It's Christmas Eve!

Many Canadians also have to work on Christmas Eve, but it is often a half day. This is done to allow workers time to travel to the homes of family members . Public transportation systems also close down in the late afternoon or early evening.

In the afternoon some people buy last-minute Christmas gifts for their family and friends while others wrap presents that they bought earlier. Many people attend a church service in the evening, known as midnight mass. Traditionally, this service started at midnight as December 24 became December 25 but now it often starts earlier in the evening.

If a family is going to eat a traditional meal on Christmas Day, they may begin preparations on Christmas Eve. A traditional Christmas Day meal often consists of roast turkey with squash, turnips, potatoes and cranberry sauce as a main course and mince pies or plum pudding for dessert.

In my family we were always allowed to open one Christmas gift on Christmas Eve, usually Christmas pajamas!! At the end of the evening we would hang our stockings by the fireplace for Santa to fill with presents during the night. We would also leave cookies and milk for Santa and carrots or celery for the reindeer.

Santa is so important to Christmas in Canada and the United States that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) maintains a website to allegedly 'track' Santa's movements on Christmas Eve. It is also on TV and radio news programs!!