Friday OT #2 - The Papas, The Papas… Tradition
- Thread starter Angie
- Start date
My answers:
* Since we always go over to visit my parents on Christmas Day and Santa comes that morning, we open presents at our house on Christmas Eve. We used to do that when I was a kid, with a divorced parents situation. We will make a crap ton of Christmas treats in the morning, deliver them to friends and often the fire department, maybe make some Christmas ornaments if we haven’t already that year, open presents and play with them for a while, and then either go looking at Christmas lights or go to the Reiman Gardens light show in the evening. More often than not, we also end up at red lobster for dinner.
* Holiday music starts getting played the day after Thanksgiving. Sometimes the day after Halloween, I am really in the spirit.
* I used to follow the principle that you didn’t put your tree up until the day after Thanksgiving, but 2020 changed me fundamentally. I start decorating for Halloween after Labor Day, and I start decorating for Christmas the day after Halloween. And I am not ashamed of this at all. It makes me happy.
* Since we always go over to visit my parents on Christmas Day and Santa comes that morning, we open presents at our house on Christmas Eve. We used to do that when I was a kid, with a divorced parents situation. We will make a crap ton of Christmas treats in the morning, deliver them to friends and often the fire department, maybe make some Christmas ornaments if we haven’t already that year, open presents and play with them for a while, and then either go looking at Christmas lights or go to the Reiman Gardens light show in the evening. More often than not, we also end up at red lobster for dinner.
* Holiday music starts getting played the day after Thanksgiving. Sometimes the day after Halloween, I am really in the spirit.
* I used to follow the principle that you didn’t put your tree up until the day after Thanksgiving, but 2020 changed me fundamentally. I start decorating for Halloween after Labor Day, and I start decorating for Christmas the day after Halloween. And I am not ashamed of this at all. It makes me happy.
Open presents Christmas morning.
Decorate some time before Christmas. Outdoor lights go up first warm day after Thanksgiving. Nativity scene and Advent wreath the first Sunday of Advent. Tree usually not up until a day or two before Christmas because it is live and we don’t take it down until Epiphany on 1/6. Christmas music beginning of December.
Decorate some time before Christmas. Outdoor lights go up first warm day after Thanksgiving. Nativity scene and Advent wreath the first Sunday of Advent. Tree usually not up until a day or two before Christmas because it is live and we don’t take it down until Epiphany on 1/6. Christmas music beginning of December.
Presents are Christmas day.
A couple of yrs ago not hardly any Christmas music but this yr started right after Thanksgiving pretty much leave it on all the time while driving. Must have got my Xmas spirit back.
Around Thanksgiving. One yr me and the ex had a exceptionally pretty tree she/we left it up till February.
A couple of yrs ago not hardly any Christmas music but this yr started right after Thanksgiving pretty much leave it on all the time while driving. Must have got my Xmas spirit back.
Around Thanksgiving. One yr me and the ex had a exceptionally pretty tree she/we left it up till February.
Growing up: We put up an Advent calendar on the first Sunday of Advent and put the nativity scene and tree up on Dec 8th (Feast of the Immaculate Conception). We went to midnight mass, then opened presents when we got home.
We rarely had any music on in the house or car, which, looking back, is crazy since all the kids had to learn to play an instrument and my parents were avid dancers. However, someone would randomly start singing a Christmas song at any point in December. I don't think we ever put on Christmas music until Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
We rarely had any music on in the house or car, which, looking back, is crazy since all the kids had to learn to play an instrument and my parents were avid dancers. However, someone would randomly start singing a Christmas song at any point in December. I don't think we ever put on Christmas music until Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
This is more of a recent tradition, but my wife and I will make a box of baked goodies for our friends and co-workers. Typically the box includes chocolate dipped ritz sandwiches, peanut butter balls, caramel layered bars, and decorated sugar cookies. A few new things were tried out this year as well.
My wife considers herself “extra,” as she made the sugar cookie dough, rolled it, cut them out, and baked 160 cookies. She also mixed the food coloring for the frosting. Then proceed to decorate 60 of them for our boxes. We invited friends over to decorate the remainder and take those home.
My wife considers herself “extra,” as she made the sugar cookie dough, rolled it, cut them out, and baked 160 cookies. She also mixed the food coloring for the frosting. Then proceed to decorate 60 of them for our boxes. We invited friends over to decorate the remainder and take those home.
Attachments
1. For most of my childhood it was one present on Christmas Eve (my parents picked which one---usually pajamas or a book or a movie) and the rest on Christmas Day. Santa did not wrap his presents so it was easy to tell which were which. As we got older (and my parents had more kids and less money), all presents were wrapped and the little kids kind of assumed all presents were from Santa. And we became more flexible on when presents were opened depending on when people had to work.
2. I don't listen to a ton of Christmas music. I don't mind it, but don't seek it out. I was really into the kind of jazzy CDs that Starbucks used to sell for a lot of year. But then a friend passed away a few days before Christmas and the next year I couldn't figure out why the Christmas music on those CDs were making me sad, but it was sad by association. Anyway, I avoided Christmas music for a few years. Now the association isn't as big of a deal, but I got out of the habit.
3. I usually put up decorations sometime in November. This year I waited until after Thanksgiving because I finally have fall decorations that I like. I leave them up until at least the epiphany though. And usually I won't bother taking them down until MLK. And I'll leave the winter decorations (stuff that's not specifically Christmas) up for most of the winter. I find that I actually like the Christmas stuff a lot more after Christmas. January is so depressing that it makes me happy to have the Christmas stuff up.
2. I don't listen to a ton of Christmas music. I don't mind it, but don't seek it out. I was really into the kind of jazzy CDs that Starbucks used to sell for a lot of year. But then a friend passed away a few days before Christmas and the next year I couldn't figure out why the Christmas music on those CDs were making me sad, but it was sad by association. Anyway, I avoided Christmas music for a few years. Now the association isn't as big of a deal, but I got out of the habit.
3. I usually put up decorations sometime in November. This year I waited until after Thanksgiving because I finally have fall decorations that I like. I leave them up until at least the epiphany though. And usually I won't bother taking them down until MLK. And I'll leave the winter decorations (stuff that's not specifically Christmas) up for most of the winter. I find that I actually like the Christmas stuff a lot more after Christmas. January is so depressing that it makes me happy to have the Christmas stuff up.
That is amazing! We just dip a bunch of **** in almond bark and do the ritz. We usually get some sugar cookies in a tube, but this year are doing chocolate chip from a box.
My grandma would always bake a birthday cake for Jesus for Christmas and we would sing happy birthday. When I brought my girlfriend (now wife) to her first Christmas with my family 25 yrs ago, she said, "oh a cake! Whose birthday is it?" Haha, Grandma always kept an eye on her from then on.
We have young kids. So Christmas decorations never completely came down this year. But that made us early for the 2022 season!
Our Christmas tree turned into a "Spring Tree" at some point. But it makes everyone happy so no pressure to take it down.
I'm pretty sure Mrs KnappShack listens to Christmas music year 'round.
Our Christmas tree turned into a "Spring Tree" at some point. But it makes everyone happy so no pressure to take it down.
I'm pretty sure Mrs KnappShack listens to Christmas music year 'round.
The first year of marriage we bought a special ornament, and continued to add at least one each year, reboxing them when the tree came down so as to keep track of when, and in some special cases where/why. Decorating the tree was always my job, help by other family members was welcome, but yeah, it was work. As the years passed and the #ornaments piled up it became a chore for me rather than enjoyable, and now we're empty nesters so all of the special ornaments stay in storage and decorations are simple.
Spouse collected Santa's for many years, most of those also now remain in storage. Someday, someone will be tasked with cleaning out our house, and all of that will probably go to the landfill, along with the family china and other accumulations.
Spouse collected Santa's for many years, most of those also now remain in storage. Someday, someone will be tasked with cleaning out our house, and all of that will probably go to the landfill, along with the family china and other accumulations.
