Simple holiday traditions?

[Gardenarian]

We have a few -
Our town has a festival where we gather together and sing carols, ending up at the park and having the big pine tree there lit. Little kids put on performances and Santa arrives in the fire engine.

We go every year to the Dickens Fair (http://www.dickensfair.com/) in San Francisco, too. I get a good discount from a friend who performs there. Lots of fun going to the olde timey shows, dancing and singing and looking at all the pretty stuff.

We have a skinny old fake Christmas tree that I've had for over 25 years. It's only about 3 feet tall, but we have fun sticking it up and decorating it. We call it our "Charlie Brown Christmas tree."

DH and I have stayed up and watched "It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas eve while wrapping dd's gifts. Now she's older and there aren't so many little things under the tree - maybe we'll all watch it together. We are going to be joining a church in our new town, and I hope they have a Christmas Eve service. (There is no church in our current town that is a good match for us.)

We have a fancy (home-cooked) dinner on the eve, and then a big Christmas brunch. No Christmas day dinner - we go on a hike, then start getting things cleaned up. Then we gear up for our big New Year's bash.

This year will be different; we are having our party on the Solstice, as we will be all moved by Christmas. It's going to be a crush, getting everything done (not so simple - but we must have a holiday party!) And I don't know what we'll do for New Year's Eve - maybe start a new tradition!

[lessisbest]

Our traditions have evolved throughout the years, but some have stood the test of time. We always hang candy canes on our tree, which is also a 3-foot tree. We used to put the tree up the first Sunday of Advent, now it goes up the day after Thanksgiving. We never take the decoration off our tree (other than the edible things and the tiny real candles placed in German candle holders that get stored and used over and over) and pull a large black plastic leaf bag over the whole thing and transport it to the basement storage room.

When our kids were small (70's-80's) their gifts were something to wear (usually new jeans or a coat), something to play with, something to read, and something to eat. Each year there was a new game under the tree from "Santa". This year the game is "Say Anything".

How some things become a tradition is almost more interesting than the tradition itself, and often lost in time. We always have "Alice Salad" at holiday dinners because it was one of my dad's favorites (he passed away in 2001). Alice Salad is nothing more than a tub of Cool Whip (I make real whipped cream), a drained can of pineapple tidbits and a small can of mandarin oranges (also drained) mixed together. My mother used to make it with powdered Dream Whip which came before Cool Whip. How did it got the name? My parents lived out in the country on a farm and were invited up the road to neighbors home for Thanksgiving in 1970. Their daughter, Alice, then in the 8th grade, made this "miracle in a bowl" that my dad absolutely loved. And forever more it's been called "Alice Salad". Alice is now 58-years old and I ran into her the other day and told her the story of Alice Salad.

I also have a small milk glass serving dish my mother gave me many years ago that is always used at Christmas. This small white dish (great for pickle spears) had a an applied pheasant and a fall scene on it. The dish got put in the dishwasher the first time I had an automatic dishwasher and when my mother removed the dish from the dishwasher the applied scene was AWOL and my humorless mother said "I guess the bird flew the coop" to gales of laughter about that darn pheasant. So this dish is now called the Pheasant Dish.

[HappyHiker]

I eat many Christmas cookies and say humbug often.

[catherine]

Our main traditions:


Our tree has ornaments we've collected throughout the years--it's almost like a living scrapbook of our times together. So, when we can get the kids together, they put the ornaments on--especially their own "baby's first christmas" ornament.
We go to a beautiful, beautiful annual "Carols of Many Nations" event at Princeton Theological Seminary.
We try to buy a tree together, but that tradition has fallen apart because 3/4 of the kids are in VT
DH goes to Princeton and spends too much money and for every gift he buys in a Nassau Square shop he goes to Winberie's to have a drink
I try to bake my mother's Christmas cookie recipe every year, but since it requires Crisco, that might be an outmoded tradition unless I decide to use butter instead (horrors--they won't be as crispy!)
We procrastinate on buying presents and wind up spending most of Christmas Eve in a panic.
On Christmas Day, we spend a lot of time opening presents--usually not expensive presents--mostly things that have been chosen carefully with the recipient in mind, sometimes a book, or a handmade item or a funny gag gift. I just know we spend a LOT of time laughing and saying thank you.


Some of these are not simple traditions, but they become simpler with practice :)

ETA: lessisbest, that Alice Salad sounds amazing! What a cute story!

[SteveinMN]

It's not the Christmas season until "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is on TV. Very appropriate for people who live simply even if one does not agree 100% with the religious component of the show.

We also like to drive down to the expensive neighborhood next to ours to look at Christmas lights. There's even a guy around the corner from us who makes a huge show of it, too.

[IshbelRobertson]

I bake Christmas cakes, pudding and black bun for Christmas and Hogmanay on 'stir up Sunday', the first Sunday in Advent. The Advent Arches are also placed on every window ledge on the same day.

The tree is bought from a local grower on the second weekend of December and decorated with ornaments, some new but some that have been handed down for over a century.

We go carol singing in aid of a children's charity. I also welcome other carol singers with mincepies and mulled wine for the adults and spiced apple juice for children.

However, in Scotland our biggest celebration is Hogmanay, or new year's eve. Edinburgh boasts the biggest street party in the world. Lots of traditions around hogmanay. Cleaning the house from top to bottom. Opening all the windows just before midnight to let the old year out and welcome in the new. Repairing quarrels and disagreements, where possible, before the new year starts.

No wonder Scotland has a 2 day holiday for new year!

[Greg44]

It's not the Christmas season until "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is on TV. Very appropriate for people who live simply even if one does not agree 100% with the religious component of the show.

We also like to drive down to the expensive neighborhood next to ours to look at Christmas lights. There's even a guy around the corner from us who makes a huge show of it, too.

For my wife it is not Christmas without Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol!

[Float On]

I grew up on a Christmas tree farm. Christmas was always a lot of work....year round.

There are no Christmas tree farms down here in our area so no cutting our own to start our Christmas season - in fact we use an artificial one now and so do my parents.

Christmas always starts the first Sunday in December. The local adoration parade, turning on of the community Christmas card (giant nativity scene on top of the cliff - which had to be remade because a tornado destroyed most of it 2 years ago), fireworks before the parade starts. Then home to decorate the tree. Then I'll think about shopping, never shop earlier.

[Blackdog Lin]

For my wife it is not Christmas without Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol!

Oh Greg, what a wonderful reminder. I've forgotten about Mr. Magoo for like a hundred years! Loved him!

Most of our traditions went by the wayside once we became empty-nesters. What stuck:

(1) putting up the damn tree. A very small Charlie Brown one, for the last 7 years. I don't like doing it, and don't do ANY other decorating, but I would hate myself for at least not putting up the little tree, so I get the crap down from the attic and make myself do it.
(2) "Christmas Pizza" for Christmas morning. It's just a plain ol' breakfast pizza but we've been doing it for 30 years, hence it's "Christmas Pizza".
(3) watching "A Christmas Story" once, in its entirety, on Christmas morning. A more recent addition to our traditions, started when TBS starting showing it for 24 hours on Christmas day. It's our favorite Christmas movie.

[awakenedsoul]

My favorite Christmas tradition is singing along to "I'm Mister White Christmas, I'm Mr. Snow...I'm Mr. Icicle. I'm Mister Forty Below. That song always makes me laugh and dance. I found it on one of the Youtube Christmas carol lists. That was such a funny show. My brother and I used to love watching those Christmas specials on t.v. The Grinch was another favorite....

I've still got to hang the lights on the cottage and decorate the two conifers that flank my door. I use them as "live" Christmas trees. I enjoy the baking, knitting gifts, and Christmas music.

[maryellen]

It's not the Christmas season until "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is on TV.

also available for free on hulu! (for those of us who have internet but no tv)

[SteveinMN]

Originally Posted by SteveinMN
It's not the Christmas season until "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is on TV.

also available for free on hulu! (for those of us who have internet but no tv)
I also have the DVD (though I did give away the VHS version I had). I like the seasonality of watching it on TV, though. Kind of a season marker. :-)