With a chorus of voices at Richmond Moms Blog, we all celebrate the holiday season a little differently. On this post Kim, Tara & Aditi share their families favorite Christmas traditions.
Kim
The day after Thanksgiving is Decorating Day in the Alley house (unlike you monsters who decorate before the turkey is even cooked). We put on Christmas music, bring all the decorations down from the attic, and deck all the halls by the time we go to bed. One tradition I love that came from my husband’s family is to hide the Jesus figure from our various crèches until Christmas morning, and have the Wise Men travel across the room until Epiphany (January 6th). I always enjoyed playing with the figures when I was a kid, and now that my daughter does it too, I get all weepy-happy and nostalgic.
Since my family lives in Texas, we alternate between Texas and Virginia for Christmas each year. But wherever we are, there are a few traditions that remain the same: we attend church on Christmas Eve, and gifts are opened in pajamas on Christmas Day with Pillsbury Orange Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast. I keep trying to convince my husband that we should have matching family pajamas, but I haven’t been successful yet!
Tara
The Daudanis spend Christmas at my mom’s house. The days leading up to the holiday are filled with our big cookie making night with our cousins, aunts & uncles, recipe planning, gift wrapping and lots of cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies.
On Christmas morning, we all gather around the table for breakfast and open our Christmas crackers. It’s a requirement to wear the enclosed paper crown through the meal. This time of year has always been magical to me and even as adults my sisters and I try to spend as much of it together as we can!
Aditi
One of the biggest influences of food, celebration and love in my life came from the apartment next door! A Christian home filled with love and faith. Even though I am not a Christian, once I had kids, I wanted them to be able to feel the magic of Christmas! For me to hand over the treasure trove of memories to them. The joy of the Christmas tree, the gaiety in the carols, the beauty in the story of the day Jesus Christ was born. The cozy warmth of the lights that twinkle in the dark cold nights giving hope and happiness!
It was big day when we finally brought home our very own Christmas tree and decorated it amidst great excitement starting a tradition that I know will last a life time! Every Christmas eve, my Indian friends and I get together and treat the kids to some presents from each other. We enjoy a mutli -cuisine meal as the food is provided by different households and take pictures with the Christmas tree. On Christmas Day, my kids bid farewell to the mischievous elf “Rudy” who comes to our home December 1 and open the lovely presents with all their excitement. The day passes in fun and evening we go around looking at Christmas lights around the city.