The Christmas season for most people used to start right after Thanksgiving. Now the stores mostly forget Thanksgving and start the Christmas displays right after Halloween.
In the past when we had a lot of presents to send I would try to get everything bought and wrapped early and mail them off by or on Thanksgiving weekend, then have a quiet period until just before Christmas. We would go up to the land and cut down our Christmas tree about a week before Christmas, decorate it a bit, and that was it until some present opening on Christmas Day. It was always a quiet, peaceful time.
I only cooked a big dinner once, over 45 years ago, because Andy’s favorite tradition was they could eat all the candy they wanted Christmas Day. Kaitlin loved that tradition too, so there was no sense cooking much. I didn’t complain. 😀
Now, after the fire burned all the evergreens, we don’t even have a Christmas tree down here. Andy puts one up on the roof of the house and turns it on the traditional December 19th.
Do you have any Christmas traditions?
November 19, 2018
my wedding anniversary is Dec 7th. Bob would come home early and we would choose our tree. in later years I’ve always had an artificial one. I’m afraid of fire. and now they are so realistic it hardly seems worth it to have a real one. I haven’t been one for sweets. but my traditions are all the old Christmas classic movies. and the new ones on the Hallmark Channels. I never tire of them!
That sounds like a great tradition! I agree an artificial tree makes sense — we bought a small one when we were first married and left the lights on it when we stored it. Then when we came here and started cutting a fresh one down (always in a place that needed thinning) we put the little artificial one in Kaitlin’s bedroom. I still have fond memories of it and didn’t give it away until years after she left home.
My mother was a great one for Christmas traditions. When we were little, we had to live very frugally, by Mum always managed to decorate a tree beautifully, and have wrapped presents for everyone. We had two large meals, one on Christmas Eve, and one on Christmas day. Throughout the years, and across the miles, we have all carried out her traditions, although she is no longer with us. Lately, we are all getting older, and noticeably winding down, but we do still have a sumptuous meal on Christmas day, using her recipes.
Yes, recipes can bring back a flood of wonderful memories. I’m happy for you.
my traditional Christmas has changed – radically.
Christmas often brings out the worst in people and I find myself wishing to be elsewhere AND I do that “be elsewhere”… and that then sets others off later, on how VIP it is to be with people, apparently relatives 🙂
But by then we have got into the New Year, and those semi-kind people have disappeared…and I settle in for another year of happiness.
Now this Christmas is going be very different, as a big family situation has arrived… – I may have to “run away” 🙂 🙂
Don’t you wish people would be more tolerant of differences? That just because they like something doesn’t mean that everyone has to?
Back when my kids were growing up I had started doing a Christmas morning game that made the present opening last longer than 5 minutes. Every year it was a new game and it came with a letter for them from Santa. After I got divorced from my first husband all the traditions sort of fell off. I always said that he got custody of my holidays in the divorce.
One of our favorite traditions when Kaitlin was little happened in late October, as soon as the weather turned cold. We would put on Christmas carols, I would bake Christmas cookies, and Kaitlin would decorate tissue paper with Christmas stencils and magic markers. The grandparents loved the wrappings.
Mom and Dad have lots of traditions that they try to keep up with, but the one that seems to be the biggest hit with all of the family is doing a big jigsaw puzzle. It is fun to see the oldsters, the middlesters, and the youngsters all take some time to work together on the puzzle. Great fun.
Woos – Lightning, Misty, and Timber
That’s a great idea!