I had to think hard about this. There was (can't say is, nowadays) my blood family's holiday traditions, and now there are the traditions that my Czech husband and I follow, for just the two of us. This may sound a bit menial, but I really love how my husband and I dress up for dinner on Christmas Eve. It's just the two of us on Christmas Eve, but it's become the most significant day of the holidays for me. My family never really dressed up for Christmas day. In fact, very often we would go outside in the woods. Those were special times, too, but that stopped the year my mother died. As a young child, I loved going with my father and siblings to my paternal grandparents' woods to get the tree. They had a large wooded area filled with pine trees. It was romantic and smelled wonderful. They eventually sold those woods, so that tradition ended.

I also liked involving our pet parrots in the Christmas gift opening. Our old Pacific Parrotlet LOVED helping us open the gifts. He'd rip at the paper with great joy and was disappointed when the gift opening was over. Our most recent parrot was a little scared of it, but he'd cuddle against me looking. This year we have no bird "child". That loss will be greatly noticed.

Q: If there is anything you wish you could change about the holiday season, or your tradition(s), what would it be?