Christmas Traditions

Growing up I cannot remember one holiday tradition that my immediate family partook in on a regular basis. We did not have a lot of money and I don't remember a Christmas that stands out in my mind as being great or spectacular. Is that because I didn't get great presents or any presents at all?? No. Is it because I didn't get Christmas pajamas or make Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve??? I've never asked my parents about this and perhaps I should. I'm sure there are things they did to try and make Christmas special for us that I just don't remember.

I vowed when I got married that I would always make Christmas special for my family, and for my children whenever God chose to bless up with them. And so it began. We decorated our apartment for Christmas as soon as we returned home from Thanksgiving in Lafayette. I went to JoAnne's weekly to look for sales on Christmas decorations and decor. I remember we gave each other $100 to spend on the other. I spent hours in Kauffman's (which was going out of business in our mall) looking for the perfect gift. I don't remember what all I got, but I do remember these amazing leather driving gloves that were lined with cashmere for like $11.00 or something crazy.

I knew that when we had children I had all sorts of fun things that I wanted to do with them to make Christmas such a fun time of year to look forward to. Our first Christmas with a baby, Eden was just a few months old and we didn't do much with her besides drive to look at Christmas lights. She wouldn't have been able to appreciate it. The following year Eden was 15 months old and Adaleigh was just one week old. We started that year with three simple traditions. The first was a picture of the girls in their Christmas pajamas in front of the tree. The second was they had their own little 2 foot tree with all pink decorations and the third is we drive to the town of Rossville where a man puts on a huge Christmas light display at his home.

This year my daughters are 3 and 4 and it is so incredible to see them getting excited about Christmas. They ask about the things that are coming up and request to see pictures of Christmas's past. Our traditions have grown and will continue to grow as the years go on. I dread when the girls are too old or too cool to get excited about our Christmas traditions. I dread the year when they do not squeal in excitement about going to Purdue University to see the largest indoor Christmas tree they've ever seen and a gingerbread house that's big enough for them to walk inside of.

I believe that even if you are dirt poor it is the Christmas traditions that your children will remember and not what they got for Christmas. If every year on Christmas Eve you attend Christmas Eve service as a family and then go home to bake and decorate cookies in Christmas Pajamas, get a pic in front of the tree and read the Christmas story- then that is what they will remember.