Christmas Traditions

There are so many reasons to love this time of year. Everyone has their own traditions that make Christmas special to them. I for one, love to hear about other people's holiday rituals, and how they came to be. So now, I make the assumption that you do too, and I will tell you about some of mine...

When I was a kid, my mom worked in the retail business. This meant that she had to work almost every year on Christmas eve. With my dad working a government job, he always had the day off. Of course Nicole and I would be out of school already, so Christmas eve day was always spent with the three of us at home making preparations for that evening. See, Christmas eve is kind of the 'big day' in our family, as we open our presents that evening (both my parents families did this, so when mom and dad got married, it was easy for them to carry on this tradition... it may be a German thing). So anyway, these preparations usually involved baking and cooking. Dad would get up in the morning and take mom to work, then go to the grocery store for all the supplies needed for the day. We never have 'supper' per say on Christmas eve, but rather an assortment of appetizers and food we don't normally have throughout the year. This almost always includes my dad making 'pigs in a blanket', spare ribs, fudge, and of course, Matilda's famous hot mustard. Nicole and I would usually bake something too. Then dad would make a trip to the liquor store, and would buy liquors and wine that they would normally not drink during any other time of the year. One in particular I remember, was apricot brandy. This brandy became part of the tradition too, because even as tweens, Nicole and I were each allowed to have a small snifter of the brandy, while we opened presents.

So then before mom got home (usually around 4:00pm, as thankfully stores close early on Christmas eve), most years dad was still running around making last minute wrappings and preparations to mom's Christmas present. It was often something big and unexpected, and I remember always feeling excited for my mom to open it. Then when mom would come home, her and dad would lock themselves in the bedroom to do last-minute wrapping. Nicole and I would try to wait patiently for them to come out, as we knew the time was nearing to open presents. Sometimes we would go to Christmas mass that evening, and sometimes we wouldn't.

Then all the food would get layed out, including all the chocolates and goodies that mom would buy at her store and bring home that night. We would load up our plates, and find a spot around the tree, and dad would make sure there was plenty of Christmas music ready to play on the stereo. Now it was time to decide who would be 'Santa'. This honourary position was usually taken by my dad, which I liked the best, however as we got older, we all had our turns. Santa hands out one present at a time, the receiver opens it, and it gets passed around the room before another gift is taken from under the tree. This was done to prolong the process, which I absolutely loved. At some point during all this, someone from my dad's side of the family (Usually Grandma or Grandpa), will call from Regina where they are spending the evening with most of the other Fredericks, and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Once every gift was opened, a few chosen items were opened and examined further, and then the evening would slowly come to an end usually close to midnight. The next morning our stockings would be full from what Santa had brought us the previous night.

Of course not every year was or is exactly like this, however I would venture to say that a large majority were. As Nicole and I got older, and moved away from home, things never really changed all that much. I've only been away from my parents for one Christmas in my 31 years, and thankfully Nicole was there to spend it with me.

So now that I am with my own family, there is only a small part of my that wants to start new traditions with them. Most of me would rather ensure that I am at my mom and dad's house for Christmas eve, carrying on the same way we always have. Perhaps when my girls are a little older, I will feel more compelled to fly away from the nest. But for now, keeping things just the way they have always been, makes me still feel like the kid instead of the parent. And at Christmas time, being a kid is wonderful.