On my side of the family, we have a special dinner on Christmas Eve called Wigilia (That "w" sounds like a "v"), which is part of the Polish custom. The dinner is meant to start after the first star is seen -- so really any time after the sun sets. Some families place hay under the tablecloth to symbolize the manger, and some make an extra place setting at the table for an "unexpected guest" -- a family member, a friend, a traveler. Dinner starts with the sharing of the Christmas wafer, where everyone takes a wafer, then makes their way around to each dinner guest, breaking off a piece of the other person's wafer, and offering Christmas wishes. (At this point last year, my now brother-in-law Jack proposed to my sister.) Then everyone sits down to eat. We always have fish, pierogi, ham, kielbasa, sourkraut, and sometimes mushroom soup. Those tend to be fairly "traditional" to the meal. When we were younger, we'd usually make our way to midnight Mass afterwards. As the years have gone by, some of us still make it to that service, but more and more we've been attending Christmas Day Mass. On Christmas Day, we open presents in the morning, then spend the rest of the day lounging around, eating left-overs from dinner the night before.
On Erik's side of the family, the extended family usually gathers at his parents' house around lunch time. They eat a mid-day dinner, then exchange presents. The past few years, we did a gingerbread house competition -- girls versus guys -- the loser house being destroyed in some manner later in the day. Recently, we started a white elephant gift exchange, which has had some hilarious results. On Christmas Day, we'd eat breakfast, then open gifts, and eat left-overs at lunch and dinner.
Now Erik and I have our own little family with traditions to mix in. We were alternating Christmases -- up in Pittsburgh one year, down in Maryland the next. But now that Jacob is understanding what Christmas is about, we've decided to spend our Christmas at home. This year, we got together with Erik's family on Christmas Eve, and we probably will continue to do that for a few years to come. But we woke up in our own beds on Christmas Day, and opened our presents at home on Christmas morning. This year, my parents are coming down to see us (they're arriving today), but next year, we're going to try to go up there the day after Christmas. I miss celebrating Wigilia with my family, but maybe as we move to a bigger house, and can entertain more family, we can host a Wigilia celebration with my family. Or maybe as Jacob gets older, we can travel up to Pittsburgh to celebrate. It's all still a work in progress.
It was so much fun to see Jacob's expressions as he opened presents this year. The trains were a big hit -- so much so that he didn't want to open up any more gifts after he opened those.
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| Our tree on Christmas morning |
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| Jacob loves his magnetic letters |
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| Part 1 of choo choo overload |
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| Part 2 of choo choo overload |
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