By Dianne Veluz
What do you and your family like to do on Christmas Eve?
Once you get married, traditions change. In our family, we kept some traditions from my childhood and some from my husband’s and added some new ones for our own family.
Here are some of ours:
- Whole day of cleaning and cooking on 24th
- Clean-up and dress-up following our annual theme
- Holy mass with the family
- Singing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus
- Christmas eve dinner
- Games, are sometimes called family team building haha!
- Gift giving
- Eat, again!
- “Chismisan or movie time”
- Sleep the whole day of 25th
Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year. I have always been the family organizer and cook during Christmas. Theme, games, menu, set-up, timeline, name it, and it’s all on my Christmas list. Traditions are important for families because they provide opportunities to keep the family legacy going. From the simple to the silly to the sentimental, traditions can create meaningful memories. As a parent, one of my jobs is to look for ways to promote special moments and traditions for my family – ones that will create special family memories that my child will keep forever.
During Christmas, there are only so many hours in the day, so much “gastos” at our discretion and only so much of “you” to go around. Last year, starting November I was already preparing my gift list, Christmas theme, menu, activities, etc. This year, I let go of a lot of things. I was so busy at work this quarter, so I needed to simplify… and procrastinate. Lo and behold, our Christmas tradition proceeded as if it was organized the same way as in previous years. Kudos to family teamwork and support!
I know some families have a lot going on this time of year. But Christmas time can be a pleasant experience, especially if we pay attention to our emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual health. While everyone celebrates Christmas, we should not forget the real reason it’s such a celebration. When the pressures of the holiday traditions leave you feeling hassled, just imagine the faces of the people around you during Christmas Eve singing “Happy Birthday Jesus!”.
Let’s make the most of this quality time and re-charge!
Dianne Veluz, Human Resources and Administration. Dianne enjoys being a wife and a working mom. She is a home buddy who loves cooking, reading motivational books, and spending time with her kid. She also enjoys taking simple pictures and videos. For her, taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.
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