Every year we celebrate Russian Christmas with the kids in order to expose them to their birth culture. There are so many holiday traditions that I have read about on the Internet surrounding Russian Christmas and New Year- that I am sure we are not getting it all correct- but hopefully what we are doing is close enough!
This is the doll house my grandpa Mac made for me when I was a little girl. It was in my room at my dad's growing up and was sent down to Tennessee when I was a bit older- so my cousin Emily could have it. A few years ago my Aunt Kathy returned it. It still needs to be renovated and redecorated, and my mom and Dick said they would work on it. Bubby decorated the outside for Christmas and it looked so cute.
You are expected to fast on Christmas Eve (that's one of the traditions we don't follow!) and wait to eat your big meal until you have spotted the first star in the sky. The star represents the one the Magi followed to Bethlehem to honor the Christ child. Here is Patrick- freezing cold in Bubby's yard- hoping to see the first star- it was too cloudy.
Bubby did her research- she is explaining to the kids how to eat the traditional "kutya" which is like porridge. Everyone shares the same bowl to symbolize family unity. Everyone takes turns from the youngest to the oldest family member and eats a spoonful of kutya. Then, the head of the family flings a spoonful of kutya onto the ceiling- if it sticks, the new year will be bountiful and lucky.
The table is set with a white table cloth to symbolize the Christ child's swaddling clothes. The hay represents how He was born in a manger. The white candle is to remember that Jesus is the light of the world. The meal consists of twelve foods to symbolize the twelve apostles. It's fun for the kids to count the twelve different items. Traditionally, it is a vegetarian and dairy free "Lenten" meal, but Bubby serves beef strogonoff which is as close to Russian and a bunch of Irish descendents can get!
Another tradition is to dip bread into something sweet (honey) and something bitter (garlic) to symbolize the happy and sad times we experience in life. The bread tells us that Jesus is the "bread" of life.
It's Bubby's job as the mother to bless each family member with a honey cross on their forehead so that sweet things will happen in the coming year. The father then leads the family in the Lord's Supper. This year we sang "Amen- Halleluiah" which Abby kept asking us to repeat over and over! We didn't do it this year, but the traditional call and response is "Christ is Born!" and "Glorify Him!"
During dinner, Babushka Baba Yaga knocked on the door and left a few presents for the children. Babushka has been wandering the four corners of the earth ever since she declined to go with the wise men to see the Christ Child. Regretting her decision, she spends her Christmas delivering presents to all of the children.
After presents it was bath time and pj's and an overnight at Bubby's.
