My Favorite Family Tradition
As I gear up to give birth just in time for the holidays, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about family traditions. What unique holiday rituals will we include in the years to come that our son will one day come to treasure? For me, it was our family Christmas Eve open house. Each year, we would get our tree on Christmas Eve (clearly, we are a family of procrastinators). It soon became a challenge to hunt for the perfect tree amidst the closing lots, but I have so many great memories driving all over town with my dad and sisters, singing Christmas carols and huddling close when we finally got our tree squeezed into the hatchback. In the evening, we would host an open house party and invite friends and loved ones to come over and help decorate our tree. Those trees always felt extra special, and the holiday felt so full of love with guests coming over to pitch in and share a cup of cider. I hope to establish some lasting memories with my own family and so in an effort to get the ideas flowing, I asked some of our top contributors to share their favorite holiday traditions. Here’s what they had to say:
“We cook latkes at my in laws’ home during Hanukkah – it is open to all family and friends of different religions. We typically go through 50 pounds of potatoes and have around 70 people come celebrate with us. It is the perfect interfaith celebration for my blended family.”
Amanda Simkin, Arlington Heights, IL
“We have a special family bread that we make from generations back. The dough is rolled out super thin and covers an entire kitchen table, and then a filling is poured over and spread out before rolling the dough up. When we were kids, we thought it would be funny to pretend like we were ‘throwing up’ the filling onto the dough (gross, I know). Now in our 40s, all of the siblings refuse to help make this bread unless we get to ‘throw up,’ and this is the only way our kids know how to make it!” Debi Smith-Racanelli, Littleton, CO
“I bake Christmas cookies with my daughter using my grandmother’s tin cookie cutters with wooden handles. They are such a treasure to me, and it’s one of my favorite ways to celebrate the season.”
Jen Redmon, Crofton, MD
“No matter what else is served, both Thanksgiving and Christmas dessert always includes my mom’s awesome key lime pie!”
Pamela Martin, Goliad, TX
“We seem to make new traditions every year, but we do make it a point to watch ‘A Christmas Story’ at least once over the holidays, usually when it’s on a 24-hour run.”
Shelley Moench-Kelly, Newport, VT
“Every year, on the day after Thanksgiving, we skip the whole Black Friday madness and put up our Christmas tree. We put on holiday music, make hot chocolate and decorate! It’s a fun and relaxing day!”
Jennifer Brozak, North Huntingdon, PA
“One of my family traditions is to eat pecan pie because it is my grandpa’s favorite, and we also sing songs together. As a family of musicians, it makes for some really beautiful and special moments.”
Wendy Rose Gould, Phoenix, AZ
“One holiday tradition our family has is making a special ornament each year to hang on our Christmas tree. We made handprint ornaments when our son was a baby and now at age six, he makes things that take a little more involvement on his part, like glitter ornaments and painted wood or ceramic ornaments.”
Bridget Coila, Gretna, LA
Jillian Gordon is the Managing Editor of Mamapedia.com. A Los Angeles-based lifestyle writer and editor, her work has appeared in Beauty Launchpad, Nailpro Magazine, Saturday Night Magazine and Westside Today. She is also the former Content Manager of Mom.me. Jillian is currently expecting her first baby in late November, 2016.
