“Christmas Day is in our grasp, as long as we have hands to clasp! Christmas Day will always be, just as long, as we have we! Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart, and hand in hand” –Dr. Seuss.

Christmas is a time that is meant to be spent with family sharing traditions that have been around for as long as time, or even traditions that are trying to be started for the first time. However, even though many families have their own unique tradition there are still some traditions that every single family does during Christmas time. Some of the people who do some traditions don’t really know how old those traditions are because they have just always been around. Christmas traditions such as caroling, cutting down a tree, and leaving Santa milk and cookies have been around for way longer than you would have thought. 

Caroling has been around for as long as the 13th century; however, it was not the same caroling that we see today. We see caroling as just a Christmas tradition, but it was really something that was carried out in the colder months to spread cheer not just during Christmas time. Wassailing was also another type of caroling, but these people went house to house singing songs and passing out a warm thick beverage to lift the spirits of people in the neighborhood. Once these carolers saw how much joy and cheer these songs brought to people’s hearts they began doing it every year. It then turned into a tradition that would continue for centuries, and now even in the 21st century caroling is still a huge part of Christmas tradition that is carried out across the country and even in some other countries. My youth group goes caroling every year and my youth pastor says every year that, “I may not be the best singer in the bunch, but me trying to sing puts a smile on all of the elderly’s faces. And I look forward to Monicals every year!!” This is one of many Christmas traditions that has been shared for centuries and will continue to be shared for centuries to come.

Along with traditions that everyone shares, my family has their own traditions that they have shared for years that not many people do. My family goes to our grandparents house on the evening of Christmas Eve along with my other relatives on that side of the family. Our family does not eat the usual feast that you see in Christmas movies. We always have Bobe’s pizza for our Christmas Eve dinner. You may think who has pizza on Christmas Eve, but you are definitely missing out if you have never had Bobe’s pizza because there isn’t a single person in either of our families that doesn’t love Bobe’s pizza. I asked my grandma how long we have been doing this tradition and her response was, “We have been doing this tradition for a long time. Way before you were even thought about.” Katelyn said, “My favorite thing about Christmas is that it brings the entire family together so we can celebrate together.” My family has all kinds of our own traditions like opening one present on Christmas Eve, opening stockings last, or having breakfast on Christmas morning with my grandparents, but Christmas Eve dinner with the whole family will always be my favorite tradition. 

In the end, we all have our own traditions that we celebrate year to year that make us unique from each other. It is good that the traditions that have been around for centuries still go on instead of them being forgotten and pushed to the side when new ones are brought about. These traditions are celebrated worldwide because Christmas is a worldwide holiday, and that is what brings us all together as one because we all celebrate the same holiday. Some religions celebrate Christmas differently and that is what adds diversity which is great because even though each religion has their own celebrations it is all celebrating the same event, Jesus’s birthday.  

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