New traditions of Christmas in my home

Not too often I write about myself, so today, festively, I wrote something about New traditions of Christmas in my home

The origins of Christmas tradition go back to before the time of Christ when many ancient cultures celebrated the changing of the seasons. In ancient Rome, on the Feast of the period associated with the god Saturn, it was a time of celebration and an exchange of gifts. In addition, December 25th coincided with the day of the birth of the sun-god named Phyrgia a culture in the ancient Balkans. This custom has been part of western culture ever since, so in the 4th Century, the Roman Catholic Church  adopted the holiday and tried to convert into a Christian celebration.  Since then the festival has become part of Christian culture, with time for many of us for a family holiday that is most often associated with wonderful memories of childhood.

What is the tradition of Christmas in Poland? You could say that the tradition of Christmas are as numerous as there are families. Certainly in Poland Christmas start on Christmas Eve with a festive dinner. After dinner a lot of families go to church for Christmas Mass, which usually begins at midnight. During this period we give each other gifts which can bring: the child Jesus, Angel, Star,  Santa Claus, or even Grandfather Frost.

What are the traditions of Christmas in my family home? About that, I could write a book. 

Preparations for Christmas began with general housework. Then there is a huge shopping trip, but we do not chase promotions and gifts. We had to buy food at That time from Christmas to New Year. For shopping, we often went out with whole family and we waited in long queues from 5 in the morning in the cold. It was not a bad time, because there were other children there so it was also a fun time.

Preparing the traditional 12 dishes started early in the morning on Christmas Eve. Mostly my mom did it. My father baked cakes, decorated the Christmas tree and my sisters and I helped him. When everything was ready, we waited for the first star on the sky, and next we sat down to the table, and my father started a festive dinner. We had to try all 12 dishes ( (of course, stomach upset guaranteed)), as children we ate it in 10 minutes, because after dinner we got gifts. Sometimes Santa Nicolas brought gifts, or sometimes  the Star brought gifts, depending on whether the first words said my mother or my dad. Our gifts have always been modest, sometimes we were so happy, and sometimes we cried that "stupid Santa N." brought wrong gift.

With my husband, I create my own tradition. We moved our best memories from childhood to our house and we've added something which is just ours. We do not do a huge shopping. We buy a real Christmas tree, which I  decorate much earlier than in my family home. There are a lot of hand-made decorations. I bake gingerbread with my little boy and I cook dumplings- pierogi for my husband, and he cooks the cabbage with mushrooms and other delicacies. I adopted from the Dutch tradition marzipan cake with nuts and raisins, and the English tradition of Christmas Crackers. What else will build our tradition? I'll know in time.

Christmas is one of the most beautiful holidays. It is magical and not forgotten, and we can create tradition ourselves, for us and for our children. Maybe this year we roast the Christmas turkey? I do not know. For sure it will be a wonderful time spent with the family.