Post by cassie on Dec 9, 2023 4:31:54 GMT -5
I think most families have them. But do you try to stick to the same traditions or are you willing and able to adapt and change with the times are you able to accept the changes that come with time ?
When I was a child we had very little and mum would pay in each week to a Christmas hamper club. The magical box would appear in the second week of December and she and I would unpack it she would call out each item and I would check it off the list of contents. My brothers were very little and would sit wide eyed echoing each item she called out... 'cling peaches' she would say and three little voices echoed 'cling peaches oooooh'
When all the checking was done we would celebrate the beginning of Christmas with a cup of tea and a packet of the special Christmas biscuits from the hamper.
Of course as I grew up and had my own family we had our own traditions, I would decorate the tree late at night so that when the children got up they would come down and find the tree all lit up and there would be hot chocolate and toasted current buns for breakfast.
On Chritmas day we visited OH parents and on Dec 26th we would go to see my mum.
As the children grew into teenagers we would host an open house on Dec 26th they could invite friends or people they knew who didnt have or who were not welcome at their own family homes. We never knew who was coming or how many, sometimes it was 5 or 6 sometimes it was 20..
Some of those people kept in touch for years and I know for a couple of them being part of a family celebration made a lot of difference to them.
After the children left home I would still bake, often giving cakes to the elderly I cared for and on Christmas day I would skype with my mum , we would wear our silly Christmas hats and show each other our gifts having a laugh and joke about the things we had or what we had seen on tv.
Of course mum passed away in 2022 so there is no one to skype with, its just OH and myself with the dogs now.. So a new tradition is in the making... A Christmas day hike.. Taking a breakfast picnic and braving the cold we will head off to the woods and spend a few hours walking with the dogs enjoying the peace and quiet and focusing on the positive things in life.
How do you face the changes and how do you cope with lost traditions ? Do you miss the old one ways or are you happy to make new ones?
Of course, the kiddos also split their holiday between hanging with Mum and Dad, so maybe it's Third Christmas for them by the time we get to my parents! 
