I'm from the North-East, which means that folks around here tend to identify more with the religious/cultural heritage of their immigrant ancestors. So in Italian and Polish families you might still see all fish dinners on Christmas Eve. My friend with German roots has a glass pickle on her tree. Every family is very different and the others have captured that.
For my family, the tree went up mid-December. With it, all the other decorations were put up. Stockings on the door frame near the tree - many American homes don't have fireplaces. I didn't see an Advent Calendar until college and it was a cardboard affair with cheap chocolate behind each day - your's sounds much more elaborate.
We would bake cookies. And bake cookies. And bake cookies. Some families do many kind, mine did a cream cheese cookie from a cookie press in the shape of trees and wreaths sprinkled with sugar. I make ginger bread houses now. Mine's a hard cookie as opposed to a cakey texture. It's all held together with royal icing and candy.
Mistletoe was completely optional. I'm told that it is harvested in some parts of the US and you find tiny packs of it in some stores. It's one of those things that's talked about, but not always used. Most of our Christmas carols are from England and quite a few of them talk about things that we've got no clue about. 9 out of 10 people on the street have no idea what a figgy pudding' is.
Christmas Eve was the bigger deal in our family. Shrimp, pasta oleo, kielbasa, candied yams, Swedish meatballs, creamed onions and a wild assortment of other foods. The kids could open one gift from a relative. After the kids went to sleep "Santa" would come and deliver the rest of the goodies. Later on when we were older, we went to mid-night mass. "Santa" came at 3 am when the youngest finally went to sleep.
Around 5am the kids get up. In my family we could unload our stockings, but we had to wait forever ;-)for mom and dad to get up. Later on there would be more gifts with the aunts and uncles. Dinner on Christmas was a big traditional meal, like Thanksgiving with either turkey or ham.
I've been a pagan for years and I've incorporated many of the Christmas trappings into my Yule celebration - after all, most Christmas traditions are co-opted pagan ones. I find many pagans focus on the idea of keeping a vigil for the sun's return. My friends would gather at someone's home, stay up all night eating, telling stories, just to see the dawn.
no subject
For my family, the tree went up mid-December. With it, all the other decorations were put up. Stockings on the door frame near the tree - many American homes don't have fireplaces. I didn't see an Advent Calendar until college and it was a cardboard affair with cheap chocolate behind each day - your's sounds much more elaborate.
We would bake cookies. And bake cookies. And bake cookies. Some families do many kind, mine did a cream cheese cookie from a cookie press in the shape of trees and wreaths sprinkled with sugar. I make ginger bread houses now. Mine's a hard cookie as opposed to a cakey texture. It's all held together with royal icing and candy.
Mistletoe was completely optional. I'm told that it is harvested in some parts of the US and you find tiny packs of it in some stores. It's one of those things that's talked about, but not always used. Most of our Christmas carols are from England and quite a few of them talk about things that we've got no clue about. 9 out of 10 people on the street have no idea what a figgy pudding' is.
Christmas Eve was the bigger deal in our family. Shrimp, pasta oleo, kielbasa, candied yams, Swedish meatballs, creamed onions and a wild assortment of other foods. The kids could open one gift from a relative. After the kids went to sleep "Santa" would come and deliver the rest of the goodies. Later on when we were older, we went to mid-night mass. "Santa" came at 3 am when the youngest finally went to sleep.
Around 5am the kids get up. In my family we could unload our stockings, but we had to wait forever ;-)for mom and dad to get up. Later on there would be more gifts with the aunts and uncles. Dinner on Christmas was a big traditional meal, like Thanksgiving with either turkey or ham.
I've been a pagan for years and I've incorporated many of the Christmas trappings into my Yule celebration - after all, most Christmas traditions are co-opted pagan ones. I find many pagans focus on the idea of keeping a vigil for the sun's return. My friends would gather at someone's home, stay up all night eating, telling stories, just to see the dawn.