To me, it’s never too early to blast “All I Want For Christmas” by Mariah Carey in your car. Or maybe “Feliz Navidad.”

However, the rest of my family disagrees. You won’t see a single Christmas light until December. And even when December finally rolls around, the Christmas tree isn’t brought out and decorated until there’s only a few trees left at Lowes.

Why? Because my mom follows a “tradition” and everyone in my family follows it. About a week before Christmas, my aunt sends poinsettias to everyone the Sunday before Christmas Eve.

The poinsettias also are part of the many decorations in our house during Christmas. My favorite thing to decorate is the tree. Adding all the ornaments and lights is super festive and a good time to spend time with family. I also love decorating my own room by adding miniature toy reindeers and lights on my desk.

Along with decorating, I love wearing Christmas clothes. That includes warm sweaters, fuzzy socks, and winter boots. A lot of these clothes I get as a present, because my mom won’t get anything that can be considered a “present” when November hits.

One Christmas, we got to open our presents a day early. I remember getting to open them on Christmas Eve, but Christmas morning was a little less jolly that year because of it. That made me cherish and appreciate the traditions and customs my family keeps. Which is also why it is my favorite memory.  

Another favorite part of Christmas is when we meet at my grandparents house in Dothan, Alabama, and open their presents. We also meet my aunt and uncle with their kids at a church service for Christmas.

Finally on Christmas Day, we open presents at our own house and celebrate the holiday. Later in the day, around noon, we drive up to North Carolina to see my maternal grandparents.

In North Carolina, we give and receive presents with them.  We spend about three days in North Carolina, then we head home to Macon, having finished visiting all of my family.

Christmas is our families biggest holiday, and that is because of our Christmas traditions.