Holiday Traditions, New and Old — How Do You Celebrate?

Having been married two months now, our first Christmas as newlyweds is sneaking up fast. My wife is very thoughtful and wants to start some holiday traditions, and I'm trying to get into them and actually appreciate what she is trying to do.

Being raised by a single father, we would usually go to a relative's house for Thanksgiving or spend time with close family friends. We didn't have a ton of family traditions, or at least not any we can participate in now. One was going to Boise Cascade to see Santa Claus and getting a picture and candy, but that stopped when the mill closed down years ago. The other would be going to church to watch a re-enactment of the Three Wise Men and the story of baby Jesus. All great memories, but not things that I will carry over into my new marriage.

In fact outside of playing Cefus Claus, I haven't been one who is much into Christmas. I'm not saying I'm the Grinch, but I am saying I've grown tired of the commercialization of the holiday -- something that won't ever change that this point. So what can I do to get into the Christmas spirit?

Knowing that men fundamentally think differently from women, and also knowing that I'm lucky to be married to someone who cares about me enough to start a few traditions, I'd better find a way to start caring. One tradition my wife wants to start is getting us each a new pair of Christmas pajamas, which I think will be great -- snuggling up by the tree with hot cocoa in our new comfy nightwear. Who knows, maybe it will get a little too warm and ... well, you know. But I digress...

The other is getting our tree shortly after Thanksgiving and decorating it together. The hard work of hauling a real tree into the house turns into a fun afternoon of decorating it together and watching the presents pile up underneath.

One other tradition we have -- and it's become one of my favorites -- is going to John Gasperetti's Christmas cabaret show. It's filled with great food, drinks and dessert along with the original lyrics to well-known songs that will have you in tears from laughing so hard.

All this leads me to a very important question: What holiday traditions do you celebrate? And did it take you awhile to get into them?