Christmas Traditions

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Jun 27, 2010
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What are some unique Holiday traditions you / your family have during this festive season?

They don't even have to be all that unique, just describe them here.
 
I have to watch Home Alone at least once. Also, eggnog needs to enter my body in any way possible for it to be Christmas.
 
We would always drive around on Christmas Eve and look at people's light displays :) When I was younger, I'd be in my pajamas for that.
 
The dad's side of my family's Christmas tradition is torturous. We all go to my grandparents' house on Christmas Eve to open presents, and there are always a ton of people there; last year I counted 17. It doesn't help that my aunt and uncle have six kids, and four of them are still quite young. There are always three or four dogs there, too. And we have to open presents in a certain order. You have to give somebody that hasn't opened one in a while one of their presents to open, then watch as they open it, people take pictures, and then give somebody else a present, watch as they open it, people take pictures...it takes hours. Then we go to my dad's house and do it all over again. We usually start around 6 p.m. and don't finish unitl after midnight. I always wondered what it was like to be able to get up on Christmas morning and open your presents with wild abandon. I never got to do that.
 
^That sounds pretty awful. When I was a kid, my dad would just leave the video camera rolling (stationary) as everyone opened presents. Seemed to make things run smoothly.
 
My family's had pretty much the same tradition for the last 6 or 7 years and it's pretty great. My siblings and I always spend Christmas morning/afternoon at my dad & stepmom's, and we open gifts and have food and whatever. We usually leave mid-afternoon and spend the rest of the day at mom's, and we always watch Home Alone, and Home Alone 2 if we have time.
 
Yankee swap always happens at parties. It is wonderfully frustrating. Only other thing I tend to do every year is see the city lights displays downtown.
 
My family watches A Christmas Story every Christmas Eve, and we sometimes have it on while opening presents.
 
Me and the folks descend upon the roads and quiet country lanes, picking up whatever roadkill we can find. We're usually scouting for foxes and whatnot, but a tubby little cat never goes amiss. Anyways, we scrape these mutilated animals off the ground, stuff their innards or whatever back into the body if we can, and then dress them in lovely little Santa outfits. Then, in what I feel is the ultimate distribution of goodwill, and a dedication to the Christmas spirit, we throw these merrily dressed animals down the chimneys of various orphanages. Imagine the wonder on their little faces as they realise that Santa did not forget about them.
 
See? He gets it.

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Spending half of Christmas with my mother's side of the family, with two relatives that are awkward that we tolerate because they have nowhere else to go. Then spending the other half with my father's side of the family. That gathering is usually on a Saturday before Christmas since it's too hectic to have people leaving to attend church on Christmas Eve and everyone has other gatherings on Christmas Day. But this year, no other days worked so we are having an evening gathering on Christmas Day. We always do a Christmas gift exchange that results in everyone getting random gifts, and it's lots of fun. We also never eat traditional Christmas food, having just had it at other gatherings. This year it's BBQ and a random assortment of side dishes.
 
I go to midnight mass on Christmas eve. My family's Catholic, but my grandpa was Jewish so my dad and I always go to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. We always do a turkey dinner in the evening complete with board games and drinks. Apples to Apples gets fun when you've had a few :)
 
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