. What do you do for the holidays? Do you travel to see family or friends? Are you the one who cooks a special meal? Do you enjoy the shopping? Do you like surprise gifts or do you like to peek?
We stay home and I usually cook the holiday meals. Sometimes we get asked to friends' houses for Easter or Thanksgiving dinner, or Christmas Eve dinner, and that's really great!
It's okay if family or friends travel to come here, but traveling is a chore and we don't want to go through that on the holidays (it's bad enough doing it the rest of the year). I like shopping online; the tough part is figuring out what gifts everyone would like...
As far as surprises - love 'em - no problem waiting. Husband and I didn't find out the sex of our child when I was pregnant (he likes his surprises, too).
p.s. Next weekend is Thanksgiving here. Fingers crossed we get an invitation so I don't have to cook.
I like to peek. .Doesn't everybody ? we go to my daughters for dinner but the day before I fix a small turkey myself for me & my husband so we can have sandwiches from the turkey too.
I love to shop by myself. when I have the money. We are up on your bills so far,so we may have enough for 3 birthdays and Christmas.
Usually have a Finnish christmas altogether, including opening presents on the Eve, not in the morning. Additionally, Christmas Eve evening service at Church which is candlight service and singing in different languages (Couple weeks prior on December 13, we have Santa Lucia. I was one for a number of years when I was younger - I would wear a white robe and a crown of candles on my head, and lead the younger girls) and afterward, we usually visit my mom's family in Montreal.
Can easily tell I'm a Nordic Lutheran
granted we also have Irish traditionss on account that my mom is Irish, as well as sneaking in North American aspects of course. So I'm a good ol' Euro-mutt Canadian.
My sister and I have taken turns doing Thanksgiving for the last few years; however last year, she did her dinner and I did ours. The problem is my FIL who has some serious problems about coming to our house for dinner if there are other people also coming for dinner....even if he knows them. (And half the time, even if it is just Rick and me, my FIL will awaken the morning of dinner and say, "I'm not going down to Rick and Pam's for dinner today." Who knows why? We don't really care anymore; we just do our thing and it he joins us, that's fine. If not, well, that's fine, too. And my sister's MIL has advanced dementia, so we're never sure what she's going to say or do at any given time now. So my sister does her thing with her family and kids, we do our thing.
For Christmas, our kids come to us one year and then go to our DIL's family the next year. The year the kids don't come to us on Christmas is when I'll do a Christmas-type brunch for pretty much anybody who wants to come and eat. We always have a great time. Then our actual Christmas dinner is when the kids get up to spend the day with us. My sister and BIL will usually come over and join us for dessert. I always order a huge white coconut layer cake as part of our dessert tray, and my sister and I are both coconut cake hounds. It works out.
As for gifts, I loved to sneak around the house when I was a child to see what I was getting for Christmas. That continued even into the first 20 years or so of our marriage. Now, though, I'm fine. I like to be surprised and I don't snoop......much.
I usually do thanksgiving here with my family and we go to one of my brother's houses on Christmas Day. My other brother does something every other Christmas Eve.
I don't mind Christmas shopping. I don't get many surprises for gifts.