When it comes to Christmas I admit to being very orthodox in my beliefs. In particular, I believe that Santa comes at night and leaves presents for us to discover in the morning. Children are meant to wake up at some unbelievable hour like 4am and, after much discussion amongst siblings, tiptoe into their parents’ room to poke the parents and ask these groggy adults if Santa has come yet. Then begins the struggle with parents hoping against hope that they will be able to put off the inevitable until at least six AM. After many exchanges of “I think I heard him” and “no he hasn’t been here yet” parents compromise on 5:30 and strong coffee.
Nothing beats the excitement of kids rushing to open presents. It is best if you live in a two story house so the kids can run down the stairs, making as much noise as possible.
I was shocked to learn late in life that some families actually exchange gifts on Christmas eve. Sure this lets the parents sleep on Christmas day, but when is Santa supposed to sneak into the house and leave presents.
Turkey is the proper Christmas dinner main course. Cranberry sauce can be either that dark red jello substance or have berries still in it. It is so bitter (at least when you are a kid) that it is just a decoration anyway. I do have a fondness for the canned jello like version, especially if it has the shape of the can still.
The proper pie is pumpkin. Turkeys should be large enough to provide sandwiches for days. The turkey is carved before sitting down to dinner. The best slice is the one mom lets you steal as she carves.
The main concern is presents. Presents need to be under the tree well in advance of Christmas so that kids can shake them and guess what is in them. Anticipation. That’s the key.
This is how a proper Christmas is done.
For me.
In my childhood.
Parts of this tradition I share now with my own family. Parts have been modified. New traditions have been added.
For those of you with different traditions or no traditions for Christmas, I wish you well, too.
Left Brain Right Brain 
Happy Christmas, I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts this year. x
Enjoy your Christmas, Sullivan.
Sullivan,
you are Orthodox US American – we are Orthodox German and NATURALLY open our presents on Christmas Eve – that is our tradition!
Merry Christmas – enjoy the early coffee while we sleep in 😉
Catherina
Catherina,
I hope you enjoy your sleep and your goose/ carp/eel or whatever is the centerpiece of your dinner.
My family started opening presents late on our huge Christmas Eve party with extended family (which was our Catholic tradition – Jesus was born on midnight, or so they say) once the kids were too old to believe in Santa. But before that we had to wait until waking up on the 25th to find out what Santa had left for us. Then we’d go out on the neighborhood and play with our new stuff and see what our friends had gotten. Wonderful memories. Merry Christmas to you all.
Santa came to visit my step-kids today (if you’re a Facebook friend, see the vid on my timeline). He made sure to tell the kids that this was a non-orthodox visit and that they should be good and sleep well tonight.
Oddly, 5 mins after he’d gone, Grandad showed up.
Kev, So sorry to hear that grandpa “missed” Santa. D’oC,
Thanks for the good wishes. Now that you say it…hmmmm.
Merry Christmas Sullivan, Kev, and all.
I’d like to point out that no one has ever seen Santa Claus and Kathleen Seidel in the same room at the same time.
I’m just saying…
happy festives of your choices!
Do’C, Santa is nothing if not discrete.
Happy holidays all. Joy to you and me.
Duck – thank you Sullivan 🙂 Your kids should be waking you just about now!
to all the LBRB posters for whom too cute by 1/2 ad homs are SOP a driveling, sentimental, maudlin, christmas and a rotten 2011…
and to all the LBRB pseudo scientists re santaC where’s the evidence…
God, whatever color She/He is, bless all the tiny tims…cause in this ” best of all worlds”; its hypocritical, sick, society really doesn’t give a damn about them.
stanley seigler
Stanley, there you go projecting again.
“Society” doesn’t care or do anything. It is only the people in a society who can care or who can do things.
If society isn’t the way you want it to be, then your only recourse is to try and change it yourself into what you do want it to be.
As Gandhi said “be the change you want in the world”.
As John Lennon said
“Instant Karma’s gonna get you,
Gonna knock you right on the head…
Instant Karma’s gonna get you,
Gonna look you right in the face,
Better get yourself together darlin’,
Join the human race…
Instant Karma’s gonna get you,
Gonna knock you off your feet,
Better recognize your brothers,
Ev’ryone you meet,
Why in the world are we here,
Surely not to live in pain and fear,
Why on earth are you there,
When you’re ev’rywhere,
Come and get your share.”
[d2u say] “Society” doesn’t care or do anything. It is only the people in a society who can care or who can do things.
there you go playing semantics again…but OK…
in this ”best of all worlds”; its hypocritical, sick, PEOPLE (the collective consciousness of the majority) really dont give a damn about the tiny tims.
[d2u say]…only recourse is to try and change it yourself
i (as do many) try and have been reasonably successful getting programs/support for my daughter (their child, friend)…but the “PEOPLE collective” (society) really doesnt give a damn about the tiny tims…the special needs children and adults…
they go to the mosque/temple/church on fri/sat/sun (hanukkah, christmas, ramadan)…and proclaim their compassion…then, among other greedy acts, vote to cut social progams on mon, tue, wed, thu (the rest of the year)
BO (USA pres obama) tried change (eg, health care for 30-40 million in USA) and the, collective hypocritical, people (society) gave him a “shellacking” in nov…
people/society (at least in USA) prefer tax breaks for rich folks and corporations vice health care for po folks and quality programs for the least…in CA-USA they prefer cheap licence plates for hummer owners.
IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) has never been adequately funded as required by law…schools administrators would rather spend money on lawyers to deny programs than on FAPE (fair appropriate public ed) programs for all.
to fix deficit budgets, myopic legs (legislators, voted in by a sick society) cut, already under funded, social needs programs to provide short term, stupid, budget quick fixes…they pander to a sick society (the collective consciousness of people/voters)…oh/and/btw, legs pander to the racists re USA immigration policies.
that said hope springs whatever…maybe there will be DD/spectrum civil rights movement led by a gandhi, churchill, FDR, MLK, RFK, Cesar Chavez, Schindler, Lech Wa??sa.
where are the individuals with the attributes to change society’s collective consciousness attitude towards the least…difficult if not impossible to “change it yourself”…it takes a movement.
stanley seigler
Never did I say this was the best of all worlds. I don’t think that it is. That is why I am trying to make the world a better place. One nitric oxide susceptible disorder at a time 😉
daedalus2u,
I tend to use the “society thinks” or “society acts” phrases too. Sure, there is no collective mind or intent. But it is a convenient model, if simplistic.
stanley seigler,
sorry that you repeatedly run into strained discussions here. I do hope that whatever holidays your family may celebrate have been good. I have the advantage of being a Californian and, thus, know that you have been working towards the goal of improving the lives of autistics and the disabled in general for some time. Pure speculation, but I imagine that some of the commenters here would tone things down a bit if they were more aware.
As to Santa–I plan on writing about that soon. Sure, there is no evidence he is real. Science isn’t a religion or dogma. Science and critical thinking are tools. Is there harm in letting a child have magical thinking? No. Is there harm, in general, for an adult to have magical thinking? Not really. Is there harm when non-critical thinking is applied to the medical treatment of children? Perhaps not always, but sometimes, definitely. Notice that I don’t discuss topics as, say, homeopathy, here. It makes no sense scientifically. But, true homeopathy is essentially water. Is there harm in it? In general, no. As a substitute for real medical treatment it can be dangerous. When people pass off active chemicals as “homeopathy”, there can be danger. In terms of draining one’s wallet, there is a danger.
d2u say] I am trying to make the world a better place.
bet you will…keep on keeping on…thanks for the lennon words…i missed him growing up…
stanley seigler
[sullivan say] Is there harm in letting a child have magical thinking? No.
for sure for sure (say the valley girl) NO harm…au contraire…it brings magic and joy into all our lives…ditto the easter bunny, the tooth fairy, and peter pan.
my facetious comment: “santaC…where’s the evidence” was a put down of science not santa…
there are no studies to prove the joy santa brings to children and to adults through the children…there is observable science, eg, a child’s laughter…some LBRB scientists/posters deny observable science (seeing is believing) exist.
a jr oppenheimer quote comes to mind:
“There are children [who believe in santa] playing in the streets who could solve some of my top problems in physics, because they have modes of sensory perception that I lost long ago.”
which leads me further off the topic of santaC…those on the spectrum have “modes of sensory perception” we dont begin comprehend…that defy science…yet;
we deny these modes exist because there is no scientific evidence (studies by the publish or perish crew)…tho again there is observable science.
[sullivan say] sorry that you repeatedly run into strained discussions
i have no problem with (enjoy) strained discussions…only a problem with too cute by 1/2 ad homs; which…my opine…only add to writer’s ego and nothing to the strained (or otherwise) discussion.
stanley seigler
In my family we exchange one gift to open on Christmas Eve, usually from another family member. Then Santa comes later and leaves far more goodies. 😀 Ah, the innocence of childhood! Back when no one cared if I had autism, ADD, or anything else, only that I was poking my brother in the forehead continously! 😛 It still amuses me to agitate him, or really any other family member who happens to be in the vacinity.
From high school on all I ever heard was that I was brain damaged, different, somehow not as capeable as everyone else in spite of the fact that my IQ was higher than most. That I had to go into assisted living and would never be able to live on my own. That I must except that my life is horrible even if it’s not the autism that makes it so, but those who keep saying it does. The judgement that comes inevitably as soon as I disclose I have a label.
Thankfully, none of these things ever came from mom or my step dad. They were tough! By 15 I knew how to cook and clean, by around 17 I was being taught how to budget and balance a check book. Thank God for them!
PS
[sullivan say] thus, know that you been working towards the goal of improving the lives of autistics and the disabled in general for some time.
for the record…have just been around for sometime…my only work is running off at the mouth…my only successes are:
1. getting my daughter kicked out of a program because of her irrational parent…should kiss the directors butt…it was the best thing that happened to my daughter…God (He/She, black/white, whatever) works in mysterious ways.
2. a very special support staff (dear friends) for my daughter.
3. getting kicked off a list serve run by a regional center (RC) director. note: in CA-USA, RCs control funding support.
and
email exchanges with some very special odd balls and brilliant people on/off the spectrum…not members of the sick/hypocritical society…who have given me insight into my daughter’s world…the world of autism.
stanley seigler
[theo say] The judgement that comes inevitably as soon as I disclose I have a label…Thankfully, none of these things ever came from mom or my step dad. They were tough! By 15 I knew how to cook and clean, by around 17 I was being taught how to budget and balance a check book. Thank God for them!
theo and others with the fortitude to ignore the dumb-a judgements of our sick people (society)…ie, “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”…deserve , at least, a chapter in “profiles of courage”…as do his parents.
stanley seigler
First of all thanks Stanely. Second of all, I am a lady. 🙂 Lol! I get that often. Once again, thanks for those kind words.
[theo say] First of all thanks. Second of all, I am a lady. 🙂 Lol! I get that often. Once again, thanks for those kind words.
first of all THANKS theo…indeed you are a LADY…you inspire…second of all i will try to avoid personal pronouns…dont know why i said “his parents”…getting (am) old…
i have not known a male theo…i have known at least one female theo (murphy)…also quite a lady.
stanley seigler