What establishes a tradition? Well, Google states that it is a custom or recurring activity passed through generations. I would argue that in our minds we all have traditions that are simply considered yearly activities or events that we enjoy doing with our families. This year it may not be so easy to keep some event-based traditions alive but there is always time to create new traditions… At least that is my philosophy!
Let’s take it back to my childhood… I have so many great memories of Christmas. Mostly the excitement to be with family, opening gifts, and decorating the Christmas tree (which was always taken down from the garage rafters and was quite the production to set up). The ornaments that pre-dated my arrival to the family were always some of my favorites and each year we would add another personal ornament to the tree. Those personalized ornaments were my favorite to hang each year after that. Although our house rarely had Christmas lights on the outside, my mom always made sure it looked like a holiday explosion inside! My mom’s love for Christmas could be an entire blog post all on its own. Our family usually made an effort to go drive through the “Christmas Lights on James Street” every year. It was a local mobile home neighborhood that would get all lit up to THE extreme; from the lawns to the rooftops, the driveways and often even the cars, the James Street houses did not disappoint. We would ohh and ahh over the bright magical displays and talk about any other neighborhoods that might also be decorated nearby, I think we just liked driving around as a family.
One Christmas tradition that stands out above the rest is decorating sugar cookies with my mom. Since my mom is an amazing cook, she would make an effort to bake and decorate sugar cookies with me. We’d pull out cookie cutters, food coloring for frosting and ALL the sprinkles in the baking cabinet. Bless my mom’s heart because it was always such a mess and I rarely helped clean it up. I remember having the best time and getting extremely excited when my dad picked out his favorite frosted cookie that happened to be one I decorated. As an adult, I like to buy the premade Gingerbread house kits for the kids and now my mom typically will still do sugar cookie decorating with the grandkids. So sweet…literally!
Are you ready for my favorite Christmas tradition OF ALL TIME? The Christmas Eve Service at my Grandparents Church, trust me it was quite the production. I still remember the smell of the church, the color of the carpet, the pews that were handmade by my Great Uncle Ed, and the slightly terrible childrens performances that made you both laugh and cringe at the same time. The youngest kids would sing “Happy Bells” which is the cutest little song when coming from a 3 year old who is simultaneously shaking the bells in their hand as fast and hard as possible. As a group (congregation) we would take out the hymnals from the back of the pew in front of us and open to whatever page we were instructed to sing “O’ Holy Night” and numerous other Christmas songs. What made this so special was the unique sound of the organ piano. They save the best for last and as you left the ushers would give you a bag full of hard candies, peanuts (with the salty shell), and an orange. I loved this Christmas tradition and even typing about it makes me ache deep down inside, I miss it so much! The church built a new building and it just doesn’t have the same feel (or smell).
Although those are some of my more treasured traditions from childhood, the beauty of growing up is incorporating new traditions and evolving your knowledge and understanding of a holiday. Over the past few years I have poured myself into my Scandinavian heritage only to learn about the Norwegian Nisse, the Rommegrot porridge that the Nisse eats, Krumkake baking, candles and the (quite popular) concept of Hygge. It’s been so much fun to incorporate what I am learning back into my family traditions, hoping that something I am doing was what my great grandmother’s family did back in Norway.
Traditions can be beautiful and special when passed down from generation to generation. They can be a memory that you hold dear, or they can be something you just started doing this year. I would love to know (in the comments below) what holiday traditions are your favorite? What are some traditions that you are hoping to create?
The Salty Exchange 