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| Vintage Lefton Santa Mug All rights reserved by atomicmidcentury |
Midnight Mass - There was never any debate about which mass we were going to for Christmas. It was always the Midnight Mass and in those days it was actually celebrated at midnight. Nowadays, parishes have so-called midnight mass as early as 10pm. This is one tradition that has been difficult for us to maintain. Stacey's mom always has a big Christmas Eve party at her house. We have incorporated that as our tradition and most years we leave in time to still make Midnight Mass.
Santa Mugs - When I was a kid, my brother Tony and I would join our parents on their bed Christmas morning to have hot chocolate in our own Santa mugs. Only after we finished the chocolate did we open the gifts. As empty nesters, Stacey and I start the morning by drinking coffee out of our mugs. A few years ago we gave each of our grown children their own Santa mugs to carry on the tradition.
One Gift - After Midnight Mass we would all come home. At some point, Tony and I convinced our parents to let us open one small gift when we got home from Mass.
Gag Gifts - In addition to the socks, fruits and nuts we found in our stockings, my mother would give each of us a gag gift. Most of the time these had something to do with our personalities. My mother continues to give us gag gifts when we meet at her house for Christmas lunch.
Funny Stories - My brothers and I are notorious story tellers. My mom says we probably got that from our grandfather Pops. The thing is, my brothers tell the same worn out stories every year. Some how they still manage to be funny to us. Our wives have a different opinion.
What family Christmas traditions do you have? Please share in the comments.
Growing up we had 2 levels of gift, wrapped and unwrapped. However, all the gifts under the tree came from santa. Since we didn't have a chimney, our parents explained the concept of santa's skeleton key that unlocked every house in the world - nice, but it did creep me out a little.
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing about the wrapped gifts was that they all had the same wrapping paper - a gold and black diagonal stripe. Nice thick paper, but for the 10+ years I can remember, the same paper! Of course santa was nice enough to leave the paper in our hall closet for us to use year-round too. Maybe this is why I love buying wrapping paper and using lots of different designs for wrapping the gifts I give.