Advent Calendar - Dec 24th

December 24 – Christmas Eve
How did you, your family or your ancestors spend Christmas Eve?


Growing up, Christmas Eve was usually a day for prep.  Getting things ready for Christmas.  Making sure the last of the presents were wrapped and under the tree.  Baking and whatnot.  For us kids, playing, mostly.

As we got older, things changed a bit, and I was the one to start the change.  Being oldest, I started dating first.  My then girlfriend had a large family, so changing scheduling of their celebration would have been cumbersome, and really would have been presumptuous of me to ask for.  So my ever-accomodating mother decided we could celebrate our Christmas on Christmas Eve instead, so I could attend both families' celebrations.  And so it has been ever since.  My family has moved the celebration to Christmas Eve so all of the in-laws can keep theirs on Christmas Day.

As I believe I've mentioned, my family is smaller (or was - one brother now has 7 kids with #8 on the way!) so we all gather in the living room and take turns opening gifts.  Sometimes this is after reading the Christmas story from the Bible, but lately all of the young kids' impatience tends to over-ride that.  Depending on the year, dinner can be either before or after gift opening.  Dinner is usually quite an eclectic mix of traditional and kid-friendly fare.  There will be turkey and/or ham, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and so forth.


This and all other articles on this blog are © copyright 2012 by Daniel G. Dillman