Christmas Traditions & Gifts

What would Christmas be without traditions and gifts?

It has taken nearly a decade for the Christmas tree in front of the house to grow up. I look forward to putting ornaments and lights on it. I look forward to spending time with family and friends and playing catch-up. It is also a time to reflect on our own life.

Four Columns believes in getting views of women from across the world.

Nora Breyer from Austria the creator of Vividly Christmas talks about Christmas traditions and gifts.

Nora tell me a little about you and what is Vividly Christmas all about? 

My name is Nora, born in the 80s; I am married and have a wonderful daughter. I work part-time at the hospital as a radiology technologist at the nuclear medicine department. I have been blogging on the side for three years. I started with my Christmas food and crafts blog Vividly Christmas, in February 2021, so it is still a very young blog. It was created out of my enthusiasm for Christmas and the decorating, baking, and cooking that goes with it. And it gives me an insane joy to write it. 

For me, Christmas has always been the most beautiful time of the year. The baking, crafting, cooking, and decorating, always brings back wonderful memories of my childhood. During the annual cookie baking with my grandmother, I learned a lot and inherited many recipes.

Christmas itself, the time that is the most hectic of the year for many people, fills me with peace and contentment. I can switch off so wonderfully when baking and cooking, and thanks to the blog, I can now do that all year round. (Even if it is only part-time.) 

Talk to me about what Christmas is all about and why it is important to have traditions? 

It’s winter; as nature rests, I try to de-stress this time at the end of the year. For me, Christmas is a time of reflection and joy. To be a lot outdoors in the cold, breathe in the wonderful cold air, and then rest in the warm room with coffee, tea, or mulled wine, beautiful Christmas music, and wonderful homemade delicacies. 

But, to have this serenity, in this time and to be able to preserve, it needs, in my eyes, a good preparation. For example, appointments that still have to be done this year will be completed by the end of November at the latest. As far as possible, to carry out the Christmas preparations until the end of November, to keep December as a contemplative time free. To then have time to do the things that make you happy. 

Christmas, the festival itself, which is celebrated in Austria on 24.12., is for me a celebration with the closest family. The holidays afterward are then in a larger family circle.

Traditions create lovely memories, and the anticipation of them is almost as incredible as the tradition itself. I also think it’s a beautiful thing to be able to pass these traditions on to future generations. 

For example, I inherited the annual cookie baking tradition from my grandmother. 

Since my daughter was born, my husband and I started the annual Christmas photoshoot as a tradition. 

A tradition I have taken over from my mother is that we create a different Christmas menu every year, and months before, we think about what delicious food we will cook this year. 

Let’s see what traditions my daughter might adopt and which she develops herself? I am already very excited! 🙂

Let us talk about gifts. Walk me through some of the gifts for mom, dad, brother, sister, and our spouses? 

Tastes are so different, and what gives pleasure to one may not be liked by the other! It is also best to listen to your heart and be attentive to your loved ones here. 

If it should be difficult with the gifting and not stand there entirely without a plan, my husband and I have a shared Google spreadsheet that we use for our wishes. We enter what we like throughout the year, and we can always fall back on this list if all else fails. In this sheet, we also have a tab for our daughter and the grandparents. When they tell us about stuff they adore, we add them to the list and then have it a little easier for gift planning. 

Should we call our family and say let us give gifts only for the kids and for a certain amount? 

We have here among the adults the agreement, one gift per person. For example, my husband gets one gift from me, one from his mother, and one from his mother-in-law. So in total three. And so it counts for all of us.

Why are cards such an important part of Christmas? 

The thing I love about Christmas cards is that they are so long-lasting. They are a wonderful reminder of past celebrations. For example, I have a box where I keep all my Christmas cards. From time to time, I pick up this box and look through the cards, which brings back such beautiful memories of the celebrations and events that it is an absolute joy! 

Help me understand what are some of the things we can write to encourage people? 

Of course, it depends on the person to whom the encouragement should go and what you should encourage him or her for. But in principle, it is about emphasizing the wonderful things that make up this person, his/her strengths and wonderful qualities. To show the person what a wonderful, unique person he/she is so that he/she emerges built up and strengthened by these words. 

Are there big no-nos of gifts? 

As long as the gift comes from the heart and you think about what makes the other person happy, then you have done a great job. 

What are some of the ways we can de-stress during the holidays? 

As I mentioned before, I think you should start de-stressing as early as the beginning of December. You will get much more out of the wonderful winter and Advent season and be perfectly prepared for the Christmas holidays to enjoy them to the fullest. 

Talk to me about what woman empowerment means to you? 

In principle, just like men, women have the same right to decide about themselves – to have the same rights and duties as men. To be treated equally, be it in terms of opportunities, payment, education, etc. For example, men should also have the same possibilities as women to be at home with their children because that is not yet the case. 

As long as there is a big difference in salary between men and women in the same job, women (if they want to) will not have the opportunity to pursue their career and men (if they want to) will not have the opportunity to be at home with their children. 

This is one example, and of those, there are many others where there is no equality. And as long as such things are not clarified, one still cannot speak of equality. We women have come a long way to have an equal right as men. Nevertheless, the goal has not yet been reached. So we have to keep on fighting for equal rights.