Christmas in July 2019 - Day Nineteen

[PamelaG]

Hygge book pages - another topic I think we've exhausted so it's a free hygge day - tell us what your thoughts are on the concept of hygge. From reading some of your posts, I think many of us have a lot of hygge in our holidays without having realized that there was a term for it.

 

[Ahorsesoul]

As I aged I realized the amount of gifts or events was not at all important. Having a relaxing Holiday/Event is much more important to making good memories.

 

[Miss JoDee]

Another element of Hygee experience is
Togetherness: In the Hygee way it is spending time would be with 3-6 friends.
For my family this would be my immediate family at Christmas time. Every since our oldest was born I made it a rule that Christmas day was for our family only. We would pass on any extended family get togethers. DH worked for UPS and It was time we needed to regather our family. We let the kids choose the menu and planned a trip to the latest Disney release at the theater. We would call Grandparents and wish them a Merry Christmas.

This year we are thinking of going to my Mom's to help her get her Christmas Open house ready. She has sets out food and family arrives in small group and they eat and exchange gifts. Most family members have many stops other along the way too. I think it is Christmas overload which is why I chose to keep Christmas for my family.

What do you do to promote togetherness?

 

[PamelaG]

As I aged I realized the amount of gifts or events was not at all important. Having a relaxing Holiday/Event is much more important to making good memories.

Totally agree, would rather spend money on experiences than stuff. Things that we can do as a family make special memories.

 

[PamelaG]

Another element of Hygee experience is
Togetherness: In the Hygee way it is spending time would be with 3-6 friends.
For my family this would be my immediate family at Christmas time. Every since our oldest was born I made it a rule that Christmas day was for our family only. We would pass on any extended family get togethers. DH worked for UPS and It was time we needed to regather our family. We let the kids choose the menu and planned a trip to the latest Disney release at the theater. We would call Grandparents and wish them a Merry Christmas.

This year we are thinking of going to my Mom's to help her get her Christmas Open house ready. She has sets out food and family arrives in small group and they eat and exchange gifts. Most family members have many stops other along the way too. I think it is Christmas overload which is why I chose to keep Christmas for my family.

What do you do to promote togetherness?

We stick to immediate family only on Christmas Day, mostly because we're in our pajamas for most of the day! We have coffee cake or Danish and coffee or hot chocolate while we open presents in the morning, spend the day watching any new movies that were under the tree, figuring out new electronics or kitchen gadgets together, playing a new game, or flopping on the couch browsing through the new books/magazines we bought the day before at our annual Barnes & Noble outing, and we snack during the day on the leftovers from our Christmas Eve buffet. It's all about being together.

 

[housewife2]

that sounds like so much fun

 

[housewife2]

tell us about the annual barnes and noble outing sounds cool

 

[PamelaG]

tell us about the annual barnes and noble outing sounds cool

It's a big part of our Christmas Eve celebration. On Christmas Eve morning, we go out to breakfast and then we head over to Barnes and Noble. I buy a bunch of gift cards when they have their special offer around Thanksgiving - it's something like buy $75 or $100 worth and get a free or a couple of free $10 cards you can use after December 25. The three of us each get a gift card ($25 usually) and we spend a leisurely hour or so going through the store deciding what books or magazines we would like to buy. Vic always heads to the DIY section, I'm usually picking up the latest English cooking or home décor magazines, and Sophia varies between the Young Adult Fiction and magazines about dogs and horses. We pay for our purchases and then we take them home and put the bags under the tree - no peeking until Christmas Day! The rest of the day is spent prepping for the Christmas Eve buffet (usually baked ham, Caesar salad, smoked salmon, chilled shrimp, marinated mushrooms, a cheese board, maybe some dips or spreads and crusty French bread), setting the table, and watching a movie while having a light snack. I put the ham in the oven so it is cooked and I can turn the oven off and leave it in there to stay warm while we go to a candlelight service on Christmas Eve. We come home, slice the ham and the bread, take all the other foods out of the fridge (they are prepped and ready, just need to take off the Saran Wrap), and enjoy dinner together. Then it's one gift for Sophia - it used to be Christmas pajamas but now it's the Christmas Eve box that includes pajamas, a movie, treats, and hot chocolate - and we spend the evening relaxing and looking forward to Christmas morning.

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

Christmas for us is celebrating with those nearest and dearest to us. In the past we have invited close friends that are not going to family celebrate with us. This has not happened often but a few times over the years.

 

[Ahorsesoul]

I decided years ago when the kids were still young that I didn't care if we had our Christmas on Christmas Eve or Day. I figured the actual day wasn't important. So it's worked out really well for us. Sometimes we've had Christmas two weeks early because that was when everyone could get together. It's rather nice to have no obligations on Christmas. Very relaxing.

I'm the same way about any Holiday/Birthday. If we are going to go out to eat for a Holiday I'd rather do it the week before or after since restaurants are too busy on the actual holiday. Food and service is always better when they are swamped.

I have Eva resting in her kennels so I'd better go play with her so she's tired tonight.

 

[Holiday_Mom]

We tend to celebrate Christmas from Christmas Eve until January 6th. The schools are closed from Dec. 24th until Jan 4th or so. We take the week off between Christmas and New Year's Eve. My dh takes a half day on Christmas Eve and we do a buffet dinner. Then we go to Christmas Eve Vigil. Christmas Day we have home made stollen and leftover appetizers for brunch. We spend about 4 or 5 hours slowly opening up gifts and trying them out. Then at 2 pm, we get ready for heading out to a family dinner at my brother's house.

The next day we hang out playing games and trying out more gifts until 2 pm and then we get ready for another family dinner at my brother-in-law's house. For the rest of the week, we just hang out with the family. Sometimes we get a call from out of town family and/or friends who are driving by the house and want to stop by. We also do a skating and hot chocolate party later in the week. I didn't realize how much the kids enjoy the hanging out and hosting until this past year.

The tree usually gets undecorated on January 2nd by the family. It's a sad day but we keep the tree up with the lights until the night before tree recycling which is sometime after Jan. 6th.

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

Mary, love the idea of the skating/hot chocolate party. Sounds perfect to me.

 

[halimer]

Except for one year (when they went to DDIL's family) it is the one night that DS (and now DDIL, of course) sleep over. We go to the newest Star Wars movie and then a Chinese/Japanese buffet for dinner. And Christmas morning I make sausage and biscuits, eggs and bacon and we open stockings and gifts.

And, of course for Hanukkah there is our giant Hanukkah party with homemade latkes and we invite everyone who can fit into our little house!

 

[housewife2]

all sounds fun

 

[DahliaDoll]

I like to designate a "no TV" night once a week. We don't really continue it into the summer, because we do quite a bit of travelling with travel trailer and to our lake place where TV is non-existent or off limits. A no TV night in the fall and winter months finds us relaxing in front of the fire with nice music on. So this creates a lot of hygge at Christmas time with lights, candles, holiday music, etc.