Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Christmas Traditions

Tilly, the laughing housewife from England asked me to write a post about American Christmas traditions. There are so many different customs in the U.S. that it's hard to know where to begin. I'll be expecting your help with this.

We set up either an artificial or harvested evergreen tree in our home and decorate it with anything from lights, tinsel, ornaments of every kind and whatever crosses your fancy. As you can see I've already set up my tree much earlier than most people do. The Christmas tree seems almost secular since mom used to set one up despite the fact that we are Buddhists. Presents are put under the tree to be opened on Christmas morning, December 25th, the birthday of Jesus Christ. There's some debate as to whether this is the actual date but that's OK. We celebrated Thanksgiving 3 days late, after all.

There are all kinds of holiday parties in December until the 25th and we tend to overeat. We also bake and eat a whole lot of Christmas cookies.

I'm going to let Dina of Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo explain Hanukkah on her blog. I've already blogged about my mortification when 4 year old, Jon blew out the menorah candles at her house many moons ago after the prayer. It didn't occur to him that the prayer had nothing about happy birthdays in it.

There's also the mistletoe custom where if you stand under it you get kissed.

There's caroling where groups go out to sing Christmas carols. It's not done much in Hawaii. Maybe you need snow.

There's Santa Claus or St. Nicholas who is supposed to come down the chimney and leave children presents on Christmas Eve if they've been good. My kids always got presents anyway. (I'm just kidding, Tif and Jon.)

OK... your turn to add to this list.
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16 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 1, 2009 at 12:21 AM

    Thanks for this, Kay. So far, it's very much like the UK, but I look forward to reading about other traditions. I suppose each family will have variations. You have inspired me to write about our own Christmas.

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  2. AmandaDecember 1, 2009 at 1:21 AM

    Wow, that is a humungous Father Christmas! I imagine it's not surprising that the UK and the USA have a lot in common when it comes to Christmas. One of the things I look forward to most is going to a candle-lit Christmas service with carols. I'm not much of a church-goer generally, but that service I love. I'm interested to see if carol singers appear here in our new home. Where we lived before Father Christmas came around in an open-topped minibus (in December!) with carol singers, all collecting for charity.

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  3. DinaDecember 1, 2009 at 1:43 AM

    Nice round-up of American customs.
    But don't forget Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. I like to experience it and I'm not even Christian. :)

    Chanuka is early this year. Starts the afternoon of Dec. 11. OK OK, I'll try to write something about it.
    This year the grandsons and I will be able to light the candles together via Skype webcam.

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  4. Kavita SahariaDecember 1, 2009 at 4:03 AM

    Been there at your country during Christmas ....i am glad Tiffany and Jon always got their gifts.Here in India there is a lot of stress on carols and special church masses...lot of partying and celebrations.Before marriage it was always partying because my dad loved one and now it is a home affair with a small Christmas tree,presents ....a home made fruit cake is a must otherwise Chandan sulks for the next few days.

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  5. Great Grandma LinDecember 1, 2009 at 4:10 AM

    check out my blog today for the real reason we celebrate....http://lettersfromlin.blogspot.com/2009/12/remembering-why-we-celebrate.html

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  6. wennDecember 1, 2009 at 5:40 AM

    merry celebrations..

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  7. Susan at Stony RiverDecember 1, 2009 at 10:09 AM

    We have a lot of parties too, especially for the kids, with Santas and small gifts passed around and endless slices of cake. Fruitcake! LOL

    One thing I love about American Christmases is the egg nog. Nobody makes it here, but there's always plenty to drink otherwise.

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  8. CherylDecember 1, 2009 at 10:23 AM

    And don't forget we hang our stockings from the mantle (or in our case, the bedposts or a doorknob!) so Santa can fill them with little goodies. If you've been bad you may get a lump of coal in your stocking. And we always leave a note to Santa as well as cookies on a special plate for him, a glass of milk or hot cocoa, and carrots for the reindeer. We have always loved attending Christmas Eve candlelight services as well.

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  9. AnonymousDecember 1, 2009 at 11:23 AM

    I used to consider Christmas a religious celebration and always had a manger scene on a shelf at home.

    However, now that we have lost the Catholic faith, we celebrate Christams in a secular way. It is now just an occasion for family and friends to get together, eat, and have fun with the Wii.

    Yes, Christmas this year will be celebrated at gigi's. A $60 prize goes to the lucky person who wins the Wii Target Shoot.

    Fun!

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  10. MareDecember 1, 2009 at 1:19 PM

    We were allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve. Other traditions have already been mentioned.

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  11. Linda ReederDecember 1, 2009 at 5:31 PM

    I just bought the most wonderful pop up book about Christmas around the world. I've skimmed it but there's lots to read.
    Most notably, I am once again reminded that Christmas has always been a mixture of the sacred and the pagan. The Roman church assigned Dec. 25th to celebrate the birth of Jesus for a reason, to get pagans to include Christian practices with their solstice customs. Father Christmas in Great Britain predates the very real St Nicholas, from whom we get our Santa Claus. Santa claus is based on a Christian saint! Christmas trees were predated by evergreen boughs, which were a pagan symbol of life even in the darkness of winter. We top those "holiday" trees with stars and angels! See how mixed up it is?
    And that's why I love all of it and why I say there are lots of reasons for the season.

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  12. UnknownDecember 1, 2009 at 6:11 PM

    As an expat' I can honestly say there is very little difference. The main things I notice are no Boxing Day here (shame) and more external Xmas lights on homes here. It's still my fave time of the year wherever I am :-)

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  13. CloudiaDecember 1, 2009 at 6:15 PM

    And a very nice job of American-Christmas sharing, Kay!


    Mele Kalikimaka, Neighbor




    Aloha,


    Comfort Spiral

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  14. quillyDecember 1, 2009 at 9:11 PM

    Ah! The Christmas Eve church service where we all wave lit candles and try to set each other's hair on fire ....

    Okay, so I'm not very reverent about it, but it is a beautiful and moving service and very much an important part of Christmas to me.

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  15. DezDecember 2, 2009 at 9:53 AM

    Kay and Cheryl described our Christmas exactly! My most favorite part of Christmas is seeing our children's wide eyed innocent eyes as they help put out the cookies and milk for Santa, and scrambling for bed so Santa can come and place the presents under the tree.
    And, especially, the children waking up EARLY (too early for parents - lol) and having them JUMP on the bed yelling SANTA CAME... SANTA CAME.... GET UP, GET UP!!!
    Ah, such sweet memories. I miss those days.

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  16. RamblingWoods2.comDecember 2, 2009 at 3:50 PM

    This is a lovely post Kay..we don't really celebrate here except for the Christmas tree and Santa Claus when my daughter was little. I had to laugh at your son blowing out the candles..... I'm sure no one was upset at him....

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