Holiday Traditions

I love holiday traditions – the memories that are made live on forever, from generation to generation.  This time of the year is especially filled with traditions in my family.

The day after Thanksgiving is the start of our tradition “marathon”.  Out come the tree, ornaments and all other decorations.  The tree would be set up and we’d start on the lights.  Apparently my husband was the only one that understood my mom’s insisting on the correct way to string the lights.  Now we have pre-lit trees, and boy are they heaven sent.

Next, we unwrap all of the ornaments, and memories start flowing.  Every year, until they were stopped being produced, my parents bought a Hallmark rocking horse ornament with the year on it.  They are placed chronologically going down the tree.  In my house we have the clay families with the date on them…it’s fun to see just R and I, and then there is one where I am pregnant with R, and then slowly the family members (and pets) have made it onto an ornament and our tree.  By the time we are wrapping the stair rails and hanging the stockings, we are pooped.  BUT the house looks so warm and inviting – I love this time of year!

The past three or so years we have gone to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas at DisneyWorld – it is the unofficial start of our Winter season.  The snow on Main Street, the hot cocoa and sugar cookies, and especially the most amazing parade – I am like a little kid when it comes to the toy soldiers marching down Main Street!  My kids usually fall asleep right before the parade starts…this year was no exception.  N fell asleep first (not a shocker) with G following shortly after. Sleepy, one of the Seven Dwarves, made a point to stop in front of the two sleeping beauties (haha) and made the hand sign for wanting to fall asleep as well.  An elf in a little car made a big scene, which was super hysterical, yelling to the boys to wake up, that they were going to miss Santa Claus.  They didn’t even flinch.

We didn’t have an Elf on the Shelf when I was growing up (Mom and Dad, you were so lucky!).  Our house welcomes Fred Nihilus on the morning after the tree is up.  I am in no way as creative as my friends and fellow Pinterest-ers.  I can’t tell you how many nights at, oh about midnight, my husband or I wake up and are like, “Oh S$#%, we forgot to move Fred!!!”  The lack of sleep pays off when we hear one of the boys yell out that they found him the next morning.

Christmas Eve we serve the seven fishes.  My grandma, and now my dad, makes this delicious fish salad.  At dinner (when I was growing up, but sometimes now lol) he would take the tentacle portions of the octopus and hang them from his mouth, wiggling them around and making funny sounds – knowing that my sister and I were not too fond of them.  We bake shrimp and scallops, and then mussels, baby lobsters (sometimes), all eventually totaling up to the number 7.  Why seven fishes?

In the early years, on Christmas Day morning, my sister and I would come downstairs in our matching pajamas, my dad videoing the “grand entrance” and the looks on our face when we saw what Santa left for us!  I still do that with the boys, although I have to practically threaten them not to go downstairs before we get up.  I know they are super excited, but I need to brush my teeth and hair.  We unwrap gifts, one recipient at a time, oohing and ahhing.

Christmas day was, and still is, always filled with friends and family from near and far.  We start cooking right after opening the gifts (and breakfast as we needed the energy for the rest of the day).  We would make an antipasto, rolling the cold cuts around the different breadsticks.  Slice the tomato and mozzarella.  Prepare the stuffed mushrooms.  Bread and bake the chicken and/or eggplant and then “parm” them.  Baked ziti, meat gravy, a big tossed salad, Italian bread, garlic bread – I know I am missing some dishes.  The house would be filled with warmth from a combination of the oven being on and the amazing company we held.

Hanukkah we would light the candles every night with my mom, and I would always laugh that my mom would put a paper towel on top of her head.  Now that I am older, I know why (married women are to cover their heads).  We would sing the prayer, light the menorah and then open our gift for that night.

I wouldn’t change my traditions for anything in the world and look forward to creating new ones as time goes on.

What are the holiday traditions that you relive this time of year?

I’ve shared this at Inspire Me Monday