I love presents. Who doesn't, right? But I seriously LOVE them. I love thinking about them and choosing them and listing them and buying them and wrapping them and putting them under the tree. I love watching family and friends open presents I chose for them. And of course I love getting presents myself.
We've always been a tad present-crazy in my family. None of this one-present-per-person thing for us! Kids especially benefit from this craziness, but since young kids are only recent in our family, my brother and I were the ones who were showered with gifts. Now there's Shane and present-buying focuses on him, which is so much fun.
As for traditions to do with Christmas presents... In Poland, we celebrate on Christmas Eve. We sit down to dinner at 5 or 6, as soon as it's dark. We are allowed to open presents as soon as we spot the first star in the sky. I can remember my brother and I standing with our noses glued to the window, watching out for that first star. We've lived in some pretty polluted countries though, so sometimes this tradition had to be abandoned.
Now we don't really watch out for that star anymore, we open gifts after the first course. And then again on Christmas morning. (and we already have a first Christmas at the beginning of December, for family reasons, so this isn't even the first holiday event!).
My favorite part is still watching others open gifts I chose for them. Such a joy to see their smiling faces. :-)
Now, head on over to the other bloggers who are part of the 2011 Virtual Advent Tour today:
Cat @ Beyond Books
Tami @ Just One More Thing
Bridget @ Meals on Winthrop
Sharon @ Faith, Hope, & Cherrytea
Happy Holidays to all of you, may they be peaceful and joyful for you and your loved ones!
