Monday, December 08, 2008

Ok, So Not Everyone Loves Christmas Traditions



But, I do. And this weekend I took part in a plethora of our personal family traditions. Friday night, the kids placed their letters to Santa underneath their pillows for overnight pick-up by the elves. In the morning, the letters were gone, replaced by chocolate coins and enough magic flying dust to appear convincing.

This particular tradition is something that I started as a way of remembering my departed Grandpa Nick who was born on December 6th; which is Saint Nicholas Day. I have been doing it since the children were quite small and it always brings a warm fuzzy feeling to my heart.


While The Girl has recently become aware of the deception in the practice, my heart was also warmed by how excited she got about the event; the Spirit of Christmas is strong in that one. The Man-Cub, thankfully still oblivious to the fib, was mostly stoked over the chocolate because; he is his mother’s son.


Saturday morning, I headed to a local store to ring bells for the Salvation Army. My woman’s club participates in the ringing every year and I have actually chaired the committee for three of the past four years. Sometimes the kids accompany me but, this year they were attending Kaley’s birthday party so I was on my own. I missed them; they were always good company.
And, you know, freakin' adorable.

The weather was surprisingly cooperative, cold but clear, and I did bundle up, for all the good that it did me. Experience has taught me, however, that the amount of money people place in the kettle rises in accordance to how miserable the bell ringer looks and, since I am naturally cold-blooded and looking miserable comes second nature to me; the Salvation Army did pretty well during my stint.

Since neither of my children was available to keep me company, I had to make do with one of the store’s employees who was responsible for cart round-up; I saw quite a bit of her as rounding up carts is apparently a never-ending job and, before long, I was referring to her as Sisyphus in my head. She was a nice kid.


After bell ringing, I went home and baked cookies and made candy until it was time to meet Jana and the kids downtown for the annual Parade of Lights. Jana and I have been taking the kids to the parade since they were in strollers but this year it was just the two of us on the crowded sidewalk as all five kids were riding on a float built by the company that Chris works for.

The kids had a great time being in the parade and Jana and I had a great time visiting while stomping our feet on the hard pavement in an effort to stay warm. Didn’t work but, that’s kind of a traditional thing, too.

Yesterday I was back in the kitchen, baking cookies for a cookie exchange that I am doing with some friends from the internet; I’ve never done this before but am hoping to see it turn into a tradition as well.


After all, any tradition involving cookies is alright in my book.

2 comments:

  1. Does that mean you will be sending me cookies?? (hopeful look ;)

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  2. Ummm... how did you get that hat on the cat? My cat would have pounced on me and eaten my eyes out had I even thought about trying. I am fascinated by your talents....

    ReplyDelete