An Easy Christmas Tradition Idea
This entry was posted on 12/18/2006 4:04 PM and is filed under Christmas.
Do you have any simple but meaningful traditions that your family shares? These traditions will create fun and excitement now, but can also provide exciting stories in the future. This easy Christmas tradition is one you might want to try!
Our family has a fun little tradition for Christmas. It has turned out to be one the kids are enjoying just as much or more than I am...and those traditions can be hard to find! This simple tradition serves many uses. Not only is it a Christmas tradition, but it is a way to slowly build up a collection of ornaments that your child can one day take with them and a "journal" for special memories along the way.
Each year, I purchase a small and inexpensive ornament (I can even purchase it the day after Christmas, if I want to get it at half price!). The ornament I choose for each child somehow represents a memory from the year. For example, the year my little boy started soccer, he got an ornament that had a little boy playing soccer. His first year playing basketball, his ornament was a snow man playing basketball. Our youngest son wants to grow up and be a fireman, so his ornament was a little boy dressed up in fireman's gear.
The best ornament came the year we found our one year old son holding a mouse, clenched in his fist and sucking on it, like you'd suck a thumb. Yes, it was utterly disgusting. But you can't imagine how excited I was to find an ornament with a mouse sucking his thumb and holding a blanket. Now that was cute!
I give the kids their ornament and we talk and laugh about the special memories. I also keep a sheet of paper that lists each ornament and a brief statement about the memory behind it. This is something fun to look at each year as we decorate our tree and come across the ornaments. In a way, it serves as a quick and easy journal of fun memories.
My hope would be that as each child gets married, they will be able to enjoy the ornaments and the memories with their own little families. I hope I will be able to part with them!
