by Madeline Best
Sitting around the fire. Christmas lights glistening through the frost-covered window. A cup of steaming hot chocolate in your hand. Christmas time is full of memory-making moments defined by the classic holiday traditions people have grown to love. While most people participate in the classic traditions, some students have incorporated their own holiday twists.
One classic holiday tradition is cooking with family. The usual meals can include pie, ham or cookies, but junior Kristin Teahan’s family puts a unique spin on holiday meals. Every Christmas Eve, Teahan’s family gathers at her great-aunt’s house to make tamales. While spending the whole day together, this tradition helps Teahan’s family celebrate.
“Tamales help us appreciate our [hispanic] heritage and brings our family together,” Teahan said. “My favorite part about these traditions is the unity of my family. It is only around Thanksgiving and Christmas that I get to see my extended family on both sides, and my family is very near and dear to my heart.”
Another tradition is watching Christmas movies. From classics like “A Christmas Carol” or a more modern film like “Elf,” movies are one of the best ways to get into the holiday spirit. Junior Marina Vianello watches “It’s A Wonderful Life” and to her, it never gets old.
“Every Christmas Eve, [my family and I] watch ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ in our living room by the fire,” Vianello said. “We bring down our mattresses too. It’s a tradition we’ve had ever since I was born. I can’t remember ever not watching it. It’s my whole family’s favorite movie.”
One Christmas tradition that can get everyone involved is secret Santa or white elephant. Secret Santa is a game in which all players are assigned someone to purchase a gift for randomly. On the other hand, white elephant is a game where everyone playing brings a wrapped present and one by one someone will choose a mystery gift. The catch to this game is that you can either pick a gift from the pile or “steal” one of the previously opened gifts. Both these games are popular to play during advisory Christmas parties and family parties. Junior Molly Corless celebrates with a round of secret Santa played with her family. Her family’s version of secret Santa has now turned into a joke by including a ceramic cat into the gifts.
“I think it was my [Grandma] that started it, but everyone was really scared by it,” Corless said. “They put it in the trash, but someone took it out when no one else was looking. It ended up in the trash a second time, but somehow we still have it. Almost every year, the cat is back in the gift exchange but the person who gets it doesn’t actually take it..the ceramic cat just ends back up in our basement.”
A fun and delicious way to celebrate the holidays is with sugar. Gingerbread houses are a tradition that anyone can participate in, no matter what age you are. Candy and frosting are fun to decorate with and can bring people together in a creative way. Junior Kathleen Blanck’s family takes gingerbread making to the extreme by making extravagant houses that take weeks to create. From Hogwarts to cruise ships and this year’s theme Gotham City, the Blanck family design new and unique houses every year. Kathleen’s favorite part about the process is the fact that she can work with her family.
“I love creating gingerbread houses because I get to work with my whole family and we just get to be creative and funny and they usually turn out really impressive,” Blanck said. “It’s just something I can be proud of.”
Whether it be traditional or unique, holiday traditions are part of everyone’s lives around the holidays. From simple things like a plate full of cookies to a Christmas light show in your front yard, you can make traditions your own by putting a twist on the most popular activities for the holiday season.
