Joy and connecting with others are the calling of the season. For our part, we have many holiday traditions that bring us “tidings of comfort and joy” which we believe help keep that joy alive.
(Bill: What did Adam say to Eve on the night before Christmas? He said, “Merry Christmas Eve”)
Tradition #1: Decorating on Steroids
Bill: Holiday decorating can be a chore, but we have found two time saving methods: The first is to leave your outside decorations in place year-round (this usually does not meet with HOA approval--or any of the neighbors, for that matter!) The second (and more reasonable!) method is to have a spontaneous (but craftily planned!) decorating party at the tail end of your Thanksgiving gathering.
Sheri: Just prior to everyone leaving the annual Thanksgiving gathering at our home, I start hauling out boxes of Christmas decorations and seasonal holiday pictures. (As photographers, we change our framed images to match the season). Then armed with a second offering of dessert and coffee, we entice a few family members to join our decorating party.
Bill: This is sort of like Tom Sawyer painting the fence, remember? He made it look important and fun, and soon others were begging him to let them help!
Sheri: Well, sort of…. Next, I assign a family member who is a savvy assembler to erect the tree while Bill places “elf on the shelf” and strikes up some holiday music. Then I find a willing young grand kid or great grand kid to help decorate the tree. What would have been a monumental task gets completed in no time at all! Our tree is always decorated beautifully—it may not be a real tree, but sometimes I almost think the tree is smiling from all the attention received.
Tradition #2: The Family Gathering…A Modern Abacus
During this season of miracles, one marvel is that families with in-laws and outlaws traditionally come together peacefully in one place for a few hours. Invitational planning and genealogy get smushed together. Husbands have their relatives and wives have theirs. Children are often “his, hers, and ours”, creating additional sets of households to be involved. And when the children have children, dust off the abacus! This sort of family action keeps folks like Ancestry.com in business. Musical chairs anyone? Be sure and use holiday music!
The three kings came from “afar”--and no, they were not southern firefighters! Some relatives seem like they came from “afar”. With kids, grandkids and great grandkids ranging in age from 3 months to 53 years old, at least in our family, it seems the greater the age disparity, the further “afar” we all are in lifestyle, expectations, obligations, and different definitions of what is considered cool.
But differences or not, the gathering is like “shake-n-bake” with benefits: just put ‘em all in the same room, have a potluck of tasty food, play silly games, make clever conversation, and tell everyone how much you enjoy seeing them and love them—because you really do!
Tradition #3: Hosting
Sheri: Hosting this annual family Christmas gathering is one of my favorite traditions! We get Christmas Eve afternoon as our family Christmas time; then most folks leave directly from our house to another holiday gathering. But we get them first, while they are still hungry and still excited!
Bill: We also have a hosting tradition: we hand out large cans of tri-flavored popcorn to every family household that attends. Popcorn is the perfect accompaniment for binging on favorite holiday movies such as “Love Actually”, “It’s A Wonderful Life”, "The Holiday", “Christmas Vacation” to name a few. (And as a bonus, it is a tasty ammunition in friendly food fights…on occasion, we sneak a few blackmailable photos when the fights get too rowdy!)
Tradition #4: Gift Giving…What A Zoo!
And then there is gift giving…a very nice tradition but what a zoo! Once upon a time everybody brought gifts for everybody, plus a Dirty Santa present. After many yearly mutations of “who brings what for whom”, last year we pared down to each adult bringing gifts only for the kidlets, plus 1 dirty Santa gift. The result? Dirty Santa gifts became a menagerie of items ranging from bags of candy to 10 lbs. of birdseed to warm throw blankets, plus several items that evoked whispered responses of “what exactly is that?” This year we’ve simplified things even more to “Just buy a gift for the five kidlets school age or younger.” Well, since there will be four out five kidlets three and under, we still expect a zoo…just another tradition we can count on!
Bill: I know that clandestine personal targeting and throwing of balled up gift wrap is frowned upon, but (wink-wink), you only get penalized if you get caught, right?
Tradition #5: Don’t Forget the Mistletoe!
Bill: We like mistletoe…well, Sheri does especially. As you can see in this “two-fer” pix from a couple years ago. Sheri receives the gift of a “Handsome Husband-N-Son Sandwich”. Why buy one, when you can get two for twice the price? And when used properly, mistletoe is a very effective ice breaker.
Tradition #6: Caroling
December is traditionally packed with holiday gigs for us, usually one every other day. We never added “Grandma got Run Over By A Reindeer” to our seasonal repertoire, but we usually get our friend, Santa to join us. We add in our “Sheri & Bill” flavor to spice things up as we entertain folks with traditional and holiday favorites.
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There you have our holiday season traditions in a nutshell…or possibly in a nutcracker? We couldn’t resist capturing a picture of the many nutcrackers during a visit to the Calloway Gardens Country Store.
Technology changes weekly (excuse us, daily!), and kids seem to grow up faster than a speeding bullet. Family members and good friends pass, while at the same time we are blessed with the birth of others. Maybe we all unknowingly appreciate a few positive traditions in our lives on which we can depend as we celebrate the holiday season, right?
Whatever you believe in--Christmas, Hanukkah, change of seasons, or the sanctity of family--we wish for you special strength and hope that comes from your belief and traditions, and that it works as a constant in your life for you and your family! God bless us everyone!
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Positively Speaking, “Sheri & Bill...Story Tellers in Word, Image and Song.”
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