Christmas Cheers and Shares

Tahquil

I thought I would open up a thread to sate my curiosity on Christmas traditions. I know each family has their own special things that brings them together so let's hear them!

Example : 
- When my sister and I was little Mum would take us to the shops and we got to chose a new decoration for the tree each year. We would then wait (one year to Christmas Eve) for my Dad to get back from patrol and we would all put the tree up together.

- My Mum had a set of 4 tin Santa Claus decorations which would be the last on the tree (instead of the star). They were from the first Christmas Mum and Dad had together when they were stationed away from family. Mum saw them in a shop but they were being stringent with money, but Dad bought them anyway and they hung them on a pot plant.

- Now that my sister and I have grown our tradition has changed. We have a game of poker Christmas night, with sweets as tender. However, with my Dad diagnosed with diabetes my sister and I have tricked them into playing Cards Against Humanity instead. 

- We play a game of street cricket with the neighbours. Girls are allowed double handed catches but men must only use one hand and if they spill their drink while catching a ball it's not a catch. Then the younger kids usually bombard us with water bombs.

- We eat fresh chilled prawns and pavlova for Christmas lunch then just nibble the rest of the day instead of a Christmas dinner. It's far to hot (and we are usually suffering from heatstroke and drunkeness) to cook and prepare dinner.

We keep everything low-key. Not many decorations and the like. If you are part of a family that goes all out for Christmas please take and share photos! If it's snowing where you are take photos! Build me a snowman! Please share you traditions and Christmas with us!

Kandra

We used to drive around town looking at all the decorated houses on Christmas eve, then go home and open a present. There was also the reminder that if you weren't asleep by the time Santa arrived, he would eat you alive. The Easter bunny had the same appetite.

Valkyn

We always had the tradition of one present at the end of our beds in the morning when we woke up. It was usually something like a book, something that would distract us for a good hour or so...

What an evil plan. Usually kept us from running around like mad things until at least 6am. We were early risers.

Melodie

My mother (who was always a very practical woman otherwise) and aunt, bless their hearts, always tried to make Christmas pretty special for me and my cousin, who I grew up with. Even when we didn't have a lot of money, my mom always took pains to try and set out multiple gifts, and often many from unusual people. While of course we had mom, dad, grandma, etc, she also used to give me some from my various dogs/cats, as well as fictional characters. I remember one particular year when I was fairly small, my mom got me a little vial of "pixie dust" that was from Tinkerbell. To a 4-6 year old, that was pure magic.

We also always opened one single gift on Christmas Eve, which usually ended up being a video game or something that was vastly entertaining. On Christmas morning, there would always be extra little things set out that weren't the night before (one year was like, snowglobes and random little fun things), as well as the stocking being filled. The rule was that I could go through my stocking, but no presents until they were up. Along with that, my mom also usually gave "gag" gifts every year, or just fun/silly ones, depending. Like one year was a bunch of marshmellows in a bag with a bit of paper in it saying "You've been naughty, so you get snowman poop!" or something.

Probably the Christmas I'll always remember most was when I was 11-12, we were just settled in a year or so in our new house, and our "gag" gift to my cousin and I (that we were told we could not open until last) was little china teapots. Very confused, we opened the teapots to examine them, and inside was a little note... to go find a particular place inside the garage. This continued on for various steps (we ran so hard oh my god) until at the mailbox, there was a little bag with a note saying we were going to Disney World, and despite being out of breath, we screeeeaaaammmmed. I think our neighbours came over to make sure we were okay, lol.

Man, now I'm homesick as all hell. Seven years without my family's Christmas just sucks.

Kyrra

I'm half European on my father's side so we always did presents and our Christmas feasting on the night of the 24th as per Austrian custom.

Most of the excitement of opening presents got out of the way so Christmas Day itself was always really relaxing. People got to sleep in, we get to have left over ham and other goodies for lunch on Christmas Day.

When I was much younger, Christmas was much more traditional than it is for me now. There was a lot of fun with decorating the Tree during the first weeks of December and discovering I have a massive lack of patience for the presents that were sitting there for weeks before they could be opened. I remember one year when I was around maybe seven or eight years old, and I sort of opened one a few days early and I got in so much trouble from my parents that they flogged me. 

Once I reached the age where Santa stopped bringing presents, Christmas was a lot more adult and just became about the feasting more or less. I don't think I've had a tree for the last 18 years at least.

Peak

My grandma (best woman in the world) makes the best trifle in the world and makes dozens of them to give away as Christmas gifts @Daeir, so if you're ever in Texas (my grandma was born and raised English), let me know and I'll get you one.

Reiloch

My family celebrates on the eave. We get the immediate relatives together, and have a big dinner with two main dishes, one of which is always lamb- often hangikjöt, although this year we went with a baked leg. Can't go wrong with lamb, either way. We'll often have a few more 'traditional' cuisine choices thrown in availability permitting, including rullupylsa and harðfiskur from my mom's side, and punch au creme and macaroni pie from my stepmom's. We'll pop those silly Christmas crackers and wear the awful paper crowns therein, scarf down our meals, and then head to the living room to open secret Santa gifts. Once the night winds down, we all go our separate ways, and brace ourselves for some other branch of the family's plans for Christmas day.

Lots of food, basically. So, so much food.