Odd holiday traditions

[monkeyboy]

do you have any you care to share?

 

[Pigeon]

We have a number of decorative sets of letters with Christmas themes, like four candle holders that spell NOEL and a set of blocks that spell MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Only they don't. In our house, they spell LEON and MISS TERRY CHARM or MERRY SHIRT SCAM.

 

[stsomewhere]

Santa leaves orange peels int he hallway and the kids room. They like to leave Santa a healthy snack,. But, Santa is messy and drops the peel on the floor.

 

[Pakey]

We have a 25 year old "craft project gone wrong" that gets passed around every year. Nobody knows who is getting it next and the rule is that you have to add something to it that makes it even uglier than it was before. There is a sheet that goes with it where you have to add the year, your name, and what you added to it.

It was quite hideous to begin with (started this in 1984) but it's really special now. We just call it The Duck because it started it's life as a baby duckling embroidery picture.

Edited to add: If you are the recipient, you are required to display it in your home for the next 12 months. It has to be in a public room, not stuck in a closet in the spare bedroom.

 

[tvguy]

My mom is a Surgical Nurse (now retired).

She used to always bring home boxes from work.

The first Christmas after DW and I got engaged, my mom gave my wife a gift in a box she brought home from work.

Like most folks, my then girlfriend opens the first gift from her future mother-in-law, and looks at the label on the box before opening it. The label says "Mammory Implant, size 38 D".

So now, 29 years later, the person who got the "box" last Christmas, passes it off to someone else with a gift inside.

 

[ashleybea]

My family has a talent show every year. We all gather around the tree and preform a song or dance or play a musical instrument etc. I have no clue how this started but we always do it. And I always win .

 

[Dax]

We have a 25 year old "craft project gone wrong" that gets passed around every year. Nobody knows who is getting it next and the rule is that you have to add something to it that makes it even uglier than it was before. There is a sheet that goes with it where you have to add the year, your name, and what you added to it.

It was quite hideous to begin with (started this in 1984) but it's really special now. We just call it The Duck because it started it's life as a baby duckling embroidery picture.

Edited to add: If you are the recipient, you are required to display it in your home for the next 12 months. It has to be in a public room, not stuck in a closet in the spare bedroom.

Ok this requires a picture..LOL

 

[Abbie]

We have a number of decorative sets of letters with Christmas themes, like four candle holders that spell NOEL and a set of blocks that spell MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Only they don't. In our house, they spell LEON and MISS TERRY CHARM or MERRY SHIRT SCAM.

That is so funny!

These are all great. Our "odd" tradition isn't really all that odd but we put up four trees, two live and two artificial. And they don't get decorated until Christmas Eve!

 

[krcit]

We only started this a few years ago but my brothers and I buy each other the ugliest Christmas decoration we can find. It's silly but fun. My best friend growing up had a great tradition. They would sing The 12 days of Christmas and act out all the verses. Whoever was new to the group that year had to be the partridge in a pear tree. It was a lot of fun.

 

[castmemberb4]

I thought my Chili dinner on Christmas Eve was unique until the Grocery store stated displaying chili ingredients the week of Christmas.

 

[laughinplace199]

Our kids name the Christmas tree after a diffferent Harry Potter character every year. We haven't even bought our tree yet, but they've already decided it's Charlie this year. I have no idea how it started, but it will keep going until we run out of characters.

We have a 25 year old "craft project gone wrong" that gets passed around every year. Nobody knows who is getting it next and the rule is that you have to add something to it that makes it even uglier than it was before. There is a sheet that goes with it where you have to add the year, your name, and what you added to it.

It was quite hideous to begin with (started this in 1984) but it's really special now. We just call it The Duck because it started it's life as a baby duckling embroidery picture.

Edited to add: If you are the recipient, you are required to display it in your home for the next 12 months. It has to be in a public room, not stuck in a closet in the spare bedroom.

That is awesome! Do you have a picture of it?

 

[gshanny]

We have a number of decorative sets of letters with Christmas themes, like four candle holders that spell NOEL and a set of blocks that spell MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Only they don't. In our house, they spell LEON and MISS TERRY CHARM or MERRY SHIRT SCAM.

You are so lucky to have the extra letters. We have a set of reindeer that spell out NOEL. We have Leon, Leo, One, On, No, O Eon, Lone and the naughty one...El No.
Glad to hear others have fun with it!
Our only other sorta weird thing is tacos. We have them every Christmas. It isn't Christmas without them. It is actually a lot less work than a huge meal too.

 

[AKL_Megs]

Just McDonalds Dinner on Christmas Eve. We go all out "Family Style".

 

[leagirl12]

Waffle House for dinner.

This started a few years ago when we had our big family Christmas as a breakfast. I was so focused on what we would serve everyone for Christmas breakfast that I completely forgot that my family would need to eat dinner that night. I had no groceries and the only thing open was Waffle House. So now we eat it every year at Christmas...if our big family Christmas gets scheduled for dinner time on Christmas then we go to Waffle House on Christmas Eve.

 

[LukenDC]

On Christmas Eve, I like to listen to the Christmas interview from the 1940s of Joan Crawford and two of her adopted children.

 

[figment52]

We have a number of decorative sets of letters with Christmas themes, like four candle holders that spell NOEL and a set of blocks that spell MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Only they don't. In our house, they spell LEON and MISS TERRY CHARM or MERRY SHIRT SCAM.

Our house toosince I was a child (over 50 years ago now) My mother was never pleased when she noticed a spelling change but when she found out my father was doing it too she lost all control over the situation She didn't like it when we tried to teach the grandchildren the game.

 

[figment52]

Our family "targets" one person each year and does something "special" for them. Some years are more extreme that others.

For example - one year my DSIL came to visit she could not get through a meal without asking for stain stick because she spilled food on something. That year she was the "target" and everyone, including her kids, gave her a stain stick for Christmas. We have been doing this for so long that we have to pick a "target" and a "decoy target" so the real target doesn't catch on that they are "it". This year it is my nephew. He has had a bad year with ear buds so he is getting a supply that we hope will get him through 2011.

 

[monkeybug]

We have a number of decorative sets of letters with Christmas themes, like four candle holders that spell NOEL and a set of blocks that spell MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Only they don't. In our house, they spell LEON and MISS TERRY CHARM or MERRY SHIRT SCAM.

We have wooden blocks that spell out Santa.
When my brother lived with us he liked to rearrange them so they spelled something a little different. I had a 4 year old, a newborn, was selling the house, and my husband was deployed. It didn't always catch my attention is what I'm saying.
So lovely when the pastor from the local Presbyterian church stopped by and up on the mantle amid the garland and above our waiting stockings was the name of a not so jolly elf.
Good thing he had as much humor as faith!

 

[txSleepingBeauty]

Nothing too weird, but I buy my brother several pairs of the ugliest boxer shorts I can find every year. Tried to get him something else one year and he was disappointed, said it was the only new underwear he gets every year!

 

[N&B'smom]

We have wooden blocks that spell out Santa.
When my brother lived with us he liked to rearrange them so they spelled something a little different. I had a 4 year old, a newborn, was selling the house, and my husband was deployed. It didn't always catch my attention is what I'm saying.
So lovely when the pastor from the local Presbyterian church stopped by and up on the mantle amid the garland and above our waiting stockings was the name of a not so jolly elf.
Good thing he had as much humor as faith!