Christmas Traditions
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year………” or so the Christmas Carol goes! And actually, I would have to say I agree completely!
One of the main things I love about Christmas is the family traditions we have created. Phil often laugh’s at me when I introduce something new to the family, and says it is not a tradition if we haven’t done it before, but I always say “Traditions have to start sometime, why not start now?” Even though our kids are getting older we still have a couple of traditions we do every year.
This year was a little tough for me as it was the first year I have put the tree up by myself. Both kids thought it wasn’t “cool” to put up the tree and I was ok with that. As much as I love Christmas, I am not going to force it on anyone else! I did have a couple of friends tell me it’s just a “phase” the kids are going through, give them a couple of years and they will be once again hanging tinsel on the tree with me, but until that day I will hang tinsel by myself, and I’m ok with that (sniff, sniff!) no, really, I’m ok!
But when it comes to traditions that’s a whole other story! I kind of wish pinterest was around when the kids were littler as they have some amazing traditions you can start when your kids are just tots. I wonder how differently, I would have done things…… But alas, I digress. There are some traditions we did start and they have carried on throughout the years.
The first is about the first present placed under the tree. The first gift always has to be for Jesus, I mean, He is the whole reason we are celebrating so it’s only fitting the first gift under the tree is for him. We have a gorgeous red box that sits right in front of the tree. When the kids were little, we filled the box with hugs and kisses for Jesus and quickly put the lid on so that they wouldn’t escape!
As the kids have gotten older, we all write a promise to Jesus on a piece of paper and place it in the box. Over the years I have promised to be the best Mum I can be, to read my bible more, to serve others more, and to become more of the women I know God has created me to be, amongst others.
We keep previous year’s promises in the box and its great (and sometimes hilarious) to see what the kids have written in the past and to see how they have grown each year in their faith. It’s my hope and prayer that our kids carry on this tradition with their kids, that they never forget the real reason for the season!
Another one we adopted over the last couple of years is to go out for a “Strong Family Work Do” There are so many “work functions” at this time of year we thought we have worked hard as a family, why not have a family work do? We all get dressed up, chose a nice restaurant and have a nice meal out together. It’s kind of a “yes” dinner, like the “yes” days we have (you can read about those here) It means you can order anything you like! You can have 10 courses if you really want and you can order as many drinks as you can possibly drink (normally, it’s a 1 drink policy in our family, as otherwise it gets too expensive!) We talk about the year we have had, the good and the bad and we make some plans for the following year. It’s a great excuse to have a great night out and let our kids know how proud we are of them!
So my encouragement to you is, start your own family traditions! Whether you have kids or not, whether you are young or old, married or not, start something that you can continue throughout the years. For me, it doesn’t have to be big and flashy or cost lots of money, it’s just about creating memories that will live longer than I will.
