Post 2/3 of Late Posts!
Ten (mostly family specific)Christmas Traditions I Want to Pass on to My Daughter.
I think that a strong family tradition is a wonderful thing (unless it’s fighting, in which case I’ll pass thanks), and should be passed on. I’m also totally cool with traditions evolving (naturally, in an unforced way) because change (like death and taxes, although unlike those, can possibly be positive) is inevitable (kind of like me other using parenthesis and run-on sentences with too many commas.). Here are 10 that I want to not only continue but hope that my girl will do as well.
1. Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and Frank Sinatra Christmas CD’s. I want her to know the classics. I’m fine with others in there, but I want her to feel what I felt every time I heard these tunes.
2. Having root beer floats, caramel corn, and watching Merry Christmas Mr. Bean, while (and after) decorating the Christmas Tree. My Daddy’s family had root beer floats, my mother added caramel corn when they had us, and I added Mr. Bean (because I was worried about adding yet more food). I hope Evangeline keeps this and adds something of her own when she grows up and leaves home.
3. A star on top of the tree. Ok, I have no problem with Angels. I like them, even the scary biblical descriptions of them. I have a small collection of Willow Tree Angels and a bigger peace Angel (named Marissa) that I happily display. However, I grew up with a star on the top of the tree, and as a pre-teen I heard a joke about a year that God was really stressed out about Jesus’ Christmas party and was at the end of His rope when a little tiny Angel comes up to Him and asks where she should stick the tree. And He tells her! Soooo, when a 13 year old hears that joke, it kind of ruins Angels on top of trees for her. Seriously, I have the hardest time keeping a straight face seeing Angel tree toppers.
4. Driving around to see the lights. I know almost everyone does it. But I love it, especially with either really soft carols playing or in silence.
5. Going to Midnight Mass. So it won’t be possible for many years to start doing this again, but I plan to A) when she’s old enough and B) when we find a new church. It’s just magical for me.
6. Baking together. I know it’s clichéd but I want to do this. I had her sit with me while making the spice cookies this year, gave her some dough to play with. It was awesome and it’s only going to get better. I want to make her a Christmas apron to wear next year.
7. Project Angel Tree. I want Evangeline to know that it’s more blessed to give, and I want her to know the joy that comes from doing so. I can’t support the Salvation Army anymore and I loved Project Angel Tree as a child so I want to do that. It’s like a lot of charities where you select a child to buy gifts for (a clothing item and a toy), only with Angel Tree it goes to the child (or children) of inmates. I always feel horrible for innocent children who suffer because their parent(s) did something wrong so this one fits me well.
8. Watching Christmas Specials snuggled together with homemade hot cocoa and blankets. Maybe while writing Christmas cards
9. Cutting down a Christmas Tree. Last year my parents watched the baby while Pat and I went out to cut our tree, this year we supported boys cross country and bought one from them as baby is too little to go out in the woods, driven there in a rickety old pickup truck with no seatbelts. Hopefully next year we’ll get our Concolor Fir (They smell like oranges and are the best tree ever!) And all will be well. I have the most wonderful memories of doing this as a child/teen. Colin and I even (mostly) got along on tree cutting days.
10. Santa. Enough said. We actually have a key for him that hangs on the door as we have no chimney and he has to get in somehow! ☺
A lot of this sounds like some of the Christmas traditions I've grown up with too :) I love family traditions, and even though I'm Jewish, I still participate in the Christmas stuff when I'm with my family during December and still love carols and the tree, and the lights. I LOOOOOVE driving around looking at the lights with the holiday music on the radio with my Mom. The only addition to that is we always get eggnog lattes from Starbucks when we do it ;) And our Christmas movie is "A Christmas Story" :-P While we do an Angel on our tree (and whenever my brother is deployed, we put a big GI there so he's with us in spirit), I also cannot help giggling at where the tree is supposed to *go*. Your traditions sound lovely. The one thing I always wished I had done before I converted was go to Midnight Mass, it's something I always wished I had done, it sounds lovely.
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