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Yes, we love unwrapping our gifts and wearing our cutest wintery dresses. But let’s admit it: it’s the traditions with those closest to us and the memories they inspire that make the holidays special (and, fine, a few wrapped boxes under the tree def don’t hurt). We asked Hello Sunshine’s Gen Z-ers to share their favorite sentimental and silly holiday stories and traditions over the years. 

“I grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and every winter, my dad and I would go to Bryant Park to skate! My dad taught me to skate there when I was six, so we kept going back every year. I loved skating so much that he even bought me my own pair of figure skates! (He also always made me wear a helmet, but the only helmet I had was a bright pink bike helmet. So all you would see was this tiny girl zipping around the rink in a hot pink helmet 😂.) Bryant Park is truly so magical to me and will always have a special place in my heart.

My family and I pick a day to set up our tree and decorate for Christmas at the start of every December. We always get dressed in ugly sweaters to pick out a real tree. We always name it, too (this year, its name is Bruce Springsteen). Then on the way home, we stop for vegan hot chocolate and eggnog. When we get there, we set up our stockings and decorate our tree with ornaments we've collected over the years. Every Christmas, my brother and I receive one new ornament that represents a theme or something important to us that year! One year, I received a cow ornament to symbolize my heavy volunteer position at a rescue barn!”

“Lighting the menorah with my parents and my sister is a classic, even though we have the kind where you screw in a bulb instead of actually lighting a candle, because my mom has asthma. We pretend it’s real, though! 

My favorite holiday story: My old roommates and I hosted a White Elephant a few years ago (which is like, if Secret Santa was a competition), and two hours into the night, it was time to unwrap the final gift. One of my roommates tore the wrapping paper to unveil… an empty fish tank. One of my friends then revealed she had been hiding a FISH in our apartment for several hours (safe, in a bag with water, ofc) — that was the final gift. She ended up stealing the fish back (as is the rules in White Elephant) and taking it home with her. She got emotionally attached.”

“I love playing ‘Left, Center, Right’ with my family. My parents used to play it when they were younger, and it’s a great way to be competitive with family. It’s all luck, so no family fights. It leads to us laughing so much.”

“Every Christmas Eve, my very Italian dad cooks a full feast using recipes passed down from his great-grandparents: I’m talking pasta, fried shrimp risotto, and the true star of the show: the rice balls my three sisters and I are unhealthily obsessed with. Every year, we spend Christmas Eve morning packed into the kitchen, music on, rolling and cooking them by hand. It’s a little messy, always meaningful, and one of the traditions I look forward to most!”

“Making Christmas cookies with my family. More specifically, we use cookie cutters to make sugar cookies in the shapes of trees, snowflakes, stars, snowmen, and candy canes, then decorate them with green and red sprinkles and give them away to family, friends, coworkers, or teachers! This year, we’re hosting a mochitsuki (using modern machinery instead of the traditional mallets), a Japanese new year tradition. So in addition to Christmas cookies, we may also be gifting mochi!”

“Every Christmas Eve morning, my best friend and I grab coffee and do a little last-minute shopping in our tiny hometown. We always pick up the same thing for our moms — Anthropologie soap for stocking stuffers — and wander around checking out the holiday window displays.”

“I have two Christmas traditions I look forward to every year. The first is with my family. We all wear matching PJs on Christmas Eve, sit around the fire, and sing songs together. None of us can actually sing, which just adds to the charm, and my cousin is the only one with real musical talent since he plays drums and guitar. He carries the tune while the rest of us laugh our way through. Our go-to is always Jingle Bells.

The second tradition is with my hometown girlfriends. We do a Secret Santa every year, and the theme changes each year. One year, it was anything goes. Another year was all about wellness with yoga sets, mats, face masks, and beauty products. Then we had a funny-themed one. I think the best gift I’ve ever gotten from our Secret Santa was a CSB workout set.” 

“Decorating our family Christmas tree with my younger sisters. We all dress in our yearly Christmas PJs, with festive music playing, and hot cocoa in hand. I love looking through all the ornaments we've collected over the years and fighting over who gets to be front and center. After we finish our tree, we put on a traditional Christmas movie (we love all three ‘Santa Claus’ movies!) and binge throughout the night!”

“Baking Christmas cookies with my cousins! As we’ve gotten older, we don’t see each other as often. But every year, without fail, we devote the entire day before Christmas to decorating gingerbread, sugar cookies, and much, much more. It’s our way of reconnecting, and we’ve made countless holiday memories with this little tradition.”