Merry Christmas

Today is Christmas.  I thought it was going to be a lot harder for us than it was, but we all made it through without tears.  My parents are VERY big on tradition and one of our traditions was sitting in the same place every year as we opened gifts.  Mom had her chair and Drew put a sign on it saying, “DO NOT SIT,” reserving it only for her.  In the past, even with her health issues, mom did almost all of the Christmas shopping.  Dad did a great job this year though and there was no shortage of gifts.  The kids had a blast and he put a lot of thought into the gifts he got all of us.

We started the day off as we always do. After opening our own gifts at our own homes, we all headed up to my dad’s.  We brought bagels and my brother Tim brought donuts and coffee.  We kept it as “normal” as possible for everyone.  Dad had ordered ham, turkey and pulled pork from The Honey Baked Ham Company.  My sister and I had prepared the side dishes at home and while we all opened gifts from one another, I got everything heated and prepared for later in the day when my grandma, two aunts and in-laws came.

It was another day spent with family and loved ones.  A really nice Christmas.  We all got what we wanted but most importantly, we were all together.  We kept most of our traditions going.  The plum pudding my class gave me was delicious.  Different than mom’s but still wonderful.  As the years go by, traditions change a bit and new ones are created but it is all good.  Traditions help us create memories. I think they are important to instill in our own children.  Today, I noticed that it was our children were the ones who were trying to keep most tightly to the old rituals.  They were doing it for my mom, and at the same time, I think they were doing it for my dad too.

Tagged: christmas, christmas tradtions, instilling values into our children, merry christmas, plum pudding, traditions