12-23-2007
Christmas Traditions
By Renae
Growing up, my family always decorated the house the day after Thanksgiving. My brother and I piled silver tinsel on each branch of the small pine. Then while we slept, Mom removed the mess and placed every handmade ornament perfectly. I snooped under the transformed tree while the colored lights glowed. Even if my gifts were trick-wrapped, I figured out what the boxes contained. Try as I might to wait for Christmas Day, my curiosity ruled me and ruined my surprise.
One family tradition involved an entire afternoon dedicated to powdered sugar. Every year we frosted too many sugar cookies. My conscience vividly remembers Mom saying, “Stop licking the knife,” and the sick, sugary feeling in my stomach afterwards. I dreaded frosting the double batch of cookies, but I persevered to enjoy the time with my mom.
Now that I am the mother, I wonder what my children will remember about Christmas. I strive to live purposefully, but it doesn’t always happen. As a result, our traditions are not well-defined. We decorate on a whim, or when the light strands are rekindled. Bug’s porcelain winter lighthouse is put out first to appease little elves. We arrange the nativity set I painted as a young girl and attend church service on Christmas Eve.
Our simple rituals do not match my ideal picture of sweet cherubs listening to their father recite the story of Jesus’ birth, in the original Greek, while I serve hot chocolate and prepare gift bags for all the neighbors. That image is unrealistic, but it does capture something important. A wise stranger told Four n’ Twenty,
Now that is what the Christmas season is about, parents spending time with their kids.
That is what I remember most fondly. Traditions need not be elaborate to be special. It is time to get the cookie dough ready.
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