A Drift of Quills: Favorite Holiday Traditions

A Drift of Quills are sharing their favorite holiday traditions this month. Every tradition has to start somewhere, and it’s fascinating to see how they grow and change with each generation. What are some of the things we value and cling to? Read on to find out!

The Christmas season here in the US is a time like no other. Folks don’t even wait until Halloween is over before they break out the holiday decor, crank up the jingle tunes, and start binging on holiday television shows.

Ack.

Please, no.

• When I was a little girl, the best parts of Christmas were:
  Putting up the Christmas tree. My dad always put the lights on it, then me and my sister would wiggle underneath to look up and point out all the burned out bulbs. (Back in the days of nightlight-sized Christmas lights.)
• The baking! Little sis and I had three older siblings. Weeks before the holiday, my mom would start the baking, and they’d join in. (Us, too, when we were finally old enough, though we did get to help out with cookies.) In a little notebook, Mom kept track of all the goodies made each season—Our record year yielded 160 dozen cookies, plus breads and candies. On Christmas Eve, Mom laid out a special table covered in a red tablecloth and decorated with antique ornaments and gold tinsel garlands. And the gingerbread house! Little sis and I were in charge of refilling two rectangle baskets with cookies from the freezer. What a job. Haha! I know, we probably should have had cookies until Easter… (I now have those baskets!)
• The night before Christmas, we’d get to listen to a recording of “The Littlest Angel.” (Sometimes several times, depending on the patience of the adult in charge of the record player.)
• And then we’d go to bed to waitwaitwait until Christmas morning. Longest night of the year. (Especially that one time I crept out of bed to look out the window and saw Santa’s sleigh flying across the sky. Do not tell 6-year-old me that was an airplane, you’ll ruin everything.)

Things are much different now. After the kids grew up and moved out, they opted to have Christmas Brunch instead of Christmas Dinner—because they would rather have my homemade cinnamon rolls than a turkey and all the fixings. (What?)

They come about 10 o’clock or so, and the grandchildren go crazy waitwaitwaiting to open gifts. After breakfast. We hand out a round of gifts, and everyone opens theirs one at a time (More or less. The grandchildren don’t fully support that tradition. Yet.) I love being able to see and appreciate the gifts others have received, and to watch the faces when each gift is unwrapped.

It’s over too soon, every time, and soon everyone is packing up and heading out. And then it’s… quiet. This is new in my life. I’ve yet to adapt, but I’m thinking about a little twist on the Icelandic tradition. Instead of giving everyone books (Not all my family members are readers. Gasp… Maybe in a year or thirty?), I’ll get myself a book or twenty* and spend the rest of the day reading. And eating chocolate. Perfect…

I love this idea, which got its start during World War I. Wartime restrictions and taxes on paper were low, and made books affordable gifts. The book-giving habit endured. It’s so popular that today the majority of books sold in Iceland are sold between September and December, in preparation for the giving season. You can read more about the Icelandic tradition in this wonderful article: Jólabókaflóð: Your New Favorite Christmas Tradition.

And if you need an idea for a book to gift, may I suggest the new installment of Tales of a Thief, Crow’s Nest?

[*No, I don’t actually need more books. I have a towering stack to read already! Not that I would EVER turn down a book… That’s just crazy sauce.]

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PATRICIA REDING

Author of the Oathtaker Series
Patricia’s website

 

My family typically celebrates the holiday on Christmas Eve. The day starts with my preparing a few thick and hearty soups. Often I go for chicken wild rice with pancetta; ham and potato chowder; and either a chili or a tortilla soup. I make large batches of each, then send some home with each of the kids when the evening wraps up so that they can snack over the course of the next day or two…

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P.S. BROADDUS

Author of The Unseen Chronicles
Parker’s website

 

First, I feel like my family and I are still young, and just starting out, so our traditions are fairly new, as far as traditions go. That said, there are definitely some things we have loved, and a couple we can’t stand.

Our family loves giving each other gifts. The children love giving gifts. They also love receiving gifts.

What we don’t love is that frenzied, frantic, chaotic, ripping of presents open all at the same time in some kind of scene that looks more like a group of sharks going after a baby seal than it does Christmas morning. So we don’t do that.

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We wish you the happiest of holidays!

What are your favorite holiday traditions? Let us know in the comments below!

 

 

Header and Pinterest Photo by Deena from Pexels
Jólabókaflód Photo: Hot chocolate with marshmallows on a Christmas background with bokeh and Christmas tree branches by Marco Verch under Creative Commons 2.0