When I was a kid, one of my favorite things was having my aunt come visit us at Christmas. She lived in the frozen tundra of Buffalo, NY, and so I’m guessing she didn’t mind heading south to the (relative) warmth of balmy St. Louis. I remember with great anticipation standing at the baggage carousel, waiting for her luggage to slide down the metal ramp — for she always brought Christmas treats. Some of it we could eat (like amazing Sponge Candy, a Buffalo specialty), and some of it was wrapped, ready to be opened and enjoyed.

Christmas is truly a time for tradition and holiday memories. I have a friend who grew up in a setting where traditions were a bit different than what I experienced. As he described it, he didn’t have any church- or faith-based traditions in his family. The tradition he remembered, he said, was making sure he picked up the right Coke on the table, smelling it, so that he got just Coke – and not Coke and Jack. He also mentioned another tradition he remembered: watching his grandma cook while smoking, and hoping the ash from her cigarette didn’t fall into the food she was preparing. When it did, she would curse as she got a ladle and scooped it out.

Ah, Christmas memories. We all have them. Some good. Some not. But all memorable.

In a recent email, I asked folks some of their traditions. They were all tamer, and perhaps less interesting, then the one I just mentioned:

(My wife’s) family has everyone sit in a circle and open all of the presents one by one as people sit and watch. I have no idea how to react because my family would NEVER have done this. So I’ve had to learn how to fake being super excited about socks without coming off as sarcastic.

In my family we have always done advent with a small devotion and singing a few songs together every night. My parents would spice it up at times (or maybe they were just trying to find something to convince teenagers to come spend family time) by having a special snack or dessert with advent. When my younger siblings were little they would play with a nativity scene toy during advent and they always wanted to tell the Christmas story in their own words.

We started doing advent with (our oldest daughter) a couple of years ago, and now both girls love it. Not only does it help us put the focus back on Christ, it forces us to slow down for a few minutes and enjoy a little bit of family time.