Hello everyone and welcome back to the last edition of my column for this year! Like people always say, this year has seemed to go by so slowly and so quickly at the same time! The holiday that always steals the show this month for me is Christmas, which I will definitely talk about, but this month I also spoke to a couple of my friends who celebrate a little differently than me during December.
Like I wrote in November’s edition of It’s Time to Celebrate, I am not a fan of celebrating Christmas way before it happens; McDonald Garden Center, a store near my house, always puts up their “Merry Christmas!” sign on November 1, and Target always seems to start selling decorations by mid-October. I mean, c’mon. I know it’s just the nature of stores to try to make as much money off the holiday season as they can, but at least wait a week or two after Halloween?
Anyway, once we do start celebrating Christmas (after Thanksgiving!) in my family, we have some fun traditions. First, I always enjoy setting up decorations and decorating our tree while listening to Christmas music for the first time. I think Christmas music is always what really puts me in the holiday mood. My family also always goes to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens to drive or walk through their 1.5 million lights, which I definitely recommend! We also go see the Nutcracker ballet sometime before Christmas most years. I have always loved it since I was a kid, and it is always very nostalgic for me whenever we go.
Then, my family and I always go to church on Christmas Eve. My favorite part of the night is always singing “Silent Night” while holding candles with all of the lights out. Also, my sister and I are always allowed to open one present from my parents on Christmas Eve: a nutcracker. We’ve done this tradition for over 10 years now, and my sister and I have quite the collection that we bring out every year as part of our Christmas decorations.
Finally, on Christmas Day, I open presents with my mom, dad, and sister in the morning, and then spend the rest of the day with my extended family. We always go over to my grandparents’ house for lunch with my dad’s side of the family and open presents there, and then have dinner with my aunt, uncle and cousins on my mom’s side. It’s kind of the same way I celebrate Thanksgiving that I talked about last time.
Christmas was always a huge deal for me when I was younger, and I have definitely grown to miss having parties during the last week before break in elementary school. One of my favorite memories from that time was the “Polar Express” at my elementary school. It was kind of like a winter carnival, but every grade would perform songs in the cafeteria for our parents.
Although I enjoyed Christmas so much when I was younger, I definitely am looking forward to the break from school just as much this year. My family and I don’t usually travel over the break because of how much family we have in Virginia Beach, so Winter Break is always a very lazy week, and I love it.
But enough about me! I spoke to my friend Abby Sabatino, who is Jewish, again this month to learn about how she celebrates during December.
Hanukkah this year was from December 7 to December 15. Abby describes that she celebrates the days of Hanukkah with her whole family, with dinner and presents. “My whole family comes over the first night and we have a big family dinner,” she explains. “Me and my family still celebrate every night and my grandparents give us presents on the first night.”
Because her family gives gifts on Christmas as well as during Hanukkah, Abby says that her parents give her gifts every other day during that time. She describes it as “the best of both worlds.”
I also spoke to my friend Alya Bedawi, who is Muslim, about what her experience is like during the December holiday season in her family. “Even though we don’t believe in the whole concept of Jesus in the same way as Christians, we still kind of celebrate the Christmas traditions,” she explains. “As in we just get gifts, but we don’t have a big dinner, so it’s very simple but it’s something to still feel like the holiday spirit.”
Although Alya describes she is used to American culture because she was born and raised here, she says it is “an interesting experience” living where her holidays are not recognized compared to ones like Christmas.
No matter what holidays you celebrate during this month, I hope you enjoyed learning about my experience as well as those of my friends. I can’t wait to see you again in 2024 where I will be talking about January and New Year’s!
