Holiday Traditions Near & Dear To My Heart

Holiday traditions. We all have them. Some traditions we love and cherish and others leave us scratching our heads. If we’re being honest some of them annoy us and we try to let them fall away.

We always hang the mistletoe in the same place every year. One year we couldn’t find it! Family members protested when I said we’d get a different one. Seriously who is that dedicated to fake mistletoe?  Apparently one of my kids. We found the bedraggled fake mistletoe, hung it up in its rightful place and Christmas crisis was averted.

Then we have an Advent calendar we always hang up. The kids used to fight over who would get to put the piece on the calendar even though they took turns and wow, the battle over who got to put Santa Claus up on December 24! I’d always say so and so did it last year but let’s face it, I had no idea.

Christmas wreaths, this has always been a tradition and craft that my wife takes the lead on, she always treks across our property looking for just the right pin bows, she creates several each year for family and friends across the country. I'll admit, I'm not very crafty but I do enjoy the smell!

Let's not forget the Christmas tree. The lights go on right away but then adorning it with ornaments, now that is a process that involves many people, and down many memories.  Sometimes it may take a few weeks leading up to the holiday for it to be fully decorated. What a lovely family tradition it has become.

I do have my own family traditions where I pay my respects to my French Canadian history.  Although midnight mass has gone by the wayside, every year I make pork pies, aka Tourtière. This was a standard treat each holiday in my home. My mother would make them every year and making them reminds me of my her. The memories float back as I make the pork pie and soon the smell is wafting through the house. Sad that no one else shares my love of pork pies but it doesn’t stop me from making them each year because that’s my Christmas tradition.

Tell me about some of your family Holiday traditions.