Yesterday I taught my Spanish class about the Mexican tradition of "Las Posadas" which literally translates to "The Lodgings." Starting on the 16th of December and going until the 24th, people dress up like Mary and Joseph and, with "angels" and "shepherds" following them, go from house to house looking for a place to stay. They are finally invited into a dwelling and it is there that they enjoy a special meal, a piñata, and dancing.
It was fun to learn about this tradition and to teach it to my students. I told Rex we should teach our kids about different cultures' traditions each year at Christmas.
My favorite Christmas tradition is having birthday cake to celebrate Jesus' birth. As kids, we would even put candles on the cake and sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. This is definitely a tradition I want to continue.
What kinds of traditions does your family enjoy?
I can't wait to have our family traditions! My favorite tradition was rewriting songs with a Christmas theme and going caroling to our friends and neighbors. I'm sure we'll have something cool like that for our kids.
ReplyDeleteCute post. I like the zoo lights tradition! I love the gingerbread house decorating too! Hopefully in the future, your kids and our kids can decorate gingerbread together. We could even make it a competition and grandy can be the judge. Maybe not. That might be too competitive...Haha
ReplyDeleteAllysa - you're just scared our kids will kick your kids' butts! :P Haha. I am super excited that our kids will have so many cousins nearby!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're going to continue the birthday cake tradition. I think Andrew was a very perceptive little boy when asked what we should take for dessert to a friend's house on Christmas Eve,he said, "If it is Jesus' birthday shouldn't we have birthday cake?"
ReplyDeleteOnce you have several kids waiting anxiously for Christmas morning you may start the tradition of "No one is to wake us up BEFORE the sun is up!"
And I can be an impartial judge....probably all my grandchildren participating would win.
I remember hearing about your family's birthday cake tradition and I always thought that was such a great idea. We had a tradition of going to my grandma's on Christmas Eve with all the extended family for a talent show and dessert afterwards. Sadly, grandma is in an assisted living place now so we've had to change it up a little and do a similar thing at my parent's house with my siblings and their kids. But being married to someone from Reno, we take turns each Christmas with our families, so this year we will be in Reno...and I will be freezing my butt off! :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're going to have some fun traditions!
ReplyDeleteMy family always has a dinner with extended family on Christmas Eve and we read our favorite Christmas stories, ending with the Bible story.