Holiday Traditions

As we approach Christmas, I have taken the time to reflect on holiday traditions.  As so many things have changed in my life over the years the traditions I keep at the holidays have changed too. From my childhood, pre parents divorce, I remember a fake tree that we used some years but most years we had a live blue spruce that was then planted in the yard after the holidays.  Except the one year we had a pine that my dad insisted would fit, needless to say it did not and we had two trees that year!  Christmas meant taking out the electric race cars and setting up the track under the tree and each year I would get to buy a new car.  Christmas also meant Grandma’s  chrusciki, each year we would get a pretzel tin full and when I was older a couple of years I was able to go to her house and help make it.  There were the yearly photos, one with Santa, one in front of our tree and one hanging up our stockings.  After my parents divorced I don’t remember having set traditions to keep.  I tried to create some, one year purchasing matching pajamas for my mom, brother and myself.  Once I moved out of my Mom’s I again tried to put some traditions in place, I have never been consistent.  A few traditions we had during that time were buying a fresh cut tree and baking cookies to give away. Not many but it was a start.  In later years we added driving around one night to look at the Christmas Lights and buying my girls a new ornament.  We have refined some of our traditions, recently we started making  chrusciki and we now have a shopping trip for the girls to pick out their own ornament as I realized buying them the daughter ornament each year from Hallmark would leave them with a tree full of daughter ornaments when they are grown with their own tree.  We try to attend church on Christmas eve and on the way home drive around to look at the lights.  I often feel like something is wrong because I don’t have deep rooted, long standing traditions that other families have.  What I am learning is that it is alright and that it isn’t the activities that we do each year that should be the tradition but the fact that we are spending time with those we love, creating memories.  And, to further expand make sure we are taking time throughout the year to make memories and stop putting so much pressure on the holidays to be perfect!  What is one of your traditions or favorite memories with family and friends?