25 Days of Christmas 2020.....Traditions, Movies, and More

[muddy75]

I must admit The Christmas Story is a movie I haven't been able to finish---just as awful as Napoleon Dinomite! Original Miracle on 54th Street is still my #1

the original miracle on 34th street is always saved for christmas day here!!

 

[Chicken Chiquita]

the original miracle on 34th street is always saved for christmas day here!!

I've never seen it... Sounds like I gotta start making a movie list...

 

[azurbanclucker]

We have a couple holiday traditions. The first is a variation of the "Elf on a shelf" idea. We have some elaborate little Christmas elves that were given to us a long time ago, and the tradition is that the morning after Thanksgiving at pair show up and start keeping tabs on the house for Santa. They swap locations and we have about a dozen of them now so they also swap out with each other to "report back". They end up in some odd places. Hanging from lamps, watching from atop the entertainment center, Perched on the rabbit cages, etc... My youngest are 11 and 13 now and though they won't say it out loud for fear of being wrong, they know the deal with Santa at this point. However, they still look for the Fairies. We gave a pair to our oldest when he moved out, and we'll do the same with the other 3 when it's time for them to begin their own adventures, so some day they can keep the tradition going.
Here's an elf up to shenanigans.

The other thing that we have always done in my family since I was a kid, is to hold a memento from a family pet after they pass on. When I moved out, I got the stocking that my Mom made for our Lhasa Apso's Christmas treats when I was a kid. It has been on every tree I've ever had. We have kept the tradition going on our own family, but we keep collars. Every year, the first thing that goes on the tree are our memories of our past pets, and they're the last thing to be taken off as well. They may be gone, but they aren't forgotten.

 

[azurbanclucker]

There's also this tree, but it's up 365 days a year in my office.

 

[muddy75]

We have a couple holiday traditions. The first is a variation of the "Elf on a shelf" idea. We have some elaborate little Christmas elves that were given to us a long time ago, and the tradition is that the morning after Thanksgiving at pair show up and start keeping tabs on the house for Santa. They swap locations and we have about a dozen of them now so they also swap out with each other to "report back". They end up in some odd places. Hanging from lamps, watching from atop the entertainment center, Perched on the rabbit cages, etc... My youngest are 11 and 13 now and though they won't say it out loud for fear of being wrong, they know the deal with Santa at this point. However, they still look for the Fairies. We gave a pair to our oldest when he moved out, and we'll do the same with the other 3 when it's time for them to begin their own adventures, so some day they can keep the tradition going.
Here's an elf up to shenanigans.
View attachment 2434857

The other thing that we have always done in my family since I was a kid, is to hold a memento from a family pet after they pass on. When I moved out, I got the stocking that my Mom made for our Lhasa Apso's Christmas treats when I was a kid. It has been on every tree I've ever had. We have kept the tradition going on our own family, but we keep collars. Every year, the first thing that goes on the tree are our memories of our past pets, and they're the last thing to be taken off as well. They may be gone, but they aren't forgotten.

View attachment 2434855

I loved your story!!! I have special ornaments as well that I cherish. i also have the paw print from my beloved hawgdog that i plan on turning into an ornament.

 

[muddy75]

one of our “quirkier” traditions is that we have this poor little stuffed squirrel 🐿 dog toy that we put in our tree every year! i’m thinking that I probably got it when we were first married and I was working at a pet store. Now, 25 years later, he has eyes missing and looks pretty ragged from being chewed on by minis and pets alike.......but he’s survived! I will take picture when we unpack him this season!!!

 

[AntiqueB]

My mother grew up in a predominantly Eastern European town in PA, where the Russians were orthodox. They always put up their (real) tree a few days before Christmas, and kept it up through the full 12 days of Christmas, taking it down just after orthodox Christmas. I keep that tradition, so my main tree will not be up until perhaps a week before Christmas. My son has a small tree in his room, however, which he can put up any time after Thanksgiving!

My decorations outside are already up! This year needs a lot of Christmas cheer, I think.

Does anyone else like The Polar Express movie? The animation is a bit odd, but I find the movie to have many layers of meaning.

 

[CluckerFamily]

If a Christmas tree goes up in my house, Wisconsin has to have snow on the ground first.
But most years I don't put a tree up.
I live in an old farmhouse so I always do candles in each window and hang stockings over the fireplace.

 

[muddy75]

Here is my “giggle” sheet movie list so far

sorry for my dr handwriting

 

[Ruby Rogue]

I don't see Bad Santa on your list