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LindaT thought this would be a good thread...THANKS !!
CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS
Christmas Traditions in our family are:
We all spend Christmas Eve together (brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews - at my mom's home). We have a big buffet and exchange gifts that night. Mom is not allowed to leave the house that day (We almost lost our Mom one Christmas Eve many years ago in a brutal car accident, so we never leave her out on that day).
Music plays a big part in our Christmas season. Jim Reeves, Perry Como, Burl Ives is like comfort food to us during this time. Hmmmmm ! We would all go to Midnight Mass come back and eat some more. My Grandma and Great Aunt would spend Christmas day with us and we would have such a great time....Grandma and Auntie are gone now but they have really touched my life.
Thru the years alot of our traditions just seems to deminish with the loss of family and the kids getting bigger. I do have some really great memories as a child and treasure them more than anything. I am very fortunate and blessed.
I guess you can say a Tradition for me is remembering each year just how special my family is and what great times we used to have.
I will however create new traditions with my daughter, I want her to have special memories just like I have.
I don't have any happy memories of my childhood and Christmas. Mom would be at her demonic best come Christmas Eve and we'd try to stay out of her way.
Now, DD, SIL and GD13 and GS5 go to church kinda with us on Christmas Eve. The children are always a part of a program. After, we get together with them for cocoa and cookies. This year they might invite SIL's parents too which would be just great.
This year we started someting that might become a tradition. The Gchildren came over and helped us decorate our tree and it was sooooo much fun!
Its great that Traditions don't necessarily have to be old, Tippy the kids decorating the tree sound like a sweet time. Your creating something they will never forget. I know that my memories of my Grandma are sweet and cherished and that is exactly what you are doing for your gkids......... Huggs
We have a couple of Christmas Traditions in my family....
The Saturday before Christmas we always go to my hubby's parents house. There are at least 50 of us and it is wild. We eat gumbo and goodies and play the Steal a Gift game.
On Christmas Eve, we always go to our Candlelight Service at church at 6:30. Then we usually ride around and look at lights (the boys have gotten to where they would prefer to skip that part) and then come home and have our Christmas. We always read Luke 2, and then I always have a cake baked and ready to go with one big candle in the middle of it - we light it and all sing Happy Birthday to Jesus! When my boys were little it really helped them understand what Christmas was all about and it is a tradition that we will always do - no matter how old we get ;-) Then we open our gifts. The boys usually stay up most of the night messing around with their new stuff. Then on Christmas Day we go to my mom's for lunch.
This year we are having to do Christmas early at my mom's house because my neices are going sking. So I will be cooking this year for Christmas Day and everybody that wants to can come eat - fried turkey. :-)
This isn't my tradition but Iheard a lady while I was geting my hair done say that her family puts on a talent show on Christmas day. They open presents and eat but at the end of the day instead of everybody eating until they are sick they do the talent show. Usually it is lip sincing but they get dressed up and have a great time doing it. She says that everytime a new person joins the family they get nervouse about having to do it. Once they get up there they can't wait for the next year. That sounds like fun to me. I wonder if I could get my family to do that?
Here is the poop on the straw goat - more than one story
The Christmas goat (Julbock) made of straw is a very popular Christmas decoration. It is named for the goat that drew the cart of Thor, the god of thunder in Norse mythology.
and another one:
The straw goat
"julbocken"
The straw goat ("julbocken") wrapped in red ribbon - why?
The goat originally was a symbol of the devil who accompanied St Nicolaus in the Medieval Plays. That figure - the goat as the devil - took place in the rural pranks which is told about from the seventeenth century in Sweden. At that time, men dressed as a goat with fur skins and sometimes masks and sometimes horns too went around to frighten people usually in the night between Christmas Day and Boxing Day. That can be the origin of the Christmas Goat ("julbocken").
But the goat gradually became a nicer being. In the eighteenth century the Christmas goat was the being coming with the gifts. He is nowadays replaced by the Christmas Man, at first similar to the brownie who lived in the barn of the farms, but now the American type similar to the Santa Claus is what you see.
And for about a hundred years ago some people began to make goats of straw - at first as a joke -and they put that goat anonymously in the porch of neighbours or friends and usually a piece of paper with a funny or naughty rhyme was attached to the straw goat. Why did they use red ribbons when binding the straw together? I think that is because we connect the red color with Christmas, but that i my own opinion. But as a child I have seen old straw goats which were bound with straw too.
Nowadays goats bound with usually red ribbons are a very common Christmas decoration in Sweden and sold at every Christmas market. They really are very nice!
And this one.. which rings a bell in my fading memory WHY my family put the goat out
Jultompte is the central figure of Christmas as far as the children are concerned. Jultompte is a knome who by legend lives in the barn or under the floor boards of the house. Jultompte is said to watch over the home and the family members. In return, Jultompte only asks for a bowl of hot rice pudding on Christmas Eve. When he is done enjoying his meal, you will find the empty bowl and a satchel of presents left on the porch.
Julbock, a straw goat, is often seen with Jultompte as he makes his rounds to watch over the home and deliver presents. Swedish homes will have a Julbock placed in front of their Christmas trees for good luck
The other tradition, is the Lucia.
Celebration of the Christmas season begins on December 13th, Saint Lucia's Day. The youngest daughter from each family puts on a white robe with a red sash and wears a crown of evergreens adorned with tall, lighted candles. She wakes her parents and serves them coffee and Lucia buns. The other children sometimes accompany her...the boys dressed as "star boys" in long white shirts and pointed hats, carrying star wands. This origins of this custom are associated with Saint Lucia, a Christian martyred in Syracuse during the Fourth Century for her beliefs. The Swedish ceremony of Saint Lucia itself is relatively recent and represents the traditional thanksgiving for the return of the Sun.
I personally have worn the flaming wreath for a Swedish Lodgge festival and let me tell you.. those candles on your head are HOT!!!
I was curious about the straw goat so I looked around for a picture. It's very cute! http://www.scandinavian-south.com/julbock.htm And one site said that Santa or the brown elf rides the goat which also carries the gifts. So Santa has a goat instead of reindeer to help out. My husband's ancestors came from Sweden so this is very interesting.
Anyhow, my family has always also done a special birthday cake and sing happy birthday to Jesus. Always angel food, lol, or a white cake. White frosting. And we have a tiny creche set for the top, even animals. Each figure is under 2". Mom gave me the creche set and now I carry on the tradition.
When we were little Mom made cinnamon rolls and cocoa for breakfast on Christmas Day. Then we opened presents. NO PRESENTS BEFORE BREAKFAST! was the rule. Once we were sugared up properly, we were each allowed ONE gift per 15 minutes, my Dad would time it. You would open the gift and if it was mittens or a shirt you would sit and stare at the clock -- it was terribly long! -- until the next window of opportunity. BTW there were 8 kids in the family, and finally someone would break and there would be a free-for-all for the rest of the presents. CHAOS!
Christmas Traditions
strange?
Hey Leenie
Eliz
