The Twelve Days of Christmas*Write-Off*
Dec 03 '00
As I sit here and write this so many memories of Christmas come flooding back. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday and I have many memories that I hold very dear. I am a very traditional person when it comes to family and holidays. We have many very old traditions that we will continue on with for years to come. There are certain things that the family has been doing since before I was born. These are things that I would never change and everybody in the family feels the same way.
This is my contribution to the write-off hosted by: My3lilmen and Mommie2kk. I am writing this from a different standpoint. I do not have any children, so I am writing about my own memories that I wish to pass down to my children someday. I have so many memories that it was hard to narrow it down to just twelve, but I came up with the most important that I will always cherish and hope that they do the same.
FAMILY
I have and always will hold family very dear. There is no one who can replace your family. I feel that friends may come and go, but family is forever! I have a very large family on both my dad and mom’s side. We are all very close and love to get together as much as possible. I would want for my kids’ to stay just as close as I have to the family. You realize during the good times and the hard times just how much your family is there for you and always will be.
Thanksgiving and Christmas are our favorite times to be together. I celebrate Christmas Eve with my mom’s family and Christmas Day with my dad’s family. This has been the tradition since before I was born, and I would like to be able to pass this tradition down to my kids’.
THE GIVING AND RECEIVEING OF GIFTS
I love to receive as well as give gifts. Of course, opening up a present to find out what is underneath is so much fun. However, I love to see the look on someone’s face when they open up the gift that I have picked out especially for them. I take my shopping very seriously! I start looking in the malls around August or September to find gifts for everybody. I don’t actually buy until the month of December, because for some reason I love to buy Christmas gifts when it is cold out. I guess it puts me more in the spirit.
I always have so many people to buy for. I have my parents, my 2 sisters, my grandma, cousins, a few friends, and we draw a name at work. We also draw names on my mom’s side of the family, so this is no so bad. We give a list to whoever draws our name. The gift is supposed to cost around $50. We can either buy one nice gift or pick out a few things within the price range. This year I have drawn one of my cousins’ names and she has drawn mine. This is just coincidental, but it will work out great.
I just returned from the mall about an hour ago. It was so crowded, but I was able to finish up a few people on my list. I have finished both of my sisters’, my dad, and part of my moms’ gifts. I could not believe all of the people at the mall and it is just going to get worse. It is funny, but I do buy quite a few gifts in the beginning of December, but I am still out there buying up until the last minute. This happens every year I guess it is just part of tradition!
This year I have received several gift certificates from various sites on the web. I picked out a $50 gift for my sister and it ended up costing my $6.21. Of course, I will buy her a few more things, but it was great to get a $50 gift for a little over $6.00. I also bought part of my other sisters’ gift with certificates, but was not as cheap as the other. Either way, I was happy to be able to use them towards gifts.
HAPPINESS
I have always enjoyed Christmas so much and I would want the same for my kids. Christmas should be a time of joy and happiness. Of course, we sometimes have problems that might occur right at Christmas. This can make it a real challenge to keep a smile on her face, but we must work very hard to keep ourselves happy as well as the people around us. We must remember that things usually get better and we must go on.
Christmas time is so beautiful and we should try our best to never lose that joy. Whether we are opening gifts, giving gifts, being with family, visiting Santa, seeing the lights or just the whole spirit of Christmas; the joy and happiness should always be there. It should be a time of joy, hope and happiness. I never want to lose that and I would want my kids’ to always keep that same spirit no matter how easy or hard that might be to do.
SANTA CLAUSE
I can still remember finding out that Santa was not real. I guess I had been suspecting in for a while, but did not want to believe it. I have two younger sisters so I had to hide it for several more years. This was not an easy thing to do, because I still got gifts from Santa and had to act surprised.
As the years have gone by, I realize that Santa is indeed real. Not literally, but in our hearts and spirit. We still give gifts to each other and put from Santa. This is so we don’t ever lose that spirit, because if you believe in something than it is real. I know there are people that don’t feel that same way, but I do very strongly. I would never want my children to lose that spirit and would want them to keep Santa in their heart forever!
CHRISTMAS TREE
Oh the joy of picking out a Christmas Tree! This used to be my favorite thing to do. We would usually go around the first part of December and look around at several lots for the perfect tree. We would take it home and decorate it that night. This was so much fun, but as I got older it seemed like more of a chore.
However, I have recently started enjoying it again. We now have an artificial tree, but it looks just like a real one. It is a lot easier to work with, but it does not have that smell like a good old pine tree. However, they can be kept out longer and don’t die. I like to keep the tree up about a week after New Year’s. I always hate putting it away when it is time.
I would want this same joy passed on to my kids’. I hope that they will feel the same excitement that I do when I put up the tree. It is a sign that Christmas is right around the corner. It is so much fun to start watching the gifts pile up under the tree and find that each day there are a couple of new ones underneath.
LIGHTS AND DECORATIONS
One of my favorite things to do is to drive around and look at all of the Christmas lights. It seems like each year more and more people decorate. Some people start decorating way Thanksgiving and put so much work into it. There are several neighborhoods around me that have contests. They really put a lot of time, work, and money into it.
There are also many small towns around where I live that go all out with the decorating. They have drive-thru areas where they decorate with lights and even animals. You drive thru slowly and admire all of their hard work. They usually charge by the carload and it is not too bad.
Another neat thing that I like to do is to go down to the Riverwalk in San Antonio. They have a river parade on the Friday after Thanksgiving. This is the official turning on of the lights. The Riverwalk is in downtown San Antonio. There are many restaurants, clubs, bars, and shops lined up on the banks of the San Antonio River. It is neat, but Christmas time is especially beautiful. Each business decorates some are traditional and others are very unique. All in all it is really something to see.
I have only been once to the parade, because it is always very crowded, but I usually go down there once or twice during the month of December. It is something that I would not miss and would want my children to experience the same amazement.
THE SMELL OF CHRISTMAS
It is so funny how many different smells are associated with Christmas. Whether it is the smell of the Christmas tree, the smell of cookies and candy baking in the oven, the smell of Christmas dinner or just the smell of winter in the air. I know this is something petty, but I have always loved all of these smells.
A smell can bring back an old memory that we may have forgotten. I don’t know how many times I have smelled someone’s perfume and it made me think of someone that I had forgotten. This is the way I feel about the smell of Christmas. It brings back all of my old Christmas memories.
I love baking cookies and have the aroma float throughout the house. I also love all of the great candles that you can buy during Christmas. I usually buy several different scents. I do not have a fireplace, so I always buy a pine scent. I also like the cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and any other Christmas related scents.
I know it is not a major deal, but I would want my children to feel this same way. I want them to smell the cookies baking or a candle burning, or even the smell of winter in the air and know that Christmas is coming!
COOKIES AND CANDY
I must admit that I love sweets! I know that they are not good for you, but I can’t help it. When there are cookies or candy in the house I go crazy. I don’t just sit there and eat a bunch in one sitting, but usually during the holidays I will eat some about every day. There is a lady at work who bakes like crazy the whole month of December. She brings in cookies, fudge, homemade candy, peanut brittle and just about anything else you can think of. They are delicious, but very fattening. I tend to go a little overboard when it comes to her baking!
I love to bake cookies during the holidays. I don’t do it to the same extreme that she does, but I do quite a bit. Cooking is also a great tradition to pass on. It can make for some really great times with your kids. It is so much fun to be working together in the kitchen, baking and getting ready for the holidays. It is even more fun to be able to eat your final product and to be able to share it with others.
SHOPPING
I also love to shop! Whether it be during the holidays or just any other day, it is so much fun. Of course, during Christmas it can get pretty hectic. I try and go early in the morning before the rush hits in. Sometimes it is just plain unavoidable and gets worse and worse. The closer to Christmas it gets, the crazier it gets.
There are several malls within a 15-mile radius of me. A couple of them are very crowded and there is one that is not too bad. Of course, the most crowded one is my favorite. It has all of the major stores that I like. I just there yesterday and today, but today was not as bad. I guess because it was Sunday and the weather was pretty messy.
Even in all of the craziness there is nothing like shopping. I have always enjoyed picking out gifts for people even in the hustle and bustle of the mall. We have always done this together as a family. My parents, my sisters, I usually go once or twice together. We always help my dad pick out gifts for my mom (even though he always does a good job of it himself).
This has always been a tradition that hopefully will carry on. This is something that I will do with my kids as well. It really makes for a nice family outing, because after all of our shopping we usually have lunch or dinner together. This is something that we don’t always get to do together. Everybody is always so busy, but we make time for our traditional shopping trip together.
CHRISTMAS EVE
Christmas Eve is always a big party with my family. We always celebrate it at my cousins’ house. Like I said earlier, we draw names for gifts. This works out great, because we are able to get something nice that we really want. Besides, the gifts we always have tamales and plenty of other food. We all pitch in for the tamales and everybody brings chips, dips, cookies, candy, and other appetizers. We always leave stuffed.
There are usually around 25 people. It starts out with just the family, but around 10:00 different friends stop by. These are friends that have been around for years and are more like family. We always have a great time just being together. We usually eat first and then it is time to open gifts. After all of this is cleaned up, we just talk and have fun! My cousins are all crazy and keep me in stitches.
My family started this tradition before I was born, and is one that we will always carry on. There have been a few times when we have gathered at my aunt and uncle’s house, but we were all together and that is what matters! This is a tradition that my children will be born into and hopefully will always go along with.
CHRISTMAS DAY
We celebrate Christmas Day with my dad’s side of the family. We all gather at my grandmother’s house. There are usually around 15 of us. It is not quite as crazy as Christmas Eve, but we still have a great time. We have the traditional turkey dinner, complete with turkey, gravy, dressing, cranberries, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and much, much more! My uncle usually makes the turkey and my grandma makes the dressing. Everybody else brings something to go along. We always have more than enough food, but we enjoy every bit of it.
After we eat, we open gifts and clean up. Everybody then has a good time just being together and talking and laughing. We are all just in the Christmas spirit and this is the way it should be. Christmas should be a time of togetherness and forgetting all of our problems, or at least putting them on hold for a while.
INNOCENCE OF CHRISTMAS
Last, but not least, I would never want my children to lose the innocence of Christmas. There is so much bad in the world and children are forced to grow up fast, but Christmas should still hold that childhood innocence. I don’t care how old we get, or how much we have seen or been through; we should all remember what Christmas is about and live it like we are children again.
We should feel that joy of opening our presents, of seeing Santa in the mall, seeing the look on a younger child’s face when they sit on Santa’s lap, or being with family. Without all of this, then what do we have left? I don’t mean that the world is that bad, but if we can’t even feel the joy and happiness of this time, then what will make us happy?
This is why I hope that my children will always keep that same spirit alive. I want them to feel the same joy and happiness that I have always and will always feel. No matter how rough things get during the year, I always put things on the back burner during the holidays. This all has to do with trying to hold on to the innocence of Christmas and childhood. I don’t remember having many problems when I was younger, so I want to hold onto that during the holidays. I have always felt that joy, and there is no greater feeling.
The following is a tradition that I heard about last night. It is one that my sisters’ boyfriend told me about. It is one that has been in his family for over 80 years. I just wanted to share it with you.
They celebrate St. Nick’s Day. This takes place on the 5th of December. Each person puts out a stocking. In it they leave a note for Santa. When they wake up on the 6th, their stocking is full of candy and a small gift (like a CD, a book, or something else small) and their note to Santa is gone.
This sounded so neat and I know that others might have this same tradition or something like it. However, I had never heard of it and it is something that I would not mind starting when I have children.
I hope that you enjoyed reading all of my family traditions. This was hard to do, because we do have so many things that we do. Some of the above are major traditions and other stuff mentioned are just things that I want to hold onto. I am a very traditional person, so I will hold onto all of the above for many years to come, and I will pass them down to my children.
I want to thank My3lilmen and Mommie2kk for hosting this great write-off. It was so much fun writing. There are many other great writers who participated and I would appreciate it if you checked them out. They are as follows: acdc711, ar_c, beckish, bryrrose, chele316, cjsmommy, cntaur5, conraddad, debbie26, jdinpa, jeanniekerns, jennd417, jma924, lansky2000, lonelyladyk, maddi, magick1, moimonet, mommie2kk, msmorvay, my3lilmen, nwinston, presleysmama, shanny21, sheann26, tiffer0220.
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