Christmas is almost here….

I really love this time of year.

I LOVE the smell of Christmas trees and cinnamon from the kitchen or from cinnamon brooms you can buy at Bed Bath and Beyond)

I LOVE the deals and sales you can find on things that I need (or don’t – really, but must buy just because they are on sale).

But, I LOVE most of all the reason for the season…which I think very often gets sidelined because of all of the busy-ness the Christmas season brings with it.   This season is really about the birth of Christ and his promise for us in our lives…

And while the promise of Christ may not be real for some people – as they still haven’t experienced God as a personal friend and Savior – it’s a great time

This year, as my kids are getting older, Greg and I decided that it is time for our family to begin some Christmas traditions. And for me, the concept of traditions is difficult as the childhood we are creating for our children is much different from what I remember experiencing as a child.

I don’t remember doing anything special leading up to Christmas day – aside from Christmas mass, Advent Sunday services at church and then the morning Christmas rush to see what we had waiting for us.  So, we came up with our own.

ELF ON THE SHELF

For those who haven’t heard of this tradition, it is a fun one – and a new one for me too.  The concept it cute… there is a story which you read to the kids on a daily or weekly basis, and a doll – an elf – sits on the shelf watching the kids to report to Santa who has been naughty and who has been nice….  (We named ours Strawberry.  Daphne’s idea, of course).  I love, love the idea.  But the best part for me is the part where the elf flies to Santa each night to report who has been naughty and nice and returns to a different spot in the house.

Last night was the first time we read the story.  And this morning was the first morning they set out to look for their friend Strawberry.  It was so much fun for me and them.  Elliot is still too little to really understand what is going on, but he had fun chasing Daphne around the house as she searched for Strawberry.  Twenty minutes or so later, Daphne located Strawberry, the elf, on the shelf in the dining room.  She is excited to go to bed and wake up tomorrow to go on a hunt to find her friend Strawberry.

THE ADVENT CALENDAR

Advent is a special season, for kids and adults, as it is the time of year leading up to the day we celebrate the birth of Christ.  And while many kids (and adults) see it as merely a time leading up to the day when they get to open the stash of goods they will get on Christmas day, for me I share in the excitement and anticipation Mary must have experienced as she waited for her son to be born.

For our family tradition, we visited Trader Joe’s and purchased an advent calendar.  The calendar is basically a piece of decorated cardboard with 24 pieces of milk chocolate hiding in 24 individually closed pockets.  Each day, leading up to Christmas day, one pocket it opened and a piece of chocolate is revealed…  YUM!  It’s a good reminder for me to remember to anticipate and not expect things immediately.  In the end, the reward is received with more gratitude and enjoyed more.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Full kit purchased @Trader Joe’s for only 7.99.

Today, we spent the day making a gingerbread house.  With little kids, I really thought the process was going to be a disaster to begin with … until I remembered why I have chosen to do traditions.  I want my kids to remember.  I want them to learn to do things on their own.  And what better way will they remember or learn how to do things than during the holiday season.

The kit took a bit of preparatory work on my part to get started…but once I beat the egg whites until they were still (with the help of my KitchenAid mixer), added the confectioners sugar, and a little bit of vinegar and added all of this to a pastry bag, the rest was up to the imagination of D and E.

Our gingerbread house turned out great. 

So, this year is the beginning of our family Christmas traditions….what are some Christmas traditions that are special to you…that you remember from when you were a child?