Most of my years, I celebrated Christmas in the beautiful USA. As I child, these were times spent with the camcorder rolling and running out to see what presents Santa had left. My favorite memory is the year that I was given my kitten, Dakota. A tiny calico cat that I wanted so badly to rename Snowball, because the cats on the movies were always called Snowball. I was so excited to play with her that I ran towards her squealing, which oddly enough always caused her to run away from me. (So began our torrid relationship.) I loved that our Christmas tree was lit up in the center of the chaos while my brother and I torn open presents and ribbon and bows stuck to our LL Bean or Lands’ End pjs.

Mom usually fixed her hair and makeup beforehand, because she knew the camcorder and camera would be going. We had a handwritten note from Santa and the plate of cookies and glass of milk were gone. I remember one Christmas as I poured the milk for Santa, my mom told me not to pour so much, but I protested, “Santa is thirsty!” My mother looked at me silently. LOL

Christmas day is a day remembered with ultimate cheer, lots of snow (South Dakota & New York), my parents, my brother, and an overexcitement for the unknown. While I lived in New York, I think I focused mostly on gifts, but as I got older, my mom and I argued a lot over what I asked for over the years. I was frustrated, because it was not the exact right shirt/shoe/ring that I wanted. She was frustrated because she had made the effort and she did not understand the particular vision that I had. I had yet to learn that a picture or link is worth a thousand words.

When I was ten I started to get more into the idea of a Christmas miracle. I believed that it was the perfect time for something magical to happen. Finding true love, winning the lottery, or getting a home makeover. Those seemed like potential Christmas miracles the movies had prepared me for. I don’t remember any of the above ever happening on Christmas, but I remained hopeful until January that the magic of Christmas was still possible.

I liked the idea of Christmas traditions. Now, that I have my daughter, I am also wondering which traditions we will pass down to her. We would see a movie on Christmas day. It started as It’s a Wonderful Life at home and morphed into Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings in theatres. This tradition lived on until the very disappointing release of Cats. My dad, brother and I all fell asleep in the theatre, because the show just kept going on and on!

Leading up to Christmas, our family friends would host a Chanukkah (Christmas/Hanukkah) party. This really helped cement a feeling of holiday cheer for me. There was tons of fantastic food, including latkes and eggnog. I received multiple gifts (because Hanukkah) and they were a very musical bunch. So they did not just have music playing, they played piano and sang the Christmas tunes. To quote Buddy the Elf, “The best way to spread Christmas is cheer singing loud for all to hear.”

I do not have specific memories around Christmas dinner. I think because my family liked to change the menu from year to year. Usually there was mashed potatoes and a main protein. One year we did ham, another year steak, sometimes we were traveling for karate tournaments, so we had Macaroni Grill one year. What I do remember is all of the Christmas baking we did for friends, coworkers, and teachers; Everything from seven layer bars, chex mix, lemon poppy seed bread, cranberry orange nut bread and potato basque (aka Norma’s/grandma’s) soup.

In addition to the tangible there were also lots of memories of being warm by the fire, my mom’s homemade quilts, mittens, good books, hot cocoa with marshmallows, and evenings where I didn’t have any homework, but could just relax. This was a marked difference from my norm of stressing because of school. I still have nightmares about not studying. Last night in fact!

Thank you for reading this blog. While my childhood, wasn’t necessarily filled with a practice of gratitude. I can clearly see how these memories took so much effort on my family’s part. They didn’t happen by accident, but because of intentional planning, time, effort, and lots of love. My parents went to great lengths to get presents on our Christmas lists, wrap them, and keep them as a surprise for Christmas. I am hopeful that as I continue traditions, I will see my daughter’s face light up and as an adult she will appreciate the love and effort we put into the season to make it memorable.

These are the traditions I am deciding to continue:

-Crafting wreath, ornament, origami, spiced fruit, dried fruit, etc
-making sugar cookies with colored frosting
-reading Twas the night before Christmas
-buying an advent calendar
-making lemon poppy seed bread (my favorite)
-making egg casserole (I keep messing up the recipe, but next year, I will get it right!)
-decorating the tree as a family
-opening pjs on Christmas eve
-watching a movie together on Christmas day
-singing karaoke with lots of holiday songs
-buying a real Christmas tree (when she is older)
-hanging outdoor lights and decorations

Photo credit Photo by J carter: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-of-illuminated-christmas-tree-and-a-baby-249209/

Photo by Jonathan Meyer: https://www.pexels.com/photo/variety-of-assorted-designed-cookies-752499/