Making New Traditions Together

I love a real Christmas tree. It is one of my favourite parts of Christmas. The only thing I hate about a real Christmas tree... Is everything else about it! I mean, the picking of a tree is fun, but unless you’re making an event of it, it becomes a chore. Then between strapping it on the car, setting it in a stand that never holds it properly, watering it, sweeping the needles, and getting rid of it? All of that is terrible, and no one can convince me otherwise (yeah, I know, bah-humbug, but I know some part of you fully agrees).

So, a few years ago, I made a wager. I told my family that if no one took up all those responsibilities, that, I would give into consumerism and purchase a faker. I heard all the excuses in the world (some more valid than others), but I’m sure most of you can figure out what happened next.

We got a fake tree that year. And have used it every year since. And while it pangs my heart a little to recognize this, I kinda love it. It is INFINITELY easier, no mess, no needles, I don’t even have to string up lights?? Like, maybe I should have done this YEARS ago!

But let’s refocus on the blog: Building Tradition.

Let me take you back to November when Kevin and I were brainstorming ideas for the Christmas Advent Date plans. When we came a few days short, I asked my daughter for ideas. She explained to us a tradition that she and her partner have started once they moved in together.  Every year they choose a favourite photo of themselves from that year, order a picture-frame ornament, and hang it on the tree as a way of making a holiday-scrapbook that will build over the years. I instantly loved the idea. We chose a photo from our road trip across North America, an agreeable favourite from the year, had it printed, cut it out, and put it on the tree!  We put the date on the back, and it just looks so cute we decided to keep it up as a yearly event.  

I think there are some traditions that just time out, and others that are so entrenched in our lives we just shouldn’t let go. But unless we actively try to make them, they will never be continued or made. I think when we are young, its easy to incorporate new ideas for traditions, but as we age we lose that priority. A young perspective on what it means to build tradition helped Kevin and I recognize how we have to actively strive to incorporate them into our lives.

So, start a new tradition.  In fact, I have a plan for next year.  Friends of ours rent a limo, fill it with their family members, and go into Downtown to see a Christmas movie.  Then, when the movie's over, they all pile back in the limo to go home, where they share a wonderful meal together. I asked if I could copy them, and so next year, we will start doing that!  Think about it starting something new with people you love.   If the timing is wrong for you, don’t worry about it.  Life reignites itself if we let it!