The first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… lots of relatives flooding my kitchen! Christmas is my favorite time of the year because I get to spend time with my family. It all begins the day after Thanksgiving.

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Black Friday is special for some early-rising shoppers, but for me and my family, it’s called “Merrymaking Day”. Merrymaking Day is where all the men in the house go Black Friday shopping, the boys in the house go outside to play football, and all the girls and women stay inside and bake the Christmas supply of cookies.

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We get up early and bake until mid afternoon, stopping at lunch for Thanksgiving leftovers. After a while, the boys come in to decorate sugar cookies, and the men are often sent for more supplies. My grandmother always gives everyone an ornament on Merrymaking Day, giving us a special souvenir to remember good times by. At the end of the day, we divide up the goodies and work together to clean up. We’re usually too full with Thanksgiving leftovers, pie, and Christmas cookie samples to eat dinner, and people have to leave anyway. After we say goodbye to those who aren’t spending the night at our house, we watch a classic Christmas movie.

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The aroma of baking cookies, the sound of Christmas music in the background, the laughter at almost-failures, all make the season bright for me. Spinning around a small kitchen juggling hot pans of fresh cookies, several bowls of cookie dough, and supplies from the crammed counters while your relatives do the same makes laughter overflow and love bloom. Sneaking spoonfuls of cookie dough into your mouth, singing along with Christmas classics, and teaching a little cousin to decorate Rice Krispie trees (without dumping the entire bottle of sprinkles on it!) makes a beautiful day in my house.12/12/16