“Holiday Traditions for Atheists?”
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Thanks RedRover! Maybe I’ll get them and make sure to supervise the littlest one (2 years) a little more. The others are a little older, so they’d probably be fine…
That’s good to know that they’re easily found at grocery stores, I’ll have to keep an eye out! It’s totally possible I just missed them, or that the town I grew up in didn’t have them much because we had a pretty large Jewish population…
Portia, I’ve seen crackers at Cost Plus! They usually have a few different ones to choose from.
That’s good to know about cost plus, there’s a combo store with a bed bath and beyond near me…
But I’m not imagining the crown wearing thing, right? That’s not an American tradition as far as I can tell…
Are Christmas crackers really not a thing in the US? We definitely have them in Canada.
Some other traditions:
– Everyone gets to open one present on Christmas Eve, and it’s always new (delightfully tacky) pjs
– Build a gingerbread house sometime between Christmas and New Years Eve
– Everyone gets a strange fruit or vegetable in their stocking and everyone gets to try it (this could be expanded to any new or different food)All the Christmas crackers I’ve ever had have a paper crown and a trinket or toy. It’s not an American tradition per se, but then….we’re a new country, relatively speaking.
Hi, this was my question and thanks so much for posting and answering!
UNtil I became a mum, my traditions mostly involved mimosas and falling asleep on the lawn… but maybe when Kid isnt so young I’ll get back on that.
Love the Xmas pjs on Xmas eve idea, I’ll def be doing that! Also the strange fruit/veg in the stocking…. that sounds great!I spent a few years in UK where crackers seemed to be a big thing and I found them slightly underwhelming, but maybe kids like them more than drunk adults, what do I know.
Keep them coming guys! Thanks very much. Great to see some low cost/non present focussed stuff.
I LOVE CHRISTMAS!
My entire life, we’d spend a Saturday leading up to Christmas making and decorating Christmas cookies. When I was little, my mom, sisters, aunts and cousins got together at Grandma’s to do this. My aunt still carries this tradition and those of us that live in and around Chicago attend.
We’d also open presents at my Grandma’s on Christmas Eve. Some of us would stay up late watching Christmas movies and drinking boozy eggnog.
Every Christmas morning, my dad makes delicious whole hog sausage that he bought earlier in the year. It’s delightful. This has also happened since I was a kid.
Our heritage is German, so we celebrated St. Nick’s Day… that’s where you put out your shoe on Dec. 5th and when you wake up Dec. 6th, St. Nick leaves a small treat. My sisters and I always received Christmas PJs that we’d wear on Christmas Eve. Mom still sends us small St. Nick packages and I still by myself new PJs for Christmas.
Speaking of PJs, my husband and his parents hang out all day on Christmas in their PJs and have an open house and people stop by whenever they want.
Anyway, my fondest memories are being with my family and hanging out.
Oh, something else fun we always did…
My mom would take each of us girls (my sisters and I) out on a separate evening leading up to Christmas. She’s take us to dinner then shopping so we could pick out a gift for our dad and sisters. SO MUCH FUN!
My dad would take all three of us out to dinner and we’d help him shop for mom. Again, FUN!
We didn’t go out to eat a lot when we were kids, so it was a special treat for us. So was picking out small gifts for people.
Now, my nieces go to this little holiday bazaar at school. My sis gives them like $20 each and they shop the bazaar for their parents, aunts, siblings and grandparents. They’re so excited when we open the gifts!!!!!
I’ll play! I too don’t love the presents part of Christmas – it’s all the jollity leading up to the holiday for me. I get gifts for my husband, my kid, and nieces/nephews; our parents get photo calendars and framed school photos of our kid, and that’s it. We’re also atheists, so church isn’t a part of our celebration. We always listen to Christmas music while decorating the tree, and collect ornaments on our travels. My husband made a (homemade) gingerbread house with our daughter last year, and we ate it after Christmas dinner, along with a…plum pudding? Some kind of dessert that you light on fire. Husband’s tradition from his childhood. On Christmas Eve, we read “Twas the Night Before Christmas”, Little Golden Book edition, by tree lights/candle light – that’s my childhood tradition. We try to attend our town’s Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony, or at least go see the tree. We also walk around and look at the decorated houses on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. My husband makes cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. I’d like to start doing more holiday baking; it’s hard to find the time! ALLLL the Christmas movies. Rudolph, Grinch, Elf, White Christmas, Love Actually, Charlie Brown, It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th St. If we’re not traveling, we try to watch “34th St” on Thanksgiving night, and “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Christmas Eve.
I legit had never heard of Christmas crackers until a few years ago!
Ok. One other thing. One night between Christmas and New Years, we’d all pile in the car and drive around town looking at all the Christmas lights and we’d “ooh and ahh”. My dad made it a point to drive by houses with some of the most elaborate lights. Then we’d come home and drink hot chocolate.
