How To Do Christmas & Hanukkah This Year

Christmas 2024 is literally just around the corner! Here in Vancouver, we just finished celebrating Taylor Swift’s last leg of her successful ERAS tour and we are so grateful that she chose Vancouver as her last stop. Talk about saving the best for last! And it couldn’t have been timed better because Taylor Swift did it so close to the festive season. The ERAS tour was definitely the perfect way to kick start the merriest season of the year in Vancouver! And for Maria in Vancouver, Christmas has always been her most favourite holiday and she has her own yearly Yuletide tradition that she does with her own little family. 

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Christmas celebrations for Maria and her family starts with her annual Christmas party with her Sisterhood Tribe. It is usually held in the beautiful home of one of her girlfriends. Everyone brings their own dish and there’s the yearly Secret Santa that my Sisterhood Tribe and I love to do! We even make our gift exchange fun by incorporating classic games such as White Elephant or Pass the gift. Christmas Eve dinner is reserved for my little family — my two boys: my unico hijo William and my husband, my Papi. Because there’s only the three of us here in Vancouver (my husband has another older son — my stepson — but he is based in Australia with his wife and children), we usually reserve at one of our favourite restaurants where we enjoy a three-hour sit down dinner. It is our yearly Yuletide tradition to have dinners together as a family on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day,  Hanukkah, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day.

Christmas Day is a day spent relaxing; Papi and I indulge in our slow Christmas morning in bed watching news or a Christmas movie and sleeping in. We usually go for a walk around our neighbourhood and we like to shop for fruits and vegetables in our public market, the famous Granville Island Public Market. We usually have our late brunch in one of the cafe bistros in Granville Island. For dinner, Papi and I meet up again with my son and we have our Christmas Day family dinner again in another restaurant. 

We don’t exchange gifts as a family. We prefer to create fun memories as a family. We are all foodies — the two men in my life and I love to bond over food! We take turns choosing where to dine on our Sunday family dinners. Papi and I are empty nesters and my only son William  has been living independently in his own flat since he was 21. As much as possible, we love to spend time as a family on a weekly basis. The Yuletide season is a family favourite because we get to spend more time with each other and not just once a week!

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December is not just for Christmas in our family. My husband is a proud Jew so we get to celebrate Hanukkah with his side of the family. We usually spend Hanukkah at the home of my brother-in-law. His wife does an amazing spread of delicious food! I love how we get together as a Jewish family and gather around the dining table as we sing hymns, pray, we read from the Torah, and light the menorah. We indulge in the delicious Jewish cuisine such as the latkes (potato pancakes), sufganiyot (doughnuts with jam), beef brisket, roast chicken, matzah ball soup, challah (dairy free egg and sugar enriched braided bread loaf), keftes (vegetable patties), rugelach (flaky filled cookies), and babka (yeasted bread with sweet fillings). 

I’d like to share a few ideas on how to do Christmas and Hanukkah this year. And here are some exciting ideas:

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Start with decorating your home with Christmas and Hanukkah decor. Make this a yearly tradition with your family. I do this with my little family. My husband, my son William  and I would usually spend the last Sunday in November putting up our Christmas tree and decorating it! We’re not allowed to have a live tree in our condo so we have an artificial one. Decorate your home with colourful lights, poinsettias and Christmas stockings! As per Hanukkah decor ideas — have a wonderful eucalyptus plant arrangement, fill up some glossy blue bowls with gelts (chocolate gold coins), Hanukkah lights and wreaths, and why not make it a blue and white themed decor? By decorating our home with festive ornaments, we get into a joyous and festive spirit!

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Spend time with your loved ones! Spending quality time with your loved ones shouldn’t be limited to Christmas or Hanukkah season, it should be all year round. Life is short. Happiness is a collection of memories created and shared with family and friends. Quality time is the best gift we can give to our loved ones. Nothing is better than going home to family and eating good food and relaxing in each other’s company! Celebrate the whole month of December with your loved ones, make it as an excuse to spend more time with each other.

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Create a new family tradition or stick to your old and tested family tradition. You can start a new tradition such as doing a pyjama party and watch movies together; spend one day a week playing board games; go to a Christmas market and turn it into a fun filled day; or start filling a jar with gratitude notes and read what you wrote on Christmas or Hanukkah day! Or you can also choose to continue your family’s old and tested tradition such as attending the Midnight Mass or the lighting of the menorah.

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Exchange practical gifts. When exchanging gifts, be mindful of what your family or friends would like to have. Give a gift that is practical and something they can really use and enjoy. Why not exchange homemade cookies as gifts with your girlfriends? Buy matching pyjamas for your kids and partner. Buy your Mom’s favourite scent. Buy your Dad tickets to his favourite concert or games. Buy your granny a new sweater. Buy your grandpa that new thriller book. 

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Do more self reflection. Festive season is always the right time to do some soul searching or self reflection. Dig deep into yourself and get to know yourself better. Use this time of the year to create a gratitude diary. Be thankful for the gift of life and good health. Be grateful that you have family and friends. Be grateful that you have a job. Take this time to create a list of things you want to achieve for the coming year. Create a list of things you want to change in your life. 

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Host a Christmas movie marathon complete with popcorns and eggnogs. Invite your friends to a Christmas themed dinner, serve eggnogs for cocktails, have everyone dressed up with their Christmas sweaters, and watch a couple of Christmas movies. Oh and don’t forget the flavoured popcorns or even plain buttery ones! 

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Attend your company Christmas parties and/or start your own annual Christmas party with your tribe. One of the ways to get into the festive spirit is by attending Christmas parties. Don’t miss out on your company Yuletide party — it’s a great way to bond with your colleagues and strengthen teamwork. Also, why not start your own annual Christmas party with your tribe? And make it a theme party! 

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Pose for your yearly family holiday photo. This has become my family’s favourite tradition! Every year, we pose in front of a huge Christmas tree dressed in our finest. I love having our photos taken as a family. I have an album filled with our family photos. And I love looking at these photos, it truly warms my heart to see my son and my husband with their happy and smiling faces through the years! 

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Donate to the Food Bank or volunteer in your community as a family. Perhaps find time during Christmas Day to volunteer in your community to serve lunch to the homeless. Go as a family to do grocery shopping and donate your groceries to your nearby food bank. Giving back to your community is a great way to celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah. 

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Now more than ever, find time to make sure to spread love and kindness to others. Not everyone will be complete this holiday season. Be mindful of what others are going through. Be kind, be empathetic. The good you do for others is the good you do for yourself. The true spirit of Christmas and Hanukkah is about doing something a little extra, a little special for someone. The idea of a merry Christmas or a happy Hanukkah is simple: it’s about loving others and spreading kindness. 

I shall end this article with a powerful quote from Bill Vaughan, “The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.“