Opening Gifts on Christmas Eve
Anna: When you were younger, did you open Christmas presents on Christmas Day or on Christmas Eve?
James: Yeah, like, uh, usually on, uh, Christmas Eve, like really really late before, uh, like, late in the night.
Anna: Uh-huh.
James: Uh, we would open presents late at night. Sometimes we would go to midnight mass because my family was Catholic.
Anna: Mm-hmm.
James: And, uh, we would always go to, like, uh, church on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.
James: But, um, yeah, after, like, midnight mass, we would come home late, and then we were like, uh, “Let’s sleep in the next morning, so let’s open our presents now, you know, we’re still, like, awake.”
James: And, uh, and so, that’s just sort of become, like, a tradition.
James: So, I like doing that cause I wanna just sleep in and eat, like, a good brunch on Christmas morning, and not have to wake up and, uh, you know, clean up the wrapping paper and all that, uh, you know, but, Christmas Eve.
Vocabulary:
late in the night – during the advanced or final hours of darkness, well after normal bedtime, “The sound of loud music from the street kept us awake late in the night.”
midnight mass – a special church service held at or around midnight on Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of Jesus, “The entire church was beautifully lit by candles for the annual midnight mass.”
sleep in – to remain in bed sleeping much later than your usual waking time in the morning, “Since it is Saturday tomorrow, I plan to sleep in until at least ten o’clock.”
tradition – a custom, belief, or regular way of doing something that has been passed down through a family or society for a long time, “Baking cookies together on the weekend has become a favorite family tradition.”
brunch – a meal eaten in the late morning or early afternoon that combines elements of both breakfast and lunch, “On Sundays, we love to serve a big brunch with pancakes, eggs, and fresh fruit juice.”
clean up – to make a place or area neat, tidy, and organized by removing trash, dirt, or mess, “After we finished painting the kitchen, it took us an hour to clean up the brushes and empty cans.”
wrapping paper – decorative paper used for covering and packing gifts and presents, “The floor was covered in bright green and red wrapping paper after the kids opened their holiday gifts.”