'Tis the Season to Be Jolly

How people celebrate Christmas is unique to each family. That’s one reason why Christmastime is such a wonderful season. You can walk into every house in the United States and find that every family celebrates this holiday in their own distinctive way.

In my family, Christmas Eve is remarkable as Christmas Day. My sister and I sit our parents down quickly to see our "Christmas Eve Presentation." Tabby and I sing a few Christmas carols and play a couple of songs on our keyboard.

After applause from the audience and a few words of how much better our performance was than the last couple of years, my father puts on a movie called The Nativity. This movie seems to come to life as it tells the story of Jesus' birth.

Now, it is time for all four of us to take one little gift from our stockings. After this usually long process, my sister and I are presented with another present - a pair of pajamas.

At last, it is my favorite time of the night - the time to drink ponche, a Mexican fruit punch. Since I’m not a fan of the beverage, I normally go with hot chocolate with melting marshmallows inside or eggnog.

Knowing we won’t be able to sleep anyway, my family goes to bed anyway.

I wake up. What is so special about today? I wonder. Suddenly, it dawns on me that it is Christmas Day! I leap out of bed and rush to my sister's room. Shaking her violently, I whisper loudly in her ear, "It's Christmas! Wake up!"

Slowly she opens her eyes and blinks, wondering why I shook her. All at once, she remembers the day is and leaps out of her bed.

We both run to our parent's room, but our faces show disappointment when we arrive at their door. Tabby and I have the same thought. Of course, Mom and Dad are sleeping in on Christmas Day.

My sister and I tiptoe toward the living room. Peaking in, I notice the number of presents has grown, and the stockings are fatter!

The parents finally wake up after thirty minutes of torture. Tabby and I dash to their bedroom, wishing them a Merry Christmas.

About one or two hours later, my sister and I push the parents into the living room, make them sit, and hand my dad the precious family Bible. Turning the pages with care, he reads the story of how Jesus' birth.

Then, we sing happy birthday to Jesus.

The little elves (my sister and I), about to jump through the ceiling, hand out the stockings and finally the presents.

After all the wrapping has been thrown on the floor, we sisters put our gifts to the side and help our mother prepares the large lunch.

Finally, our five-course meal is done and on the table. The first course is gravy, turkey, stuffing, pork, corn, peas, and much more. The second course is Christmas pudding and whipped cream, the third course is cheese and crackers, the fourth course is nuts, and the fifth course is coffee and chocolate.

We go for a walk in any random neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. Near ten, a tired family returns home to go to bed.

The next day is Boxing Day, a day which English and Canadian people celebrate. We have another five-course meal, but this time it is less stressful since Mom does not need to cook anything. Picking off the turkey, we laze around for the rest of the day.

Through these days, my family remembers that " 'tis the season to be jolly." We don’t recall this because of the glimmering lights or many gifts. We remember that Christmastime is a time to be joyful because Jesus came down to earth to save us from our sins.

Comment below! What family traditions do you have? I’d love to hear about it!