Christmas Eve is full of traditions at my house. Aside the family gathering and church, my favorites are the ones with the kids and Santa Claus. Each year since my oldest could talk, the whole family would camp out and wait for Santa to show up. By camp out, I really mean camp out. My husband and oldest need to make a “manly” exercise out of everything. Most of our bedroom supplies get recruited to build a monstrous blanket/pillow fort dwelling. The beauty of the tradition is that the kids always pass out before midnight. This year is different because my oldest probably could stay up past midnight if he tried, knows how to tell time, and doesn’t believe in Santa Claus, but he will totally continue the tradition with his siblings because he loves the fort-building part so much.

My family traditions certainly fall into the normal and mundane. I did some searching over the weekend to see what other traditions might be out there and found some pretty weird ones:

1. The Night Tree– a tree decorated with sophisticated treats for all the animals to eat at night. This comes from the French belief that animals can think and talk like humans on Christmas Eve. The tree is a way to treat the smart animals before they go back to being dumb animals.
2. In parts of Venezuela, they block off the streets on Christmas Eve so people can go to church in rollerskates. Clearly it doesn’t snow over there.
3. One family from Colorado says they always get all-you-can-eat crab legs on Christmas Eve while wearing ski goggles (those crabs can squirt.)
4. In old Norse folklore, it is believed that before Christmas, witches steal all the brooms they can get to ride around in the sky. Some Norwegians follow the tradition of hiding their brooms before going to bed.
5. 

   The wish bottle

   Some families place a “wish bottle” as one of the ornaments on the tree. You place one wish in it for the new year, then replace it the following year with a new wish.

6. In many parts of the world, Christmas Eve is the best time to foretell your love life. Some believe if a single girl throws a ball of yarn in the air, when it hits the ground the resulting pattern should resemble her future husband. Hmm, whatever society came up with that tradition probably doesn’t have very good looking men.
7. The Czech Republic is another place where people believe you can foresee your love life on Christmas Eve. Single women turn their back to a door and throw a show over their shoulder. If the shoe points to the door, they will get married within a year, if not, tough luck.

May all your family traditions, whether weird or ordinary, be fun and create wonderful memories. Merry Christmas everyone!