For many years now, my book deadline has been January 15. That means I’m always racing to finish my novel during the holidays. With three children and a musician-husband whose busiest season is also Christmas, I decided several years ago to stop trying to produce a perfect “Hallmark” holiday. I sat everyone down and asked which traditions were most important to them, and together we came up with a Christmas celebration that is perfect for our family.
My husband’s family is mostly Dutch (except for his father, who barged into town and added the Austin name). To celebrate his heritage we set a pair of wooden shoes near our front door for St. Nicholas Day. Our kids never believed in Santa Claus since we wanted them to celebrate Christmas as Jesus’s birthday, but they loved those wooden shoes—and the fact that their father marched in them in Holland’s Tulip Time Parade when he was young.
We also bake traditional Dutch Jan Hagel cookies and serve them with egg nog as we decorate our Christmas tree. The background music for this event is a CD that our church choir in Winnipeg, Canada recorded when my husband was their music director. Our tree isn’t magazine-worthy but we decorate it with love and with ornaments the kids made in school, as well as decorations from all the places we’ve lived and traveled.
On Christmas Eve we hang the stockings that my sister Bonnie pieced and quilted for us years ago. She’s in heaven now, but we remember her with love when we see her beautiful handiwork. Our dinner on Christmas Day reflects my German background. Five days ahead of time, I begin marinating a beef roast in vinegar, onions and mixed pickling spices to make Sauerbraten. I also bake ginger snaps, which get crumbled up to thicken the traditional gravy. Served with spätzle and cooked red cabbage, this has become our favorite Christmas meal. Dessert is cake with candles for Jesus’s birthday.
When our children were very small, I purchased an inexpensive nativity scene that they could handle without breaking. Every year they divvy up the shepherds and wise men and other figures and set each piece in place as my husband reads the Christmas story from the Bible. Now that our kids are grown and married, their spouses join in the tradition. I could buy a fancier nativity set but none of us wants to part with that old, well-worn one.
Our traditions have continued to transform as our family has grown and added new members. We now celebrate Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, by lighting menorah candles and placing them in our window. I love eating warm potato latkes like the ones my great-grandmother used to make with sour cream and applesauce. Jesus also celebrated this traditional Jewish holiday (see John 10:22-23), a reminder of God’s provision and the rededication of His temple. For me, it’s a reminder that Jesus came at Christmas to bring light into a very dark world.
Jesus wants me to let my light shine too, but I can’t do that if I’m stressed out from trying to achieve Christmas perfection. The celebration of Christ’s birth should be a time to relax with my family and friends and enjoy God’s gracious gift of His Son. It’s in those moments with my loved ones close, that I feel the holy wonder of Christmas once again—Emmanuel, God with us!
Does your family have special Christmas traditions and foods?
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I so enjoyed reading your family traditions, Lynn. Ours have changed over the years, especially with no grands living near us. I think children help keep the old traditions going. But we now celebrate our Savior’s birth with friends who don’t have family nearby. It’s a new tradition but I find it fits us well.
I love to create new traditions, too. Sharing is the spirit of the season.
We get together either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Depends on the work schedules. My daughter’s a nurse so we take that into consideration. We do stockings and gift exchange. This year since its Christmas eve were celebrating we are doing something different. Just snakes. Well like Chicken Wings Shrimp cocktail and that kind of thing. We tried that once before and it went over rather well.
Merry Christmas to you and yours and God Bless.
Just snacks not snakes! Must be wondering what kind of people we are here. (Lol)
Good ideas, Shirley. Maybe you’ll start a new tradition.
Lovely! One of my favorites has always been our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. It draws the attention to the reason for our celebration. The meals we enjoy have changed as our tastes have changed, but the turkey quiche for Christmas Day breakfast has stuck! We don’t do snakes at all though. 🙂 Maybe we will try that some year. (Just kidding – I type like that all the time, Shirley). Merry Christmas!
Same to you and your family Angie.
Oh yes! I forgot to mention our Christmas Eve service, Angie. That’s an annual tradition, too–especially since my husband always plays in our church orchestra.
I was interested in the Dutch tradition of putting the wooden shoes by the door. I’m half Dutch. My dad was born in Groningen Holland. He was buried in Margraten American Cemetery in 1945 after being killed during WWII. Since I turned three after his death, I never learned of the Dutch traditions. His parents and siblings never talked about them. The only one I heard about from grandma was about Banket, tho she never made it, being only made at Christmas and on a child’s birthday, which a roll of Banket was shaped into the birthday child’s initial and was gifted to him/her. I would hope you have had Banket. It is to die for.😄
Yes, I LOVE banket! But in the interest of time and stress-reduction, we buy ours now at the Dutch Bakery. The wooden shoes are actually for St. Nicholas Day, which is celebrated on December 5 in the Netherlands. The children are supposed to leave their shoes near the door with some carrots or hay in them for St. Nicholas’ horse and he leaves a present in return. They have a St. Nicholas Day Parade here in Holland, Michigan every year and he rides into town on his white horse.
Such wonderful traditions, Lynn, and I love that you’ve simplified, while still holding on to the traditions that are extra special to your children. Since our children have all grown and moved away, we’ve simplified, too. When in-laws started coming on the scene, we decided to make the week between Christmas and New Years our family’s time to get together. That way we don’t have to worry about coordinating Christmas with three unrelated families in different states! It has worked well, and once I adjusted my expectations, Christmas Day itself is still special, even if we are alone, with the expectation of and preparation for our kids’ soon-to-come visit.
The singular thing we’ve done that has helped to take the stress off of Christmas is to greatly curtail the gift exchanges on both sides of our family. With financial pressure off, time constraints relieved, and no worrying about whether people will like the gift or not, that one change has helped me focus on the true meaning of Christmas more than anything else. Of course there are still gifts for the young grandkids. The adults set their money aside for a future family vacation together, and as that year gets closer, some of our time each Christmas will be spent planning our trip!
Great ideas, Deb! I also adjusted my Christmas Day expectations once our children married. As long as I get to see them, it doesn’t matter what day we celebrate. I also like the idea of saving fro a family trip rather than buying another sweater or tie or bubble bath. I don’t need a thing! Seeing them is enough of a gift!