It is that time of year when families celebrate the Christmas holiday with some yearly traditions. Specifically in my family, Christmas is big deal for us. It starts with the decorating; one second, we are eating turkey and the next we are hanging up Christmas lights. Every year we all help, as a family, to hang decorations up inside and outside of the house.

Usually, it happens on a random day, I will walk down the stairs and hear some Christmas music playing on the TV and there will be bins scattered all around the downstairs portion of the house. That is when I know it is time to decorate. Decorating is just one part of the yearly traditions.

The most exciting part of the holiday season is going to see Christmas lights every year. Around Christmas time, my mom will take my siblings and I out to dinner and to Christmas light parks or shows.

Where I live in Florida, we have a lot of light parades that happen every year. After we go to a light show or a park, on the way home we stop by a local house. This house decorates in a big fashion every year, hands out popcorn and M&M’s, and allows the public to walk through their yard to look at lights and take pictures.  

The oldest tradition, that will be around for as long as it can, is the whole family meeting at my grandparents’ house. Every year on Christmas day, my mom’s almost entire side of the family meets up at my grandparents’ house for a big dinner and everyone exchanges gifts. My grandparents are getting older, and it is a little harder for them to keep being the host, but the tradition is so important to the family for the holidays that they always find a way to make it work.  

Of course, Christmas is exciting because Santa brings everyone gifts, but the Christmas holiday is not Christmas without every family’s unique traditions.  

Tyler Cauley is a second-year Communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.