The Shining, burritos and $5 gifts: readers’ unusual holiday traditions

Their answers are a reminder that the holidays can be whatever you want them to be

Holidays and tradition go hand in hand: Thanksgiving feasts, Christmas trees, menorah lighting, New Year’s Eve kisses.

But some traditions are more quirky and idiosyncratic. I knew a family who decorated a chair every Christmas instead of a tree. My own family spends every Christmas morning watching The Godfather (parts one and two – not part three). And Mariah Carey, the queen of Christmas, once said she gets “one or two horse-drawn sleighs” for her family and friends to go “riding in the snow under the stars”. Sounds nice!

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Kristen Arnett on Holiday Gifts

The author keeps a list on her phone of gift ideas. “During the year, if someone close to me mentioned something that they really like or really want, I put a note in right then.”
The New York Times - 2d