Tradition
Sweetie and I have officially started our family Christmas tradition this year.
His family always does their en masse celebration on Christmas Eve. And Christmas Dinner is generally spent at his sister's house with part of his family, and part of her husband's family. We go down to Portland the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with my parents and get in on the Carbfest action, but we had no tradition to specifically call our own.
Then an opportunity presented itself, and we capitalized on that opportunity. Due to various circumstances, the dinner at his sister's house was moved to Monday this year. Which left us a great big day full of Christmas with nothing in particular to do. Once this fact became apparent I asked Sweetie what he wanted for dinner that day, and he commented that he wanted to figure out a Christmas Dinner tradition from another culture that we could follow.
I looked at him skeptically, "There are only two of us. I am NOT making a roast." But he said leave it to him.
Apparently in New Zealand it is Christmas tradition for people to have a picnic on the beach. At least that's what Sweetie told me he discovered on the internet. He could have just made it up, but a picnic is easy, so I agreed to the deal. There was sausage and cheese and fruit and olives and some leftovers from Christmas Eve festivities, a big blanket spread out on the floor, and football playing on the TV. And it was absolutely, positively wonderful.
We've already decided that when the Babies of Swank enter the picture, it will be a wonderful tradition to carry on with them as well. We can wake up in the morning, open all the presents, then as the kids are playing with the loot set up the blanket and food in front of the tree. What kid wouldn't want to have a picnic Christmas morning, especially when so many holiday meals involve dressing up nice and Mom's fine china and having to watch your manners?
In my youth the mealtime rule was that no television was allowed. Ever. Except Thanksgiving morning. We would set up a card table in the living room, and get to eat breakfast while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Somehow I equate our new tradition with this activity of my youth.
But Sweetie and I have already taken this one step further. Around 2035 - when we've had our kids and raise them and they're out of college and off living their own lives and won't be able to make it home for Christmas - we'll have our Christmas picnic on the beach in New Zealand. Of course, as a teacher and a non-profit employee we have to start saving now in order to make that happen, but we're already looking forward to it.
Sometimes newlyweds are so darn cute it makes you sick, don't you think?
His family always does their en masse celebration on Christmas Eve. And Christmas Dinner is generally spent at his sister's house with part of his family, and part of her husband's family. We go down to Portland the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with my parents and get in on the Carbfest action, but we had no tradition to specifically call our own.
Then an opportunity presented itself, and we capitalized on that opportunity. Due to various circumstances, the dinner at his sister's house was moved to Monday this year. Which left us a great big day full of Christmas with nothing in particular to do. Once this fact became apparent I asked Sweetie what he wanted for dinner that day, and he commented that he wanted to figure out a Christmas Dinner tradition from another culture that we could follow.
I looked at him skeptically, "There are only two of us. I am NOT making a roast." But he said leave it to him.
Apparently in New Zealand it is Christmas tradition for people to have a picnic on the beach. At least that's what Sweetie told me he discovered on the internet. He could have just made it up, but a picnic is easy, so I agreed to the deal. There was sausage and cheese and fruit and olives and some leftovers from Christmas Eve festivities, a big blanket spread out on the floor, and football playing on the TV. And it was absolutely, positively wonderful.
We've already decided that when the Babies of Swank enter the picture, it will be a wonderful tradition to carry on with them as well. We can wake up in the morning, open all the presents, then as the kids are playing with the loot set up the blanket and food in front of the tree. What kid wouldn't want to have a picnic Christmas morning, especially when so many holiday meals involve dressing up nice and Mom's fine china and having to watch your manners?
In my youth the mealtime rule was that no television was allowed. Ever. Except Thanksgiving morning. We would set up a card table in the living room, and get to eat breakfast while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Somehow I equate our new tradition with this activity of my youth.
But Sweetie and I have already taken this one step further. Around 2035 - when we've had our kids and raise them and they're out of college and off living their own lives and won't be able to make it home for Christmas - we'll have our Christmas picnic on the beach in New Zealand. Of course, as a teacher and a non-profit employee we have to start saving now in order to make that happen, but we're already looking forward to it.
Sometimes newlyweds are so darn cute it makes you sick, don't you think?
posted by Swankette at 12:43 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home