WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE HOLIDAY TRADITION?

Happy first day of December! I wrote a post about our childhood Christmas traditions six years ago here and it’s something I’ve been giving some thought recently as we approach our first Christmas with two children of our own. Our family Christmases have evolved in recent years with family members moving out of New England, getting married, starting families of their own (not to mention collectively surviving a pandemic!) and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a twinge of sadness at not having the original ~20 person crew under one roof. On a happier note, Teddy turned two in the fall and is starting to grasp the concept of Santa Claus, pointing out Christmas trees everywhere, and wanting to twist on the candles in our windows and his excitement about the holidays has been contagious. So while there are many family traditions I wrote about in this post (the menu! the dessert! reading this illustrated copy of The Night Before Christmas!) that I hope we’ll stick with forever, I’d love to lean in to the newness of our revised celebrations and start a new tradition or two befitting this new chapter. (Isn’t it interesting to think about how traditions start? Like what year did my parents and aunts and uncles first decide on lobster on Christmas Eve or twice baked potatoes on Christmas Day — and who made sure they stuck every year since?!) I would love to hear what traditions your family most looks forward to each holiday season, whether they’re about shared experiences, recipes you must make, songs you must listen to, etc.!

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