Merry Cassmas!
Added 2024-12-05 22:02:07 +0000 UTCIt's that time of year!
The holidays have always been a big thing for me, as I stated on my post for December's poll. Being Haley-Claus has always factored largely into my holiday season, and this year has been an incredible one for me, in terms of being able to give back into communities (if you're able to, giving to women's shelters, foster programs, or things like USPS Operation Santa where you can "adopt" children for the holidays are amazing ways to make a difference this holiday season!)
Alas, though, where would I even be without this patreon community?
I'm being so very genuine when I tell you - the readers and support I have on here are beyond my wildest dreams. When I started patreon a few years ago, I was working 60+ hour weeks at my day job, dreaming of having a stable enough financial situation month to month to be able to just focus on writing. And it's largely due to patreon that I took that leap.
So, it's one of my favorite things to do - especially in a year like this, where there have been some really shitty moments as of the last few months - to turn things around and do a giveaway here!
Comment here for a chance to enter into the giveaway that's open to everyone on patreon, and let me know what your favorite holiday tradition is.
Note: this does not mean Christmas-specific. This is a totally non-denominational giveaway, and the package you'll receive if you're the winner is HCLU-themed, not Christmas themed. So, feel free to tell me about any holiday tradition you celebrate around this time of year, for any holiday/family event/seasonal activity!
I'll randomly draw a winner the weekend of 12/14 and message you here to let you know you've won :)
Comments
This is hard! We’ve been trying to start a holiday tradition as a family since our toddler was born but every Christmas something happens and it all goes out the window. So I’m gonna cheat. You guys have new year January 1st, we have it March 20th and it’s packed full of tradition. The last Tuesday before new year we jump over bonfires to pass over our sicknesses and cleans. The last Wednesday we eat something stringy ( like spaghetti) as we’re grasping the strings of life, and then the celebration itself lasts 2 weeks where you visit all the family members. I have a video I can share that I created to explain it :)
Vesta Charleshouse
2024-12-14 07:30:29 +0000 UTCI don't spend much time with family these years, but I'll always watch The Holiday. My mom and I used to always imitate the "She looks like my barbie!" line and it'll still make me laugh each time 🫶
Stephanie Leeth
2024-12-14 01:51:51 +0000 UTCmy favourite tradition is a new one this year. I just moved in with my girlfriend and our good friend, and we don't have enough space for a Christmas tree, so we made our own with paper and tinsel. We made an evening out assembling everything out of old notes and coloured paper.
Eabha
2024-12-14 00:18:19 +0000 UTCAll year long, my wife and I collect ornaments from every new place we visit together so each December, we get to reminisce on all our past travels while we decorate our Christmas tree 🎄
Sherri Baker
2024-12-13 21:29:25 +0000 UTCOn Christmas Eve, everyone opens a gift (wife, kids, and myself) that includes matching PJs and a treat. We take a family photo in our matching PJs.
Shana Peliti
2024-12-13 04:54:45 +0000 UTCFamily gathering on Christmas Eve with bunch of homemade Hispanic food. Love eating tamales and home made chocolate or eggnog
Noelle
2024-12-11 20:20:00 +0000 UTCLiving in the northeast, we rough it in the cold/snow and spend all day outside grilling and roasting authentic Cantonese BBQ meat dishes (char sui, roast pork belly, roast duck, soy sauce chicken, you know the kind you see hanging at Chinese restaurants) instead of the usual turkey and ham. Also, play Trash Elephant - white elephant but instead of gifts we bring the worst trash/used items (CLEANED AND CLEAN THEMED), elegantly or awfully wrapped to the nines. The goal is usually to try to get the least bad item at the end of the game. One year, I just wrapped a small box inside a larger box inside a larger box inside a larger box (and on and on) - it was not very environmentally friendly but fun for all to watch the unwrapping!
Cherry Yeung
2024-12-11 18:08:11 +0000 UTCOn the night before I fly home for Christmas every year, I make cookies to pair with a cheap bottle of wine and hate (love) watch happiest season while i root for the lead to pick Aubrey plaza instead
Madeleine Polak
2024-12-11 10:03:31 +0000 UTCDon’t spend every holiday with them but my family makes a ton of this puerto rican eggnog drink called “coquito.” Superrrr yummy and really helps take the edge off since I get super anxious around them (lots of burning questions). Besides that, listening to Spanish christmas songs and watching all my little cousins and siblings open the presents at midnight!! Seeing the joy on their faces always makes any uncomfortable trips worth it!!
emily
2024-12-11 01:47:32 +0000 UTCeggnog and loads of eggnog.
Margaret Eggers
2024-12-10 14:14:00 +0000 UTCMy favourite holiday tradition is going to look at christmas lights with the fam ❤️
Jess
2024-12-10 07:51:49 +0000 UTCI love decorating for Christmas every year. Growing up my parents always had a tree in a box that we'd have to unfold the weird branches. It always felt like a chore to me. So, every year (as an adult) my wife and I go get a fresh Christmas tree together and come home to decorate it with ornaments we've collected together for the past 20 years. We drink some wine and play all the best cheesy Christmas songs with Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays by NSync or All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey at the top of the playlist.
Jenn Stephens
2024-12-09 19:38:44 +0000 UTCMy favorite holiday tradition is to watch the holiday classics movies (Meet me in St. Louis/ White Christmas) that my grandparents watched with me as a young kid and watch them now with my young kids. Also, I love decorating Xmas eve cookies for Santa with the kids.
Lina Burghard
2024-12-09 19:31:51 +0000 UTCMy favorite Holiday tradition that my wife and I started when we were dating in college is watching the grinch, with hot chocolate, pilsbury cookies and matching sweaters with our dog!
Mary Votava
2024-12-09 18:32:49 +0000 UTCI don't really have a tradition anymore. When I was little, I would write a letter to my favorite uncle to invite him up for Christmas. Him coming up for Christmas was my tradition. It was always Christmas when he arrived. Not long after high school I moved away and he passed away and honestly, Christmas hasn't been the same ever since.
Melanie Reber
2024-12-09 14:18:47 +0000 UTCLove this so much!! My favorite tradition my spouse and I do is bake cut out cookies and decorate them together!! They’re usually inspired by our favorite books/movies/shows/artists of the year 💖
Katie BC
2024-12-09 06:14:37 +0000 UTCMy favorite holiday tradition is filling mugs with hot cocoa and driving around Christmas lights as a family. It’s just always so magical.
Marissa Robinson
2024-12-09 06:06:35 +0000 UTCI host a winter solstice party for the same group of friends for 20 years. and because many of us are musicians we always end the night with lots of singing.
Jennifer Berezan
2024-12-09 00:50:57 +0000 UTCWe always do a big family gathering (usually on Christmas Eve) where we do some sort of themed potluck, hang out in our pajamas, and play games. We don’t really do gifts now that my nieces and nephews are older. But definitely plenty of good food, sweet treats, and a lot of laughs.
Kelsey Langdon
2024-12-08 23:59:56 +0000 UTCMy favorite holiday tradition is reading all of the holiday picture books from when we were younger by the fire with my sisters.
Emma
2024-12-08 23:25:39 +0000 UTCMy favourite tradition is exchanging Christmas tree decorations with my girlfriend that reflects something from that year together.
Hannah Berridge
2024-12-08 20:42:11 +0000 UTCI love spending Christmas with family, and seeing friends I don't see much throughout the year. It's nice to have time away from working and spent time with those I love 💗
Emily
2024-12-08 15:15:03 +0000 UTCI really enjoy just seeing and spending time with family members I don’t get to very often during the rest of the year. And some time off from work is a great bonus.
Pearl G
2024-12-08 15:09:11 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition is cooking with my mom and sister, especially making tamales or baking cookies with my nephews
Aimara Dutton
2024-12-08 13:54:33 +0000 UTCChristmas eve with my family!
Anne-Sophie
2024-12-08 07:36:48 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition is going to Bronner’s every year and getting a customized ornament for my family. This year is the first time I got to continue the tradition with my partner. I’m more happy this year than in the past for this one. 🥰
Emery Kavanagh
2024-12-08 04:35:07 +0000 UTCEating as many latkes as humanly possible and watching all the holiday romcoms!
Alex
2024-12-07 23:58:08 +0000 UTCI really like having the long free weekend at Easter on Germany. It‘s great for coming home to the family for some qualitytime :)
Maria
2024-12-07 21:45:11 +0000 UTCMy family is Polish, and we celebrate on Christmas Eve (have a special dinner, open all presents, some folks attend mass). There’s no meat on the table, only borsch, perogies, fish and poppy seed cake. But before we sit down to eat, everyone takes a piece of “opłatek.” (It’s the same bread wafer you get in church - but the tradition is for atheists & others too.) Then we go around the table to each person, breaking off a piece of their opłatek, and they break off some of yours. When you get a piece, the person you took from must give you genuine wishes for the coming year, or apologies if there’s been conflict. And vice versa til you’ve been around the whole table. What results is a sincere vulnerability and closeness, resolutions and tears. I used to hate this part as a kid, wanting to open presents quickly after eating. Now, it’s my favourite part because it cuts through all family pretense or drama and we all come together every single time. ♥️
sandrakb
2024-12-07 16:12:33 +0000 UTCMy favorite holiday tradition is with my wife’s family. The first weekend of December we drive up into the mountains of Oregon with 15+ of our closest family and friends to cut down our own Christmas tree. We find a spot on the mountain, pull over and setup camp for the day - pop-ups, campfire, chili, hot coco, eggnog, all while the kids go sledding and we all just hangout and enjoy the day. When I was in the closet as a kid it was only in my dreams that I thought I would have a big welcoming, accepting, loving family like this. I am very blessed.
Virginia O'Connor
2024-12-07 15:26:13 +0000 UTCMy favourite family tradition is having a sleep after Christmas lunch. Growing up I always spent Christmas in the Melee in Australia. Think dry desert heat in the middle of summer and there was nothing better then spreading out in the lounge room under the air conditioning keeping cool and naps with family around.
Bronwyn Close
2024-12-07 13:49:19 +0000 UTCFor my family, we usually have a potluck style gathering with family friends coming in from all over the state
Tebbers
2024-12-07 07:15:52 +0000 UTCChristmas Eve is always visiting family usually my wife’s because they live here in town and mine live a few hours away . Christmas Day all of our children come home (my wife has 4 ) and our grand child whom is almost 2 . We do dinner and open Christmas gifts and just enjoy our time together make fun of each other and make memories.
Elizabeth Brough
2024-12-07 06:30:07 +0000 UTCI love celebrating Kwanzaa with my little ones and teaching them the principles of Kwanzaa each day after Christmas until the New Year
Nicole Woodson
2024-12-07 05:28:42 +0000 UTCMy favorite holiday tradition is when my mom would always make a stack of pancakes and light candles in the stack and wake me or my siblings up singing happy birthday for whoever’s birthday it was lol. I don’t live with my mom anymore but I still make myself “birthday pancakes” every year on my birthday lmao
Kai Stevenson
2024-12-07 04:13:01 +0000 UTCWell I have to be honest and say that Cassmas has become a lovely holiday tradition of sorts! But in terms of my family, we do a non-holiday-specific cookie and dessert day with all of our nearby family and friends, and we even also have extended family from far away join us virtually for an event full of sugar and color! We also do a "Latke"uterie board for Hanukkah where we make latkes and plate them with different veggies, dips, and other goodies.
Sophia Barrett
2024-12-07 03:34:39 +0000 UTCFamily cookie Day and a themed dinner on Christmas (italian, Chinese, Mexican etc)
Brittany Stevens
2024-12-06 22:48:55 +0000 UTCWe’re Filipino so that means Karaoke and endless parlor games (everyone talking over each other- it’s a mess. 😂). Once it’s midnight, my mom hands each of our family members a present so we get to open a gift at the same time before wrapping paper is flying all over the place.
Gem Arnedo
2024-12-06 21:33:18 +0000 UTCMy family always finds some weird ass main course for thanksgiving- this year it was alligator
Nix
2024-12-06 20:32:31 +0000 UTCIn recent years one of my favorite traditions has been going over to my mother in law’s and decorating sugar cookies. It’s always so fun and we get to bring home lots of the treats 🩵
Jordan Wieme
2024-12-06 20:13:46 +0000 UTCI love getting together with family and friends and just hanging out and relaxing
Danielle A
2024-12-06 19:52:01 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition is happening this weekend. The women on my dad's side all get together for a day (no men or kids allowed) to make Christmas goodies and drink 😉 Though our numbers go up and down, depending on out of towners, it's always a good time! 🍪🥃
Jen Fernandez
2024-12-06 19:16:06 +0000 UTCMy mom loved Christmas and we always helped her deck the house with tons of decorations when we were kids. Every year since she passed away, my sister and I continue her tradition of putting the tree up the day after Thanksgiving and decorating our childhood home for my father. All while being very goofy, in the way sisters can be, singing Christmas songs and giggling(that’s the best part). Then comes Christmas morning and we all go over to the house for brunch and gifts.
Ash
2024-12-06 17:51:44 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition is putting up the christmas tree on my partners birthday, November 17. Although this year we did it a week earlier for our wedding anniversary!
Gabby
2024-12-06 17:28:03 +0000 UTCMy favorite holiday tradition while growing up was to stay up until midnight and open up our gifts. We grew up with only having one gift apiece, but as we got older, we would get things like video games and then stay up all night playing them. One of my sisters and I have this tradition of doing this dramatic music as we open presents. It was always funny to do it for like a video game because you would do it to unwrap the paper to see the game, do the dramatic music again when we open the plastic and then do the dramatic music again when we open the case and take out the game disc.
Hanna Baptist
2024-12-06 14:51:38 +0000 UTCLOVE Cassmas!! My favorite xmas tradition is when we light the tree and stay silent at night. Since my family is giant our xmas is a 3/4 days event. We rent a camp gound venue with a cook and a barbecue guy. Its all games, veeery loud music, drinks, trivia and pool fights. Then at night in the 24th we all come together and sit in a circle to light the tree, sing and exchange gifts. Its all very emotional actually. Also the kids and teenagers (me and my cousins a few years ago) sleep in tents and stay wake at dawn to eat the deserts they believe we didnt see them hidding. Its kinda magical
Melissa
2024-12-06 14:45:35 +0000 UTCThere are a lot of people in my family, so we used to draw names to gift just one person. That was a lot of fun because if you didn't know someone very well, you'd have to research to find out what they'd like/appreciate as a gift. And of course if you did know the person very well, things could get a little raunchy at times. Always a fun time.
Robin M Lee
2024-12-06 10:50:05 +0000 UTCChristmas eve is the family day - and Christmas day is very low key; home alone, cosy clothes, cosy TV / books / games... the indulgence is self-kindness and rest and it is lovely.
Kim Bond
2024-12-06 10:43:36 +0000 UTCEating all the special Christmas food and candies
Maria
2024-12-06 08:09:35 +0000 UTCJanuary 6th we celebrate the 3 wise men day - when we get our Christmas presents. My favorite day of the year is the previous one, the 5th. We make hot chocolate, a home made “roscón de reyes” (a sweet bread) and go to the parade! Children love this day, and now I’m enjoyning it with my kid!
Chus Lerma
2024-12-06 06:52:14 +0000 UTCEvery Thanksgiving I watch Miracle on 34th Street (90s) version. On Christmas Eve I make a charcuterie board , have a glass of wine , and watch Christmas movies then my brother, dad and I video chat and read “Night before Christmas together… ❤️
Megan Z
2024-12-06 06:51:01 +0000 UTCpainting holiday decorations with my two best friends 🫶🏻
Joanne
2024-12-06 06:49:40 +0000 UTCWe choose a new bauble for the tree every year, after 19 years it’s getting pretty eclectic and now we have kids even less coordinated 😂 but I love letting them choose and decorating it as a family. We also love a good Christmas dance party in the lounge every year, lights down, music up and we all dance like crazies. Mainly to Christmas tree farm!
Stacey Thurston-Woods
2024-12-06 06:46:05 +0000 UTCMaking tamales with my family for Christmas! The key ingredient is margaritas ☺️
Susanne
2024-12-06 06:36:13 +0000 UTCI am Jewish so I'm looking forward to light up candles of the Hanukkah menorah & eat jelly doughnuts! ☺️
Scarlet
2024-12-06 06:22:03 +0000 UTCA new years tradition is rewatching The Big Bang Theory starting January 1st!! Can usually watch all 12 seasons by end of March/Early April!
Natalie
2024-12-06 06:09:25 +0000 UTCI love buying and decorating our Christmas Tree on 1. Advent.
Sandra Dorczok
2024-12-06 05:02:12 +0000 UTCMy tradition is anxiety induce by family and a lot of food to sooth it🤣
Clara Nhu
2024-12-06 04:56:26 +0000 UTCI love decorating for Christmas with my girlfriend to celebrate our dating anniversary- and today is our 5 years
Rebekah Cope
2024-12-06 04:42:22 +0000 UTCI love love love just drinking Hot chocolate unashamedly this time of year
Kathryn Crowley
2024-12-06 04:03:57 +0000 UTCEvery year me and my brother sit down to watch ‘A Year Without A Santa Claus’ on VHS
Ava
2024-12-06 03:55:11 +0000 UTCI bake homemade chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate, and me and my family watch Elf and a Christmas Story in front of the fire
Destiny Salter
2024-12-06 03:29:42 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition was always making Pizzelle cookies or any Christmas cookies with my mom, dad and Grandma. My mom also makes homemade ravioli every year that I'd always help her make growing up
Jianna M
2024-12-06 03:25:29 +0000 UTCHaley I think it's so cool that you're bringing awareness to things like USPS Operation Santa, and asking us to pay it forward by donating to women's shelters. That's really what this season should be about! I love that you're using the platform to remind us all. I know I certainly need reminding every now and then. As for a favorite tradition? There is a small town about an hour north of where I grew up that always puts on a really fantastic carved ice show that my family has been going to for many years. It's a really large park area, and the carvers used food coloring to dye the water/ice, so the characters and places really come to life. They've done Charlie Brown's Christmas, Shrek's Christmas, Christmas Around the World, etc. This year they're doing Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, from the old claymation movie, so it'll have Clara and the elf dentist and all of them. It's really fun, and my nephews, who are just now 8 and 10, really enjoy it!
Merle M
2024-12-06 03:19:20 +0000 UTCDriving through the Christmas light display with the kids
Allixandra Castiglione
2024-12-06 03:19:00 +0000 UTCDecorating a Christmas tree
Andy Howland
2024-12-06 03:18:48 +0000 UTCFavorite Hanukkah tradition with my family is making potato latkes. But more importantly how we cover everything from the stove to the cats in tinfoil to protect from oil splattering everywhere lol
Erin Hubay
2024-12-06 03:12:03 +0000 UTCPlaying board games with family, which typically involves enough competition-fueled yelling that I’m surprised we haven’t had the cops called on us
Jae
2024-12-06 03:00:39 +0000 UTCOne tradition is we all get into our pajamas on Christmas Eve and wait for ‘Santa’ to come on the fire truck with the fire department, and have a drink with him lol
Danielle Seneca
2024-12-06 02:35:44 +0000 UTCWatching “Love Actually” and singing every song
Chris
2024-12-06 02:33:53 +0000 UTCMaking home made caramels for family and friends.
Bea
2024-12-06 02:28:45 +0000 UTCNo major traditions yet, I generally work all the holidays being in retail. But leading up to Christmas my fiancée and I enjoy finding sapphic Christmas movies and sipping hot chocolate
Chance
2024-12-06 02:25:35 +0000 UTCOn Christmas Eve we eat the same traditional foods that my great grandparents would make during the holidays - Sauerbraten, red cabbage, potatoes, etc 😋
Danielle Skinner
2024-12-06 02:20:17 +0000 UTCWatching Die Hard (it IS a Christmas/Holiday movie) and now that we are all adults, my family does a recipe exchange instead of gifts and it’s so fun!!
Caroline K
2024-12-06 02:16:16 +0000 UTCMy finance, puppy, & I dress in matching pjs and watch the Friends Christmas episodes.
Alondra
2024-12-06 01:50:28 +0000 UTCI love watching our favourite Xmas movies on Xmas Eve with my adult kid. We're really annoying & sing the entire movies though. LOL!
The Geeks C.C. + Dami
2024-12-06 01:39:22 +0000 UTCChinese food feast!!!
Anna S.
2024-12-06 01:38:49 +0000 UTCBaking cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. And just enjoying a slow day.
Brigi
2024-12-06 01:32:24 +0000 UTCEvery year on Christmas Eve my wife and I move our mattress into the living room, exchange one gift early, then camp out watching old movies!
Tayla Agin
2024-12-06 01:19:14 +0000 UTCI have no traditions!! My only tradition is reading WYLEI on December 1st.
Leah
2024-12-06 00:56:41 +0000 UTCWe have a few traditions around the Holidays. I go to every arts and crafts fair I can fit in, for the last 10 years we go to a thrift store and select a new to us Christmas mug, (we have quite a varied collection), we put out my mom's ceramic Christmas tree and have a count down to light it, and we jump in the car with the dogs to look at Christmas lights. Always fun! Happy Holidays to all! Haley, thanks for all the joy you bring with your wonderful characters.
Mary Ann Bosworth
2024-12-06 00:46:19 +0000 UTCThe weekend after Thanksgiving, my wife and I decorate our tree and watch all the stop motion Christmas classics from the 1960’s. I’m talking the original Grinch, Charlie Brown, Frosty, etc. We have over a 100 ornaments - we buy one as a souvenir on every trip we take, in addition to some from our childhoods.
AJT
2024-12-06 00:45:57 +0000 UTCEvery year I watch White Christmas with my Mom and we bake Christmas cookies.
Chris
2024-12-06 00:30:28 +0000 UTCHello! I have adopted most of my wife’s family Christmas traditions; however, I have claimed Christmas Eve dinner! We go out and eat Chinese food! No dry turkey for us! Just delicious sweet meats, noodles, and rice!
Caroline Jurca
2024-12-06 00:24:47 +0000 UTCI live in Vancouver metro area, British Columbia and became a tradition to go to the Botanical Garden Festival of lights and visit a Christmas market
Patrícia
2024-12-06 00:24:14 +0000 UTCMy family isn't in to celebrating holidays at all. So no traditions or anything. However, in the past seven years of becoming family with my BFF, she always includes me in presents and a stocking. I don't spend Christmas day with her but we do get together around that time to exchange gifts and I get a stocking full of goodies. Being able to share love and kindness with my BFF is the best thing I can have any time of year.
Dianna Norman
2024-12-06 00:15:18 +0000 UTCFew of my close friends and I have this New Year’s Eve one. We are mostly introverts so it’s maybe an unexpected one. We use the new year week to spend the miles we’ve earned and travel to somewhere new. Could be anywhere. Small town. Big city. Domestic travel or international. We just figure if we are in a place that we don’t exist in our day to day than the year starts off different each time.
Michele H
2024-12-06 00:15:00 +0000 UTCWe're in Australia, so it's always about prawns. I help shell them to contribute back to the people who like eating the prawns the most. Like my baby bro. This sounds lovely. But the one gross thing I taught my brothers kids is to make singing prawns. Stick a prawn head on ya finger and belt out a tune. ❤️ Happy Christmas to you, Monica, Chips and your families. Take good care and thanks for all the love and support you give to community.
Ange Elson
2024-12-06 00:11:50 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition is probably putting up and decorating the tree and helping out at my village winter walk
Chase Ward
2024-12-06 00:04:20 +0000 UTCEver since I met my wife, we stay over at her parent’s house on Christmas Eve and we play games and Christmas movies! I remember last year, we stayed up all night playing a board game that took like 6 hours to play and we decided to end it early cause it was taking too long!😂 We also play that game with the Saran Wrap ball which is intense!
Courtney
2024-12-06 00:03:10 +0000 UTCMy family holds a pajama party every year to decorate the Christmas tree. We also get a new ornament each year to commemorate the year. So the tree becomes a tree decorated with memories.
Bridgette Marie
2024-12-06 00:01:35 +0000 UTCI am a firm believer that Die Hard is a Christmas movie, as is my dad. So my dad and I make sure we watch it together at some point during the season. It’s not Christmas until Hans Gruber gets thrown out of a window.
Lisa Tillery
2024-12-05 23:45:37 +0000 UTCMy favorite holiday tradition growing up was watching The Grinch on Christmas Eve. My wife had never seen it and it’s a tradition I introduced to her that we carry on together now.
Sarah Wickline
2024-12-05 23:43:57 +0000 UTCThis is actually the first Christmas I won’t be spending with my family! Finally decided to give up the guilt and set some boundaries. I’m looking forward to making some new traditions, but probably my favorite is watching the lord of the rings trilogy on Christmas every year. Definitely not on theme, but they make me happy so it works!
Maggie
2024-12-05 23:35:40 +0000 UTCChristmas Eve, my whole family comes over and decorates cookies and then when the extended family leaves, we play games and break out the drinks. Always such a good time!
Alexus Ball
2024-12-05 23:32:41 +0000 UTCWhen I was a kid, my favorite holiday tradition was my brother and I staying in one of our rooms together for a sleepover on Christmas Eve. We would try and stay up all night to get a glimpse of Santa or his reindeer. We would always fall asleep, and then wake up at the crack of dawn and creep into the living room to see what we got before we woke our parents up. It was a special little moment we always had. Now we are 28 & 30, and this Christmas he’s staying with my wife & I, so we get to bring a little bit of kid-like magic back. 🥹❄️
Ashleigh Trevino
2024-12-05 23:31:27 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition is going to Longwood Gardens with my wife
Jamie
2024-12-05 23:29:14 +0000 UTCI didn’t really have a stable “home” growing up so I don’t have any traditions from my childhood. Since meeting my wife and our child 5 years ago the tradition of letting me sleep an extra 3 hours on Christmas Day became a thing. We also celebrate our wedding anniversary at the Santa Brunch at Ocean House in Rhode Island every year.
Lexi Le
2024-12-05 23:28:02 +0000 UTCOur Christmas coffee cakes are one of my favorite traditions. My mom used to make one for our family every year for breakfast on Christmas morning. Delicious coffee cake with a crumbly cinnamon streusel topping. My wife and I have carried on that tradition, and make and drop off cakes for our friends each year too!
Jenna McMichael
2024-12-05 23:26:51 +0000 UTCwe wake up 330am christmas eve morning and throw everyone in the car to go look at the holiday windows in nyc. then hit a diner for pancakes on the way home - everyone gets hot cocoa, even the big kids
Tanya Marione
2024-12-05 23:21:43 +0000 UTCI'm from Venezuela and we make a bread we only eat around Christmas. Living in the States I was so far away from home, I always missed it. About 13 years ago I started making it, at first it was terrible, but over time I got really good at it. Now it's become tradition in my family that I make this and I tend to make about 20-30 a season. The bread is called Pan de Jamón (or bread with ham). It basically has ham, bacon, olives, raisins and honey inside and it's rolled up. Honey is my secret ingredient lol but here's a link to check it out https://g.co/kgs/h3aTX9g
Vivi
2024-12-05 23:19:48 +0000 UTCWatching A Christmas Story for 24 hours on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and watching The Santa Clause and Home Alone a million times with my wife during the holiday season
Sarah Namias
2024-12-05 23:19:36 +0000 UTCWatching Four Christmases, Santa Clause 🎅, and Noelle with my wife! 🤗
Cristy Kuhn
2024-12-05 23:10:15 +0000 UTCmy wife and I are in an interfaith marriage so this year we're going to lighting the menorah for Hanukkah and then watching IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
Cora Linehan
2024-12-05 23:08:00 +0000 UTCWhen my brother and I were kids we used to get DVDs in our stocking every year of a movie we had been wanting to see. One year my brother got Jurassic park and we just totally fell in love. Now like 15 years later we still watch Jurassic park every Christmas!!
Lindsay Gavin
2024-12-05 23:05:23 +0000 UTCMy favourite tradition is wearing matching pyjamas with my partner and baking cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve. We started doing this 5 years ago when we moved in together and we’ve done it every year since :’)
Kayla
2024-12-05 23:00:25 +0000 UTCWatching It’s a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve. I did it every year with my Grandmother until she passed away. Now, my wife and I watch it every year.
Shelley
2024-12-05 23:00:14 +0000 UTCAfter my mom died I took on her tradition of gifting people mini banana bread loads for Christmas and I have her recipe so it makes it really special ❤️
Jess Bullock
2024-12-05 22:59:42 +0000 UTCOne of my favorite holiday traditions is when my mom makes sausage cheese balls for the family get together. They’re so good that the family fights over them and my uncle will hide the entire bowl if he’s given the chance!
Miranda
2024-12-05 22:59:22 +0000 UTCmy favorite holiday tradition is one my partner and i created- we go to a single store at the same time and set a limit, usually $25 or so to spend on stocking stuffers. then we secretively dart around the store trying not to spot one another or be spotted, and hide our stocking stuffers in our own little totes until we get home. we open one each day leading up to christmas (usually we wind up with 4-5!). silly but i so look forward to it every year.
Ariana Tyler
2024-12-05 22:58:49 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition is going with my wife to pick out a Christmas tree right after thanksgiving. It kicks off the holiday season and we keep the decorated tree up into the new year.
Ande
2024-12-05 22:57:04 +0000 UTCI love ordering Indian food on Christmas or Thanksgiving, sometimes both!
Kayla Bhadra
2024-12-05 22:56:02 +0000 UTCMy family and I wear matching PJs and drive around looking at Christmas lights while drinking hot chocolate
Brittney Robins
2024-12-05 22:55:20 +0000 UTCMy 3 best friends from college do a “Fireball Christmas” on the 23rd and makes our Christmas Eve morning about what you would expect. 🧑🎄
E
2024-12-05 22:54:13 +0000 UTCmy son is now 3 and it's the first year he's really grasping the concepts of holidays and holiday themes, so I'm really just excited to start creating traditions with him and our family!
Erica
2024-12-05 22:48:38 +0000 UTCMy Mum and I have watched the movie One Magic Christmas together every year for as long as I can remember. With nibbles and Pick & Mix etc, it’s not Christmas until we do this 🥰
Lauren
2024-12-05 22:47:31 +0000 UTCMy favorite holiday tradition is ax xmas eve tradition of getting in-n-out and driving around to see christmas lights #californiachristmas
Jackie
2024-12-05 22:46:48 +0000 UTCSo, here in Brazil, there's this variation of Secret Santa that in a rough translation would be called "Stolen Santa". My family along with some family friends do this every year and it is essentially a more competitive (and fun) version of the original. Basically, there is no drawing of names, everyone just buys a gift that could be suited for everyone and puts it (wrapped) on a table. Someone is chosen to begin and they will pick one of the packages and open it. Then, they will choose someone else, who will be able to choose between picking another package from the pile or stealing an already opened gift from another person. If they choose to pick an unopened package, another person will be selected to make the same choice, if they choose to steal, then the person who had their present stolen will be offered the choice again, and so forth. There is usually a predetermined number of times a present can be stolen. This is by far my favourite Holliday tradition and I look forward to it every year. It is so much fun and I'm not sure if this exist outside of Brasil, but I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for something different to do with your friends/family
Fernanda S
2024-12-05 22:45:48 +0000 UTCThis past weekend was the 8th year I've spent in Sonoma County, CA for a "Friendsgiving" dinner during the Thanksgiving weekend. These folks are my chosen family, particularly as both my parents have passed away now. Blessed to have them in my life and to be so very welcomed.
Tina M
2024-12-05 22:45:42 +0000 UTCFavorite holiday tradition is making struffoli (honey balls)
Slac1107
2024-12-05 22:42:14 +0000 UTCMy favorite is Christmas Eve boxes which include pjs and games and books and such. We get in the comfy pjs, play games with music or Harry Potter going in the background and drink hot chocolate. After that it is book time. I love it
Kristen Smiddy
2024-12-05 22:39:53 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition is having Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve where we open our presents first have breakfast for dinner and play silly games together as a family
Miosha Hughes
2024-12-05 22:39:20 +0000 UTCOur Christmas tradition is going to see a movie in theaters on Christmas Day, we’ve skipped the last few years because of Covid and having young children but am excited to get back to it now that the kids are getting older 💛
Angelica CK
2024-12-05 22:38:37 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition is games and fondue on New Year’s Eve!
Torie
2024-12-05 22:36:45 +0000 UTCPJ PARTYYYYY. I am the (formally elected) favorite aunt and I always set the theme of our holiday fiesta. This year it’s a PJ party. I usually buy the kiddos a toy or instrument that causes a nuisance. Trumpets? Horns? Harmonicas? Bubble machines? YUP I’m nuts. Each kiddo gets one along with myself and we just frolic through the hosting home making core memories. I very rarely remember what people have bought me but I always remember times of just pure JOY during the holidays 🥰🥰 want to make sure the little ones have many happy memories to choose from when needing to cast a patronous charm
Angelica
2024-12-05 22:34:22 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition is that on Christmas, my family and I brave the crowds and head to Waffle House for our family meal - always the only thing open on the holiday and we love having a late Waffle House lunch after a long morning of opening presents
saks
2024-12-05 22:33:48 +0000 UTCDecorating cookies with the entire family.
Kelsee Walsh
2024-12-05 22:33:27 +0000 UTCMy first "input" since I've been in this patron ever, so yay! :D one of the traditions I like most is to bake Christmas cookies (in Germany we do this a lot, there's a wide range of them) together with my mom even though in general I don't enjoy baking I really enjoyed this since I was a kid while listening to Christmas songs on the radio (of course, a nice round of last Christmas can't usually be missed haha). There's also some other things but that is one of my favorite things :)
Valeria Cabriolu
2024-12-05 22:33:09 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition is decorating our tree as a family. We’ve collected ornaments to represent trips and special memories and it’s so fun to revisit them as a family 😊
Lauren
2024-12-05 22:32:47 +0000 UTCsecret santa with my cousins! lots of homemade very thought through gifts, its really sweet.
Petey
2024-12-05 22:27:55 +0000 UTCThe glorious 2 week break from my students...I love them but a little space here and there keeps the love alive...so this 21 year tradition will continue indefinitely 😉
Shannon C.
2024-12-05 22:26:28 +0000 UTCAll my favorite traditions are based around lights. Putting them up on the tree so that the we can decorate, putting them up in the house, or going to the zoo or to Yultide at the Ren Faire to see the light shows! And snow... Lights are better with snow!
Jenni
2024-12-05 22:26:12 +0000 UTCMatching Pajamas! We just started it about 4 years ago! But it’s been a fun tradition to keep up with! Trying to find the perfect PJs is always an adventure!
Kristin Powell
2024-12-05 22:25:02 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition since my mom passed away is donating a kindle to someone who needs one twice in December in her memory. Once for her birthday (20th) and once for Christmas. If any of you have seen those posts in a reader group on facebook, please don’t rat me out. I prefer to stay anonymous with that but you guys are pretty cool so I’ll trust you. My second favorite is going in with my first responder family and adopting a family for Christmas. I always make sure the kids get all the things they ask for one way or another.
Brittany Wilson
2024-12-05 22:24:45 +0000 UTCDriving around Christmas Eve looking at Christmas Lights!
Janet
2024-12-05 22:22:17 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition is one that started with my mom. Every year we would sit down as a family (me, mom, dad, and my two older sisters) and watch Scrooge the musical with Albert Finney. It’s so awful but so good at the same time and we’ve all seen it so many times now that we can quote the whole movie. When my oldest sister got married, we insisted that her husband join the watch party and he didn’t get it at all, but he was a trouper and struggled through it on his own for the next several years. Now that I’m married, him and my wife (NOT at all a musical enjoyer) sit together in quiet solidarity as the only two people who just don’t get it.
Atlas
2024-12-05 22:21:24 +0000 UTCEvery year, my girlfriend and I, on christmas morning, make waffles with fruits, chocolate and pastery cream, and then we play a 3h long board game in our pjs and fluffy socks. It’s our little cocoon of love before the big party in the evening :))) She’s my christmas miracle.
Sarah-Maude Godbout
2024-12-05 22:21:01 +0000 UTCMy favorite holiday tradition is getting together with close friends and adopting families for the season, tenth plus year going.
Danielle Grunz
2024-12-05 22:18:55 +0000 UTCMy wife is Polish so we do a fun Wigilia supper on the 24th - but we make it our own in that I go out and catch the fish! 🎣
Bridget
2024-12-05 22:17:49 +0000 UTCGetting together with cousins (we are all in our 60s now!) and looking at photos of us from long ago holidays when we were all youngsters.
Karen M
2024-12-05 22:17:02 +0000 UTCI come from a big family. My grandparents had 8 kids so they had names all on the ornaments. As the kids got older and had families of their own those names were also added. Now the ornaments are up to 54 names that go on our tree every year.
Chantelle Herman
2024-12-05 22:16:30 +0000 UTCMy favorite holiday tradition is playing games with all of the kids
Margo Grantham
2024-12-05 22:16:07 +0000 UTCMy wife and I live away from both of our families and tend to work on or right before or after Christmas, so we usually stay home during the holiday season. But every Christmas for the last 3-4 years, we make fudge and hot cocoa bags and pass them out to all the day shift and night shift workers at the hospital that we both work at. Just a little something to say thank you to those who are working and not able to spend time with their families. ❤️🎄
Kaci Spence
2024-12-05 22:15:56 +0000 UTCMy favorite holiday tradition spending the week between Christmas and New Years sharing favorite movies with my fiancé. We both have a lot of family baggage tied to this time of year as children of divorces so reclaiming the season for our child-selves is a joy
Shaudel
2024-12-05 22:15:43 +0000 UTCFavorite tradition is going on a Christmas market, drink some mulled wine and eat all of the food there 😋
Berri
2024-12-05 22:14:56 +0000 UTCMy favorite holiday tradition is to play cards during most holidays.
Liz Hendrick
2024-12-05 22:13:58 +0000 UTCI also love the holidays. Also, great idea! I should look into giving to local communities. I love Christmas, especially with my family. It's nothing too exciting, but I remember my mom would make this savory Filipino spaghetti and lumpia for Christmas. My dad would be be putting up a fake tree, looking through magazines to figure out how to decorate a tree, haha. At the time my parents just immigrated to the US and really wanted to try an American Christmas while also incorporating their Christmas traditions from their culture. We didn't have much growing up, but my parents always made me happy with providing me what I needed. I didn't need fancy electronics or the nicest clothes. Some of the happiest Christmas memories was getting a cute plushie I saw at the market and my parents working hard just to buy it for me. I still remember sitting on the couch with them as they recount memories from past Christmases. Talking about how my aunts in high school were trying to get some guys to take them out on dates before Christmas. Or my dad remembering when he tried roasting a turkey for my mom's side of the family for the first time and ordering Chinese food after when the turkey burst into flames, lol! To this day, he still says that was the best duck chowmein he ever had! Typing this out now, I feel all warm just remembering it. I can't wait to see them again this Christmas~
Ahrisuzumiya
2024-12-05 22:13:58 +0000 UTCFavorite non holiday but December every Friday in December there one part of home alone movie and next part showing next Friday I keep wacthing year after year and somehow I asidentally managed to make yearly the holiday (2006) rewacth tradition to but otherwise gathering with extended family on christmas eve and christmas is draining but very welcome.
pow
2024-12-05 22:11:49 +0000 UTCFamily board game time. We aren’t together as often now that everyone is grown and moved apart so it’s nice to catch up with the siblings while doing something I find fun
Betsy Walker
2024-12-05 22:11:05 +0000 UTCMy favorite thing about the holidays has combining my Christmas traditions with my husbands Hanukkah ones..the beat part though is having a big Christmas Eve party with family and friends and him playing Santa and seeing the look of excitement on the kids faces….I am a little sad this year because both of my kids have figured it out but we still have young ones we do it for
Kim B
2024-12-05 22:11:00 +0000 UTCMy favorite holiday tradition is having cinnamon toast with my family. My mom's aunt was a nun and she and her fellow sisters made the best cinnamon bread in the world. Every year we would get it for Christmas and make cinnamon toast - which my niece and nephew now call treat toast. It is something that is so simple but it always makes me feel comforted and cheerful. I love it!
Sarah Kordsmeier
2024-12-05 22:10:39 +0000 UTCMy favorite tradition that my wife and I do is going to our favorite brewery on Christmas Eve before going over to my parents’. We take our dogs and get to enjoy some time to ourselves before the chaos of the holiday
Autumn
2024-12-05 22:09:48 +0000 UTCEvery year my entire extended family gets together to play Christmas songs on the instruments we play. Granted, it’s usually the instrument we learned how to play in high school so it doesn’t sound the greatest 😂
Sarah
2024-12-05 22:09:19 +0000 UTCI don’t have many holiday traditions these days after cutting off my family. However, my partner’s family has some that I love. This is kind of stupid but every year my partners mom will buy all of her kids and their partners Christmas/holiday themed pajama pants. The first year I was included in it felt so wonderful, mostly cause I had been thought of and it made me feel welcome. So that’s probably my favorite one haha
Velvet Smith
2024-12-05 22:07:30 +0000 UTCMy favourite tradition is when we put up the tree with my parents and my siblings, we always rummage through old boxes to retrieve the garlands, and we stumble upon old items, crafted stars or just toys and we play with them instead of taking care of the tree, all the while listening to old Christmas tunes
Celestia Nightane
2024-12-05 22:07:10 +0000 UTCI'm not a holiday fan. Though I came from a family of people that love all kind of holidays. I have to say my favorite tradition is very simple one. The advent calendar. Even my dog gets one cause is there a better way to start the day than a treat
kassandra gravel
2024-12-05 22:06:08 +0000 UTC
