Christmas Eve is just a few days away, and the atmosphere in the office is festive, to say the least! Everyone has been discussing their holiday plans and sharing some of their Christmas traditions which include:
• Cooking homemade spaghetti on the day the Christmas tree gets decorated
• Hiding the Elf on the Shelf for the kids– Although I’m personally not sure that I should have started this tradition!
• Watching the movie, Christmas Vacation, on Christmas Eve– Christa says: “It’s a must every year, and I think it gets funnier every time I watch it!” and Mary says: “It is great to get the family all together to sit down and just laugh; we all get a kick out of it and we realize that we are not the only dysfunctional family out there. LOL!”
• Opening one gift each on Christmas Eve–usually a board game in the Skane household so everyone can play
• Baking and decorating cookies on Christmas Eve
• Putting out decorated cookies for Santa with the kids and tucking them in bed, followed by an “assembly” part where the adults put on their Christmas pajamas and then tackle putting together the kids’ toys
• Making a pancake breakfast on Christmas morning
• Eating a hibachi dinner on Christmas Day followed by a movie
• Driving around town to look at Christmas lights–Tammy says: “We pile the kids in the car on Christmas Eve and I run back into the house because I ‘forgot’ something. While everyone is in the car, I get all the hidden presents and put them under the tree. We drive around for an hour or so looking at lights, then come back to the house to find “Santa” has been here. The kids always enjoy this!”
No matter what our individual traditions, we all agree with Pam: “We love spending time with our families during the holidays. We teach our kids that there is nothing more important than family and that it’s important to spend as much time together as we can.” And also with Kendra: “It’s about creating fun and magic for the kids!” Finally, Shelly reminds us that any year is a good year to start a new holiday tradition: “This will be my first year not being able to make it home for Christmas. Scott and I will celebrate our first Christmas as a married couple here in Wilmington, starting traditions of our own.”
“Remember, if Christmas isn’t found in your heart, you won’t find it under a tree.” ~ Charlotte Carpenter
“The merry family gatherings– The old, the very young; The strangely lovely way they Harmonize in carols sung. For Christmas is tradition time– Traditions that recall, The precious memories down the years, The sameness of them all.” ~ Helen Lowrie Marshall
“Christmas–that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance–a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved.” ~ Augusta E. Rundel
This weekend, stick with tradition,
~Bob
