I have a lot of negative feelings about Christmas. I spend a large portion of every December (and November if I'm being completely honest) feeling blue, then feeling guilty for feeling blue because I have a lot of good things in my life that I should be happy about, and then feeling sad about feeling guilty about feeling blue. Feel free to pity Shawn; I do.
Last week Nilsa wrote that holiday traditions don't need to be traditional. It was an aha! moment for me. Every year I feel like I fail at Christmas because we don't have (or want) a Christmas tree, or decorate every available space with assorted Christmas bric-a-brac like my mother does, or enjoy listening to Christmas carols. Nilsa's post, along with all of the lovely suggestions you made on my "woe is me, Christmas is so haaaard" post, made me understand that Shawn and I don't need to have a cookie cutter Christmas. Last year we barbecued hamburgers in the snow on Christmas Eve. It is officially our very own Christmas tradition (the hamburger part; I could do without the snow part.) I'm (tentatively) excited about Christmas this year. Sure there will be family drama - there always is - and frustration. But there will also be hamburgers. And ... what else? What are your non-traditional holiday traditions? I need to poach some new traditions for Kickass Christmas '09.
In other Christmas news (look at me go! I'm all about the Christmas this year) I am thinking of putting together a card exchange if I can drum up some interest. I'm thinking anyone who wanted to participate could email me their mailing address (ninjahills at gmail dot com) by a certain date and then I would distribute the addresses so everyone who sent a card would receive a card. I love receiving snail mail and finding new blogs and this seems like a cool (holiday-themed! Kickass Christmas '09!) way to do it. Is this something you would want to participate in? I realize not everyone celebrates Christmas and I'm trying to not be exclusive so let's call this the Holiday Card Swap. Open to everyone!
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Well, you could always be like us Jews and do the traditional movie on Christmas day. hahaha.
ReplyDeleteCount me in for your card exchange, love.
I don't exactly have any Christmas traditions myself since they tend to change from year to year. I just try to spend it with my parents.
ReplyDeleteNilsa suggestion is definitely the way to go I think. Make your own traditions, whatever they maybe.
And I'd love to exchange snail mail!
p.s. I have not felt like working today, hence the many comments from me on your blog today. I promise I'm not a stalker!
I would love to do a card swap, sounds fun!
ReplyDeleteWe do homemade pizza while putting up our tree. And fudgesicles after. It's probably my most favorite Christmas tradition :)
ReplyDeleteI'm in for some card fun.
In theory I would love to participate but to be blatantly honest I suck with the sending of cards and now with the kid I should just go ahead and admit that I will never get any out the door. And then I will feel hugely guilty, especially if I receive a bunch of cards. It's a lovely idea, though.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of making up your own holiday tradition. I'm pretty much in the same boat as you: crummy family holiday, and I never put up a tree in my own apartment. But we can still make it a nice day, right?
ReplyDeleteAnyway. Count me in for the card exchange, it sounds like a great idea!
I hate Christmas. I'm an agnostic, and hate buying people presents for a holiday I am not interested in celebrating (I think people's individual birthdays are SO much more important), and I don't get along with my mom very well. So depending where I am, I tend to sleep in, veg, then join in for dinner. I love Sam's family, so I love being with them for any and all family dinners!
ReplyDeleteYou and Shawn are your own family unit; I think it's important for you guys to create your own memories and traditions. Burgers are AWESOME!
The card swap is a great idea, but I've already got too many I HAVE to send out. :)
ReplyDeleteOur tradition? We open our presents to each other on Christmas Eve, after the kids are in bed. While drinking wine/beer. :)
I think we're gonna start a Christmas day movie tradition. My office closes for two weeks at Christmas, so it's my favorite time of year.
ReplyDeleteI'm dreading the holidays this year, too, for a variety of reasons.
ReplyDeleteOne of the traditions we've co-opted from Dan's family is that we put silly, joke-type presents in one another's stockings, regardless of whether we're at his parents' house or mine. My gifts to him in this vein are usually homemade and have consisted (for example) of: a knitted polar bear finger puppet, a pair of boxers with the word WOO embroidered on, and a diamond-encrusted dick wiper (all 3 have inside-joke type stories to accompany).
A holiday tradition among our group of friends in Denver involves Bubbe's latke party, which is always awesome. Dan makes challah and our friend Julie makes her homemade chicken soup, and there are lots and lots of latkes and usually rock band or wii fit and entirely too much booze. Which is something every Channukah celebration needs!
BBqing sounds like a great tradition. Some unusual traditions we have: watching Elf on Christmas eve while eating pizza and drinking Eggnog lattes.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm definately game for the card swap, great idea :)
BBQ on Xmas is awesome. We do have a tree - because I love it!! But carols? Not really. I love watching Christmas movies like Home Alone though. And The Nutcracker.
ReplyDeleteSo movies and trees.
And pizza :) I don't cook!
I love that you guys are coming up with your own traditions! Mister and I are tentatively coming up with our own "We're not doing all these family dinner" plans so we can relax and enjoy the season!
ReplyDeleteGood luck =)
I highly recommend white trash gingerbread house building. It is so much fun and you could easily turn it into a party!
ReplyDeletePics from ours here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/justexpressive/sets/72157603530169231/
i want to join in the card swap!
ReplyDeleteour fam does xmas with JUST us - mom, dad, me, and my sister. we get a "family board game" every year, and spend the afternoon sitting at the kitchen table playing our new game, while eating candy from our stockings. it's lovely.
My husband and I have always detested Christmas with a ferocious intensity (wow, that makes us sound crazy). I think it's fair to blame it on spending 20+ years shuttling back and forth between divorced households.
ReplyDeleteNow, we refuse to go anywhere. Anywhere. We also, for some reason though we can't remember why, always eat spaghetti for Christmas dinner.
Since we have children this year (and last) there has been some question and pressure from our family to change that. But, no. Traditional traditions are overrated in my opinion, and I hope my children will love our Christmas at home with each other, old movies, and pasta (well... maybe some presents too).
Am I too late?? I love exchanging snail mail especially with new friends!
ReplyDelete