Christmas Eve Gift! (And other esoteric winter holiday traditions)

[MavenOfMisfortune]

Hey, in the spirit of the holidays, how about a thread discussing different family traditions concerning Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, and any other seasonal holidays this time of year? Post any stories you have from your own families/friends/etc. below!


I grew up in Louisiana, and there's an old Southern tradition called "Christmas Eve Gift". Basically, there's a mad rush in the family to try and say "Christmas Eve Gift!" before the other has a chance to. If you got caught first, you were expected to present a small token gift of some kind. (I believe, originally, it often was a treat akin to roasted nuts or candy.) In bigger families, this meant a mad dash of confusing back-and-forths.

Well, my family always did it more as a "for-fun" thing, no obligations required. But, at the same time, we started playing dirty. One of our old houses had an intercom system linking most of the rooms, and my mother was delighted to find out she could catch us the second she heard our footsteps on the floor above by using the intercom. So we banned it to requiring eye-contact. Then, my father was not too happy about being woken up in the middle of the night with it (again, I'm going to blame my mother on this one), so an additional rule of "the recipient must be ambulatory".

Just a silly little thing we do. At my parents' in Wyoming for the holidays, managed to get my brother a few minutes after midnight. Parents are still asleep, though, and I'm probably after sleep too. Wish me luck!

[MavenOfMisfortune]

Update: I got my mother, but my father got me while she was telling me about this former-rodeo star now-chocolatier.

Final Standings:
Me - 2-1
Father - 2-1
Mother - 1-2
Brother - 1-2

[ticktock1231]

I am up in Minnesota and we don't have anything that fun. With my family (wife and daughter) we have a pasta and meatballs for super, open one present and watch how the Grinch stole Christmas. It is a pretty good time.

[pal_me]

That is awesome. Thank you for sharing that!