At three years old, Hailey is really old enough to enjoy Christmas in all it’s wonder and magic. I love hearing her interpret the holidays. For example:
Hailey (again she asks): Mom, Christmas is Jesus’ birthday, right?
Me (again): It sure is.
Hailey: I think he wants a Frozen cake with Elsa and Anna. And candles. But he can’t blow out the candles because he’s just a baby, but we can help him like this (blows out imaginary candles).
For all the challenges three can bring, it sure brings a lot of laughs with it too.
Back to Christmas, though. At December 10, the season is flying by and I am determined not to let the day arrive without making some magic happen. I’ve been thinking about some traditions I want to create with Hailey and Kaitlyn.
To me, the magic is in the details.
It’s not the big dollhouse I got one Christmas (though that was great too, in case you are reading Santa), it’s the peeking over the balcony with my brother to see if Santa had come.
It’s not what exactly we ate on Christmas eve, but the warm and cozy feeling of all piling into the living room after the meal to exchange family gifts with Christmas music playing in the background.
It’s mom making gingerbread boys and thumbprint cookies.
It’s the story of baby Jesus at the late afternoon service.
It’s the stockings my Nannie sewed.
It’s that little blue reindeer statue that no one seems to care about but me.
It’s the details and the people.
I want to keep that great feeling of warmth and love with my growing family and add it some traditions that we all look forward to every year.
We kicked off this year’s celebration yesterday afternoon with cookies.
Hailey cracked the eggs and acted as quality control for the ingredients (namely the M&Ms and chocolate chips).
Mema held off a tired Kaitlyn as we all bounced around to Christmas music.
It took longer and got messier than if I would have just done it myself.
But the tradition is not in the cookie. It’s in the process. The feeling. The people.
OK, and maybe just a smidge in the cookie itself.
Some other traditions I’m hoping to create include:
Watching a Christmas movie together in jammies with hot chocolate.
Driving around to look at Christmas lights.
Dressing in our finest for church and attending a candlelight service when possible (probably not this year).
I certainly don’t want to overload Christmas with too many ‘must dos,’ but I do hope to create some traditions that will carry on through the years.
What about you?
What traditions did you grow up with?
Which ones are you creating?
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