We have this joke in our family: If you want to get me to do
something, just tell me it’s a “tradition”. I’m the
tradition-keeper/creator/drill sergeant in our family. This goes double for
Christmas time. After I moved out for college my mom once told my siblings not
to let me know that they’d gone to a different tree farm than normal to cut
down the Christmas tree (seriously!).
I’m learning to let some of these go so as not to make
myself crazy and thus defeat the point of trying to get in the Christmas
spirit. As I am fully aware of how ridiculous I am when it comes to
tradition-adherence, here is a self-deprecating look at some of my Christmas
magic-making traditions (both past and present) and how they’ve changed now
that it’s Nathan and I carrying them on. I’d love even more to hear some of yours; I’m
always looking for good ideas.
Getting the Tree:
OLD: This
MUST be done the weekend after Thanksgiving to allow for maximum tree-enjoyment
time. We must all drive out to the tree farm in North Bend, we must walk around
forever and get into many fights involving tears and angry words about “whose
turn it is to pick out a tree” (“Nuh-uh…you got to pick the tree LAST YEAR!)
Once we somehow decide on a tree we all go in the little shed and drink hot
chocolate and eat a candy cane while my dad tries to tie it onto the car.
NEW: This
still has to be done the weekend after Christmas, this year we went and cut
down our tree a few hours after running the half marathon. We found a great new
place where all the trees are basically perfect so we just pretend to fight for
a few minutes (we TOTALLY got YOUR tree last year!) because, well, it’s
tradition. But now I grab cider for both of us and then actually help Nathan
get the tree on the car.
The Nativity Set:
OLD: My
family has a really beautiful ceramic nativity set made by my great great aunt
Dede. It’s been the in family at least twenty years and is still in the
original cardboard apple box, with the original packing peanuts, and the pieces
are wrapped in the original paper towels! After the house is decorated we
gather ‘round the box and take turns plunging our hands into the nasty packing
peanuts to see what we pull out. Sounds pretty normal, right? Well, I have no
idea how this started but once all of the pieces have been pulled out we take
turns sticking our heads IN the box and then pulling them out to have the
peanuts stuck in our hair. Everybody has to do it. I can only imagine what
Nathan thought the first time he witnessed this whole situation go down.
NEW: The
first year we were married my mom bought me my very own beautiful willow tree
nativity set, complete with a large cardboard box, packing peanuts, and paper
towels. We haven’t changed a single thing about this tradition in our home. I’ll
let you know how the peanuts and paper towels are doing in twenty years…
The Candlelight Service:
OLD: Every
year I try to keep myself up so we can go to church for the Christmas Eve
Candlelight service. It’s simple, peaceful, and solemn and always just what I
need to get my heart in the right place. We sing Christmas carols and read the
Christmas story out of the Book of Luke, the last one we sing is “Silent Night”.
The church is completely dark and everyone is holding unlit candles. One candle
is lit at the front and the flame is passed back through the church until
everything has a soft quiet glow.
NEW:
Nothing has changed about this tradition either, it’s my favorite one. I know
it’s a favorite for others too because there are a few old friends that I’ve
mostly lost touch with, but I see them every year at this service. It doesn’t
get done until just after midnight and I love getting to officially wish
everyone “Merry Christmas” before heading home.
New Traditions:
Painting Ornaments: Every November Nathan and I go to paint
the town and we each paint an ornament. It’s really sweet that he humors me
this way, I’m usually WAY more intricate with mine so he just ends up sitting
there waiting for me to finish (and he usually leaves to make a Starbucks run).
It’s so fun to take them out every year and see what we’ve painted from years
past. We’re starting to amass quite the collection.
Christmas Dinner and Devotional: We are so so lucky. Our families
actually like spending time together. Every year on Christmas I host a dinner
with both of our families and it’s a huge blessing not to feel torn between two
houses. It’s not very fancy, usually baked potatoes or something I can prepare
ahead of time, and it’s quite crowded…there are 15 people just in our immediate
families. But it’s a great time to get together, eat, play games, and Nathan
usually reads us a Christmas themed devotional after dinner. We have a favorite
that is made up of the stories behind the people who wrote beloved Christmas
Carols.
So, yeah, I’m a little crazy. I’ve always been a very
sentimental and nostalgic person so this personality quirk isn’t entirely
surprising but I’ve been trying to be careful this year to only celebrate the
traditions that build in meaning, not obligation to this season. There can be
so much a sense of expectation and performance that really steals the joy and
magic. I’ve had to learn that just because it was great once doesn’t mean it
will be great the following twenty times. I can tend to really fall victim to
trying to incorporate traditions merely to try to recreate the magic of
something that happened in an organic way, which is just not the same thing. It’s
a learning process…hey! Maybe cutting one tradition every year can be my new “tradition”!
