Christmas Traditions

[ThirdMarioBro]

Well, we've all got to have some Holiday traditions around here? Share them.

Every year, I do several things. First...

1. I drag out the Christmas stuff the day after Thanksgiving

2. I watch Roudolph and Frosty on CBS (only time of the year I EVER turn it to that goddamn channel, but they're skipping Roudolph this year, so guess that solves that)

3. I watch the Batman :TAS episode with the Joker, and where that certain "infamous Jingle Bells parody" that we all know came from.

4. I watch the Christmas episode of the Mario Bros Super Show (until the tape dies....wait, DVD release in Spring....*phew*

5. I wander through the malls looking at Christmas stuff, although last year, we had a guy run through the mall and punch our local santa in the gut (a real old guy too) as a prank. Knocked the wind out of him, so as he was running twords the exit laughing, I was in his way. Surfice to say, I was in his way and tripped him, causing him to bust a tooth on the grante floor and give the security guard to catch him. Don't want to make a tradition of that.

6. To top it off, I play a lot of piano during the month, then on Christmas Eve, I turn the TV to that TBS marathon of a Christmas Story for 48 hours stright. Nothing else. Just walk into the room at any time to hear Red Rider shotguns, FA RAH RAH RAH RAH, and HOOO HOOO HOOOOOO! all weekend. Drives my family nutso :lol:

What's your traditions?

[Spitfire]

Every year I make it a point to randomly place a Santa Hat on someones head....When they least expect it! >_> <_< I also always play the most violent movie I have during Christmas dinner. And On Christmas morning I always go on my computer and mess with digital Santa over AIM until everyone is awake.

[Peanut]

I sit down and watch the number one all time holiday classic...JINGLE ALL DE VAY!

[OA]

Lets see...

We also put out all of decorations the day after Thanksgiving..(and on thnksgiving I awlasy watch lousy Lions get their a** handed to them)

We make up our stocking using a plain stocking, glue, and glitter

Night before (which is tonite!), we open up 1 small gift...

Oh yea, and been watching that CHarlie Brown christmas lately...

Probbaly some more but can thtink of them right now

[Voltron]

We get out the decorations sometime between Thanksgiving and two hours before Christmas morning. We rush them up in this multi-stage decoration program that my father invisioned, and frankly doesn't work all that well.

We go the whole season yelling at each other, telling each other terrible things like "You're worthless," "I wish I never gave birth to you," and the always fun, "You suck the fun right out of the season, you lazy brat."

When Christmas night comes nigh, we begin arguing about what we should have for dinner. Mom doesn't want to make anything, dad doesn't want to get involved, and my brother wants lobster. So, as a matter of course, my sickly old aunt who we keep locked away in a back room buys us 15 oz. lobster tails which my mother then vengefully cooks.

We go to Church while the lobsters are cooking, hiding in the back since we're not allowed to be there after a stunt that mom pulled with the priests some years back. After the service, mom tells me to sneak into the manger and steal some hay for our nativity at home. I try to argue the moral implications of this, but she says I won't have a Christmas if I don't get the hay. So I climb over all the church decorations and fence that keeps people out of the manger and swipe some hay. We flee from the fury of the priests and dive into the car much in the same fashion the Duke boys would, and we speed off to our humble abode.

At home we eat the lobster, where the yelling continues. Everybody goes to bed angry and wishing death upon the other members of the family, and then we curl up into balls and wonder how we ever got to be like this as we try to fall asleep.

I used to wake with the dawn, but in recent years my holiday spirit has been crushed and I'm tanked from the night before (alcohol washes away the hurt.) Now, I stay in bed till noon before a false sense of excitement washes over me and I'm swept down the stairs to feast my eyes on what old St. Nick had brought for me.

I don't know how many of us here know the joys of a 7-11 Christmas, but to be frank, they're not that joyous. My brother and I seek through the Double Gulps and the week old hot dogs to find the one gift mom spent more than a dollar on. Usually it winds up being clothes (the bane of any nerd's Christmas) and I resign myself to my room to mumble curses and fie upon the family.

Four days later comes the Christmas party, where we repeat this all over again. However, this time there's upwards of 40 to 50 people in the house all yelling and screaming at each other.

The Holidays come but once a year. If they came any more often, I'd probably have hung myself by now.

[Anarky]

I so know the feeling Voltron. This year's especially fun.

My brother decided to have his own christmas decoration, namely a girl he meet three weeks or so ago. So, some days after were were in Heidelberg (about three weeks ago), he tells her that it's okay if she came over from Hannover, which is only two hours away if you take the plane. Of course, he decides not to tell anyone, since it's supposed to be a big surprise that we have another person living with us in our flat during the holidays. But at some point, he decides to tell my mom, who of course tells him off, and mostly asks him and herself how the hell he got the impression that he could pull off something like this.

He then asked me for advice and I, as it should naturally be, saw my christmas of hanging around in boxershorts, complaining about my hangover, endangered, so I tell him that it wouldn't be the coolest of ideas to invite her over. I then get told that she's already got the ticket. Great fun. Luckily, my mom doesn't give in, so she has to stay at some unheated place without water. Then my brother decided that they will be at ours for about an hour a day, which will most likely be more like 12 hours a day. Again, I see myself complaining about my hangover with trousers on, which is against nature. Of course, he hoped for the "Freedom fighter"-bonus, since I'm usually all about those kinda things and I didn't give it to him, so he's pissed at me too. And not only is she now around at some point, no, my brother also decided that he's a man now and he wants to have his rights realized (and since when is a household with a parent involved a democracy?). So, he realizes his rights, makes some cookies and leaves the kitchen looking like the Normandy-beaches in WWII. Also, his room looks like a bomb exploded in there. This would be all good fun and sort of tolerable, if my grandparents wouldn't come up to our flat for the first time in my life. So, naturally, everything must be cleaned up.

Then, more this year's fun. My mom's school decided that in order to her being allowed to use a computer at school, she needed a certificate called "European Computer Driving License" (ECDL). Not only do I wonder since when computers drive, but also the questions are rather ridiculous. Of course, that's only to me, since I know how to switch on one of these darned machines. For my mother it was like if I was learning to give birth. Or maths. Of course, her nerves are run down as well.

And then there's me, unemployed, broke, but all in all rather happy, doing all these things at home the other two can't since they're busy all the time and get yelled at, because the other two hate each other so much that they won't even yell at each other anymore. Great fun, eh?

Other than the annual "X-Mas fight (TM)", we have a party on the 25th with my grandparents and we cook a lot, eat way too much, talk about this and that and it's supposed to be all right, but it isn't, because when my grandma sees my brother's room, she will tell my granddad, and he will be pissed beyond... beyond... beyond beyondness. It will be unimaginable.

But I got nice presents for everybody, and I know that they will like them. End.

[Raph's Girl]

Being as I come from a rather large family and I buy gifts for some of my online friends I started shopping in September....seriously...Tis what ya get when u decided to get something for a friend in Norway.

Anyways...my family traditions:

Dec 6: Since Im part German I celebrate St. Nicolous Tag. In which Santa comes to the doors of good little boys and girls (In Germany, the Netherlands, and apperantly Hungary), opens em up with the magic key he has that opens up every door, and leaves gifts in shoes. I got a pair of chop sticks (Which I really needed since I lost my other pair..I live in the U.S BTW *L*).

As I finished christmas shopping early this year I actually had time to relax. Untill my mother realized "Oops! We forgot to buy a gift for Uncle Dave!".... :roll: So now I get to go to Target on Christmas Eve Eve...yay...I hate malls....bleh. :P

On Christmas Eve we open one gift. The gift we're most curious about.

Then on Christmas morning we get up at around 8am, I distribute the gifts to everybody and then we open em up...one at a time.

As for decorating...I've always been the one to do it. Course this year I was the only one who knew where our fake tree was stored. :lol:

Im not exactly sure what we're doing for Christmas Dinner...I think we're going to my step-grandparent's place....but it seems that tomarrow (Christmas Eve) everybody's coming over here to watch the game (GOOO Seahawks!).

[Anarky]

Dec 6: Since Im part German I celebrate St. Nicolous Tag. In which Santa comes to the doors of good little boys and girls (In Germany, the Netherlands, and apperantly Hungary), opens em up with the magic key he has that opens up every door, and leaves gifts in shoes. I got a pair of chop sticks (Which I really needed since I lost my other pair..I live in the U.S BTW *L*).

Gifts? Actually he brings fruits from other places to children over here. Like tangerines or peanuts. All those fruits you'd normally wouldn't get. Besides, you have to say a little poem for St. Nikolaus, which has to be about him and how nice you were, and then maybe you get to touch his donkey (an animal). Oh yeah, you get chocolate as well.

Isn't it amazing how traditions get bent and modified over time?

[愛]

There's only a few traditions our family does every year.

Sometime around Christmas time, I have a Christmas party with my dad's side of the family. They all live in Philly/Pennsylvania, so I only see them once a year. I usually end up going, because I rarely get a chance to see them. It's good fun, and sometimes I get money from them. And just on a little fun side-note, my Uncle Dan is a f*cking nutcase. Both the young and old uncle Dan. I remember one year, my cousin Justin brought his girlfriend, and my old Uncle Dan said to him, "Oh, you brought me a girl. How nice of you. Hello, miss. Shall we retire to my bedroom, if you know what I mean? *wink*" I almost had to leave after that. :lol:

On Christmas Eve, my family holds yet another Christmas party at my house. This time it's my mom's side of the family, the side I see and know the most. There's pepperoni bread (badass) and punch. We talk and I play games with my cousin. It's a lot of fun.

On Christmas, we used to wake up at 6am to open the presents, but my brother and me are older now, and I love sleep these days, so we usually wake up around 8-9. We still open the presents one at a time. :( Later in the day on Christmas, I go to my Grandmother's (dad's side) for lunch and presents. Then around 4pm, we head over to my other Grandmother's (mom's side) house for dinner. The same people we saw the night before are also there. Go figure.

That's about it. Nothing special, just a lot of family gatherings.

[Sewer Bull]

We go to Church while the lobsters are cooking, hiding in the back since we're not allowed to be there after a stunt that mom pulled with the priests some years back.

Well that sounds like an interesting story to hear...

*tosses a quarter into Voltron's hat*

[ThirdMarioBro]

I remember one year, my cousin Justin brought his girlfriend, and my old Uncle Dan said to him, "Oh, you brought me a girl. How nice of you. Hello, miss. Shall we retire to my bedroom, if you know what I mean? *wink*" I almost had to leave after that. :lol:

ROFLOL :lol: :lol:

[Kid Icarus]

We have it down to a science.

All we do is fight, the entire time. My sister ends up locked in the bathroom with a knife, we now ignore her. I bitch about my grandparents jipping me, my nephew throws a fit that he didn't get everything he asked for, my niece complains that my nephew got more then her, my mom acts like it's all good. Every year.