we read the piece of paper we put in there last year, and see how well we did. Kind of like a New Years' resolution, but religious.

Also, beginning usually around the first of December, each family member that lives in the house (which I don't anymore ) is awarded a small handful of straw to put into a manger for each good deed they do. The goal is to do enough good deeds that baby Jesus has a comfortable place to lay come Christmas morning. Usually he writes a letter of thanks (penned by my mom, of course, but the young kids are always amazed) and it helps us keep our focus on what we believe is the most important part of the holiday.

A typical Christmas morning begins with the younger kids waking up ridiculously early, rushing out to the living room and digging in their stockings to see what they got. They eat whatever's edible, play with whatever toys they received, and then we all have Christmas breakfast, with (most notably) juicy ham and eggnog or cranberry juice with sprite. By the time we finish, the rest of the family has usually arrived at the house with their own kids, and we all open presents together. One child goes to pick out a present for someone else, and then that person picks out a present for someone else once they've opened theirs. It extends the gift unwrapping, makes it less chaotic, and lets everyone feel like they're being focused on, one at a time.

My family also makes it a point to go caroling whenever we can, especially at rest homes and the like, on the days leading up to Christmas and on Christmas day itself, sometimes.

So, what are some of your favorite traditions, or even traditions you'd like to start? I think we could all get some good ideas from each other.

Jam it back in, in the dark.