Holiday Traditions

The month of December was incredibly hectic to say the least, but there were also plenty of quality moments and family traditions.  My sister came over one day and we baked Christmas cookies together.  We went to a few local Christmas outings where we saw Santa and another event that had an ice sculptor.

We decorated our house for Christmas and presents were wrapped.  Traditional Christmas Eve and Day meals were prepped and made.  One of my absolute favorite meals of the entire year is the Feast of the Seven Fishes with my family.  While we don’t do the ‘traditional’ fishes and we have adapted it to the ones we enjoy, it is one of my favorites.     Then we hightail it over to the husband’s parents for a huge spread of ham and potatoes and so much food, I feel like I need to be rolled out of there by the end of the night.

But isn’t that what the holidays are – eating a ton of food with your loved ones.  I know, it’s more than that…

Another one of the things that is slowly starting to become a Holiday tradition for me, being the second year in a row that I have participated in it with my dance class… (yes, I am still dancing, I wrote about it last year and I still love it).

The Monday before Christmas my class went to a Lawson’s Nursing Home to perform for the residents.  There were probably about 15 or so men and women gathered around to watch us perform our Christmas Show dances.

While the space was small and we had to be extra mindful not to leap into an unsuspecting person’s lap, the residents seemed to enjoy themselves.  One woman was very inquisitive, she wanted to know about us.  After going through our dances, giving introductions and taking the group selfie in front of their Christmas tree, we left the home to go back to the dance studio.

Going there, makes me miss my grandparents but I leave with my heart filled… and that my friends is why I participate in this night.  It’s not the party or gift exchange that we do afterwards (yes, December is a big foodie month for me.) it’s the doing something nice for other people – visiting and doing something as simple as performing a few dance numbers for someone that might not have family that visits them…

The holidays aren’t just about monetary things and I am glad I can be a part of something that means more than a monetary gift.

Nicole Leckenby is co-founder/editor of The Holiday Cafe. She works full-time at the University of Pittsburgh and she has two amazing boys at home that keep her busy, along with a whole host of other things.