Hello and Warm Greetings. Today is Christmas Eve. Our family celebrates Christmas on this day--it's a Finn thing. In a couple of hours, I'll get started on the turkey and cassaroles do a final clean up of the house and fill the candy and nut dishes. Santa is scheduled to arrive some time this afternoon (although Santa sent an early package from Hong Kong that was specially delivered to our door yesterday--cool).
When J's mom first witnessed how we celebrated she thought it a bit cruel. You see, Santa comes in the afternoon and the kids get to see the presents and overfilled stockings. The kids are then told that they have to wait until after dinner before they can open a single thing. Dinner always takes a long time to arrive. 'Mom....it's taking forever!' Tortuous anticipation.
The family (the regular home dwellers + gramma) then sit and eat and eat and eat. When I was a kid, my dad would insist on eating seconds and then thirds. After dinner, he would excuse himself to the washroom and we would be forced to wait. Inwardly we'd groan when we noticed him leave with a magazine. Now, J does the honours. He doesn't go to the loo...but he will eat a huge amount of food. Then I'll say something like 'maybe we should just do the dishes now and get it over with ' to a chorus of 'noooooooooo's.' I love tradition.
Gifts are opened one at a time so that everyone can see what has been received and appreciate the gift. This also extends the evening. Cookies and coffee come next. Then the wee ones are packed into bed.
The next morning, the kids are left to play and the grown ups sleep in until noon.
Very civilized.
I love it.
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