Traditions give us a foundation for the future, but they shouldn’t be so rigid that they keep us mired in the past. Our families traditions have evolved over the past twenty-one Christmases that John and I have been together. From a family of two, to a family of three, to a family of four, our traditions have expanded or contracted as the years and money permitted, but they’ve always revolved around our core values of love of family, love of food, and hope for the future. Although our traditions are not all unique, they do bring us much joy, laughter, and bliss.Our Yule Ritual–We welcome the sun back every year and it is a sacred tradition that we follow even today with the kids almost grown.
Santa’s Letter–Every Christmas Santa writes the kids a special letter detailing how they’ve been good over the past year, where they could hope to improve, and explaining why he’s chosen to buy the present he has. It’s been interesting over the course of the years because in the years when we were so broke we weren’t sure we’d be able to afford much for Christmas, Santa always came through with the gift the kids hadn’t dared to hope for. This year, two letters from Santa showed up and we all believe that Santa made a special stop just to remind us how lucky we are to still have John with us.
The bears of Christmas–We spent the Christmas of 1992 on the tropical island of Okinawa. It was the first year Caitlin was born and John and I knew that our family was complete. While shopping at the base exchange, I found these incredibly gaudy tinsel covered bears. The gold bears are for the “boys” and the silver bears are for the “girls.” John’s immediate reaction was that they were gawd awful ugly and he groaned the first few years when I brought them out for Christmas. He still thinks they’re gaudy, but they’ve become such and ingrained part of the holidays that he’s evolved into just shaking his head when I bring them out.
Milk and Cookies–One year when the kids were early, I found this beautiful plate and cup said that said “Santa’s Magical Cookies” and every holiday since it has been filled with cookies and milk for Santa. This year the cookies were butter cookies from Arlington Cake Box and they were so yummy that Santa had four of them.Stockings filled with care–Although the big gifts are always nice to get, the stockings that “Santa Mom” fills so carefully are always fun to open. Caitlin always seems to get lip balm in hers (she had 13 tubes this year) and Sean’s was filled with useful things like a hammer and small tool kit for when he moves into his own apartment. John’s had puzzles and sugar free cookies and mine was filled with body lotions.
Batman and Beatles–Sean’s been a Batman fan since before he could speak and every year either Santa or mom and dad make sure that he has a Batman present under the tree. This year Sean’s was a Joker set that he could take back to his dorm room and play with his friends. Cat discovered the Beatles in eighth grade and every year since we’ve had to make sure that the Fab Four paid her a visit every year.Ornaments–We have a number of traditions around ornaments. The kids always get a new ornament reflecting where they are in their lives: school buses for the first year of school, a French Cat for the year Caitlin started French lessons, etc. We also always pick up ornaments from everywhere we go so our tree is adorned with trinkets from London, Atlanta, Alaska, and other places far and near. One of these years, I’m hoping we’ll get organized enough to have multiple trees and then we can do themed trees: a travel tree, a kid tree, and a glittery tree.
Presents–Presents are always a part of Christmas mornings and when the kids were younger, we’d roll out of bed at 5 am or so when Sean came in to wake us up. The good thing since the kids are older is that now Christmas morning doesn’t start so early as they usually don’t roll out of bed until 8:30 or later. Although most mornings I welcome the opportunity to sleep in, sometimes I miss the childish bliss of running into the living room to see what Santa’s brought.
Our Christmas this year was a live with family, presents, food, and an overwhelming sense of blissfulness that we are all here to celebrate together.
Cairn by Cairn 