Christmas (Open Blog Post)
Christmas is definitely a favorite holiday for my family. My family put up our Christmas tree a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. Sometimes we get a real Christmas tree, but this year we are using our fake tree. I like having a real Christmas tree because then it smells like Christmas too, but a fake one is still good. We are just lighting candles to make it smell like Christmas instead. My family also loves decorating for Christmas. We have a lot of lights, inflatables, wreaths, and light up decorations of trees or snowmen or Santa decorating our house on the outside. In the inside of our house, in addition to our tree, we have a lot of decorations of snowmen or Santa and other Christmas-themed things. It pretty much looks like Christmas threw up all over my house.
Luckily for me, I live in a part of California where it actually snows in the winter, so I usually get to experience a “white Christmas.” I am not sure if it is going to snow as much this year, but hopefully it does.
Also, my family has always celebrated Christmas late at night on Christmas Eve where we open gifts and have a family dinner, so Christmas has been a nighttime event for me my whole life except that kids in my family open gifts from “Santa” on Christmas morning. Most of the people that I know celebrate and open all gifts in the morning of Christmas Day and don't really celebrate Christmas Eve. What is the tradition in your family?
My family likes to split up the celebration. Typically my siblings and I exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, and then my extended family all get together to have dinner, exchange gifts, and go on a walk to see all the neighborhood decorations. For the nostalgia factor my family and I still love getting up early on Christmas morning to open gifts, and then my extended family all gets together again to have a casual lunch or early dinner. In some ways I like Christmas Eve better because everyone is still excited and in the holiday spirit before it's all over on Christmas Day.
ReplyDeleteEven though I was born in an immigrant family, Christmas was definitely one of my favorite holidays growing up since I was in charge of decorating my family's (artificial) Christmas tree. I even used to gauge my height every year by comparing it with our 4 ft tall tree. I've never experienced a snowy Christmas before, you're really lucky that you're in California but still get to experience the snow!
ReplyDeleteJust a heads up at home depot, they have sticks you hang on hte tree like ornaments that make the tree smell real! I was stuck in the same problem with our fake tree too.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I'm looking forward to Christmas for the family time that is spent. My family takes Christmas a little too seriously, so since the day after thanksgiving my house has been in Christmas mode. I can't wait for school to be over so I can celebrate the festive holidays.
ReplyDeleteMy family celebrates Christmas in a similar way to yours! We usually go to mass on Christmas eve, and afterwards, have our family party. For your Christmas tree, there's this really nice Bath and Body Works candle that spells exactly like a real tree.
ReplyDeleteYour Christmas sounds so cute and fun!! My family does a tree and wreath but usually nothing more. We spend Christmas Eve with my dad's family and open some gifts and then in the morning my mom's family comes over to open gifts with us!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for Christmas!!! We typically celebrate Christmas early morning. I prefer Christmas at home, but some years we travel to Brazil to celebrate it with my extended family. The month of December is during Summer in Brazil so its the weirdest but coolest experience because Christmas is synonymous with Winter to Americans!
ReplyDeleteI miss the "Christmas smell" from real Christmas trees, but it turns out everyone in my family is allergic to them. You're lucky that you get snow, it never snows here in the Bay. We usually open 1-2 presents on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas day.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading about your Christmas traditions, and I can't believe you guys open presents before Christmas morning?!?! That's crazy. For me, my family does Christmas at another person's house and all three families show up there on Christmas morning every year and exchange gifts (we usually just hang out there the whole day, playing with our gifts and listening to Christmas music and just having a good time).
ReplyDeleteI love the christmas tree, but the lights are even better. I love having strings of lights inside the house which makes it feel like a place to find comfort and gather together. I also want to point out that the way you ended this blog post is a PERFECT way to engage readers: nicely done!
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