Traditions

This year when we were putting up Christmas decorations, I paid more attention to what my children were thinking and feeling about the whole deal.

Usually, I put up Christmas when they are gone or otherwise occupied. I would love to have a Norman Rockwell moment of family solidarity when decorating for Christmas, but lets be honest here. 4 children all clamoring around me saying "What can I put up?" "Let me do something!" and "Do you think this looks good here?" while fighting with each other over who got the last decoration to put up is not a perfect scene of Christmas joy.

But this year, with all the recent talk of traditions in the LDS realm, I decided to brave the chaos and let them help.

And I listened to them. All of them are so excited about Christmas this year. Even though we are in a new place away from friends and family, and they know we don't have much for presents this year. They are so in the spirit of it all. I know that part of what gets all of us excited are the traditions, but I hadn't realized how much the decorations we had were part of my children's idea of what Christmas means to them. Duh, I know, this is obvious, but it just really dawned on me that the things I have bought over the years just because I liked them or they matched have become so much more special to my children that I ever realized they would.

My children love the things we put out every year, recognize them and look forward to them. I listened to them say things like "this one is my favorite" and "I love this one" and "when did we get this one Mommy?" . I was able to focus on those things and not the chaos, and we came pretty close to a Norman Rockwell moment.

Then when all was decorated, they walked around oohing and ahhing, talking about Christmases past and their excitement for this year. And much of that excitement is due to our special things we use every year to decorate our house. So when one would come out of the box and I would think, "That one is getting old" or "I'm tired of looking at that one" I didn't voice it, and let the item be proudly displayed. I tend to like new decorations, but I don't think Christmas decorations should be new all the time. Sure, I will add some here and there, and occasionally one suffers an untimely death due to breaking, but taking out the same ones year after year are what makes our house look like Christmas to us. To my kids.

My favorite decoration that I own is a light up snow man that once graced my mom's house. The paint is worn off in many places, but I love it.

My kids feel the same way about our decorations. Traditions really are so important, no matter how big or small. They do create a sense of security, of belonging, of stability and love. I wonder what decorations each child will want when they start their own homes. I will be happy to give them to them, to continue the tradition in their homes with their children.

Except for my snowman. That one is mine!