Holiday Traditions

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Me and Santa - 1983

I think that I was probably like most kids growing up. I couldn’t wait for the holidays to come. I still remember waking up on Thanksgiving to the smells of turkey and pies cooking in the kitchen. And being so excited on Christmas Eve for Santa to come that I didn’t know how I would wait through the whole night. Holidays were always special to me.

My favorite memories of the holidays growing up would have to be of Christmas. Every Christmas Eve, we would all pile into the car and head out to look at Christmas lights around town. We would travel through neighborhoods, following long lines of cars with lights turned off, ooohing and aaaahing at all of the lights and decorations. I would look forward to that night all year. Once we got home, my mom would set out to wrapping presents. We weren’t like most families that have tons of presents under the tree for weeks leading up to Christmas. We would only have a few – mostly from friends or relatives. But on Christmas Eve, my mom would lock herself into the bedroom and start wrapping presents. We would all be eagerly waiting outside her door, and when she had a few wrapped, we would take turns carrying them downstairs to put under the tree. Once they were all under the tree, I would be amazed at the amount of presents there. They seemed to reach out through half of the living room! (With 5 kids, I guess the presents started to add up quickly!) On Christmas morning, Santa would come and leave presents, and us kids would quietly play for what seemed like hours, until my parents came down and we got to unwrap all of the gifts under the tree. It was always so exciting, because we would unwrap them one by one, while everyone watched. It took hours to unwrap all the presents, but it was the best part of the day.

Now that I am grown with a child of my own, our own traditions have been started. My husband and I decided a few years ago that we needed to start our own traditions, and Fried Scones on Christmas morning soon became our first tradition as a couple. I know my husband looks forward to Christmas morning, just for those scones, and I’m sure our daughter will feel the same way soon!! As we are adding to our family and as our children grow up, I’m excited to see what kinds of traditions form in our family!

How about you? What was your Christmas morning like when you were a child?

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Also, 9 other bloggers are sharing their holiday traditions and stories. Make sure you check them out!
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This post was sponsored by Folgers, but all views and opinions expressed are my own.