Christmas Past, Present, and Future
December 25th, 2008 by KristenMerry Christmas, everyone! It's 1:20am Christmas morning, and I can't sleep. Christmas still gets me all wound up, but in a good way. I've started thinking about what Christmas was like when I was little, what's stayed the same and changed as I've gotten older, and what I would like Christmas to be like for my children in the future. Here are my reflections of Christmas past, present, and future (I've searched high and low for the cord to download my photos onto my computer, but can't find it right now, so I promise to add photos later!).
12/25/08, Christmas Present:
Last night, we had our traditional Christmas Eve family dinner at my grandparent's (mom's side) house. Here's the not-so-traditional part- for dinner, rather than having our usual Chinese dinner, we had a spread for make-your-own sushi, a treat that we usually reserve for New Year's Eve. Why the switch? Well, the biggest sushi fan of the family (my cousin, Darrett) was back from Hilo for Christmas, and my in-laws (who are a bit wary of all the raw stuff) will be with us for New Years. Dinner was delicious, but the fun stuff came later. We talked, played with my cousins' adorable new dog, Chloe, sang a few Christmas carols, and took turns holding and being awed over the new addition to our family- baby Raiden (born December 12th), born to my cousin Aaron and his wife Christina. We got competitive during our team Christmas games, fighting to win first choice of the "White Elephant" prizes we had all contributed. The "kids"- and I'm talking about myself and my cousins, as we're still referred to as "the kids" when we have these family gatherings- exchanged our grab bag gifts (in case you're wondering, I got a box of Kinoki detox foot pads that I currently am trying out!). We took lots of family photos in front of the tree with my grandparents, and then again with the stockings we've hung every Christmas since we've been born.
Later today, we'll be going to exchange Christmas gifts with my immediate family, and tonight, Matt and I have dinner reservations at the Chart House to celebrate his birthday! (Yes, he's born on Christmas and so is my step-son Kainalu, who will be back in Oahu in a few days!)
12/25/88, Christmas Past:
The traditional Christmas Eve gathering was much larger, with second cousins and those aunties and uncles I'd only see once a year. The kids would put on a little talent show, we'd sing a bunch of Christmas carols and then end with "Jingle Bells," at which time we'd hear those magical bells and Santa would appear! We took turns sitting on his lap, telling him how we'd been good that year, and he'd give us a special present.
On Christmas morning, my sister and I would wake up early and head for our stockings first, where we would find our letters from Santa. The letters always contained a lot of praise over our accomplishments over the past year, and a few things that he wanted us to work on (usually doing extra chores around the house or not arguing with each other as much). We'd rip open gifts from Santa, mom, and dad, and then would head up the hill to my grandparent's house, where we would see our cousins again. We'd always have Christmas omelets and fried rice before taking our pictures in front of our stockings, and then exchanging presents. In the afternoon, we'd head to my grandmother's house (on my dad's side) for more food, family time, and presents.
12/25/18, Christmas Future:
It's funny, but the Christmas I see in the future for my own children is the Christmas I was blessed with in the past. A big Christmas Eve with lots of family members, lots of singing Christmas carols, and a visit from Santa. Having my children wake my husband and I up early Christmas morning to show us, wide-eyed, their letters from Santa, pleased that the treats (milk and cookies, no doubt) they left him were eaten. Videotaping our children as they open presents chosen just for them, and then taking them to spend time with their grandparents, aunties, uncles, and cousins. The day will be very long, but absolutely magical for all of us.
Now it's your turn! Here are some questions for you...
What's your favorite "Christmas past" memory or tradition?
What about your "Christmas present" was special?
What do you want your "Christmas future" to include?
Tags: Christmas
December 25th, 2008 at 10:32 am
you forgot about dinner and bingo with dad's extended family on christmas night!
anyway, my favorite christmas past memory was sitting on santa's lap -- even though i was always nervous and shy to get so much attention, it was still pretty exciting!
i liked the christmas games this year. everyone had such a fun time! thank you, game show host!
and finally, i simply want my christmas future to include lots of happy time with family.
December 25th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Definitely good fun and happy times with family represent the best of my Christmas past, present and hopefully future. However, one memory I have involves just me in a closet for hours. I was at a certain age where I had figured out that Santa actually hides his gifts for us in my parents closet. I went snooping a few days before Christmas and found a wonderful unwrapped hand held video game (Galaga, I think). I must have played that game until the batteries went dead and I must have really loved it because I remember it like it was yesterday. May all our Holidays (Past, Prsent and Future) be filled with love and happiness.
December 25th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Merry Christmas, Kristen!
What’s your favorite “Christmas past” memory or tradition?
We used to have breakfast at my grandma's house every Christmas morning. But as people got busier (and older), we've moved to having brunch, usually at Pagoda. I'll always remember waking up early and heading off to grandma's house, though. After breakfast, we opened presents and relaxed until dinner.
What about your “Christmas present” was special?
My friend from Japan joined us for brunch this year. She was unable to go home because airfare was too expensive. I was happy she could spend some time with us. It felt good to do something like that for her. She's the main reason why I passed Japanese 201 and 202.
What do you want your “Christmas future” to include?
Honestly, there's nothing I would change about Christmas. As long as I'm with my family and friends, I'm very happy. The presents and food are nice, but definitely not a necessity.
December 30th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Kristen!
Christmas past -- Christmas at home with just my parents and my brother. My dad was traditional being second generation in Hawaii and we concentrated on New Years more than Christmas. But my dad always cut down a tree for us (from whatever was in the yard) and we decorated it with all the old style tinsel and glass balls. We even had a star to put on the top. The funny part was the star had a circle in the middle with a traditional picture of Jesus Christ but we were Buddhists. My mom always made chicken instead of turkey because for some reason we did not like turkey.
Christmas present -- Now that I am married and live far away on the east coast, I spend Christmas with my husband's family. We go down to my in-laws and spend the night before at their home. We get up and wait for his brother, sis-in-law and nephew to get there. Then we open Christmas stockings which traditionally have at least one Archie comics and scratchers.
We also get candy too. When we're done with that, we sit around the Christmas tree where my MIL will pass our gifts -- lots of them as they love Christmas. We also have snacks to eat and just relax. My MIL also cooks a really nice Christmas dinner. It's really a relaxing day. So far, with our son, we do Christmas at home a day or two ahead since we can't bring all his presents down with us for him to open at his grandparents house. He doesn't know the difference too much except we tell him Santa came early to our house because he knew our son was not going to be home.
Christmas future -- Not sure what that will hold. I believe we will go down to our in-laws as much as possible. After that, I hope to have a family Christmas at home making some traditions of our own.