gtky: holiday edition

MinnesotaMomma91

Lets get to know each other, holiday style!

What are your familys holiay taditions?
Do they very based on a side of the family?

Im from a huge german family we spend thanksgiving, christmas, and easter together. We get together and eat. Im 4th generation danish and am very interested in preserving our danish cristmas traditions.

So every year my mom and i make danish christmas cookies, and this year we are going to make each of the kids a danish christmas heart.

Helenahhandbasket

That sounds like fun!

I am Italian on both sides of the family, but my parents are divorced. 

My dad's family is pretty much non-existent, so Josie and I will spend Thanksgiving with him and my SM.  They are very non - traditional, so we are driving down to Atlantic City to have dinner at one of the casinos and stay over.

Christmas eve we do a big traditional dinner with my mom's side.  Christmas day I will open presents with Josie at home and then I think her dad is going to have her for the day.  This will be my first set of holidays as a single parent, so I am not 100% sure how it's going to go.

jellybean529

Helenahhandbasket said:

That sounds like fun!

I am Italian on both sides of the family, but my parents are divorced. 

My dad's family is pretty much non-existent, so Josie and I will spend Thanksgiving with him and my SM.  They are very non - traditional, so we are driving down to Atlantic City to have dinner at one of the casinos and stay over.

Christmas eve we do a big traditional dinner with my mom's side.  Christmas day I will open presents with Josie at home and then I think her dad is going to have her for the day.  This will be my first set of holidays as a single parent, so I am not 100% sure how it's going to go.

This is kind of the boat I'm in.  Technically it's my second holiday season as a single parent but STBXH and I were still living in the same area last year and I spent the holidays with his family (I still get along great with his mom). The holidays are all really up in the air this year, with my mom's hospitalization, moving three days before Christmas, and STBXH being here on Thanksgiving I'm not at all sure where I'm going to be or what I'm going to be doing, which sucks because I LOVE the holidays. This year feels kinda blah.

In years past...

- Halloween always meant pumpkin patch visits (DD and I did this!)

- Thanksgiving meant me cooking a big meal, or at least preparing sides to take to someone's house. I love cooking.

- Christmas meant the tree went up the day after Thanksgiving, and we listened to Christmas music and decorated the house.

RIght now my biggest worry is spending Thanksgiving away from my DD...that would make me really sad. I know Christmas isn't a worry, STBXH is coming to help me move into the new place and we'll do Xmas morning at our new apartment...but right now the plan is for him to take DD to his grandparents house for Thanksgiving. I'm invited. I just don't know with everything else going on in the family if I can. Sigh.

ST3WD

I love the holidays! Good idea!

I come from a fairly big Irish family on both sides, but my grandparents didn't get along very well. 

We would spend Thanksgiving with my dad's side in TN. We had the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in the morning, and then the tv got flipped to the 24 hour marathon of A Christmas Story. All. Day. Long. 

Food was served in the early afternoon and we would do our Christmas gift exchange in the evening. With his side we'd all draw names out of a hat which made things SO much easier as far as traveling went. Stocking stuffers and 1 gift per person was just easier to transport/ship. (The exception was anyone 2&under or 70&older. They got a gift from most everyone, but usually couldn't do the stocking stuffers which were mostly candy.) This was always a loooooong weekend with too much turkey, but we still had a lot of fun. 

The few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas were spent with my family making dozens of cookies to send out or give away while watching the "classic" Christmas films. (Those claymation Rudolphs or Santa is Coming to Town. Elf has recently become THE family favorite in the past few years.) We would set up the family tree in the living room, and my mom would enjoy some me-time trimming her coordinated tree in the kitchen our last day of school. 

Christmas was spent with my mom's family in OH or CA, depending on which aunt hosted. Her side was more "sophisticated" (read: less redneck) and would have at least one cocktail party the week of Christmas. Christmas eve was a large dinner with huge spread and lots of wine. 

Our favorite part was opening a present the night before. (We were probably 10 before we figured out it was a conspiracy. We were to open designated, specific gifts which had a our new [uncomfortable] Midnight Mass outfits.) 

Our pastry chef uncle would stay up the rest of the night to "hang with Santa" and make pastries for breakfast the next morning. Everyone ate at least one before we'd have gift opening time, and enjoy some long naps that afternoon.

Christmas dinner was, and still is, ALWAYS hamburger helper. 

Lackluster, but for some reason, it's my favorite part. Cheesy hamburger and Jesus birthday cake.

Ah, holidays...

Helenahhandbasket

Hugs @jellybean529

 

MinnesotaMomma91

@Becwheat i love the idea of elf on the shelf. But bf is scared of dolls so thats one tradition we wont do

20thirteen

My favorite fall traditions:

Apple picking

Pumpkin picking

Haunted corn mazes

Of course, those can all be "Halloween traditions".  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  The last few years have been all over the place though, so tradition hasn't been a thing.

Pre-BD

Thanksgiving "supper" (1pm lunch) at my mom's mom's house, Thanksgiving dinner at my dad's sister's house.

With BD

Thanksgiving "supper" (1pm lunch) at my mom's mom's house, Thanksgiving dinner at BD's parent's house, fight about going to see my dad's side of the family the next day.

Post-BD

Last year, it was Thanksgiving "supper" (1pm lunch) at my mom's sister's house (grandma had passed away a month earlier) and I can't remember actually going to BF's house to celebrate Thanksgiving but last year was a whole bunch of jangled nerves of running around with a 5mo old and wholly exhausted by everything.

This year, I talked to BF about surprising his parents with Thanksgiving dinner.  His parent's kitchen has been under construction for about 2 months now and they haven't been able to cook anything.  We are debating on whether we would pick something up or cook something.  If we pick something up, we'll be going to my mom's brother's house for supper (2pm lunch, I don't understand why later).  If we cook, we'll be home all day cooking and then going to his parent's house to surprise them with food.

Christmasy Traditions:

Cookies.

Cookies.

OH MY GOD SO MANY COOKIES

Christmas is always difficult.  I love Christmas for the fact that it's like Thanksgiving, except the unbearable strain of gift giving/receiving.  I'm not a good gift receiver.  I hate it.  I also feel weird about giving presents on a specific day because "This is how we celebrate Christmas".  Anyway, Christmas Eve is always spent with my dad's side of the family and Christmas day with my mom's side.  With BD, we'd go to my mom's side early, and leave early, to go celebrate with his family Christmas evening.  Last year, Christmas day was meeting up with my mom at her place early in the morning, celebrating with the sibs and mom only, then taking my mom to BF's house to meet his parents and celebrate a bit over there, and THEN go to see my mom's side of the family.

Things seem to get more complicated every year.

MinnesotaMomma91

@20Thirteen my sisters and i all decided we dont need more stuff so were going to gift each other food. Because you eat it and its gone.


One of my sisters is a teacher and she gets a lot of stuff to clutter up her house and she eventually throws out or regifts.

20thirteen

I tell people to donate to specific charities in lieu of gifts. For Harley, I request clothes or help with her college fund.

MinnesotaMomma91

Thats a cool idea @20thirteen when bentley is older i want to get him involved in the community and giving back to it.

20thirteen

Oh! https://www.millionsofmiles.com/2012/12/30-service-projects-to-do-with-your-kids.html?m=1

I found this on Pinterest and want to get DD involved! My grandparents are the ones that really sparked the fire in me. I'm hoping that I can get the fire burning...