not me, nor anyone in my family, but i love the spirit of ‘pocket pancaking’
all families are unique, with their own quirks, traditions, and ways of communicating – and the holiday season often serves as the perfect showcase for these interconnected elements. so when tonight show host, jimmy fallon asked his viewers to tweet funny examples using hashtag #myfamilyisweird, the responses did not disappoint. one person shared their relatives’ tradition of hiding leftover pancakes in each other’s pockets, while another posted a photo of a ‘hideous hand-me-down elf ornament their mother keeps trying to throw away each year, but hilariously ends up back on the tree. customs we cultivate with our kin can do more than just make us laugh, studies have long shown that establishing family routines and rituals positively benefits our health, relationships and well-being.
does your family have any unusual traditions? in my family we had a super creepy automotron mange-y looking furry toy cat that kept coming back. we bought it for a visiting grandie and just thought it was an ordinary stuffed animal, but what we soon discovered was that it would move or make noise at random times. people who received this gift ending up reporting that they kept in their garage or basement or closet, because it creeped them out so much. even with all that, they housed if for a full year, just for the opportunity to ‘gift it’ to someone else in family at the next christmas gathering. people went to great lengths to disguise it when wrapping, so the recipient would let down their guard and open it. we gifted it back and forth to each other for many years, until one year it just disappeared….
“remember as far as anyone knows we’re a nice, normal family.”
— homer Ssmpson
I am not sure we have any traditions quite this humorous, but I am loving the idea of “pocket pancaking”. Maybe it is time to start a new tradition. Where is my pancake mix?
LikeLiked by 2 people
me too!
LikeLiked by 2 people
If there are pancake pranks, there must be donut pranks, in which case, this one that I recently saw seems to be in the right direction …
😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
absolutely
LikeLike
Too funny. Thanks for sharing!
LikeLiked by 2 people
)))
LikeLike
We don’t have anything like that. Now I feel that I have missed out! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
there’s still time
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very interesting traditions.
LikeLiked by 1 person
indeed -)
LikeLiked by 1 person
😂
LikeLike
Fun! For awhile my wife and son had a little rubber salamander that kept getting found in a cheese ball, or someother strange place as it was passed back and forth!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I love that!
LikeLike
😊
LikeLike
It was fun! Maybe it needs to be replaced…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right!
LikeLiked by 1 person
My aunts had the head off of a small saint’s statue that broke off (probably thought they shouldn’t throw it away!). They would hide it in one another’s homes over the years. One year one of the aunts received a cellophane wrapped box of chocolates (common back in the day). She opened it and found the saint’s head in one of the pockets for a piece of candy! They got quite creative. My dad used to leave empty beer or pop cans hidden in places around houses he would visit. Some people didn’t find them for years, but knew who they were from. I have to say, I love the pocket pancakes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love this! The long game
LikeLiked by 1 person
And it keeps on giving by entertaining me with the stories of it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
pocket pancakes-how did they come up with that? lol sounds messy
LikeLiked by 1 person
Leftovers so dry and no syrup I’m guessing
LikeLike
My family is just unusual…😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sometimes that says it all
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love this! I wish I could say we have unusual traditions, but I can’t, how dull is that?
LikeLiked by 1 person
You may and not know they are unusual
LikeLike
I love this…these unique traits are what keep families close!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think so too
LikeLike
Hmmm…a white elephant Christmas. That’s a great concept.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very fun
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have a few quirky traditions. One is wrapping Christmas gifts in a blue Tiffany box or other ultra expensive gift bag or box — only to disappoint the person getting the gift. It’s funny when our kids still fall for it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Some jokes never get old)
LikeLike
We have a lot of memories but no traditions like this. Finding something as out of place as a pancake in my pocket would freak me out. When I plunge my hands into my coat pockets, I expect gloves. Nothing but gloves.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Still time…)
LikeLike
LOL!
LikeLike
For years we had a turkey that hung on the wall and “sang” and bobbed its head when you passed it. Scared most people to death if they weren’t expecting it. It went to whoever was hosting Thanksgiving that year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There you go!
LikeLike
Hmmm…this is interesting. I can’t think of anything my extended family does that’s weird/unusual/whatever. But I enjoyed reading about your family.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks!
LikeLike
Now you’ve got me thinking… Going to have to ask my sisters if anything comes to their minds because mine is drawing a blank!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You weren’t in on the prank)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gasp!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
So true
Sent from my iPhone
<
div dir=”ltr”>
<
blockquote type=”cite”>
LikeLiked by 1 person
)))
LikeLike
I just realized I won’t be able to watch my usual X-Files episode this year (The Ghosts that Stole Christmas) because I’ve packed it up already! I’ll have to find some other tradition this year!
LikeLiked by 1 person
So many options)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Many years ago, I bought a sign which says: “Some call it madness, we call it family.”😂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Love that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hmmmm…. You know it’s been a really long time since I had a family, but I don’t remember anything unusual that defined us other than you know just us…
LikeLiked by 1 person
And sometimes we don’t even know what people consider to be odd about us
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nope. No traditions and I’m really happy about that after reading the above. LOLOLOL Pancakes?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Who knew?
LikeLike
Never would have guessed. I’m going to try something new with Em. She has a catnip toy, with very good nip, obviously, that I can only let her have for about 5 minutes. She just falls on it and loves it, so, I’m going to get up at 3 a.m. to give her a second pill, and give her the nip first. That way, she might not even notice what’s happening and I might actually get 2 pills in her in one day. Wish me luck.
LikeLiked by 1 person
paws crossed )
LikeLike
The furry toy cat story is hysterical. Gotta love a family that would pass that around!
LikeLiked by 1 person
We loved it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
wow. That would creep me out !!
LikeLiked by 1 person
it was really creepy, but whoever did not choose it, thought it was so funny for a year…
LikeLike
Too funny, Beth! When my boys were young they’d take a few leftovers and out on a toothpick and leave in random places at Grandpa and Grandma’s. On Thanksgiving there was a tasty toothpick under the toilet seat? Yikes. I’ll take pancakes in a pocket!
LikeLiked by 1 person
hahahahaha – that’s great! I really like the pancakes in the pocket too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
💛😂🤗
LikeLike
Don’t know of any weird traditions we have. The stuff a pancake in somebody’s pocket without knowing sounds like something my buddies and I might have tried in college. We wanted our parents to know they were getting these moments of brilliance for helping to pay for our college education. 🤣
LikeLiked by 1 person
of course !)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I guess it’s never to late to start one, Beth!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s right!
LikeLike
When I married into my wife’s very large extended family, some of the aunts and uncles from back on the farms in Minnesota would send small gifts like Christmas cards with $5 bills in them for all the children. So one year I slipped some gag gifts from Uncle Ezra under the tree. I was such a peripheral member of that family that it took a several years before I became a suspect. Someone once actually claimed there was a real Uncle Ezra. Eventually Uncle Ezra received gifts in return and the tradition thrived.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Brilliant
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hilarious…. really like that. I am afraid we never did that. But I friend of mine gifted lovely paper napkins to a birthday party friend, only to be severely scolded by another invitee ’cause SHE gifted them earlier to my friend….
Si, next time she brought nice paper napkins to an invitation I gave, I said to her: oh, you got those from me…. she was flabbergasted for a moment until I burst out laughing 😃
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is hilarious!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This was fun to read but we didn’t have holidays in the same town or country twice very often for a tradition to start. Rarely, if ever with extended family. My poor unfortunate children were also gypsies with us for many years. Very adaptable gypsies though. Even now, no two are alike. Last year my daughter and I were in a hotel somewhere in Germany. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
how wonderful! I guess your tradition may have been celebrating the holidays in different places each year –
LikeLike