Essay ‘What i did over Christmas Break?’

Christmas break is one of my favorite times of the year. During this time, I get to spend time with my family decorating the Christmas tree, opening presents, eat delicious food, and playing games. This is the only time of the year where I get to see some of my family that lives far away. It starts with us gathering at one house on Christmas eve. We spend our time cooking, baking cookies, and other treats, making traditional island drinks, play games, caroling, and having lots of other family fun. On Christmas morning, we gather around the tree to open presents.

This year my break was very busy not only with family time but also with school activities. It started with us gathering on Christmas eve at my aunts’ home for dinner, games, caroling, and other shenanigans. After dinner, we went right into playing games. We played the candy jar guessing game, then the balloon game where everyone ties a balloon to their ankle and hop around the room so no one can stomp and pop your balloon. Next, we play the unwrapping of a very large gift box using kitchen mittens. My family is very competitive, and we had lots of fun playing these games. Following the games, it was time for everyone’s favorite part of the night, caroling. Every year my uncle plays the keyboard and we sing our favorite Christmas songs in both American and Caribbean style all while dancing and acting crazy. It gladdened my heart to see everyone in the same room getting along and having a good time. Eventually, it ends with all the kids moving onto their usual spot, the game room while the adults continue to listening to music and dance. The party ends two in the morning and that is the time we head home. After a few hours of sleep, I woke up and ran downstairs to open my presents. Once we were all done opening presents, we made breakfast and relax before preparing dinner.

The next two days after Christmas was spent at a basketball tournament. Sigh! This was my least favorite part of my time off from school. I was hoping to continue our tradition of going to the mall for some after Christmas sales. A few days later it is time for me to help my mom take the decorations and lights from the tree and prepare the house for the new year. The needles from the tree made a huge mess in the house, but by the end of the day the house was back to normal and we are ready for the new year. It was great to accomplish everything we had to do on that day. Finally, we celebrated New Year’s Eve by dancing and toasting with sparkling cider. Later in the day, we meet at for a traditional good luck dinner of black-eyed peas, collard greens, cornbread, mac and cheese, fresh home-made cranberry sauce, and salmon. Some of these foods are not my favorite, so I was the first to discard mine in the trash.

This break was peacefully and fun. I love that my family can gather have a great time with no irruption. It was nice to have a break and take my mind off of school for a little while. I could relax and not have to worry about waking up early. I had time to light my new candle and watch it emit warm colors of light into my room. Christmas not only brought me closer to my family, but it taught me to cherish the moments I spend with them. I am glad that my family has these yearly traditions; it helps us to reconnect and bond. 

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