聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Well, it really is that time of year. Even I can鈥檛 ignore the Christmas cheer that is permeating the air. Somehow knowing it鈥檚 Christmas makes me smile through the less pleasant things the season brings, like frostbite risks, windchill warnings, snow-covered cars and decreasing bank accounts, just with the reminders of twinkly multicoloured lights, sharing gifts, and sipping hot cocoa after a hearty meal.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檝e been thinking a lot about what usually happens for me during the holiday season, and what little quirks my family has picked up. Some may call them traditions, but I honestly think a few of them are so weird, I can鈥檛 refer to them by something so harmless.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 First comes the decorating. It鈥檚 typical for every member of the family (aside from those who are out of town for an extended period) to help with decorating the tree. It鈥檚 usually a huge undertaking for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Boxes upon boxes of ornaments are carted upstairs and my mother tries to sort them out and decides which ones are worth hanging up. Due to my mother 小蓝视频 a bit of a pack rat, she has kept just about every ornament that isn鈥檛 irreparably broken. The Christmas tree often becomes a display of every elementary school craft my sister and I ever took part in; even the glittery construction paper star that proudly proclaims that my five-year-old self鈥檚 great Christmas wish was to bounce a ball. The only things that don鈥檛 get hung up are plush ornaments, as my dog tends to enjoy jumping up and tugging these ornaments off the tree.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 While this is going on, we鈥檙e usually playing Christmas music. The one CD my parents seemed to own that fit the season was a collection of Christmas covers from Boney M. Every song is ridiculously disco, from Little Drummer Boy to Zion鈥檚 Daughter. My sister and I have desperately tried to replace the CD with Christmas songs that are perhaps not as dated, but no matter what we try, we always somehow find ourselves listening to the CD anyways.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Next comes the 鈥榯raditional鈥� Christmas drinks. Some enjoy sipping hot cocoa around a fire, but with my family, we usually have to add a little something extra. What do you mean, the song doesn鈥檛 go 鈥淒eck the halls with boughs of brandy?鈥� That鈥檚 the best way to get my family jolly, anyways.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As for myself, I don鈥檛 usually drink much, but I think when I was in elementary school, my parents let me try (non-alcoholic) eggnog. I have no idea what it was before. Maybe the sugar, maybe just the party atmosphere. All I know is that it used to make me crazy and hyperactive, to the point where it was like a Pavlovian response. Mention eggnog around me and I wasn鈥檛 going to stop moving for at least three hours. Thankfully, I鈥檝e gotten over that stage in my life, but eggnog is still my go-to drink, and it鈥檚 become a tradition for me to grab a carton the minute it shows up in stores.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Next comes Christmas Eve, which is always spent with my massive extended family. It used to be spent at my late grandmother鈥檚 house, but now it鈥檚 been shifted so it鈥檚 held at my aunt鈥檚 home. I think most of the traditions there are rather typical: I say the dinner prayer (because I always do), everyone enjoys the food together and the adults help clean up, and then everyone gathers around the tree for gifts. Perhaps what we do that鈥檚 a bit different is our annual gift exchange. Everyone brings a gift, and then each person has a turn to either pick a gift from under a tree or steal a gift that someone else has already opened. At the end, everyone has a gift.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Of course, when my sister and I were young teenagers, we wanted to be adults and participate in the game鈥� but we also wanted to get what we actually wanted for Christmas instead of a Snuggie. My mother dealt with this by buying gifts 鈥渇or the gift exchange鈥� that were clearly just gifts we wanted, and then not-so-subtly telling us which gift we should pick. It was a great tactic, but it got a little obvious when video games for the device only my sister had were included in the exchange.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Christmas Day is a time for just immediate family to open gifts. I have a few traditions for this day. First, I pretty much barely sleep. I get up in the middle of the night to stare at the lights on the tree. When I was younger, I also had the ulterior motive of checking if Santa had arrived, but now, it鈥檚 just so ingrained in me that I check anyways.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The next time I wake up, usually about five or six in the morning before anyone else has moved, I鈥檓 awake. And it鈥檚 Christmas. Which means it鈥檚 traditionally time to make my parents鈥� lives hell. I would accomplish this by pretending to be a patient daughter and just using the time I was awake to sort out the presents under the tree by family member. This entertained me for all of five minutes, and then I鈥檇 wake my sister up. After a bit of excited whispering, my parents would finally be unable to ignore us and would have to get up. I am not ashamed to admit I still wake up pretty early on Christmas, but usually just out of restlessness and not out of any desire to get presents faster.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As bizarre as my holiday traditions are, I do feel a little more of the Christmas spirit just remembering them. Thinking about family and all the special times we鈥檝e shared warms me up more than any spiked hot cocoa would.
