My Family’s Christmas Eve Tradition in Idaho is More Weird Than Yours

I have a Christmas Eve tradition in my family that is a carry-over from a tradition my parents used to have us do when I was little. It's a strange tradition, which doesn't really make any sense to me even when my parents explain it. But I still celebrate it with my kids because it involves food.

My Strange Christmas Eve Tradition

The tradition we have is what we call the 'Midnight Cena'. My parents used to live in Mexico and that's the basis for the tradition. I'm still not clear on whether it is a tradition from Mexico or just something they do to remind them of Mexico. The Midnight Cena is really just a midnight dinner of all types of Mexican foods. When we were little we would all go to sleep for a few hours and then my parents would wake us up at midnight to eat tacos, burritos, nachos, tamales, and lots of beans.

Get our free mobile app

I've modified it a bit in my house because I don't want to wait until midnight, so we do the Midnight Cena at a regular dinner time. There's still absolutely nothing Christmassy about it, but it is a Bird family Christmas tradition.

Other Less-Strange Christmas Traditions

Along with the Midnight Cena, we also each open a small gift on Christmas Eve. This is usually a gift from cousins or siblings. I know other houses where they do a Christmas Eve gift of blankets or pajamas.

What is Christmas Eve like in your house? Do you have any strange traditions?