Posted on: Thursday, December 19, 2002

Weird and Wacky Christmas traditions

Advertiser Staff

"My family will rent a llama and ride it all day. We do it every Christmas, no matter where we live." — Brandon Gonzales Dick Adair • The Honolulu AdvertiserNT>

If you look at tradition through the eyes of a teen, you're likely to find the weird and the wacky. Adults don't realize their traditions are odd, because they are doing these things, after all.

The best responses to our call for strange holiday traditions, then, came from high-school students. The classes of Jeanette Chang sent in a thick envelope. Chang explained that for many of the military dependents at Radford High, Christmas is quite important, and said, "This writing assignment brings back memories for them, even if they are in Hawai'i, far away from family and friends. I enjoyed their writings immensely. I hope you do, too."

We did, Ms. Chang. Here's what some 14- and 15-year-olds in her classes had to say — including Brandon Gonzales, excerpted at left. More responses follow:

Teens tell all

"My parents bring out the weird on Christmas around midnight. My father wakes up, climbs the roof in a Santa suit, pretending to be Santa. My mom wakes up my little brother and announces 'Santa's here!' as my brothers wave back at him."

— Jazmine Nash

"My family and I go to my grandmother's house to drink hot cocoa. Then people called Manie A Chie come to scare away the bad spirits by popping firecrackers. After that, we eat menudo (pig's stomach lining) to further be cleansed and safe for the year."

— Dave Dolifka

"Our family and friends getting together to sing karaoke. This is not weird in any way, except that once you are at the party, you will not be allowed to leave until you sing at least one song!"

— Sharon Goetz

"One weird Christmas tradition is that we don't turn on lights until Christmas Eve, including the lights of our Christmas tree."

— Leon Hudson

"Each year, my mother hides a pickle ornament in the Christmas tree, and my sister and I have to find it! In the last five years, I have never found it. Now my mom buys a prize for the one who finds and for the one who does not."

— Tracy Kunzweiler

"My family traditionally hides a pickle ornament in the tree and my family tries to find the pickle on Christmas morning. My mom has been doing this tradition for 38 years, starting when she was 2."

— Sarah Frisbee

(Sarah's mom, Jennifer, said hide-the-pickle is a German tradition that dates to her Swiss grandmother, and she received the glass pickle ornament as a wedding gift. Oh, and she's OK with her daughter telling the world how old she is.)

"You think your family is weird? We put all the discarded gift wrappings in a plastic bag and have this huge wrapping-filled-plastic-bag fight."

— Nathaniel Marshall

"My family likes to put small-sized presents in extremely large boxes to fool each other."

— Jonathan Slater

"Every Christmas Eve, my sisters and I area allowed to open only one gift. It's always the same gift: pajamas. Before going to bed, we watch 'The Santa Claus,' 'Home Alone' and 'Home Alone II.' "

— Tenille Goodman

"At Christmas, my parents make coffee, and don't let me or my brother and sisters go near the tree until they have finished their coffee."

— Rick Lawton

More stories

"My mother and aunt are teachers, and sometimes get some horrible gifts from their students. It must have been Christmas of '95 when my aunt got 'Pussy.' My mom and I teased her about the ugly ceramic kitten. My cousin and aunt thought it would be funny to hide it someplace where we would find it, and so the game started.

"We take turns, hiding the cat at each other's houses, or wrapping it as if it were a Christmas present. We add ribbons and ornaments, and a special little note each time. Whoever gets rid of it on Christmas night, by midnight, wins. The loser must make room in their closet to store the poor Pussy."

— Melinda Cruz, via e-mail

"Every Christmas since 1995, my family has made our own Christmas ornaments. Now, these aren't your regular Christmas ornaments. Using a photo of a family member, we each construct an ornament using the face. Many are made into small figurines, such as an angel, Santa, reindeer, etc. However, some have spun off and were made into other figures: mermaids, hula girls and various animals. Materials used have ranged from old stockings, fimo clay and fabric.

"Not only do we make them each year, but there is also a competition held each Christmas Day. My parents' friends judge our ornaments. Competition has become quite stiff."

— Lei Draper, via e-mail

"Christmas Eve, we get all of the kids up at midnight to open their presents. Sometimes, that becomes a chore."

— Herbert McBee, via e-mail

"Blue lights on white are our family tradition that I'm carrying on from my mother. This year, I'm going to start one of my own. Since we're lacking in the ornament department, and we have plenty of Barbie dolls laying around, we're going to dress them in their best (least-dirty clothes) and sit them on the branches of our tree. How's that for BIZARRE!"

— Bernice Wintermantel