A Holiday Survey

Whew, I am doing my best to channel some Christmas spirit as we approach Christmas. Which is somehow just days away!! Do you remember when you were a child, how long it took for Christmas to arrive? We always had presents under the tree in the weeks leading up to Christmas so I think looking at those presents added to the anticipation and that anticipation made it feel like it took forever for Christmas Eve to arrive (we opened presents on Christmas Eve). 

Now as an adult with children of my own, Christmas comes incredibly fast! But ready or not, it's coming this weekend. Holiday traditions and likes/dislikes are so interesting so I thought I would answer this holiday survey!

Egg nog or hot chocolate?

I'd choose hot chocolate although it's something I very rarely drink. Egg nog is disgusting IMO! I am not a dairy person, though, like I only have milk on cereal. I would never drink a glass of milk. Bleh.

Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?

As children, ours were wrapped and we usually wrap the boys' gifts, although I did not wrap the train table Paul got 2 Christmases ago from Santa!

Colored lights on tree/house or white?

We have white lights on our tree. We do not have lights on our house. I've debated taking this on at some point, but this is not the season of life to do that!

Do you hang mistletoe?

Nope.

When do you put your decorations up?

We used to put them up the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but the last 2 years I've put our tree up in mid-November because I needed the cheery glow of a tree to brighten our house/offset the doom and gloom of the never-ending pandemic. This year I put our tree up on November 20th.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?

As a child, I loved my mom's stuffing on Christmas Day (we had turkey and the fixing for Christmas Day when I was growing up). On Christmas Eve, we'd usually have an assortment of seafood and my favorite dish was grilled shrimp. We're still working on establishing our traditional Christmas meals and I don't really feel strongly about anything I make. Eeks. We usually make ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, and roasted asparagus on Christmas Day. I did try to establish a tradition of making homemade cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning several years ago but it was sooo much work, especially since they were GF which is tricky with something that needs to rise and be kind of puffy/airy. No one seemed to like them all that much, so that fell by the wayside. 

Favorite holiday memory as a child?

Our Christmas Eve was really special. We would usually go to the afternoon mass on Christmas Eve, have our Christmas Eve meal afterwards, open presents and then have Christmas cookies and homemade ice cream for dessert. It was just my immediate family. 

What is on your Christmas wishlist?

A full night of sleep? Ha! Phil and I don't exchange gifts, I don't exchange with my siblings, and we asked my parents to stop getting us gifts so they could just focus on buying for their many grandkids,  but we still get socks and cash. They have 10 grandkids now so still have plenty of gifts to buy! My MIL still buys us gifts, though, so I asked for a sweatshirt to replace the sweatshirt I've worn nearly daily during the pandemic! I'm sure she'll include a few other things as well. 

Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve?

In my family of origin - yes. All of our gifts including our Santa gifts were opened on Christmas Eve. My parents had a sneaky way of having the Santa gifts show up while we were opening gifts - I never caught onto it at the time and really thought Santa had dropped off our gifts on the doorstep or deck without any of us noticing. Now in my little family, we tend to spend Christmas Eve with some of Phil's family so we open gifts on Christmas Day.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

It's pre-lit with white lights. Most of the ornaments are ones I bought on clearance the day after Christmas in 2003 - my first Christmas living on my own in an apartment. I still love those ornaments! I've added to the collection over the years with ornaments from travel, hand/foot prints of our kids, ornaments they've made at school, Paris-themed ornaments I've received (I have an obsession with Paris/all things French), etc.

Pablo's footprint from his first Christmas - made at daycare

I ordered this first Christmas ornament for Will from an Etsy shop last December.

Perfect summary of 2020, right?

Hand prints of the boys' first Christmas. Pablo's is on the left, Will's is on the right. Will was less than a month old and Paul was almost 10 months old, but their hands look about the same size!

This year, I put up the more fragile ornaments and then Paul handled the rest!

Snow? Love it or dread it?

Well, Christmas isn't Christmas without a covering of snow. So I love it during the month of December!

Real tree or fake tree?

Fake and would never get a real one - too much of a hassle!

Do you remember your favorite gift?

I actually don't... I remember the abundance of gifts under the tree and opening gifts, but nothing in particular stands out. I know I appreciated what my parents gave us. But more of my memories are from the traditions around advent/Christmas. So I am hoping that we can under-emphasize gifts for our kids? I know there is a place for gifts, I just don't want it to be the sole focus of Christmas. This is probably very unrealistic to some extent, but hopefully we can maintain a lower key Christmas with fewer gifts even as our kids get older. Time will tell.

What is the most important thing about Christmas for you?

Spending time with family.

What is your favorite holiday dessert?

As a kid, it was kiss cookie, gingerbread men or sugar cookies. I've made GF sugar cookies which turn out great, but the dough is so fragile so you can't roll it out/use cookie cutters. So they aren't as fun? I know I could make kiss cookies GF but it doesn't feel worth the hassle. But my mom makes peanut brittle and heath candy every year and makes sure to send us some, so that is probably my favorite dessert these days. My MIL also makes some of Phil's favorites and shares with us so Phil and Paul still get some Christmas cookies to enjoy.

What is your favorite tradition?

Growing up, we would light candles on our advent wreath, say prayers, and sing Christmas songs together. We didn't do that every night, especially as us kids got older, but at least weekly we would do that as a family. 

This is another thing I'm still working on establishing for my little family. Pre-covid I would say my favorite tradition was hosting my college friends and their kids for a cookie decorating night. I've had to cancel that the last 2 years since my kids aren't vaxxed yet. Fingers crossed I can bring back this tradition next year!

What tops your tree?

A sparkly Eiffel Tower! My college friend gifted it to me years ago.

Our Eiffel Tower tree-topper. Looks a little crooked but oh well!

Do you prefer giving or receiving?

Giving, although you can tell from other answers that I am just not a gift person!

What is your favorite Christmas song?

Silent Night

Candy canes, yuck or yum?

Yuck! I'm not a peppermint person.

Favorite Christmas movie?

Home Alone is my favorite kids movie. I also love The Holiday!

What do you leave for Santa?

We have yet to do this since our kids weren't old enough to notice/care. But this year we will probably leave out cookies and milk.

Do you have a Christmas morning tradition?

We didn't do much in my family of origin since Christmas Eve was the big night. I'm still working on this for my little family. I'd like to make some sort of Christmas morning meal, like an egg bake, but haven't established a tradition yet - and I know Paul won't eat it egg bakes because he no longer will eat eggs so I feel less motivated to come up with something for this year! I feel like traditions tend to get established as your kids get older and we are really in the weeds of young kid life so I'm taking pressure off myself to figure traditions out for now!

Do you prefer to shop on-line or at the mall?

On-line 1000%. Even pre-covid I loathed going to the mall! That said, I did buy the books they will get from Santa in person at a local children's book store which was SO FUN to do!

Christmas letter or Christmas card?

Christmas Card. I enjoy reading others' letters, although we get very few letters. I know Phil would not be on board with a Christmas letter as he is about as private of a person as you can get! 

Your turn! Pick a few to answer or do this on your blog!