Thanksgiving and Christmas?

Question

Thanksgiving is coming up in about 6 weeks, then Christmas in about 9. Do you remember the Thanksgiving and Christmas stories your family has passed down? I like the ones that tell about family history, or family traditions.

I remember all the family gathering and bringing a dish for thanksgiving dinner so the burden wasn't just on one person. My husbands family after dinner was done and dishes cleaned, up names of each family member were put in a hat to buy for someone in the family. Then at Christmas, my family when we were young would listen to the night before christmas, watch christmas programs, make fudge, and chocolate chip cookies, and write notes to santa. When we woke up there was always a letter from Santa telling us to be good. The toys were put in front of the tree unwrapped (they came from santa) and the wrapped ones were from our parents. Also on Christmas eve we would ride around the rich neighborhoods to see the christmas decorations.

Answer 1

Our family was very involved with Thanksgiving and Christmas stories, histories and traditions. For example, my father always read us "The Night Before Christmas" on Christmas Eve before we went to bed, and now I read it to my children.

Answer 2

My family basically does the same thing or we use to until my grandmother passed. Everyone would bring a dish my grandmother would make the turkey. All the females except for the children would prepare the dinner while the men would watch the game or something on TV. Then we would all eat. After dinner we would pick names for Christmas gifts & then a list would go around on the things we wanted for Christmas. Like I said things are a little different now that my grandmother is no longer here. But we still do the thing with everyone bringing a dish. We now talk about different events that happened within our family but other than that we eat!!

Answer 3

This is more of a tradition than a story.

Each year my father in law would ALWAYS do the "DREADED BOX". The dreaded box was a gag gift. It's funny how the all the family members both wanted it and dreaded it. He would get a great gift and wrap it or a clue to where it was depending on the size. then he would get stuff that could be used, by the person he was giving it to, wrap those as gifts also. HE would then wrap all of those gifts inside a larger box wrap that. Anyway I think you get the picture, on avarage the dreaded box would have between 25-50 gifts inside. It would take the receiver up to an hour to open. It was very comical and was the talk for the following year. My father in law has past on but these memories are inbedded in my heart and mind always.

Answer 4

Well, we did not have any Thanksgiving stories really but we did have some great Christmas stories like how Santa really got into the house each year (always a different way each year!!) I think that my dad was just telling stories as there was only two ways in the house

Answer 5

My Thanksgiving is done...Turkey was yummy btw. I love the Christmas tradition of being with family and watching the younger generation experiencing the joys of Christmas. Well the commercial Christmas atleast, but lets not forget the true meaning of the season when it comes. Can't wait! I love Christmas!

Answer 6

I was raised in a preacher's home of seven. We were poor but didn't know it. One year in the early to middle 60's, mom and dad didn't have money for Christmas which was coming up in the next couple of months. Dad searched around until he found a farmer that we could 'gleen' after they had harvested the corn fields. We had an ole 40 grey nash that bore a close similarity to a hump back whale. Dad hooked a utility trailer onto the back of the nash and all seven of us took to the fields, picking up what was left over from the crop. We five kids had a blast, running, playing, laughing and calling out to each other as we gathered and threw the corn into the back of that ole trailer. That year we collected enough from the gleening to buy Christmas presents for all of us.

Christmas at our house was mama putting out a homemade Nativity scene along with a village, pond, people and farm animals of all kinds. Every year, mama would add a few new pieces to the Nativity scene. We never had a Christmas tree.

Chrismas morning was sometime during the Christmas break after the folks had finished their shopping. Daddy would gather all us kids together and tell to go get one of our socks and hang it where we wanted our Christmas presents left. Mine went above the chair, my brother's over across the living room, and the three little girls, were hung above the couch. Next daddy would tell us to go upstairs and stay until he called for us. Ohhhhhh, the excitment as we all huddled together, listening as mom and dad rattled and emptied shopping bags. After what seemed like forever, dad would open the door leading to the stairwell and hollor....."Merry Christmas"! That was our clue to line up youngest to the oldest and zip down the stairs as fast as we could without running over each other......Kimbo, Birdie, Bessie, Zekel Gene and Katrina VanTassle!

Awwwww the excitement and glee as we ran to our 'spots' and discovered new pj's...nothing smelled better...my first pair of high heels, a new diary, a mohair sweater, and a new born baby doll, all of which were unwrapped and draped on my chair. And that wasn't all....in our socks we found an orange, apple, peanuts, walnuts, and sometime candy. Yes, our Christmas' were simple and humble compared to todays, but I wouldn't trade my memories for any ones of today!

And the Nativity scene???? Forty years later, mama is still putting that same home-made nativity scene out and still adding pieces to it. And two more generations are enjoying daddy, grandpa and great grandpa, calling out "Merry Christmas"!

Answer 7

well, im from ireland, so we only celebrate christmas, but every year someone falls drunkenly into the tree after church.