Although the one tradition I thought was unique or rare was displayed on Modern Family last night “At 9 PM Christmas Eve you open one present, pajamas, and then you sleep in them”

I don’t know if you looked up Lessons and Carols (thanks for the suggestion, by the way, I may go to that Monday service!) but according to Wikipedia and my experience the service is “the birth of Jesus [as] told in nine short Bible readings, interspersed with the singing of Christmas carols and hymns.”

Also, I don’t mind the @ thing, but I don’t know that it’s necessary. Just addressing the person seems to work fine here too. That reminds me of something I do too, I tend to use smiley-faces and exclamation marks more than many people (see above). I guess I have a fear that people on email and blogs will take things more negatively than they are meant (because people, in fact, do). So I tend to try and compensate by making sure there is an indication if something is light-hearted. The result is that things also are much less formal, which isn’t so bad, but an interesting behavior. (I do not use smileys at work though.)

Diane, LOVE the comments about tradition. So very very true.

Favorites:
1. Singing Christmas songs around the house. Most favorite: Sing Along With Mitch Christmas album.
2. Amazon Wish Lists. Now Mom gets me exactly what I want, and I get her exactly what she wants, and we’re both happy.
3. Hearing Mrs. Loftus sing “Oh Holy Night” at Midnight Mass. In my head. She’s been dead for years, but I still hear her.
4. Creating my holiday card and quiz. Instead of a newsletter, I write up a funny multiple-choice quiz about various happenings during the year.

Least Favorite:
1. Pressure to spend spend spend.
2. Tradition for tradition’s sake. I love traditions, but I think I need to be part of creating them. I may not be explaining this well, but I’m somehow disappointed when people say “because it’s always been done that way” or “that’s the way it’s done,” (implying that everyone does it that way, and any other way is wrong.) My family has some decidedly uncommon Christmas traditions, from toasting in noon with Mom’s “delicious” dandelion wine to watching my Dad dance in his new wacky pair of slippers every year. Traditions should have stories behind them so you can explain them (maybe) to your incredulous non-family friends. Tradition is what you make of it, and you shouldn’t feel pressured to bow to anyone else’s tradition.

My favorite things about the holidays (Christmas for me):

The spiritual meaning (I love being reminded to think seriously about it)

Rereading the excellent graphic novel version of A Christmas Carol illustrated by someone called Michael Cole that my grandmother gave me (I would totally recommend this — it’s almost like watching an ideal movie version.)

Decorating the tree (my family has some really pretty ornaments)

My least-favorite thing used to be having to prepare for finals over the holidays, but now my school has FINALLY changed its schedule so we’re all done before the break (Hip hip – HOORAY!) so I’m not sure there are any downsides for me. I know that sounds ridiculous, but my family is harmonious, and we have an “only stocking-stuffers” gift policy among the three of us which takes the stress out of gift-giving. We have been known to stretch the definition of “in” the stocking when there’s a big item that we know one of us wants, though.

Thanks for the interesting and informative blog!

http://www.memorialchurch.harvard.edu/index.php

@Several of you–I’ve never heard of “Lessons and Carols” services! Not part of the Christian tradition I was raised in.

@Everyone–is this @ thing really annoying? I picked up the habit because it seems ubiquitous. But why do it if you’re not on Twitter? I think I’ll stop.

Dislikes:
1. People telling me (unsolicited) that they don’t like holidays. I don’t mind if holidays are not your thing, but if I’m excited about my tree it’s a downer and kind of awkward when people sniff and tell me they don’t LIKE holidays. I agree with you, Robin, about being bombarded in the season, so I hold no grudge against people who feel that way. If I ask someone about their holiday they are free to tell me they’re tired of it/ aren’t enjoying the holidays. I’d just prefer people didn’t make me feel bad for enjoying the things I DO enjoy.

2. Christmas muzak as many others have said. See my “like” below.

3. Traffic, parking, etc.

My likes are interesting because I realize that so much of how I enjoy the holidays (Christmas for me) is in a celebration of the Winter Season that I think of as being Christmas, but it really doesn’t have to be.
1. Decorations, not just lights, but all the beautiful greenery and the way people decorate their trees (all white lights, colorful lights, kids ornaments, fancy ornaments), the various wreaths, beautiful menorahs, advent calendars, etc. I love all of these things surrounded by our blue winter evenings especially on snowy days.

2. All the wonderful Christmas music many people don’t know. I love Lessons and Carols services and the longer Christmas Cds/albums that have many beautiful songs about Christmas that would never be played in a department store. Jesus Christ the Apple Tree is one of my favorites. And I love listening to the two versions of Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing day (there may be more than two, but I only know two and they have vastly different tempos and melodies with the same lyrics).

3. Advent calendars themselves! I wonder if the Jewish tradition has anything like this? What I love about them is that many tell little pieces of the (Christmas) story window after window, one a day, in what can be really beautiful pieces of art. I feel like this could be a fun thing to translate to any religious story, maybe more for kids than adults, but still.

4. Christmas celebrations at museums. I intimately know the one at Orchard House in Concord and it’s fun to be a part of as everyone who visits is so lovely during these weekends! I also hope to check out the evenings in Sturbridge and Newport if I can make it.

5. Gatherings. There are so many fun group activities that people are excited to do around the holidays, gingerbread houses, cookie-making, holiday movie parties and caroling. One year when friends and I were feeling snowed-in I suggested we do readings from some of the Christmas books I have (I have a lot of beautiful Christmas books). Everyone went into hysterics at this cheesy (but characteristic) suggestion, but then we passed around an anthology anyway and had a wonderful time!

Sorry that was so long, but I want to end with a question. Does anyone know of any good Lessons and Carols services that involve lots of the audience singing in the Boston area? I’d love to try some new ones!

And I’m suddenly too exhausted to do a good/bad list, but I’ll see what I can come up with tomorrow.

The Ugly:
Parking and/or driving near a mall. I take special pains to avoid this for the full span between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

The gift-giving ads. A Lexus is an option for so few, and generic jewelry, well, it says so much.

I’m with Amy R on the “diet tips,” too. They’re basically saying “you can’t trust yourself to not have too much fun.” BAH!

The Bad:
Someone always has to travel for the holidays. And airports are sheer Not Fun at best.

Christmas music. In general. I like it for an hour or so, so I reserve that for Christmas day.

Being a non-celebrator of any actual holiday of winter. I go with Christmas because that’s what my family does.

The Good:
My mother and I have formed our own holiday traditions, since it’s just the two of us on holidays now. We still have champagne for breakfast (though now we mix with pomegranate juice instead of orange — so much more festive!), and we still play Trivial Pursuit, and we still cook and eat too much.

Holiday food. Not that we have a tradition anymore, but picking special dishes or new dishes IS the tradition now. And my mother and I both love to cook.

Setting a pretty table to consume said food. I do this only during the holidays.

My list of people to exchange gifts with is very small, so I enjoy the choosing.

It is not my year to travel for the holidays.

@AmyR, loved this as a “woe”: “Holiday diet guides that inevitably suggest eating before you go and drinking white wine spritzers.” Amen!

@Shulamuth & Abby, thanks for the recipes! If I’m feeling ambitious, maybe I’ll try to make latkes this year.

@veronica–sorry about the bad birthday timing! I’ve got a letter coming up in the column about that.

@I Heart Crane–”Backyards with an army of those inflatable and light up … dolls? figures? statues? what’s the right term for them?” Yeah, I don’t know either. And what’s with those things that look like small bouncy castles with stuff (Santa, snowmen, whatever) inside them? When did those start happening?

@nortarr–Wow, people have said that to you? How incredibly stupid! “I’m not a pagan EITHER, dude!” You are right about the spirit in Harvard Square and the fab craft fairs. Have you been to Design Hive at the Baldwin School? Check that, too.

@ATF–We do have colored Christmas lights in our kitchen year-round! I love it. I’m sorry the magic fades. The ConductMom was talking about the exact same thing. She used to be Santa’s Chief Elf, and she’s just not that into it anymore.

@Anne with an E–It’s not so much that I think gift cards are tacky, I just think they’re high-risk. At least you use them. It’s really, really annoying to give someone a generous gift card and find out later it never got used. It’s also annoying to get a gift card to a place that doesn’t exist in your geographical area, or suit your tastes. When done right, they can be nice; like you say, a way of forcing a person to indulge herself a little.

@WES–I am of Ukranian ancestry and all about the psanky! Can’t do them, but I do love them, and I have a few.

@EAWeek–I was in 3rd grade when that special came out, and I always call it “The Year the White Kids Got Rhythm at James Fenimore Cooper Elementary School.” After eight years of “Jingle Bell Rock” being the hottest Christmas lick we’d ever heard, that song was a REVELATION. We wuz dirty-dancin’ in the cafeteria the next morning!

It’s interesting how many of you mention something you make or do as a favorite … taking ownership of the holiday, using it as a way to express your creativity and love. Maybe if I stopped trying to UNDERSTAND Hanukkah and just DID some Hanukkah stuff, I too would get the joy. In a totally non-bin-Laden way.