In mid-October we go to a nearby tree farm with our sons and their families to choose our Christmas trees. We pick them up the 1st Sat. in December and they go up that same weekend. I have a special artificial tree I decorate with Santas and Newfoundland (dogs) ornaments. Eve we spend with my sons and their families at my youngest son’s home. We have a sit down dinner. Sometimes it is goose, boar, pork loin, boneless chicken breast, homemade Romanian sausage – all grilled. I make the vegetables. We open presents after dinner. Christmas Day is spent at my house with my family plus my sister and their families, and often friends who otherwise would be alone. We have a potluck buffet for the meal, but lots of appetizers, cheeses, crackers, chips and dips. It is a wonderful time to catch up with families we may not see often during the rest of the year. The cousins all have a great time catching up with each other.
Share Your Family Holiday Traditions for a Chance to Win!
Rodney van Eck
November 14, 2018
Our family Xmas tradition started some 65 years ago when as a child my parents encouraged me to write to Santa Claus and to put out some milk and cookies for him to refresh him for his exhausting journey to all the ‘good’ children around the world. I continued that tradition 35 years ago when my first daughter was 3 years old. My second daughter automatically followed in that tradition. Both were flabbergasted on Xmas mornings to see the milk glass empty and the cookies gone. In fact, one Xmas Eve we had a tremendous storm around 11 pm. We were having a Xmas eve dinner at my in-laws (another family tradition). It so happened that a family member phoned the house. My brother-in-law returned to the lounge and said Father Xmas was on the line and that his sleigh had taken a lightening strike and was broken, could he come help fix it. I told the kids we had better get home and hope that Uncle Lionel could fix the sleigh. The kids swallowed it hook line and sinker. We returned home with two very concerned and anxious looking kids. Next morning the household was awakened to shrieks of delight and “Well done Uncle Lionel! You fixed Father Xmas’s sleigh. He brought our presents.” Once they had outgrown this novelty, I then introduced them to The Polar Express starring Tom Hanks. We continue that tradition of watching Polar Express still today. This is followed up by Dinner For One on New Years eve. I have also continued my childhood tradition of having Xmas lunch, which I’ve held at my home the past 40 years for my Mom, Brothers, Sisters and our children. This year I will be passing on that tradition for the first time to my 3 year old granddaughter. I am sure our Xmas tradition will live for eternity through my children and grandchildren.
Xmas Traditions, May They Long Live!