My mother hides baby Jesus.
On Christmas Eve baby Jesus, wrapped in swaddling clothing and laying in a manger, is removed from the nativity scene and hidden.
Why? Because, she explains, he wasn’t born yet. The following day, to my childhood delight, Jesus was born, the stockings were stuffed and yes, there were gifts under the tree. As the often embellished story goes, when the first Christmas baby Jesus was hidden, I was 2 and I spent the entire morning just amazed at how the tiny baby returned to the stable. Meanwhile a Big Wheel was 2 feet away.
Somewhere down the road, the awe of that Christmas miracle was lost, but the tradition remains. As an adult I still check to see is the baby has born, even before I peak under the tree for the biggest present.
Perhaps tradition is what makes the holiday season magical. Every family has them, especially during the holidays. Dedham Transcript food columnist, Katie Pelczar celebrates Hanukkah and admits her celebrations tend to revolve around food.
“Yes, we light candles, sometimes even play dreidel, but mostly it’s about the food (of course),” she says. “And for Hanukkah, food means latkes!”
And speaking of food, the Salisbury family is sort of in that odd place. Most the grandchildren are old enough to hold jobs and there aren’t any grandchildren on the horizon. So we’ve developed a new tradition of a food swap. Everyone brings a $10 wrapped food item and places it in the center of the room. Numbers are pulled, gifts are opened, traded, reopened, traded again and I go home with a bag of Tortilla chips and peach salsa.
Over the next few weeks, the Dedham Transcript will be collecting your holiday traditions. From the cozy fireside sing-alongs to the bizarre; I did mention that my mother hides baby Jesus right? So this year share your holiday traditions by e-mailing them to dedham@cnc.com or you can mail them to Dedham Transcript, 254 Second Ave., Needham, MA, 02494.
Please include your name and phone number for verification. The deadline for submissions is Dec. 18, at noon.
Dedham Transcript editor Andrea Salisbury can be reached at 781-433-8322 or by e-mail at asalisbu@cnc.com.
