With the wind howling last night and ice covering the branches earlier in the week it is beginning to feel a lot like winter. . . .
I have a hard time imagining Christmas in a warm climate. Even though I spent my second through 10th Christmas in the deep South, and only saw snow once during that time, Christmas and snow is somehow synonymous for me. We rarely have snow for Christmas here in Maryland, but I remember one such Christmas in the 1980's and again in 2012. I guess the reason I equate snow with Christmas is the movies. Who hasn't seen It's a Wonderful Life? And Christmas in Connecticut? Or Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus?
I have a hard time imagining Christmas in a warm climate. Even though I spent my second through 10th Christmas in the deep South, and only saw snow once during that time, Christmas and snow is somehow synonymous for me. We rarely have snow for Christmas here in Maryland, but I remember one such Christmas in the 1980's and again in 2012. I guess the reason I equate snow with Christmas is the movies. Who hasn't seen It's a Wonderful Life? And Christmas in Connecticut? Or Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus?
I grew up with Santa Claus being the emphasis at Christmas, so this is what I continued with my boys. But the more I grew in my understanding of what we were truly celebrating at Christmas the more I wanted to change the way I'd always celebrated Christmas. I attempted this by moving our Santa Claus gifts to the weekend closest to St. Nicholas Day, December 6th. But my boys would have none of this. They complained they'd have nothing to look forward to during their Christmas vacation from school. And like any change, if it doesn't go along with what their friends are doing or what society in general does, children will feel they don't fit in with their peer group which can lead to other problems. So, I went back to what we'd always done.
I actually like the idea of Santa Claus, though--the fantasy and the excitement he generates in children. I finally reconciled it within myself when I realized that celebrating Santa the same time Christ's birth is celebrated amongst Christians actually gives us an opportunity to show the "reason for the season" by sharing our Saviour's love with our gifts to charities and other acts of generosity. The message is spread through Christian carols that can be heard in secular malls and on secular radio stations. Even TV holiday movies will hone in on the real meaning of Christmas sometimes. If we got rid of Santa Claus, I think Christmas would no longer be celebrated outside of the Church! So I say Hurrah for Santa!
My question for you this month is this: What Christmas traditions are important to you that you continue to keep each year? How would you like to change the way you celebrate Christmas?
Here are the ice-covered branches outside my other kitchen window. . . .
Here is another rendition of ♫It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas♫ to listen to while you write your comment! Merry Christmas!
.•*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•
Take Joy!
Hello Cathy,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your post & I too feel certain things can take over at this time of year.
Each year I try to become more simple in what we do at Christmas, I try to teach the children that gifts are lovely but the best gift is us all being together on Christ's birthday & that we can share some wonderful food together. We live in the country & just shop at our small towns so many of the trappings of Christmas do not touch us. We use to live an hour away from London & Christmas was very commercial, I am so glad we got the opportunity to move to the country.
Seasons Greetings.
Fondly Michelle
Hi Michelle. That is wonderful that you can celebrate a simpler Christmas while your youngest are still young. Will you have everyone home for Christmas? How does that work with your smaller cottage? I haven't wanted to downsize for that reason. I only have everyone home at the same time once or twice a year, so it doesn't make sense to keep a 4-bedroom house, but I do not relish moving after 33 years of accumulating stuff!
DeleteHi Cathy,
DeleteGate leg tables are wonderful, we will have two set up in the hall & I will use the kitchen table for the food this year. We will have thirteen for Christmas dinner so it will be a busy day & looking after two five year olds.
Our old house was bigger, a lot bigger but so so cold so I am grateful for our warm cottage, we will be very snug at Christmas with all 13 of us.
Fondly Michelle
Michelle, your cottage will be bursting with love!
DeleteChristmas at our home is celebrated with lot's of excitement and anticipation. We have our children and grandchildren here for a few days. It's always fun with the grands visiting and playing games and just being together. We have an extended family dinner over the holidays at our home with our siblings, cousins, and their children. It's become quite a large dinner party over the years. In fact this year I'm having to rent another table to accomodate everyone. Even though it's a lot of work for us, we wouldn't have it any other way. Family is everything to us. ♥
ReplyDeleteIt's been such a long time since we've had children here at Christmas it will be great fun when Olivia June gets a little older!
DeleteI cherish so many Christmas traditions I grew up with [I'm a Cancer, and once read that Cancers would live in the past if they could. In my case I think that's certainly true]. Every year I still hang the stocking that I've had since my first Christmas when I was 5 months old. It has definitely seen better days. It's very worn red flannel and the painted-on illustrations of Santa and the reindeer flake off a little more every year. The top border is edged with white flannel [well, it used to be white] and my name was written there in 1956, in block letters, by my 26-year old Dad, who didn't have any other children at the time [although just 7 years later there would be 5 more stockings hanging next to mine]. He used one of the very latest things at the time to write it too. A red permanent marker! I also put out the creche that my paternal grandparents gave my parents for their first married Christmas together a year earlier. It's been part of every Christmas I've ever known too. There's a spot for a small electric light bulb inside the creche near the roof and Mom always used a blue one so it would give the impression of a starlit night. She placed it on the sideboard in our dining room and used small snips of evergreen branches to decorate around it, leftover bits from the fresh wreaths and sprays she made for our front and kitchen doors. It smelled incredible in that room for days. I don't have a large Christmas tree, but I do have a very nice 4-foot tree that's just big enough to hold all my Christmas ornaments, and decorating it is always a trip down Memory Lane since most of them were given to me by the children I taught in 4th and 1st grades, I often flashback to things I haven't thought about for years while doing this very pleasant Christmas task. And I always decorate my tree the night "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is broadcast. My sibs and I still do our Christmas Eve buffet too, something that started very casually 45 years ago when my Dad said "Wouldn't it be great to have some shrimp on Christmas Eve, you guys?" This tradition has evolved over the years and has gone from being just a snack [shrimp, cheese and crackers] to a sumptuous buffet with everyone making their specialties or new discoveries [last year we had the best Brie]. But a few things are constant. We always cook shrimp and make my Dad's famous cocktail sauce. And we always end the evening with Irish coffee and an Olympic-caliber dessert table. I remember the first time I was allowed to have an Irish coffee, being 18 [finally] and just home from college. At the time I didn't even like Irish coffee but it felt like a rite of passage. "Today I am a grownup...!!" PS - I love it now! LOL. As far as changing how we celebrate, my family has simplified Christmas quite a bit, and definitely pared down our spending. Now we buy small, fun, practical, "stocking-stuffer" things instead of big expensive "what-I-want-for-Christmas-list" kind of gifts for each other, though until the grandchildren turned 18 we still poured on traditional Christmas for them. It's so much more fun - and creative - to dream up, plan and sometimes even make Christmas presents now.
ReplyDeleteJanet, I enjoyed hearing all about your family's traditions. I have my memories, but I don't have any of the ornaments or stockings, or anything. Even my Santa cup got broken. We moved about so much and even after I left home my parents moved so many things weren't kept. I plan to give my grandchildren an ornament every year, so hopefully they'll have sweet memories of their childhood Christmases with Granddaddy and Grandmommy.
DeleteChristmas is changing for us since my mother died and our extended family no longer comes for the holiday. We spend Christmas Eve with our kids but Christmas day has been quiet the past two years. One of my favorite traditions as a child and one which we did when our kids young, was baking cookies and wrapping them in Christmas tissue paper and driving around to friends' house or "shut ins" and delivering the cookies. There was something very special about that.
ReplyDeleteAs our families change our traditions have to change. I'm wondering what ours will be like in a few years.
DeleteWe definitely believe in Santa Claus in our house- all of us believe absolutely. There is something joyful to life when you have faith in all manner of things. We have faith that the spirit of Santa exists. I love Christmas and there is very little I would change about how we celebrate it. I love the Advent season and my family and I enjoy celebrating St. Nicholas Day and St. Lucia Day and the winter solstice. This year we have five Advent calendars, two of which are Tasha Tudor calendars. We make a big deal about Christmas eve by having lunch every year at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge. My little daughter and I do a Little House on the Prairie Christmas every Christmas eve morning (reading Christmas stories from the Little House books and making tiny presents to give and receive.) We also traditionally celebrate Boxing day each year with a big breakfast and invite family over. And I enjoy the Twelve Days of Christmas and having a special dinner on the Epiphany. It's just a joyful, fun time of year! Merry Christmas to you and all of your readers.
ReplyDeleteI'm writing down your words, "We have faith that the spirit of Santa exists." If anyone has trouble "lying" to children about whether there really is a Santa Claus, I feel that can truthfully tell them the spirit of Santa exists! ☺ What I love about Tasha Tudor is how she found something to celebrate every month. This is why I'm loving leading the Maryland Chapter of the TTMS. It gives me a group of like-minded ladies who join in celebrating the seasons and the holidays with me. I love organizing celebrations about a theme, too, so your Little House on the Prairie Christmas is a wonderful idea. I'm collecting everyone's ideas for my celebrations with my grandchildren. Thank you so much! I really don't have to wish you a Merry Christmas because I'm sure you will!
DeleteDear Cathy,
ReplyDeleteI love your post and reading everyone's comments about how they celebrate Christmas. I love Santa Claus, my dad named me after Kris Kringle, as I am a December baby. My middle name is Kay, and my maiden name is Engle.......say it fast and it's Kris Kringle! So Christmas has always been very special to me! My favorite movie in the world is Miracle on 34th Street. We usually have at least some family with us for Christmas, this year my mom is coming. She is 91 and I am very excited to have her for Christmas.
All of that said I am deeply troubled by the Black Friday thing, which was bad enough, now creeping into Thanksgiving Day. Where will all this end? The only major retailer still closed on Thanksgiving and opening at their normal time is Nordstrom's. I simply refuse to give my Christmas dollars to the stores who open on Thanksgiving. So my shopping is limited to local business....period! I am just one little person, but I really believe if this does not end, some store somewhere will decide to get a jump on after Christmas sales and be open Christmas Day and the rest will follow. They don't care about protests, they don't care about employees, they only understand $.
OK.....I will step off the soap box now...... Christmas is about our Lord, it's about love and family, it's about reaching out to others, it's about Santa Claus and decorating and baking and anything that makes our hearts swell! I hope everyone feels love this Christmas!
Chris from West Texas
Chris, that's a wonderful way to describe Christmas...."it's about....anything that makes our hearts swell!" ☺ I will keep that in mind and ask myself if this activity is making my heart swell with the Spirit of Christmas. If not, off my list it goes! Christmas is a wonderful time of year to check our motivation for doing things. If it's not for the "right reason", we might as well give it up because in the long run it's rather meaningless and a time waster. Now that I'm older I can see this so much more clearly! As for "Black Friday", I don't leave the house that day. I steer clear of even the roads because of the traffic. It is aptly named! Several of our big stores, however, were closed this Thanksgiving. Instead they advertised their Black Friday savings started on Wednesday and would resume on Friday. I think they realized it was better PR for them in the long run.
DeleteDearest Cathy,
ReplyDeleteThis time of year surely is a time of reflection and remembrance and tradition, especially for Christians. I enjoyed reading your thoughts, and the comments of others. Everyone has a personal story that is sentimental and dear :-)
When one of my (now grown) daughters asked me, many years ago, at the age of 4, after a Sunday school class, "Mommy Is Santa real"? "And if he is, and if God alone created everything and lives forever, how can Santa still be alive for hundreds and hundreds of years"!!! She was one of those little girls that was curious about everything and always demanded the truth!!! This brought me to a place of thought. I realized that "oh my" " this may be the first lie that parents tell their children"! And then I thought about how the "MODERN" Santa kind of got raised up to a magic level quite possibly equal to the Savior! .... (comes from the north, sees you when your sleeping, lives forever, knows when you've been bad or good..time travels, can be every where at once.) Yikes this really convicted me! But I didn't want to wreck it for her! So I started asking her some questions like "Is Big bird "real" is he alive will he live forever? Was President Lincoln real is he still alive? And of movie stars and Micky Mouse and so on... then I asked was Jesus real and will He live forever and why?
You could see those little wheels turning and churning and finally I asked " Well then who is Santa"? and her answer was You and Daddy! It fortunately went well, and the best part was that Santa did not get the credit for all that work we parents put ourselves through on CHRISTmas morning!! Tee Heee Heee!!! She always thanked me for that and she and her sister don't do Santa with their children. I myself had good experiences with St. Nick!! When I was a child our Santa rang the doorbell and never left foot prints! It was so magical, but my German Mommy always practiced the Advent Wreath time so we knew the real story too!
Wishing you a Merry CHRISTmas,and sending warmth and love, Linnie
Linnie, I will have to ask my boys when they stopped believing in Santa and how that affected them. I don't remember ever having that sort of conversation with them. I think they may have believed more in the Easter Bunny because when the two oldest were little we were having breakfast by the picture window overlooking the front porch. We'd just finished saying Grace and when the boys opened their eyes there were 2 Easter baskets sitting on the porch! Their Dad and I, of course, were still at the table so they knew it wasn't us and they hadn't seen our neighbor (whom I'd seen just as she was leaving), so it HAD to be the Easter Bunny! There are so many of these fantasies that we can use to teach the tenets of our faith--what these traditions represent--that as long as we "wink" at them when we talk about Santa, having already explained about St. Nicholas and how Santa came to be and how he still does his magical thing in our hearts because it's all about sharing what we have with others, we can still make Christmas about the birth of Christ and the giving of presents--just like the Wise Men brought. I do like that your daughter appreciated all the work that went into making Christmas Merry and gave you the credit for it!
DeleteOoo Easter was always so much fun too!! :-) I loved hiding the baskets for my girls!
DeleteI'm with you on the St Nick's day and telling kid's about the real St Nick. It really is a lovely story of good will and a godly man. :-) I never knew about St Nick's day untill recently and I wish I would have because I really enjoy it now!! Talk to you soon and thanks for visiting me at the "Butt'ry" Enjoy the Holidays, Many Blessings and warmth, Linnie
It's odd, isn't it, how we associate Christmas with snow. Certainly that first Christmas in Bethlehem was minus snow. When I was growing up one of my grandmas lived in San Diego. Every other year we would pile in the car and make the three day journey from northern Idaho to sunny California. So for me the experience of green grass, picking tangerines off trees in my grandma's yard, and warm weather form a big part of my Christmas memories.
ReplyDeleteAs for traditions, I find they change as our family changes. I kind of like that in a way. It means we don't get stuck on having to have things a certain way each year.
Is there one thing at least that you keep the same? I just realized that keeping at least a few traditions helps me deal with the fact that my family is constantly changing! As our boys left home one by one, when we all got together for Christmas it felt like nothing had really changed once they were all under my roof together for Christmas. Then they started getting married and now we have a grandchild. Those last two things are good things, but keeping some things the same is still comforting to me.
DeleteThis is a fun conversation. I grew up in Colorado and snow was a staple for Christmas. The lack there-of almost kept me from moving to Tennessee, but our first winter here brought a blizzard like none ever seen since the 1940's. That was a freak. It does occasionally snow on the big day, here in the Southeast, but a rainy Christmas is more likely. When my boys were little, Santa never entered the picture, maybe because I grew up that way as well. We always knew that Jesus was the reason, and the Nativity set was the first thing we put under our tree. I have always loved the St Nicholas bit too, but simply in a traditional way. Although my family is spread across the country from Alaska to NY, and we've only one son living nearby, the main tradition kept alive is the meal. Everyone loves my pastry covered turkey, that never changes. We've no grandchildren nearby and usually spend Christmas Eve with a few friends, and Christmas day with whomever shows up to eat my turkey. Oh , and there are a few movies we ALWAYS watch at this time of year, My favorite being "SCROOGE" with Albert Finny
ReplyDeleteWith our new grandchild this year I will be asking her parents what they intend to do about Santa Claus. I suspect the tradition will be passed down. But we will also visit the creche in the woods on Christmas Eve while everyone is here and sing carols while carrying lighted candles. One of my traditions is to watch Christmas movies starting the beginning of December. Have you seen The Christmas Candle? I found it quite poignant.
DeleteNo, I've not heard of that movie. Right now, I've managed to get my husband to watch both series of :
ReplyDelete"Cranford: with me, so I best not press my luck. Cranford is great anytime of year, but I really love the Christmas episode in Series 2.
I will have to check out that Cranford episode. Last night my youngest son treated me to the Annapolis walking tour (my birthday present) and dinner at the historic Reynolds Tavern. On the tour our Interpreter tour guide told us about the Christmas of 1783 when General Washington came to Annapolis to resign his commission just before Christmas and how the houses in town would have been decorated, or not, for Christmas. She told us in puritanical New England any overt celebration would have been banned, but further down the coast in the mid-atlantic there were things like ivy and holly and songs such as Joy to the World sung.
Delete