Okay ... my turn now. (I had to take notes as I read through the postings.)
I have always given whatever change I had in my pocket or wallet to the Salvation Army kettle any time I pass it. Now I more likely put in a dollar (or more) since I rarely carry cash any more. When my kids were young, I'd give them money to put in the kettle and now that I'm a grandmother, I give my grandchildren money for the kettle as well.
One year my husband and I signed up through our church for different shifts as bell ringers for the Salvation Army outside a local grocery store. If you've never had that experience, it is eye-opening. Most people totally ignore you. Some people with slip money in and slip away as quickly as possible, and then you'll get the talkers. The talker I remember was a vet who told me that he had made a vow after the War to never pass a kettle without making a donation in gratitude for the service the Salvation Army had provided him as an injured vet. He went in and out of the store a couple of times, and sure enough, each time he dug in his pocket for a donation.
Many years we have also picked an angel from an Angel Tree and donated a gift. I have always gone over the top when it comes to choosing the gift, because I would not give a child a gift that was not of the same quality as one I would give my own child. One child named Jordan wanted a truck, so that year I got him the biggest metal Tonka truck I could find ... just like the kind my brothers had when we were little. They last forever. I could just imagine the look on that child's face when he opened it.
One year I volunteered with Toys for Tots. Another year I wrapped gifts at an orphanage.
As a child, we used to go to a tree farm and cut down our own tree. I had very fond memories of the occasions, so I wanted to continue with the tradition. My husband was from the mountains, so they would cut their own tree. The first year we went looking for a tree thinking that the pines he and his grandfather and father had planted in a reforestration project would do. As it turned out, time had slipped past him and the white pines were about 30 ft. tall by then.
When our kids were young and before we moved to Texas, we had a farm in the mountains about an hour away where we would go to pick our tree. Several years we had the tree dug and replanted it after Christmas in our yard (something the previous owners had also done). Other years we would cut a tree. The farm had hayrides and a big outdoor fireplace where they served hot chocolate and hot apple cider. After we had the tree secured, we would stop at a local kid-friendly restaurant for a buffet meal. (More times than not, we'd end up listening to the Kentucky Wildcats playing basketball in the car since my husband couldn't miss a play let alone a game!)
I always had the girls write a letter to Santa, seal it in an envelope and put it on the fireplace. We didn't put it in the fire, but we did give the impression that we were going to burn it so that the message would reach the North Pole. It gave us an idea of what the girls really wanted, and I filed the letters away and brought them out a few years ago when the girls were in their early 20's for them to keep as momentos.
We had a tradition for several years of going as a family to a Saturday matinee of the newest Christmas story release. Most notably, I remember Prancer.
Because our oldest daughter was born on Christmas day, we've had to honor her birthday as well as "that other guy's birthday", but that's another story for all you parents of Christmas babies. The girls did con me into the tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve by telling me that it was a tradition ... so it grew into a tradition.
One year I bought a children's book called A Story a Day until Christmas and read a story each night at bedtime.
Since we use a live or fresh cut tree (still), the tradition is to put the tree up the weekend before Christmas and to take it down on New Year's Day (unless we aren't ready or don't feel like it). Saturday is for getting the tree (Yes, I am the Chevy Chase character in Christmas Vacation), and Sunday is for trimming the tree.
When I was a kid, my dad always put the lights on the tree and then turned it over to us kids to decorate. Santa was on the top of our tree, and it was a Santa my parents had gotten their first Christmas or so with a leg that had to be rubber cemented anew every season. When we went to pick out a tree, my brothers and I would look for one with a gap in the branches because we would make a cave in the greenery for Santa to live and hide. (The only reason I can think of is that we used to love to play in the woods and make forts and houses in the underbrush ourselves.)
Of course, there have also been many years when we attended Christmas Eve services and later Midnight Mass with the children. In lieu thereof, the pope's mass from St. Peter's Basilica was usually televised locally for us to watch as teens and young adults or at other times when we did not or could not venture out.
