Today is Christmas Eve and early this morning I had a call from my sister. I answered the phone saying "Christmas Eve Gift", and she laughed. My mother and her sister used to greet each other on Christmas eve with that greeting. We heard it over the years but didn't know what it meant so I Googled it last year. It is a tradition passed on where the first person to say it gets a gift, I think.
Anyway it is interesting all the different traditions that get passed on over the years through the families. I am curious about how people celebrate the holidays and find that most think their traditions are what others are doing but each has a unique twist to it. My husband is a very traditional person and would like the holidays to be like they were when he was a child. I have found that in todays world it is hard to keep to the old traditions.
When we were younger we all went to my mother's or mother-in-law's house to open gifts together on Christmas Eve. It was fun and exciting for us but I kept noticing that my mother was always in a bad mood because she was exhausted from all the preparations for the evening. The gifts were torn open and we never knew who got what gift or where the parts went for the new toys the children opened in haste. Oh what fun.
I have tried to make new traditions that are easier for the mothers and fathers who are trying to help Santa make sure he knows what their children want and have cookies and milk to sustain him on his travels delivering toys. So we will have a open house for friends who don't have other plans tonight and send the families home early to wait for Santa. Rather than a big Christmas dinner we will have brunch at my daughter's house and then gather for Posole, a Mexico soup in evening.
My wish is that we all focus on family and friends and enjoying the blessings that we have every day. I hope my grandchildren like their gifts and realize that having fun being together is the most important gift of Christmas.
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