Mendolonium

A holiday meme stolen from Clueless but Hopeful Mama…

Eggnog or hot chocolate?

Hot chocolate.  Actually warm chocolate, I like my “hot” beverages just a few degrees above room temperature.

Does Santa wrap the presents or leave them open under the tree?

As a child Santa left them unwrapped on the fireplace right next to the [now empty] empty plate of cookies (for Santa) and carrots (for the reindeer).  Perhaps Santa was too busy/lazy to walk them over to the tree?.   I had no idea that people actually wrapped the Santa presents.  We’re not doing Santa with our kids unless they express an interest so in our house everything will be wrapped under the tree from Mama and Daddy.  Lest you think we are spiritless Grinches for excluding Santa, Thomas has already informed me that Santa is pretend because, “That man too big to go down the chimney.”  Also I am pretty sure that with his recurring fear of people coming into our house and taking our things the concept a big guy coming down the chimney in the middle of the night would not go over well.

Colored lights on a tree, or white?

The little white ones.  This year we switched to LED lights and although they claim to be “warm white” they are too icy looking for my taste.  The upshot is they are much more energy efficient, cooler (less of a fire hazard), and are like tiny little supernovae of brightness so that they can be seen through our curtains from the outside.  And by the way, if there are lights outside they must all match and if the tree is visible from the outside the inside tree lights and the outside lights must match as well.  I wonder where Thomas gets his OCD tendencies from?

Do you hang mistletoe?

No.  It’s a parasitic growth that kills trees.  Not my idea of festive.

When do you put your decorations up?

If it was up to me the tree would go up as the Thanksgiving plates were in the dishwasher and would not come down until the end of January.  This year we put the tree up on December 1st and it will stay up until Jeff flips out and tells me that it is now an unacceptable fire hazard and that our house will BURN, BURN, BURN if it stays up any longer.

What is your favorite holiday dish?

I am not capable of picking just one.   We have a Christmas morning breakfast tradition of a Mexican style egg casserole from my dad that is delicious.  I usually supplement that with cinnamon rolls and some sort of breakfast potato dish.  For dinner I love mashed potatoes done right (cream cheese, butter, cream, and lots of salt and pepper) and vegetarian bread stuffing.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

Absolutely.  Each child can pick one present to open right before bedtime on Christmas Eve.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

Jeff (who gets itchy from pine trees) dons a long sleeve shirt, jeans, and gloves and meticulously wraps each branch with lights while he curses and Burl Ives plays on the iPod in the background.  If Jeff detests the light process so much why don’t I do it?  I’ve tried and he has proclaimed that I do a crappy job (I like to think of it as efficient) so he insists on doing it himself.   I am usually baking something sweet in the kitchen so he does get his reward.  After the lights are on, we hang ornaments over the next couple of days.   The year we traded in the Corona boxes from college that we had stored our ornaments in and got some fancy plastic ornament storage boxes.  I also procured each boy his own ornament box (now neatly labeled with his name) and I am giving each child a special ornament each year (with a little note to go in the box with the ornament) so that along with the ornaments people have given them they will have a nice set for their own Christmas tree when they grow up someday.

Snow: love it or hate it?

Love it.  I am dreaming of a white Christmas, but considering that the last time it snowed in Pasadena was 1949, I don’t think my dreams will come true.

Can you ice skate?

Yes.  I haven’t done it in years, but I used to be pretty decent.

What is your favorite holiday dessert?

Again with the having to pick.  I bake dessert nearly constantly and really don’t have a favorite.  I have been on an angel food cake binge and have been making one every other week or so for the past couple of months.  So this year we will be having a granny smith apple pie, angel food cake, and individual chocolate mousses for Christmas dinner dessert.

Candy canes: yum or yuck?

Blech.  Give me chocolate.

Favorite Christmas show?

The Nutcracker.  As I child, I danced in this ballet often.  I’ve been a toy soldier, the sugar plum fairy (my costume is up in a box in the garage), and a Spanish dancer.  As an adult, I realize that the storyline is pretty creepy, but I still love the music and the dancing.  I have a set of Nutcracker themed ornaments my mother gave me as a child.  When I was hanging them on the tree this year Thomas asked about them and I foolishly told him a short version of the story.  The result being that the mouse king ornament is currently locked in a drawer in our living room and is now referred to as “that scary ornament”.

What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Several years ago (before children) we started the tradition that everyone in attendance at Christmas morning gets one gift for everyone else’s stocking.  That way no one person (i.e., “The Mom”) is stuck with the task of filling the stockings.  I like to do themes for my stocking gifts so one year everyone got a donation to a charity in their name, one year everyone got some sort of homemade food item, etc.  I am looking forward to seeing what new traditions we create now that we have children old enough to really enjoy Christmas.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 12:56 pm and is filed under Me, The Family Mendolo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.