Thursday, December 3, 2009

Mission Tradition: This is why...

When I was growing up my family would always head over to the local A&W parking lot to pick out the perfect Christmas tree. I remember the trees hanging by strings in rows. My dad would give Kate and I the green light as to what type of tree was ok (this I am certain had something to do with which trees didn't shed tons and tons of needles). We would walk up and down the aisles and swing each tree around trying to find the perfect one. We would then take it home and our holiday season and the countless traditions of Christmas would begin. My mom would put decorations around the entire house. The bathroom hand towels went from shades of mauve to green with embroidered Christmas trees. Each of our bedrooms had door hangers that jingled and jangled every time you swung them open. I was always given the job of setting up her tiny naivety set. She let me choose where each piece was going to be. I loved it. She came home at the beginning of every December with an Advent calender filled with chocolates for Kate and I; our way of counting down to the morning that Jesus was born. This decorating was all done while Anne Murray's Christmas album blared from the record player. My mom also made sure to take us to Hallmark to pick out a new Christmas ornament each year. The one rule: the current year must be printed somewhere on the ornament. She always told us that the collection of ornaments would be the starter ornaments for us when we moved and had our own Christmas trees. Our house bled Christmas and I loved it. At the time, these traditions just made me feel warm and fuzzy and got me super excited for Christmas.

Fast forward a few years to Brent and I's first Christmas living together, 2002. We moved into our new (to us) town home just 2 weeks before Christmas. Our excuse not to decorate was just that. We had boxes to unpack and big home items to purchase, we will put up a tree next year. Christmas 2003 came and we were newlyweds! We also had a 9 week old beagle American Eskimo named Lucy who quickly became the center of our universe. She was a puppy with boundless energy and was into everything. Our excuse not to decorate was just that. We didn't want to deal with a puppy running around with Christmas lights tied around her legs and tinsel hanging from her teeth, we will put up a tree next year. Christmas 2004 was exciting! We were heading on a Caribbean cruise! A trip that would have us out of the house for 10 days during December and home just a week before Christmas. Our excuse not to decorate was just that. We didn't want to go through the hassle when we would be gone for 1/2 of the time we would enjoy it, we will put up a tree next year. Christmas 2005 was spent in our new home in New Prague. I was very pregnant and expecting Mallory anytime after Christmas. Excited to be enjoying our new home during the holidays we went out and bought an artificial tree and Brent insisted we put it up the Friday after Thanksgiving. The tree was up! As soon as Christmas was done, anticipating the arrival of our baby, we took it down the day after Christmas and packed it away. The next two years the tree went up with lights and ornaments. We did our best to almost ignore the tree so we wouldn't have to constantly watch our toddler attempt to scale it, pull every ornament off the tree, or pull the whole thing down on top of herself. It sat in our unused living room only lit if we remembered it hit the switch when the sun went down. Sure we "had our tree up" but our home never felt festive to me. Our house never bled Christmas like my childhood home did...

This year starts the difference. This year, "wonder and awe" are alive in Mallory's eyes and it is my mission to not let that light die. It is my mission to form traditions that will follow Mallory and Mikalya until they grow up and leave our home. I want them to look back on their childhood and remember the warm and fuzzy feeling when they are putting their own decorations up in their houses. What are these traditions? Where do we begin? You will soon find out...

Now my house will never be as festively decorated as my mom and dad's ever was and that is ok with me. I want the memories of holly berry placemats and Christmas village houses to stay with my childhood to be relieved when we head home for Christmas Eve...

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