I grew up thinking my family's holiday traditions were normal, but when I was in my early 20's I figured out how crazy they were. The one that really gets me is opening presents. After I experienced a few Christmases with other families I figured out that most of the time they have someone passing out gifts. As soon as you receive a gift you immediately rip it open them thank the person who gave it to you. Does my family do this? NO!!! At my moms house we pass out gifts then go around the room opening them one by one. Keep in mind that my daughter received about 30-40 small gifts (I get it she is the grandbaby and is special), my mom usually winds up with 20-25 (my sister and dad go overboard), my sister-her husband -and my dad usually receive 6-8 each, this year I received a very nice gift early in November but they had 4 small items so that I would have something under the tree. To be clear I am not complaining about the number of gifts I received. I am complaining about the way we open them. Seriously, we spent three and a half hours opening gifts today. It's pretty sad when you spend so long opening gifts that a 9 year old starts to lose interest. I know why/where it started but I think it is a tradition who's time has passed. Anybody else got a odd tradition that they would like to see gone?
My family does that too. It takes forever and it's ridiculous. The worst part is we do it at my aunt and uncle's house and while I open presents from my mom at home alone with her, their son and daughter wait to open all of their presents with us. Another holiday tradition I wish would go away: My grandpa, aunt, or uncle asking me if I'm going to midnight mass with them and then looking pissed when I say, "No."
the traditional luch on 25th. You don't get so many people who hate each other/get on each other's nerves forced to spend time one room often.
My relatives have discussions about touchy subjects such as religion and politics. One family gathering the topic was " Are gay people born that way or do people choose to be gay? " My hubby and I are in the closet from family but still. I can also relate to Aspen with the relatives asking me, an agnostic about going to mass or church.