I’m so happy to have one of my very dear friends, Jessica from Literary, Etc., on the blog today to discuss her childhood Christmas traditions and how she misses them now that she’s an adult. Don’t we all have memories like these? I know I miss the magic of Christmas as a child. I still love it today, but there’s just something about being a kid at Christmas.
Firstly, I want to thank Jana for the opportunity to write about Christmas! Secondly, I want to wish everyone happy holidays and I hope you all have a fun filled season!
I grew up with one set of “main” grandparents, my father’s parents. I can’t remember a holiday not spent at their house or with them. When I was a baby, I spent maybe a Christmas or two in Mexico with my mom’s family, but for the most part we hardly ever went to visit them unless someone died.
Spending Christmas with my grandparents involved the entire family. My aunts and uncles along with my cousins would descend on Grandma and Grandpa’s house on Christmas Eve. My Grandma always made the best tamales and to this day, no one’s tamales come close (not even my mother’s) and it was all hands on deck. Meaning as soon as we entered the house, hands were washed, and we were given a plate with a spoon and directed to help spread the masa onto the corn husks. I hated this task as a child and still do as an adult. I tended to work slowly so most of the work was done by others. It’s messy because the husks are usually wet from being washed and trying to spread the dough like mixture on them often meant it didn’t spread evenly. And then there was the waiting for the tamales to be done. It often meant as children we didn’t eat until Midnight.
My Grandma also made the most amazing cookies! The cookie recipe for the bizcocho (sort of like a snicker doodle but way more delicious) is highly coveted by those who taste them. In fact, they are my dad’s favorite cookies and my Grandma took pity on my mom and gave her the recipe. Not even her daughters have the recipe. Then she made cuernitos (horn shaped and what most know as Mexican wedding cookies) that were my personal favorites! I loved going over to her house and these wonderful cookies were waiting for me (and boo to sharing!). I never helped her bake and in fact, never really saw her bake these two cookies that were always present during Christmas.
I remember quite fondly one year all the kids were taken to a room because it was almost Midnight and Santa was coming. Of course my cousin Chris and I knew better, but for my sister it must have been fun hearing a knock on the door and my Uncle Javier pretending to be Santa. That was loads of fun. Even though as a kid, I often hated leaving my grandparents after 1 am and heading to bed close to 2 am, I would love to relive it even for one night.
While we had a tree and lights, I envy people who have stockings and get stocking stuffers. My mom loves stockings, but they are for decoration only! And yet, when I look back at my childhood, I wouldn’t change anything. One of my fondest memories of the holiday season was the first time we celebrated the Night of Three Kings, which is January 6th. It’s the day when the 3 Wise Men visit baby Jesus. On this particular night, my sister and I left a shoe out (not really sure why, but we were instructed to do so) and some fruit for the camels. We went to bed and the next day, the fruit was gone, there was some money in our shoes, but one of my mother’s plants had a leaf torn and it looked like something took a bite! I was old enough to question the reality of it, but the truth is, a piece of me still believes we were visited by the 3 Wise Men! And this reminds me of another event a few years later. We were in a new house in El Paso and it was Christmas Eve, but for some odd reason we were there and not with my grandparents. My sister and I went and put a plate of cookies and milk for Santa. My sister went to bed and I went to help my parents with the tamales. My dad got up to “eat” the cookies and came back and asked where they were. I showed him, but the cookies were gone as well as the milk. My mom swore up and down it wasn’t her. I had nothing to do with it and I’ve never questioned my sister if she ate them. Perhaps it was Old Saint Nick?
In hindsight, all of my extended family laughing and helping make tamales brings a tear to my eye because we don’t do that anymore. It’s been years since we’ve all been together to celebrate Christmas and I miss that. My immediate family stopped participating when we moved from El Paso to Fort Worth and then a few years later we wound up in Albuquerque. Over the years, my parents have gone to visit my grandparents after Christmas and it’s not the same. This year will mark the second Christmas without my grandmother (the first was shortly after her death) and I’m missing those days of innocence. I also wish my religious Aunt O, would have participated more. Her family never came over on holidays or birthdays. It saddens me that on the most important night in Christianity, she wasn’t there.
Over the years traditions change and new ones are added. It’s not uncommon that on the holiest night of the year, my family is watching a horror flick or two. I grew up opening my gifts at Midnight and still do. My parents may head to bed before Midnight and my sister and I might be the only ones awake (although last year, I struggled to stay up!), but at least that tradition stays the same. I’ve celebrated two Christmases without my family. The first was about 15 years ago when my parents and sister went to my grandparent’s house and I stayed because of work and school. I spent Christmas Eve with my then boss and her family and it was lovely, but I missed my family. Then a few years ago, I was studying abroad where I celebrated with a friend who stayed the night in my dorm room, but for the most part it was a lonely holiday.
As I grow older, Dorothy’s quote from The Wizard of Oz, “there’s no place like home” becomes truer each year. Holiday traditions are for the kids and to make memories, but as long as you’re with the people you love, it doesn’t matter if the tamales and cookies aren’t there. What matters is having the people you care about most in the world around you.
What were some of your favorite Holiday traditions growing up? Have you incorporated any new ones?
I love this post! I totally understand what you mean about traditions changing over time. When I was a kid, we would all have Christmas Eve at my grandparents house. The kids would run around crazy, have holiday punch, and open gifts. Once they moved away and my uncle bought the house, they still hosted. My family had a feud one year and no one has been invited back since. It’s sad, but I’m welcoming new traditions with the rest of my family and now my boyfriend’s.
Aww, Jessica, I loved hearing about your traditions! As a child, I had a lot of different traditions with my family (and extended family on my mother’s side). It almost always involved some form of Secret Santa, a countdown to midnight, noche buena and opening presents! I love looking back at those traditions; they’re definitely fond memories for me.
These are lovely traditions. I don’t remember anything really special from my childhood except it’s a family gathering with some special dishes more likely to appear, and some games to play.