Creating Christmas Memories - Building Games and Traditions with Your Family

I grew up in a family that didn't have much in the way of tradition. We moved around a lot, sometimes we would celebrate holidays and sometimes we wouldn't. The one thing that was constant in my family was Christmas. Regardless of anything else going on in or around us, my family always had a Christmas. So when I grew up and started a family of my own, it was very important to me to continue celebrating this one holiday. That presented a bit of a problem as my son's father was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and did not believe in celebrating much of anything; especially Christmas. In the end, my arguments for tradition prevailed. We met somewhere in the middle, like we often do and agreed that we would celebrate Christmas, but without all the talk of Santa Clause and Reindeer. That was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

Now came the challenge of inventing our own tradition and rituals around this holiday. What would we do if we couldn't read The Night Before Christmas or watch the T.V. specials that run over and over during this season? After much agony I came across an article about starting your own family traditions. I cannot remember where I saw it, who wrote it, or even the name of it now, I don't even remember what it said-but I do remember what I did with it. I took what I had learned in that article and with the help of my husband I started building our family's new traditions.

Instead of Reindeer and Santa Clause; we would have donations to Good Will and chocolate no bake cookies, in place of parties and carols; we had popcorn and cranberry wreaths made by hand, and instead of gifts galore; we had one BIG present bought from a store and as many precious handmade gifts as we could dream up.

My husband and I started this tradition over five years ago now and I cannot tell you how many wonderful handwritten notes and cards I have, how many macaroni necklaces and Queen Crowns I have gotten, or how many ticket books filled with hugs, kisses, and a little boy's promises to clean his room. These things are priceless to me now. And my son loves that his family celebrates Christmas so differently, at times he gets upset that he is missing out on all the toys, but what our family shares is so much more important; we share our love for one another, our appreciation, and care, what could possibly be worth more than that?

So this Christmas season, I urge you to use your imagination, and start developing some of your own unique family traditions - that is if you haven't already.