The holidays have arrived! Christmas is two weeks away as of today (December 11th, 2021), and many of us are gearing up for the big day. Many of us also adhere to general festive traditions, but some have their own unique take on Christmas, including author of She’s Mine, A. A. Chaudhuri, who has told us all about them...
What are your festive traditions? / Picture Credit: Unsplash
As an only child with no other family in the UK save one uncle, Christmas was always a fairly quiet affair growing up, but I loved it nonetheless as my parents always made it very special for me. I remember, like most children, feeling so excited on Christmas Eve, going to sleep with one eye open in case I should spy Santa, having put out the obligatory brandy and mince pies.
We’d always go to our next-door neighbours for drinks on Christmas morning then back home for a traditional turkey lunch, before settling down to watch whatever big Christmas movie they were showing on telly. I became part of a bigger family after marrying my husband who has a brother and sister and, of course, since we’ve had two boys, and gained a nephew, that family has further expanded, causing Christmas to become a much louder affair centring around the children.
For me, just seeing their faces light up with excitement adds to the magic of the festive season, especially when they were small and we’d visit Santa or they’d dress up for their school nativity.
Tradition one
We always buy the children a new decoration, usually in a local garden centre, to hang on the tree which they engrave with their name and the current year. They choose it of course, and it’s always lovely getting the decorations out and remembering the first ones we bought when they were tiny. (I wonder if we’ll still be doing that when they’re 21? Maybe not!)
Tradition two
For several years now, Chris and I have had a tradition of pre-ordering a sushi platter for Christmas Eve, just because it’s a bit different and we know we’ll get bored of turkey and salmon over the Christmas period. I adore sushi, I used to eat it a lot when I was working in London, but nowadays it’s a real indulgence for me. More often than not, I’ll make a cheesecake for afterwards, and we’ll wash it all down with some champagne.
Tradition three
Crackers are big in our house. The children love pulling them on Christmas and New Year’s Eve, not just Christmas Day itself. They particularly enjoy telling the naff jokes inside them. I am not so keen on the tidying up after!
Tradition four
Porridge is my staple breakfast, but on Christmas morning, once the kids have opened their presents, Chris (my husband) will cook me smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, which I always look forward to as it’s a nice treat.
Tradition five
Carrying on the food theme (there seems to be a pattern emerging), I’ll have a classic champagne cocktail around 11am on Christmas day. It’s one of my two favourite cocktails and it’s the only day of the year (perhaps aside from New Year’s Eve) that you can reasonably get away with drinking this early!
Tradition six
We always go and see the big Christmas movie at the cinema, usually on Boxing Day or the 27th December.
I love the cinema, and there’s a particularly special buzz in the movie theatre at this time of year, especially when it’s a long-awaited sequel or part of a series you’ve been waiting a whole twelve months for. I used to love waiting for the new Harry Potter or Lord of The Rings film to come out around Christmas-time.
I think this year, however, as we’re seeing Spider-Man early, Chris and I might sneak off to see The Matrix Resurrections which I am so excited about having been a huge fan of the first three.
Tradition seven
We’ll put on Carols from King’s on Christmas Eve as it’s always so beautiful to watch and really puts you in the Christmas spirit.
Bonus tradition
I am not sure this counts as a tradition, but does being woken up on Christmas Day EVEN earlier than normal by two excitable boys eager for presents count? It certainly seems to happen every year, so I feel that it must do!
RELATED: A Craven Christmas: Author Mike Craven takes us through his five festive family traditions!
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