Holiday Traditions
- Thread starter Blackbeard
- Start date
saintlouislimo
New Member
We love planning Christmas lights tours with the family!
lacrosse dad
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- Oct 16, 2024
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- 165
Family tradition, here it goes, we always bundle up for 20-30 degree visits to the Zoo for a winterfest and festival of lights. Typically it is the first time we might meet teenage daughters boyfriends. Also small town in midwestern state has a Christmas horse drawn parade every year.
128mm Tank Killer
Active Member
My kids are out the door now, but when they were growing up every Christmas Eve we would watch as a family "A Christmas Carol", 1951 version with Alastair Sim as Scrooge. My opinion the best version, with George C. Scott's version number two.
Plastic Pilot
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 25, 2024
- Messages
- 75
Hello guys, my holidays traditions have change a lot in 41 years since I'm operating in this reality plane, let me tell you how awkward this has been:
When I remember as a kid, when my country was under the regime of pseudo communist dictatorship, and Romania was propriety of the URSS, but not a part of it, they only take our resources and our finest industry products as well as a big portion of the agriculture and other types of technologies, we still got Christmas holidays, but the fat old man that Coca Cola invented was not called Santa Clause and dint not dress in red and had a factory of toys with enslaved elf. Instead he dressed in green and was called Father Frost, or "Moș Gerilă" in romanian, and as a comunist tradition, before '48 we had Santa, so Santa was deleted from our traditions between 1948-1989, strange bu true.
As a specific Orthodox tradition from my country, we also had another character who brought gifts before Moș Gerilă (Father Frost), and his name was Moș Nicolae (Father Nicolas). Father Nicholas, brought gifts of lesser economic value, usually sweets, exotic fruits, and clothing.
After the USA "bought" Eastern Europe from the Russians at the end of the 1980s, a major power take over followed in my country, organized by russian, american, austrian, and german agents. Romania then became part of the U.S. sphere of influence, after which they introduced a form of neo-marxism with a seemingly democratic voting system meant to create the illusion that the people had power. That's when Coca-Cola changed Romanian holidays and introduced its chubby red-dressed mascot, naming him Moș Crăciun, which translates as Father Christmas, not Santa Claus. Suddenly, all sorts of imported items from the west started appearing.
My family's traditions, however, remained unchanged: the same family dinners with my grandparents, writing letters to Santa and leaving them under the Christmas tree, and then receiving presents a few days later, which we opened on Christmas morning with my brother.
This lasted until I was about 10 years old, around 1993, when I realized that Santa wasn't real. My parents then changed the tradition, but we still decorated the Christmas tree, it had already become a ritual. They started giving us gifts directly, without the letters. Family dinners continued. When I got a bit older, the boys in the neighborhood would form caroling groups and go around singing traditional romanian carols. Caroling had two stages: the Christmas carols and the New Year's carols. Some were Orthodox, while others were pagan or dacian pre-christian traditions preserved in Romanian culture. These weren't religious but rather superstitions and blessings for the households we visited and the people living there.
When I left the country and moved to Spain at about 18 years old, our Christmas traditions changed significantly. My father adopted Spanish customs and started decorating balconies and windows with LED lights every year. Natural Christmas trees were no longer available, so we used an artificial one. We still decorated it, but it didn't feel the same. My mother continued cooking traditional Romanian dishes while also preparing typical Spanish food, which included crabs, prawns, langoustines, and other Spanish delicacies. We always bought a leg of ham (jamón), but it was just the three of us. The only family connection during this time was through Yahoo Messenger video calls.
Over time, we lost many traditions, especially after my grandmother passed away. It wasn't the same anymore. My younger brother would visit us from Romania for the holidays, but we no longer went caroling, as this wasn't practiced in Spain. Although they have similar customs, they're not widely accepted. For about 16 years, we didn't celebrate as we used to, adapting instead to Spanish customs. During the holiday season, we typically had a dinner with coworkers, followed by a night out at the club to drink and have fun. Then there was a dinner with close friends and another with family, that was about it. In larger cities, Christmas markets were organized, concerts took place, and temporary amusement parks were set up.
Three years ago, I returned to Romania. Without grandparents and with my family separate, my brother now lives in another city with his young daughter and cannot travel, the last time we were all together was in 2022. We had a family dinner and then a party with my friends. That's about it now. I'm unmarried, like most of my friends, so we don't have our own families and usually spend Christmas together. The tradition now involves a small family dinner from 8 PM to 10–11 PM, followed by a party.
I no longer feel like partying and celebrating, given the chaos we're living in. I was deeply affected by the plandemic, then the war in Ukraine, and finally the rise of AI chatbots, which turned my life into a nightmare. As a multidisciplinary designer, I've witnessed the market's collapse and how hard it has become to make a living, especially now that I'm working in Romania, where pay is a quarter of what I earned in Spain.
In conclusion, I had a pretty good experience with Christmas as a child. As an adult, it has become more of a period of nostalgia and regret an consumist type of holiday, we lots of propaganda from the companies that sell you stuff that you don't need and is very expensive. But compared to the vast majority of children, I had wonderful experiences and very pleasant memories.
Now I,m in a bit of hurry, I will update the post with some photos and more details, see you soon and wish you all a nice day, have fun
When I remember as a kid, when my country was under the regime of pseudo communist dictatorship, and Romania was propriety of the URSS, but not a part of it, they only take our resources and our finest industry products as well as a big portion of the agriculture and other types of technologies, we still got Christmas holidays, but the fat old man that Coca Cola invented was not called Santa Clause and dint not dress in red and had a factory of toys with enslaved elf. Instead he dressed in green and was called Father Frost, or "Moș Gerilă" in romanian, and as a comunist tradition, before '48 we had Santa, so Santa was deleted from our traditions between 1948-1989, strange bu true.
As a specific Orthodox tradition from my country, we also had another character who brought gifts before Moș Gerilă (Father Frost), and his name was Moș Nicolae (Father Nicolas). Father Nicholas, brought gifts of lesser economic value, usually sweets, exotic fruits, and clothing.
After the USA "bought" Eastern Europe from the Russians at the end of the 1980s, a major power take over followed in my country, organized by russian, american, austrian, and german agents. Romania then became part of the U.S. sphere of influence, after which they introduced a form of neo-marxism with a seemingly democratic voting system meant to create the illusion that the people had power. That's when Coca-Cola changed Romanian holidays and introduced its chubby red-dressed mascot, naming him Moș Crăciun, which translates as Father Christmas, not Santa Claus. Suddenly, all sorts of imported items from the west started appearing.
My family's traditions, however, remained unchanged: the same family dinners with my grandparents, writing letters to Santa and leaving them under the Christmas tree, and then receiving presents a few days later, which we opened on Christmas morning with my brother.
This lasted until I was about 10 years old, around 1993, when I realized that Santa wasn't real. My parents then changed the tradition, but we still decorated the Christmas tree, it had already become a ritual. They started giving us gifts directly, without the letters. Family dinners continued. When I got a bit older, the boys in the neighborhood would form caroling groups and go around singing traditional romanian carols. Caroling had two stages: the Christmas carols and the New Year's carols. Some were Orthodox, while others were pagan or dacian pre-christian traditions preserved in Romanian culture. These weren't religious but rather superstitions and blessings for the households we visited and the people living there.
When I left the country and moved to Spain at about 18 years old, our Christmas traditions changed significantly. My father adopted Spanish customs and started decorating balconies and windows with LED lights every year. Natural Christmas trees were no longer available, so we used an artificial one. We still decorated it, but it didn't feel the same. My mother continued cooking traditional Romanian dishes while also preparing typical Spanish food, which included crabs, prawns, langoustines, and other Spanish delicacies. We always bought a leg of ham (jamón), but it was just the three of us. The only family connection during this time was through Yahoo Messenger video calls.
Over time, we lost many traditions, especially after my grandmother passed away. It wasn't the same anymore. My younger brother would visit us from Romania for the holidays, but we no longer went caroling, as this wasn't practiced in Spain. Although they have similar customs, they're not widely accepted. For about 16 years, we didn't celebrate as we used to, adapting instead to Spanish customs. During the holiday season, we typically had a dinner with coworkers, followed by a night out at the club to drink and have fun. Then there was a dinner with close friends and another with family, that was about it. In larger cities, Christmas markets were organized, concerts took place, and temporary amusement parks were set up.
Three years ago, I returned to Romania. Without grandparents and with my family separate, my brother now lives in another city with his young daughter and cannot travel, the last time we were all together was in 2022. We had a family dinner and then a party with my friends. That's about it now. I'm unmarried, like most of my friends, so we don't have our own families and usually spend Christmas together. The tradition now involves a small family dinner from 8 PM to 10–11 PM, followed by a party.
I no longer feel like partying and celebrating, given the chaos we're living in. I was deeply affected by the plandemic, then the war in Ukraine, and finally the rise of AI chatbots, which turned my life into a nightmare. As a multidisciplinary designer, I've witnessed the market's collapse and how hard it has become to make a living, especially now that I'm working in Romania, where pay is a quarter of what I earned in Spain.
In conclusion, I had a pretty good experience with Christmas as a child. As an adult, it has become more of a period of nostalgia and regret an consumist type of holiday, we lots of propaganda from the companies that sell you stuff that you don't need and is very expensive. But compared to the vast majority of children, I had wonderful experiences and very pleasant memories.
Now I,m in a bit of hurry, I will update the post with some photos and more details, see you soon and wish you all a nice day, have fun
Last edited:
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beefychicken
Active Member
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2024
- Messages
- 33
What we used to do was typical family stuff on Thanksgiving and Christmas. only thing out of the ordinary is that we would open presents after coming home from Midnight Mass.
Now that the children are adults and we have have young grandchildren (and everyone lives nearby), our typical thing to do is cook for everyone on Thanksgiving day and Christmas day. Then on Christmas, after dinner, we open presents.
Sometimes mom and dad have been known to go on a vacation to the beach over Thanksgiving though. We sometimes need a break since the kids are only a few miles away and the grandchildren are with us during the work week.
Now that the children are adults and we have have young grandchildren (and everyone lives nearby), our typical thing to do is cook for everyone on Thanksgiving day and Christmas day. Then on Christmas, after dinner, we open presents.
Sometimes mom and dad have been known to go on a vacation to the beach over Thanksgiving though. We sometimes need a break since the kids are only a few miles away and the grandchildren are with us during the work week.
BattleScale Collectica
Well-Known Member
Merry Christmas everyone.
Christmas for me is family, whatever form that takes!
From slapping on my dad's vinyl that we heard every Christmas from the time I was a kid, to hoping for snow, and driving through snowy streets in the glow of the decorations.
Family's so much smaller now... as a kid Christmas was New Year's day at my French Canadian great-grandmother's farm house (on my mother's side), my dad the only anglo there...
I remember the farm dog running out to the car, my cousins and I sitting in the stairs, the tables of food, meat pies, fresh cheese, olives and sweets... going out to the barn with my dad for a pee!
Neighbours and family gathered in the warmth of that old house, my great uncle corraling the men into the parlour, carrying the shot glass and bottle of 'whisky blanc' that he would offer them in turn.
Then the fiddle, the call and response songs that everybody knew, each having a favourite to sing for the group, my grandfather 'calling a square' (dance), then the long drive home, car lights and shadows on the ceiling of the car as I lay on the back seat, still too excited to sleep.
Best wishes to all!
Brian
From slapping on my dad's vinyl that we heard every Christmas from the time I was a kid, to hoping for snow, and driving through snowy streets in the glow of the decorations.
Family's so much smaller now... as a kid Christmas was New Year's day at my French Canadian great-grandmother's farm house (on my mother's side), my dad the only anglo there...
I remember the farm dog running out to the car, my cousins and I sitting in the stairs, the tables of food, meat pies, fresh cheese, olives and sweets... going out to the barn with my dad for a pee!
Neighbours and family gathered in the warmth of that old house, my great uncle corraling the men into the parlour, carrying the shot glass and bottle of 'whisky blanc' that he would offer them in turn.
Then the fiddle, the call and response songs that everybody knew, each having a favourite to sing for the group, my grandfather 'calling a square' (dance), then the long drive home, car lights and shadows on the ceiling of the car as I lay on the back seat, still too excited to sleep.
Best wishes to all!
Brian
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bguyosti123
Member
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- Oct 26, 2024
- Messages
- 11
My mother father wife and daughter have christmas dinner at the house I grew up in and gifts are usually opened after dinner 
Deleted member 21936
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Meatloaf and Iron City
blacbul67
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- Mar 4, 2023
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Whoops! better very late than never (I think) falling asleep after eating too much!
BattleScale Collectica
Well-Known Member
Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas to everyone!
See you all in '26!
See you all in '26!
kevin
Well-Known Member
Merry Christmas everyone!
Deleted member 21936
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- Jun 26, 2024
- Messages
- 63
Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year
Deleted member 21936
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- Joined
- Jun 26, 2024
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Deleted member 21936
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2024
- Messages
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Happy Christmas everyone!!! Just got done listening to Silent Night in German wow different have German in-laws so....
Merry Xmas and a prosperous new year to you all.
I trust Santa filled all your stocking with lot's of new kits ?
Hopefully a few new group builds for the new year.
Take care one and all. Pantherman
I trust Santa filled all your stocking with lot's of new kits ?
Hopefully a few new group builds for the new year.
Take care one and all. Pantherman
For the last 3 years the kids have gone to the mountains to get trees, outside and insider lights get done over the couple of weeks before. Then its lasagna with sausage and meat balls, ham, green bean casserole, a Mediterranean olive and pepper salad, roasted sweet potatos pumpkin pies and an old English pudding with hard sauce. 3 kids and 6 gran kids rotate in through the day as what ever crazy stuff plays on the tube. Merry Christmas everyone.
Belugawhaleman
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- Aug 27, 2024
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Turkey, Ham, or Cuban food dinner on Christmas eve. Followed by opening our presents.
Then Coffee and cake lastly we play Canasta until bedtime. Wake up late on Christmas day.
Then Coffee and cake lastly we play Canasta until bedtime. Wake up late on Christmas day.
