Tradition of Christmas Eve

Look at this nice heternormative clip art I found!

Christmas Eve has always been a major part of Christendom. It's the gear up to the celebration that is Christmas. It's our turn up night before the turn up. Christmas day goes pretty much as planned for the masses. Children wake up. We open presents. Families pretend to love each other for the rest of the day. They might even play a board game, but Christmas Eve isn't so definite.

For day 11 in the 12 Days of Bubbles I asked my friends and acquaintances just what they do for Christmas Eve. I felt like an underground reporter uncovering the truth.  

My Christmas Eve is a family celebration. We spend the day together and we open one gift from under the thee. We spend the rest of the day together. It's really great if you love and care about your family.

The other half of my family does something more materialistic that has little to do with spending time with each other. On Christmas Eve they go out shopping, because they enjoy putting things off to the end. It's essentially a marathon. They run out get, gifts and wrap them up and as a group we open all of them together at midnight on Christmas Eve.  

At this point they all go their separate ways, back to their humble abodes, and wait for Christmas morning to spend time with the family they live with. It's exhausting.

I tried to ask the twins what they do, but despite phone calls and harassment I never did get a response. This is what happens when you try to get information out of people during exam week.

Now Joyce did respond. I think her's is very traditional. You know she is very Catholic and together as a family they go to midnight mass. I'm not Catholic enough for that, but if I was I do think that would be a bundle of joy and anticipation.

My dear, now departed neighbors would go caroling. Singing door to door with their church. I would rather be home passed out under a pile of blankets listening to Bette Midler. Which, consequentially is what I'm usually doing on Christmas Eve. Traditions are great, but sometimes you need to stay inside.

The only Scorpio that matters informed me of her Christmas Eve rituals. There was a lot of “hahaha's” involved in her response, which leads me to believe that she actually enjoys spending time with her family.

Her's follows the plot outline of mine. They open one Christmas present. Then, this is where they veer off into uncharted territory. They “bake cookies” and “enjoy spending time with each other”. In the great American tradition of family values she is leading the life of the Cleaver family.

In my household if someone doesn't cry or yell or have an emotional breakdown it's really not Christmas. Last year my father about punched me across the face and that's my idea of a good time.  

Now in the most surprising turn of events this is where I ask you to comment and tell me about your Christmas Eve traditions. I see other bloggers being interactive and asking you questions, so I am following in that great tradition.