Well…
I severely underestimated how busy the last few days would be. It has – for the most part – been fun things filling those days. But they have still been very, very full. Is anyone else feeling pulled in ten different directions in these final days before Christmas?
There was cookie baking! And a snow storm! (Shovelling.) And walks! Many, many hours were spent in the kitchen. There was (more!?) Christmas wrapping, trips to the grocery store, too much time spent settling sibling disputes, ditto time spent dealing with wet snow gear. There was church, a variety of year-end work tasks, a tiny bit of reading, and a handful of micronaps. There were card games and surprise visits from friends. There were a lot of dishwasher cycles and, some could argue, too little vacuuming.
Even though I have a laundry list of blog topics I want to work through (including more Christmas-themed posts that will – *gasp* – have to get posted after Christmas), I’ve decided to revive a Ghost of Christmas Past and recycle a subset of Would You Rather questions I posed last year. If you told me your preferences before…please tell me again! It’s so fun to see the results of these polls and better appreciate how much our individual celebrations and preferences vary.
Loading ...Team Ginger all the way. I didn’t grow up eating sugar cookies, so I’ve never fully understood the appeal. They’re delicious (copious amounts of sugar + butter = hard to go wrong), but I don’t go out of my way to make/eat them.
In general, I prefer to consume Christmas-only goodies during the holiday and none of my favourites are actually cookies. My go-to treats? Peanut Butter Balls, Unbaked Cherry Cheesecake, Cinnamon Coffee Cake.
Loading ...Eggnog is a hard pass, though Indy adores it so I put some in my cart with a brief shudder last week (he’s already finished the entire carton). Coffee with Peppermint Mocha Creamer has once again been particularly delicious and festive.
Loading ...I love a fresh blanket of snow on Christmas morning but this is now relatively rare in our part of Canada. We almost always have a green Christmas (with fairly mild temperatures). Best case scenario? A white Christmas, followed by leaving Canada on December 26th for a warmer climate until mid-April. #RetirementGoals
This year we are almost guaranteed to have a white Christmas (quite a bit of snow already + cold temps for the next few days; we actually have snow in the forecast for Christmas Eve as well). The kids are overjoyed and I have to admit I’m happy about it too. There really is something extra magical about celebrating Christmas when there’s snow outside on the ground.
Loading ...I love Christmas trees and honestly think any tree looks beautiful once you add some twinkle lights and sentimental ornaments. We have a small artificial tree in the basement that John and I bought before our first Christmas as a married couple. It’s a bit Charlie-Brownish, but very special to me.
Since moving out of an apartment into a larger detached home, we’ve always opted for a real tree. Until this year. After the tree-toppling debacle of 2023, we opted to go artificial.
Christmas hack alert: if you do buy a real tree, here is a secret. A friend of ours owns a Christmas tree lot and her trick is to hold the tree firmly around the trunk and hit it down onto a hard surface (we usually went to the end of our driveway) VERY hard 10-20 times. She also sometimes sets up her tree outside and uses a broom to “sweep” up and down the tree. Both actions will dislodge loose needles.
Loading ...I am Team White lights all. the. way. Growing up we had coloured lights on our tree for years and even as a child I remember being elated when we made the switch to white lights. I find many types of multi-coloured lights can look dull and a bit depressing?! I love the clean aesthetic and bright shine of warm white lights. Even for outside lights, I prefer at least a mix of white + colours (think alternating white/red bulbs). I am NOT a fan of blue lights – ever – at Christmas. Blinking lights tend to be jarring, but I can see the appeal. And LEDs are an emphatic NO.
Loading ...Hmmm. Music, Christmas Eve services, and holiday movies and cartoons (Charlie Brown’s Christmas! The Grinch! White Christmas!) are all equally beloved. But then there’s the food. And the twinkle lights.
I can’t choose and I’m a monster for trying to make you play favourites.
Loading ...Growing up we had to wait an agonizing length of time in the morning; my parents insisted on getting dressed (my Dad would even shave!) before settling in to open stocking gifts. We’d pause, have breakfast, and then tackle the gifts under the tree. I suppose at some point when I was a frustrated adolescent – and thought having to wait until 7:30 am to open Christmas gifts was torturous – I likely vowed to let my kids get up at the crack of dawn and open gifts helter-skelter.
This hasn’t happened.
We tend to roll out of bed at a leisurely time, open stocking gifts, eat breakfast, clean up a bit, and then slowly work our way through gifts under the tree.
Loading ...I prefer it when everyone opens gifts one at a time. We tend to take turns for the first while and then one child tends to get a bit antsy and I usually give in and let them just open their final gifts at their own pace.
Most gifts take me several minutes or more to wrap and label (not to mention the hours and hours of thinking/shopping/buying/hiding) so I want to extend the opening experience for as long as possible to feel like I got more return on my investment. Unwrapping can all be “over” in an incredibly short period if we don’t find ways to savour and prolong the fun.
I also get a lot of joy out of seeing what other people receive; as an adult, I look forward to watching others more than I anticipate opening my own gifts!
Loading ...I was a married adult with a child before I realized some people did not wrap every single stocking stuffer. My mind was blown (and a bit deflated) the year we spent Christmas with someone who did not wrap stocking stuffers.
My parents didn’t have much money when I was growing up so all our stocking stuffers were wrapped in plastic bags (yup – the ones from the grocery store; it was the 80s and 90s), held closed with a strip of masking tape on which my mom would write the first initial of the recipient.
Most years I have wrapped stocking stuffers in regular Christmas wrap, but this year I’ve been using leftover packing paper from Amazon packages, scraps of wrapping paper from main gifts that are too small to be useful for larger items, and brown/white paper bags.
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No question – home! We had a few very bad experiences with treacherous winter travel around Christmas. Plus, I prefer being in my own space, waking up in my own bed, and not lugging gifts and gear. I do think if we didn’t have kids at home I’d be relatively neutral about going elsewhere as long as we didn’t have to drive through snow. When A and L were younger – and we lived in a teeny apartment that was not at all conducive to hosting company – we often did travel at some point over the holidays. But home is definitely where my heart is.
Loading ...I know I made up this question, but it is tough. I think I’d have to go with not knowing. I think it would bum me out to know everything under the tree.
Loading ...We have friends who always wrapped all the gifts for their kids on Christmas Eve. They’d set up a huge assembly line of items and wrapping materials in their bedroom and stay up into the wee hours of the night getting it done. I prefer wrapping gifts in small batches, spread throughout December. After twenty minutes or so of wrapping, I don’t find it fun anymore. I leave things quasi-set up for weeks in our family room, so it’s not much of a hassle to start/stop. I like to be in bed asleep by 10 pm on Christmas Eve, so staying up late to wrap holds little to no appeal! Aren’t I just a party animal…
Loading ...I’m definitely a turkey gal at heart and feel like ham is more of an American tradition over holidays (in Canada, most people I know have turkey at both Thanksgiving AND Christmas). But we have a seafood casserole a few days before Christmas (with leftovers of it again on Christmas Eve)…and I do love ham. But turkey is tradition!
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I love, love, love tradition. But I do enjoy trying new things (within reason) and appreciate some of the changes we’ve made over the years to modify existing traditions. But who am I trying to kid? I’m caption of the cheer squad for Team Tradition.
Loading ...This is a perennial struggle for me. I want to extend the coziness of Christmas but it always feels a bit melancholy and sad to look at the tree without any presents and to know that even as I’m listening to the Christmas music, it’s the beginning of the end of the holiday season which means winter is about to begin*.
*Cue ominous music – snow cancellations, icy roads, freezing temperatures.
Your turn.
- What’s your favourite Christmas tradition. Who started it, why is it so special to your family?
- Do you wrap your stocking stuffers?
- What’s your favourite day around Christmas? Christmas Adam/Eve/Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve? Mine is definitely Christmas Eve, though Christmas Adam is quickly becoming a close-running contender for the title.
Header photo by Raspopova Marina on Unsplash
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mbmom11
I like Christmas at night, after all the hectic, fun activity has quieted.
We used to wrap all presents on Christmas eve, but I often had to do it alone. Even soft Christmas carols playing in the background could not tamp down my burning feeling of resentment. Now we have the kids wrap – hand them paper, tape, and a pile of gifts.
Elisabeth
Even soft Christmas carols playing in the background could not tamp down my burning feeling of resentment.
I read this just after I finished a few last gifts and laughed hard. I thought I was finished yesterday, ended up having a few more today, and have even more tomorrow! With 8 people in the house it all feels a little nuts.
Melissa
We don’t do stockings, but anyone who still believes in Santa (or pretend to) has a sack that the Santa presents go in and zip always wrap the presents for that. Although we don’t have to do that now. I like to wrap the presents in one big go. I think it’s because that way I could get G to help me with the kids ones, although he would complain a lot. I like Christmas Day the best.
Elisabeth
I wonder if stockings are common in Australia? They are pretty standard over here in Canada!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
This is so fun.
Some f the questions I was’t able to answer since we celebrate Christmas differently in Germany.
The main day is Christmas Eve.
It is decorating the tree around noon while my dad is making dinner, then it is a coffee cake eating, after which we get ready for church. Once we are back from church have to wait until a bell is rung (and my parents have places all gifts under tree). We usually spend it in the garden these days taking some pictures. Back in the day we sat in my grandparents Christmas room. Ince the bell rings it is Bescherung (meaning gifts). Usually we open the gift from my parents which are under the tree unless dinner is already read then we eat first which rarely happens. After eating we usually make some sort of mulled one and retreat to the church area for the second part of gift giving – meaning we open gift one at a time all the gist my sister and I and our partners have for all of each other. After that we open all our Christmas mail and read them allowed. And in previous days my dad would read us a story. These days they are both tired. Sometimes we play a bird game.
We never watch tv on Christmas Eve.
Elisabeth
I am always fascinated by how European friends wrap up the main part of their celebrations on Christmas Eve. But it sounds very cozy and festive.
I still can’t believe you wait until December 24th to decorate your tree!!! It must make it extra special, though.
Love all these glimpses into your traditions and would love to read a post all about your decorations AND another post all about your family traditions at Christmas.
Zagorka
Long time lurker here 😉 I am similar to Tobia, in that I live in Germany, but I am originally from Croatia. The main festivity ist on Christmas Eve. We start with the evening meal, which is always fish, or otherwise meatless. My father reads Luke 2, and then we tuck in :). After that we sing a few croatian christmas carols, and then open the presents one by one. Everybody looks and ohhs and ahhs and congratulates the recipient. Then it is time for midnight mass, if possible. Christmas day itself is quite relaxed.
For me, Christmas starts with Christmas Eve, and I do not decorate before. But! Then everything is up until February 2nd, which is the old catholic end of Christmastide. So from my point of view it is perfectly OK to have Christmas themed post after December 25th!
Elisabeth
Always fish! I think this is the same in France? I remember my sister spent a year studying abroad. It was very hard to be away over Christmas, but I remember she called home rather devastated to have eaten fish for Christmas dinner instead of turkey!
Yay for being able to post for the next few week about Christmasy things. I like the idea of extending the season.
Cattis
This year it’s been so relaxing preparing for christmas because we just had the weekend and I’m off work today. I did all my usual dec 23 prep yesterday so now I get to do whatever I want. Not a normal luxury. In a bit I’ll do a christmas puzzle with my 16 year old daughter per her request (finally, usually we do a couple of puzzles together during december but she has been busy with teenage stuff). And my kids are going to bake som swedish gingerbread cookies later. Of course we have the uppesittarkväll, we play bingo, try the christmas food and candy, puzzle etc. It’s a coach evening together before christmas celebrations tomorrow.
My favourite day is boxing day because it’s super chill, I get to read my books, puzzle, the fridge is full with leftovers from christmas so everyone feeds themselves when they are hungry. We might watch a christmas movie together or play some games.
Merry christmas 🌟🎄🌟
Elisabeth
Christmas puzzles sound so fun. I don’t have any Christmas puzzles and it is just an added layer of festive fun.
Ummm…what’s the uppesittarkväll??
Merry Christmas to you as well!
Birchie
How fun! The only question that I had to sit out on was colored/white/LED lights – I DON’T CARE I JUST WANT ALL OF THE LIGHTS OKAY!!!! And yes I want snow!
I feel like I’ve said this so many times, but as a dog walker, there is no such thing as putting up Christmas lights too early or leaving them up too late. Seeing the decorations at night in the dark is one of our greatest joys.
Merry Christmas to you and yours! BTW I’m going to wait to mail my Canada Christmas cards until Jan 1 just to give the mail service a chance to clear up.
Elisabeth
Argh. Sorry! I knew I was forgetting something.
I am very picky about lights, but I very much admire your positive and welcoming attitude.
I’m also waiting until after Jan 1st to try to send anything. The system is going to take a while to get back to normal…or at least normal-adjacent.
Lindsay
We wrap stocking stuffers! There’s only 3 of us, so I wrap my Mr’s, he wraps our daughter’s, and she wraps mine. The Mr and I used to have a competition around who could get the most ridiculous wrapping paper for the other, so we pull from those “scraps” for stockings. It makes for some ridiculous moments (“why did Daddy get you Justin Bieber wrapping paper, Mumma?” but is in line with our chaos, haha.
Elisabeth
I’m a big fan of wrapped gifts. Though, admittedly, it takes so. much. longer that way.
Justin Bieber in on some Christmas wrapping paper? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but that is hilarious! Love it. What a fun (and friendly) competition.
Jenny
I love this so much!!! Really, I love everything about Christmas- white lights, colored lights, artificial trees, real trees, all kinds of cookies, etc. It’s fun to see everyone’s preferences. And- I say bring on all the Christmas-y posts AFTER Christmas! Let’s keep the celebrations going as long as possible.
Elisabeth
You are the Queen of Christmas. And I know we both struggle with some melancholy after Christmas so solidarity, Jenny.
Nicole MacPherson
Yay I love your polls. But I have a problem (it’s Festivus after all, I have a lot of problems with you people, and now you’re going to hear about it!) (just kidding, I only have one problem) I WANT ALL THE LIGHTS! Not just warm white. Not just coloured. ALLLLLLLL of them! Also I like both new traditions and old, especially these days!
Merry Christmas, my dear friend. xoxo
Elisabeth
Oops. I have let you and Birchie down. Noted about your vote!!
I agree it’s nice to have a mix of old and new. It can also inspire us to reinvigorate dormant interests and traditions.
Jacquie
I grew up with stocking stuffers not wrapped, so I don’t wrap them. My husband on the other hand, wraps ALL the stocking stuffers and it kind of annoys me, ha ha. His are unwrapped, mine are wrapped and my daughters are half wrapped/unwrapped. I love old traditions, but enjoy embracing new activities. I like to start Christmas early, so I am pretty done with it by the time December 25th rolls around. I do, however, enjoy seeing all the lights stay up in the neighbourhood during some of the darkest weeks of the year.
Elisabeth
It’s so interesting how firmly we can stick to the “way things were” when we were growing up.
I’m with your husband on Team Wrap Everything!!
Elisabeth
Agreed that having outside (and some inside) lights up well into the winter months is a nice reprieve from the pervading darkness of the season.
I had to chuckle at the three different versions of wrapping for stockings. I’ll admit I am rather shocked with how many people leave their stocking stuffers unwrapped. It’s all I knew growing up so it never crossed my mind someone else’s experience might be different.
Alexandra
Oh, what an absolutely fun quiz, I loved answering these. I’m team white lights all the way after living in Williamstown (Mass) back in the day, where the whole college town was lit up over Christmas in white. It was magical especially with the snow (there was always snow back then).
We’ve had a busy weekend doing so today, I’m surfing blogs the OH is on the PS4 and we’re having time out to ourselves as tomorrow the week of food, drink and visits begin.
We don’t wrap stocking gifts here, and my Sister in law has set the family traditions of the last decade (minus the covid years) for Christmas Eve at her place. Here in Quebec, the traditions are slightly different as is the food. But maybe I should go write a post to explain how different it is to most of the rest of Canada.
Elisabeth
White lights + snow really is magic! I couldn’t agree more.
Oh…pretty please do share about Quebec traditions. I’m clueless and am very much intrigued. You should DEFINITELY write a post about this.
Alexandra
I’ve made a note to follow up on this one and will consult with both the OH and SiL to make sure I write something up about how Quebeckers like to spend the Christmas Holidays together.
Elisabeth
Yay!
Michelle G.
This was so much fun! I need to learn how to make a poll! My sisters-in-law make the best caramels and fudge and always give us a gift bag full of them. That has become my favorite Christmas tradition! I make a calendar for everyone, which people seem to expect and enjoy. I used to love egg nog. Every Christmas, I’d drink a whole carton by myself! Then, one year, when I went to have it, I didn’t like it. Now I’d much rather have a fancy coffee!
Elisabeth
I also have people who expect a calendar every year! It is a labour of love, but everyone also KEEPS the calendars, so it’s a fun visual representation of how we all change from year to year.
Lisa's Yarns
You missed my favorite Christmas cookie on your list – peanut butter blossoms/kiss cookies. I have not attempted to make these GF but I will some day. They are my fave cookie by far. And I am team cookie 100%. I would choose a well-made cookie over almost any other dessert. Especially if we consider French macarons to be a cookie (which I believe they technically are).
I used to take my Christmas tree down ASAP to get the house back in order. We let it stay up longer last year and this year I’m debating taking the ornaments off and making a bunch of heart ornaments with Paul when he doesn’t have children NYE/NYD and making it a Valentine’s Day Tree. I just love the glow of the tree so much on these days with limited daylight!
My favorite Christmas tradition for my family of origin was our Christmas Eve. We would go to church, make a big meal, and then open all of our presents that night. We are of German descent and it is common to open presents on Christmas Eve for Germans! These days my favorite tradition is going to Phil’s cousin’s house for Christmas Eve. It is such a fun gathering and our kids get so doted on that we can usually enjoy chatting w/ people and not keep a super close eye on them since they get a lot of attention from the older cousins.
We do not wrap our stocking stuffers. And get this – we did not have stockings when I was a child. Now we do since my parents have pivoted to giving their adult children socks + cash. My mom wraps the socks and we get a card w/ the cash. For the boys, we do not put much in their stockings. They will each get 1-2 things and then I call that good enough!
My favorite day is definitely Christmas Eve. That’s when we go to church and it’s the more festive day of the holiday for my current family and family of origin. Christmas Day is more laid back/chill. Although since getting married, that is the day that all of the presents are opened so it’s the more exciting day for the boys (but they also get a ton of gifts at the extended family Christmas since there are no young kids in that family – all Phil’s cousin’s kids are out of college!).
Elisabeth
I don’t think I’ve ever made PB blossoms, but they are so festive looking and I love PB. Why don’t I make these? I guess we get so used to set traditions of things to bake, and I am not necessarily someone who readily looks to branch out.
I did a Valentines tree a few years ago and LOVED it. I’ve transitioned it to just being the mantle (Valentine’s in Feb and then Easter decor in March/April), and I can’t ever see NOT doing this now. The glowing lights are such a welcome distraction from the cold and dark.
Lisa, you might die seeing how full our stockings are!
Christmas Eve is just so wonderful for me. I’m currently writing this comment response on Christmas Eve in a quiet house with just the twinkle lights on. The only thing that would make this better would be cradling a coffee with peppermint mocha creamer, but I’m too afraid of making noise and breaking the silence!
coco
so interesting questions! I love the idea of Christmas but haven’t really celebrated it much as we lived in tropical country for so long. When I think about Christmas, I think about staying cozy at home with the family doing festival things. My favorite things now with the kids is the advent calendar (daily small gifts), used to love decorating ginger house, bake cookies, and definitely celebrating my birthday that is Christmas. We usually travel during this time o the year, so landing someone new for Christmas is our new “tradition”.
oh.. I like ginger cookies too, only have it during the holidays.
Elisabeth
I think your advent calendar is so fun! I know my kids would love it, though I think we have enough traditions that I won’t introduce it at this point.
Ernie
I have to make so much food on Christmas Eve. No time for wrapping, and yet – I have to wrap today, but Mini has vowed to help. I like to relax after Christmas and sometimes we are too busy getting up all of the decorations till the last minute so we don’t take anything down- need to enjoy them first. I think my fav tradition is the big breakfast I make on Christmas morning. We had a bowl of cereal when I was growing up, but especially now that the kids are older – I love spending time just ‘us’ before the big (huge) family gathering. I make apple puff pancakes and it’s about the only time of the year I make them, so we all look forward to it. With older kids who sleep in, I go downstairs and start making the breakfast – then it bakes as everyone opens gifts and we linger at the table.
Have a wonderful Christmas with your beautiful family!
Elisabeth
Agreed that it’s nice to linger and make things feel extra special on Christmas morning. We have a very specific coffee cake for breakfast each year. I grew up having it every single Christmas morning and I think my family would revolt if I didn’t carry on the tradition. It is a multi-generational favourite.
Suz
You wrapped stocking stuffers? Like, you wrapped TOOTHPASTE? 🙄 I’m giggling here.
You didn’t ask about Santa gifts, but when I was a kid, our Santa gifts were never wrapped, and I continued that tradition with my kids because HELLO, EASY.
I’m laughing at your son with the eggnog. Really? I haven’t had it in decades, but I’d question his exact age because it just seems like an old person thing. No? 🤣
Elisabeth
Yup. We wrap literally EVERYTHING.
We have never done Santa, but every gift is wrapped (and my brother and SIL label their stocking gifts as coming from Santa and those are wrapped in fancy paper and everything!).
I agree – eggnog is DEFINITELY an old person thing. He isn’t afraid to march to the beat of his own drum, though. Which is quite charming!