christmas traditions! -By Neha

 It's officially Christmas eve! Christmas is definitely my favorite time of the year   (that and thanksgiving of course!) and I thought I would write a blog about Christmas traditions!     

                                                                           

every family has different traditions during Christmas and Christmas traditions have changed over the years. now I'm not gonna give a synopsis on why we celebrate Christmas and why we do all of the things that we do on Christmas because y'all obviously know that, and plus this isn't kindergarten class so. Nevertheless, I will let you know of one fun Christmas fun fact:

Christmas traditions don't get more traditional than this color scheme. But why do we err towards red, gold, and green if we want to create a 'traditional' feel? Unsurprisingly, this Christmas ritual has its roots in religion: red suggest the blood of Christ; gold is one of the gifts from the Three Kings; while green is a symbol of everlasting life. well, that and green and red are directly opposite each other on the color wheel. (ok yeah that's not the reason why Christmas colors are red and green, but it is a fun fact!) 

the top 5 classic Christmas traditions are:

1. carol singing

2. decorating the Christmas tree 

3. kissing under the mistletoe (or basil, if you know you know)

4. baking together 

5. exchanging gifts 

Even before the birth of Christ, and Christmas as we know it Christmas wreath ideas have been used as a symbol of honor and victory. 

In the Middle Ages, it was adopted by those of the Christian faith as a representation of the start of Christmas.

and of course, making mince pies! 

Mince pies were originally filled with meat as well as dried fruit and spices. It’s thought they were brought to Britain in the 13th-Century by returning Crusaders who’d enjoyed Middle Eastern dishes combining meat, fruit, and spices.  

Often called Christmas pies, they were first oval-shaped to represent Jesus’ manger. 

Later the Victorians left out the meat but retained the three spices, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to represent the three wise men. 

Tradition says we should eat one mince pie on each of the twelve days of Christmas to ensure 12 months of good luck. Refuse a mince pie and bad luck could follow. Ah, so now we have an excuse to indulge.

1. carol singing- Carols were once folk songs sung at celebrations throughout the year – and not just at Christmas. Later, in medieval times, they were adopted and adapted by churchgoers, and many of these carols still make up our most beloved Christmas traditions – The Holly and The Ivy is a medieval carol, for instance.

2. decorating the Christmas tree- of course, you're supposed to decorate the Christmas tree with your family, but after they've decorated it with you, you can take it all out and do it yourself because no one does it like you, of course, you could also leave it the way your family decorated it of course, but that was my way 😀

3. kissing under the mistletoe (or basil, if you know you know)- There is no simple reason why this tradition has come about – but it is thought to have started in the 1700s. and do you all remember the friends episode where their heater broke and it turned into a summer-themed Christmas party? and Mr treeger asked Rachel if it was mistletoe? and she said it was basil

4. baking together- baking together is also one of the most popular Christmas traditions which have been going around for decades, and you can bake almost anything, even plum cake or mince pies! and it sure sets the mood for the holidays. 

5. exchanging gifts- now when I was younger and when most people were younger, I thought Santa was real (if you're under 8 reading this, don't worry Santa's real) and I thought he brought us gifts, until I realized, and then looked it up on google when I was 7 or 8. but exchanging gifts on Christmas with your family is wonderful. and just the cherry on top at Christmas. 

6. Having a Christmas dinner with your family- I've seen way too many tv shows where everyone has a great Christmas dinner with their family or with their friends (yeah from friends of course) which just warmed my heart and of course, it's going to be even better when it's In real life with YOUR family. and while sometimes not everyone's always going to be available on such short notice, so start telling them to mark their calendars from the beginning of the month. 

anyway, that's it for this blog, I hope you guys liked it, comment down below and let me know what your Christmas traditions are, and I'll see you guys in my next one, ciao!