Family Traditions

Let me tell you a story of my family, what makes us stand out, what makes us unique. My Mom’s side is English, while my Dad’s side is French Canadian for heritage. We mostly like just to claim the french side, so most of our traditions are based on my Dad’s side of the family. But there is something that only my parents do that they were not raised with and that is where this story comes in.  

It is Christmas time and my siblings and I are excited and entranced about the holidays. What kind of kid is not full of happiness and joy during the holiday season? There is family and friends, a lot of food and sweets, and of course presents wrapped hiding something within. What more could you ever want in life? Everything was great we made different types of cookies, read Christmas books and watched movies, drank eggnog, ate tourtiere which is a french meat pie, and did other things that a lot of families did for the Christmas season. We have a pine tree that we spent a while looking for the right one, then we cut  it down ourselves. Honestly though, it really was either my Dad or Sister who cut it down, my Mom and I did not want our hands sticky. We brought it home and decorated the tree with many ornaments and bright white lights with an angel on top.

So there we are decorating the tree, drinking eggnog with a snack of our choosing. Although when other people see us they would notice that each one of us kids had a box that is full of ornaments, so three boxes. In each box there are similar ornaments but each one is a unique color, shape, or theme wise. But we do not have the same amount. I have eighteen ornaments, my Sister has twenty, and my Brother has ten. Each Christmas we get an ornament with the year and our name written somewhere on it. And since no one is one year old on their first Christmas we have one more than our age. The best ornaments I have are the ones that are crafted by hands something that cannot be duplicated one hundred percent. My parents try to get unique ones, so they go to the small shops or craft fairs and pick a theme that can fit three. One year it was snowmen, another it was gingerbread men, there was also nutcrackers, and many others. I could go on and on. It is something we look forward to each year, the surprise on what theme was chosen this year.

Ah it is the evening of Christmas Eve, we are sitting by the woodstove that is burning so bright, about to read Twas the Night Before Christmas like any other year. But before we read that, we will each get a christmas book. Just like the ornaments, every year on Christmas Eve we get a short christmas book with pictures. So my Sister has twenty books, my Brother has ten, and me, well I have eighteen. I love reading these books every year when December come along, my favorite ones are the books by Jan Brett. I love her artwork and the way she sets up the story and pictures. We then read the new book we got with such delight adding emotion and character to the story. Then after that, we read Twas the Night Before Christmas and all saying certain lines together that we know by heart. After all that we kids went to sleep dreaming of the morning. And after christmas day I look forward to what I get next Christmas, what new story I will hear and adventure into.

Anyways I asked my parents why they do this, because from what I heard, neither of their parents did this for them. Their response was, “To give you something when you move out. So you have stuff to decorate your tree and read when you get an apartment or house.” I thought it was such a nice idea something I want to continue if I ever have kids of my own. I love christmas time, spending time with family and friends, and the traditions I look forward to every year that make my heart beat faster and fill my heart with joy and delight. Those traditions I was raised with, will always stay in my memory and shape how I live my life when I leave my childhood home and move on to another chapter in my story.   

Photo by Enokson on Foter.com / CC BY