The holiday season is here! I have absolutely no idea where 2015 went, but I am looking forward to everything 2016 has to offer. Even though I am sad that we won’t be having a White Christmas here in New York, I’m excited to celebrate the holiday with my close family and friends. I love learning about the different holiday traditions that are passed down through the generations, as well as, new traditions that are discovered. With Christmas and New Year’s Eve just around the corner we would love to share our favorite holiday traditions.
Meagan
Bake a ton of cookies and send them to my friends and family members who I don’t get to see at Christmas.- Elf on the Shelf! We try to hide it in a different spot every night, but forget all the time and have to run down at 5am to hide it!
- Opening presents Christmas morning followed by a big breakfast before everyone goes their separate ways.
- Making homemade pierogis and having them with dinner on Christmas Eve.
- My dad sends us communion wafers blessed by a Polish church and on Christmas Eve, we ‘break bread’ with each other wishing happy holidays and health and happiness for the New Year.
- Banging pots and pans together to ring in the New Year.
- Making Christmas cookies with my Grammie.
- Making fudge with my mom.
- Opening one present on Christmas Eve (pajamas required)
- Opening stockings with my pets, they each get their own!
- Making potato latkes and playing dreidel during Hanukkah.
- Going out with my Dad to cut down the Christmas tree.
- Leaving milk and cookies out for Santa.
- Watching The Santa Claus and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Drinking champagne at midnight on New Year’s Eve while wearing a festive New Year’s Party Hat.- Eating leftover Chinese take-out for dinner on Christmas Eve.
- Drinking peppermint mocha lattes!
- Putting milk and cookies out for Santa, and then eating most of them
before my sister wakes up so she thinks Santa did. - Leaving carrots out for Santa’s reindeer.
- Drinking eggnog.
- Watching The Nightmare Before Christmas.
- Watching the dogs unwrap their presents by themselves.
- Decorating the Christmas tree together while listening to Christmas music.
- My friends and I have a big holiday dinner and instead of exchanging gifts we adopt a family or donate gifts to a charity organization instead!
- My wife and I have attended Christmas Mass the past few years at different area Catholic churches. It gave us the chance to meet other people and check out the different church buildings, from big cathedrals in Albany and Schenectady to the tiny church in Worcester, NY.
- On New Year’s Eve we follow many of the Filipino folk beliefs to ring in the new year, some of these include turning on all the lights so that the upcoming year us bright and opening up all the doors, drawers and windows to let good fortune in!
- Our family tradition is opening up one present on Christmas Eve and then proudly modeling our new pajamas!
My siblings and I also lay around the fireplace and read The Night Before Christmas before we go to sleep!