CREDIT: FSU PUBLICATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT

The holidays are times for families to come together and celebrate. Around these gatherings, some families keep traditions year after year. Many of these traditions might be similar to other families but some may be totally unique.

We asked the Interrobang writing team about their unique family traditions. Check them out!

Konstantinos Drossos


Drossos said that his family follows a tradition that is rooted in his Greek heritage. They have a special cake they make on New Year’s Day, known as the “Traditional Cake,” In Greek it’s called the “Vasilopita” which is the traditional cake dedicated to St. Nicholas. In this cake, they would put a gold coin in the cake batter and this coin will be hidden somewhere in the cake after baking it in the oven.

“The cake is cut up into pieces and whoever gets the gold coin in their slice of cake is the winner,” Drossos said. He added that the winner is wished good luck for the year and good health. From what Drossos can remember, he has only won the coin twice.

Hannah Theodore

Theodore shared a tradition that not a lot of other families might follow. Her grandmother would insert cash inside glass Christmas ornaments and would hang them on a tree but, there is a twist that came with it.

“On Christmas Eve, our family would take turns smashing the ornaments on the ground and whichever bill was inside was the amount of money you got to keep,” Theodore said.

Even though it was just a fun tradition with the family that they did every year, Theodore said that it did get a bit competitive from time to time.

“It always led to some playful arguments with my cousins over who had been lucky enough to find the bigger bill,” she said.

It also seems like quite the mess to clean up after all the glass has been smashed on the floor.

Mauricio Prado

Prado, who is from El Salvador, said that Christmas for him usually meant getting the whole family together.

El Salvador is a very Catholic country,” he said. “We usually get the entire family together in a house to have a good time and share experiences that happened during the year. At midnight, we gather around the biggest place in the house, usually the garden, and pray while holding hands. Everybody gets a chance to pray and give thanks for what has happened and what is coming in their lives.”

He said the reason they do this is because as a family, they understand that you should never take anything for granted, and it’s important to always be grateful for what you have.

“Praying, giving thanks and sharing wishes, struggles, and desires in unity helps everyone feel more connected and supportive spiritually,” Prado said.

Holiday traditions are something quite special because we might only celebrate these moments once every year. My family is from Scotland, and we have kept a tradition going where we all gather on New Year’s Day to have dinner, but we will have to bring food, drinks or treats into the household to provide good luck, good health and wealth for the year. Even though we brought these gifts at dinner to another family’s household, we also give these gifts to our other friends and family members when we go to their house in the new year to give them good luck for the year. My grandmother told me in the past in Scotland, the gifts would be things like wood, charcoal, eggs or necessities to help your family and friends coming into the new year and it would be bad luck if you came into their household empty handed. Even if your family doesn’t have any unique traditions that they follow around the holidays, maybe it might be something to think about for yourself and you can try to start one now to keep it going year after year.