I am a sucker for tradition, some may say the same ole same ole, but for me that is where I find comfort.

Christmas Traditions
D Dennison- Ashley and Natasha, 2009-TSM
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Through the years the traditions have changed or evolved into something different, but for the most part, I am a tradition(s) girl.

Every Christmas eve, it starts the same way. "Now kids be good today and you can open a present before you go to bed", the funny factor here is that one present quickly became every present, yet every year, I would say the same thing. I guess you could say "just one present" became the family joke.

We would always have something 'light' for dinner, pizza or Chinese food, I suppose saying something NOT homemade would make more sense. We would sit around and speculate on our gifts, wondering aloud what we got and then talk about Santa and whether or not he had a big bag this year. The bigger the bag the greater the chance we got the big gift we were hoping for. Santa always came and always left behind the perfect gift for each child.

On Christmas morning we all waited for each other to get up, we weren't allowed to wake each other up, the kids had to wait for me and I for them, not that I ever really had to wait. The children would stay in their rooms until they heard me making coffee, then they would peak out their bedroom doors and say "Can we come out"? Of course, or occasionally I would say just one minute. Then they would rush to their stockings and many times I would make fried bread dough that I sprinkled with cinnamon sugar for breakfast.I would then ready the camera and each child opened their gift one at a time, they were always respectful of each other, probably because they knew I might take their Santa gift away if they weren't. :)

As the children would play with their new toys and try on their new clothes, I would start the prime rib. Once the prime rib was seared in a hot oven I would turn it off and ready the children for our Christmas movie. As the kids got to be older we would put our Christmas movie up to a vote and the one with the greatest number of votes won, unless I didn't care for it. Yes, after all, I did have executive rights!

When we got home from the movie I would turn on the oven (I sear my prime rib at 500 and then turn the oven off without ever opening the oven door, then turn the oven on for about 30 minutes while I cook the asparagus and mashed potatoes) and get busy making the rest of the meal. Yes, in case you are wondering, we have prime rib, asparagus and mashed potatoes every year for Christmas dinner. I guess that is the way I was raised, for the most part and that is what I carried forward to my children.

After dinner the children and I would watch Christmas movies together, either classics or what they got for Christmas, the whole lot of us are huge movie goers/watchers. And then it's off to slumberland.

What are your favorite traditions? Traditions that you have carried over since you were a child and the ones that you have created for your family. What are the traditions that you grew up with that you have said "I will never do it that way" to? I'd love to hear from you, please leave a comment.

 

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