Hubby and I don't have children, so we aren't tied to a certain set of holiday traditions. Ours have morphed over the years, that's for sure. But one thing we seem to always need to do is watch Christmas Vacation. I'm not sure how that one evolved, but it's become necessary each holiday season.

So, last night, we popped it into the DVD player and watched it on the big screen. Yes, it's certainly unrealistic in its over-the-top depictions of Christmas craziness. And it's dated with the 80s era clothes and hair (especially on Julia Louis-Dreyfus's character). But I think the movie says something about the holiday experience that's universal.

Don't we all have these huge expectations, like Clark Griswold, that never quite get fulfilled? I know what my friend Mark would say about that, but he's a priest. 🙂 (I still think it's possible to be somehow disappointed with the hype and expectations of the holiday as a regular churchgoer, but that's a different topic.) It's possible to build the seasonal expectations up so much that nothing quite fulfills the vision you may have had for it.

But back to the movie. 🙂 Hubby and I have even incorporated some of the lines into our lexicon. Driving to Florida, for example, we get behind a slow poke and Hubby says, “I'm gonna get around this egg timer.” Then there's the famous, “Eat my road grit, liver lips!”

We even say to each other sometimes, jokingly of course, “Don't piss me off, Art.” And who can see a squirrel without yelling, “Squirrrrreeeellllll!”?

So that's one of our traditions, quite by accident. We watch other movies too, and of course we tend to quote lines from A Christmas Story as well. We don't always get around to that one every year, but this year we will. I want to watch it on Hubby's movie theater screen.

We don't always have a tree (for various reasons), but we do this year. No traditions when it comes to decorating. My mom used to fix hot chocolate and we'd decorate with Christmas music on. Hubby and I listened to an audiobook (his choice) and drank wine (no, the decorations aren't crooked). I don't bake for the holidays, and we don't usually have any parties at our home.

Nope, watching Chevy Chase go overboard seems to be the most enduring tradition we have.

What are some of your traditions? Doesn't have to be television or movies. Do you bake? Sing certain songs or do something special each year? Have a big party?