Christmas is my FAVORITE holiday of the year! I love everything about it, the lights, decorating, the glimmering snow, Christmas trees, carols, reds and greens, presents, seeing family, and of course, celebrating Christ. I love the romantic notion of olden days, when communities would go around town singing carols together and simply spreading joy in an otherwise dreary season! I love putting on Hallmark Christmas movies and snuggling up under a blanket with hot drink in hand or bundling up on a brisk evening to head out to see the Christmas lights or the parade. I love wrapping presents. I LOVE buying them! lol! I love sneaking in the odd new item for me as it is just too good a deal to pass up! I love sleigh rides with furry winter coated horses adorned in jingling bells and I love that it is a time of year when despite any day to day stresses, I STILL feel an abundance of love in my heart!
I'm even more excited about it this year as I have kids!!! Kids who are now old enough to start to understand Christmas! I get to see and share in their excitement, their wonder, when they wake up to find their tree laden with gifts having magically appeared over night! I have kids to shop for! Woo Hoo!
All of these wonderful things are what I think about when I think of Christmas. However at this stage in my life I find myself at an interesting intersection. I grew up in an agnostic household so for my brother and I, celebrating Christmas was all about being good so Santa would reward us with gifts. I find myself now however, a Christian and a follower of Christ and I wish to teach my children the values of why this holiday exists while still filling them with the excitement of Santa, the North Pole, flying reindeer and a toy shop at the North Pole! I'm not sure, how do you blend the two?
I believe the focus should be in celebrating the birth of Jesus. That just makes sense. So how then, do I incorporate Santa and all the fun that comes along with believing in him too?
My husband and I have discussed this periodically, but have yet to come up with a clear vision of how we want to portray the Christmas holiday to our kids. Up to now we have been going to spend the day with his parents as hosting Christmas is my mother-in-law's favorite activity of the year and I love her enough to want to be there. I love my family too, however when they are unmotivated to even put up a tree I find it really challenging to want to celebrate in that environment. Fortunately, for them having grand-kids coming over is changing that! YAY! I do feel lately though, that the time is coming quickly where our family will need to change our routine. We will need to start alternating family visits each year and I would like to see us setting up a few of our own traditions before too much longer.
Well, we do have one tradition so far. We have an unconventional tree, which despite the traditionalist in me, I love our tree. It is so personal. All of our decorations are mementos or keepsakes from experiences or times in our lives. My husband brings his Spiderman ornament from his college days while I have an elephant ornament from my Girls Weekend to NYC! We of course have collective ornaments like the kids' first hand prints or one that represents our first Christmas together in our new home. Most recently I had each girl pick her own ornament from the grocery store. Why? I look at them and am reminded of all our girls dates out getting groceries! An easy way to make a boring and sometimes frustrating ritual into a fun memory!
What traditions do you have? How do you celebrate?
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from my family to yours!
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