Holiday Traditions
Well, here we are- the big week at last! I have three days off in a row- my usual Tuesday and Wednesday, and then I’m off on Thursday for… Festivus. Yes, we take Festivus very seriously around here! I had to do a bit of finagling to get the day off. Obviously I didn’t tell my boss why I needed the day off- I vaguely alluded to an important “family celebration” and I had to get someone to cover my shift. And guess what… my sister sent me this: It’s hard to explain how Festivus evolved for our family. In the early days, we used to air grievances, but that ended up getting out of control, ha ha, and didn’t feel very nice two days before Christmas. One year we also tried to replicate the Festivus dinner that George’s mom served, and that was pretty funny. The Festivus dinner was meatloaf on a bed of lettuce, and we modified that to be a Tofurkey roast on a bed of lettuce, with a bowl of peas on the side. While that was fun, it wasn’t extremely appetizing so we also dropped that. Over the years, our Festivus traditions have solidified into basically our own holiday, with a couple nods to the Seinfeld original. First things first! We go out for a bagel brunch. Bagels are obviously a Festivus food (thank you, Kramer.) Here’s a picture from several years ago- the Festivus bagel brunch: This picture must have been about five years ago- both my kids have much shorter hair now! Also, fun fact: that purple cup contains my giant iced tea. I was training for a marathon and had run 20 miles that morning! It still stands out in my mind as being one of the best Festivus’s ever. After the bagels, we split up; my husband leaves to do ALL his Christmas shopping. Yes, he waits until December 23rd. He’s insane, but in his defense, this is an extremely busy time for him, work-wise, and Christmas just kind of sneaks up on him. It’s so funny to me because I’ll have been working for weeks, getting all the kids’ presents bought and wrapped, stocking stuffers ready, etc. Then on the 23rd he’s like “I guess I should go to the store!” Surprisingly, he usually gets us some pretty good presents. Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned there! The kids and I do a little of our own shopping. We usually end up at Old Navy, and they pick out some things for my husband. One year we also went to Bed Bath and Beyond- earlier in the month my husband announced that he wanted a new steam mop for Christmas. I said, “Don’t be RIDICULOUS! That’s not a Christmas present!” But then on Festivus we bought his steam mop, wrapped it up really fancy, and hid it behind the tree. On Christmas morning we waited until everything else had been unwrapped, and then re-enacted the scene from Christmas Story where the kid thinks he didn’t get his BB gun. “Wait! What’s that? There’s one more present behind the tree…” The kids and I were laughing so hard and my husband had no idea what was going on- UNTIL HE UNWRAPPED HIS NEW STEAM MOP! Anyway, after the Festivus shopping trip, the kids and I go home and have a big wrapping party. (My husband is usually working at this point.) Of course the “Santa” present are already wrapped and still hidden away, but we wrap all the presents we’re giving each other- we really go all out and try to make them as pretty as possible. Then we arrange them under the tree… And at night we watch The Polar Express and have hot chocolate (you have to have hot chocolate when you’re watching The Polar Express!) So… our Festivus really has little to do with the original “holiday.” It’s really just a special day I spend with my kids. But we take it very seriously! Festivus has to be on the 23rd, and we have to do our usual activities. On Christmas Eve we have another set of traditions. For the last ten years, my friend and her two girls have come over and we decorate cookies “for Santa.” Her girls are one year older and one year younger than my daughter, and although my son is now 19 and the girls are 11,12 and 13, we still decorate the Santa cookies. Then we either have a Christmas Eve dinner or lunch with them. It depends on whether it’s an “early” or “late” year. The year we started this tradition, my friend was going through a divorce. Every year she and her husband alternate- on “early” years, she has the girls until 4:00 and then they go to their father. On “late” years, she doesn’t get them until 4:00. We just adjust our schedule to accommodate them. On “late” years they’ll stay at our house really late, and we’ll go for a walk after dinner to look at Christmas lights. On “early” years, we’ll finish the cookie decorating and lunch by 4:00 pm, and my kids and I will watch Christmas shows at night- Charlie Brown, Rudolph, The Grinch… all the classics. Once again, my husband will be working (he’s a trumpet player and always has a church gig on Christmas Eve.) Christmas morning we open presents and make cinnamon rolls. Then the rest of the day is spent lazily at home- no one comes over and we don’t go anywhere. I love it! It’s a nice way to end the busy, busy season. If anyone was eavesdropping on our family, they would think we were extremely strange. “Mom, is this an early or a late year?” “Did you get someone to cover your shift on Festivus yet?” Our holidays might be a little unusual, but I think traditions are important. My kids will definitely have a lot of happy Christmases to look back on. How about you?