Traditions

For some reason, yesterday, thinking back on our laid back, very relaxed-but family-filled Easter, I started thinking about traditions. Traditions, it turns out, are very important to both Jason and I...and we're hoping that some of these get passed on and stick with our kids when they start their own families. In a way, it's strange that Jason and I find them to be so important, as neither of us grew up with many concrete, solid traditions of our own. For me-and my family-the only thing I really remember being a constant was the food that we ate while putting up the Christmas tree (which is something I've carried over into our tradition...yes, we have a "putting up the Christmas tree tradition-and my husband is VERY much a part of it!) and honestly, that wasn't always the case either. I guess, I also remember that Santa always came on Christmas Eve for me (once my mom spilled the beans regarding Santa), and once my brother came into the picture, our tradition became celebrating on Christmas one year and Christmas Eve the following. Oh. And ornaments-while growing up, I always received and ornament on Christmas that sort of "wrapped up" the previous year. (example: a car the year I turned 16, a puppy the year we gave our dog away, etc.) Again, this is something we've carried over into our family-we get each other one-and always one for the kids.
We didn't have food traditions, or traditions that went with any other holiday like some other families. My mom isn't a big planner, and she tends to think that none of it matters (although, Jason and I have have figured out that it matters to her more than she thinks, and she ends up disappointed a lot around the holidays).
Anyway, back to our family. We made the decision when Hayden was born that we were always going to spend the holidays at home-in our house-with our kids. Especially on Christmas. We think it's important for them to wake up on Christmas morning and see that Santa has been here. We think it's important that we go to our church, drive thru our neighborhoods to see Christmas lights, and instead of spending Christmas eve and day driving from family to family, we think it's important that we are able to spend that time enjoying the holiday and celebrating what it means to us-as a family-in our pj's-if we so choose.
We've been really lucky, and for the most part, my family has been able to travel to wherever it is that we're living and celebrate with us-and this has become part of our tradition. On Thanksgiving, Papa is our cook-and makes the best meal (Nana is even enjoying it now after years of complaining!). Other than the meal, we really don't do much for Thanksgiving-other than just hanging out. (this is also the one holiday that we sometimes go back to Iowa for)
On Christmas, things are a bit more structured. On Christmas Eve we always start out by going to Ginger Sue's for pancakes. Then it's home to relax and make a Gingerbread House. That night we always make soup for dinner, go to church, make hot cocoa, get in our pj's (which is a gift we open on Christmas eve-along with a Christmas book to read before bedtime-coupled with The Night Before Christmas), drive around and look at Christmas lights, and set out cookies, carrots and milk for Santa and the reindeer. The next morning, we're up early and start on gifts. We always have the "big" gift put together- but the rest is wrapped-and takes us HOURS to open everything. It's a LONG process, but we all enjoy every second. About halfway thru, we eat some sort of breakfast (cinnamon rolls typically)...and then we're back to it. We spend the day playing with our goodies and with each other. That night it's something easy for dinner-showers-and more playing. And we're always ready for an early bedtime!
This year was our first Easter alone-and while it was nice-we missed our tradition of having Papa hide the Easter eggs in the yard! In my heart of hearts, I also missed our traditional ham dinner with all of the yummy sides-but also didn't mind the lack of work-and since our kids don't care yet, we thought we'd go with it. It was a nice morning-going to church, brunch and then home for egg hunt and baskets. The boys had a blast searching for their stuff, and we had fun watching-although, it was EXHAUSTING, as at this age, EVERYTHING is a fight!!
This was the first Easter that Jason and I didn't give each other baskets-a tradition broken. And we both survived it!
Anyway, I guess I'm blogging about this for a couple of reasons-to remind myself of why we go thru the stress of it all-that the payout is TOTALLY worth it and in the end I'm always really glad that we did it all. And. To remind myself of these traditions and to see how much they change throughout the years.
Next up: Mother's Day...hopefully Jason will remember the "sleep until I wake-up and then have breakfast and coffee ready" tradition!!!