in my short little mommy life, i have tried to begin many Christmas Traditions ... in fact i have tried to do a LOT of 'programs', charts, routines, etc.
sadly, my good/great/grand ideas sometimes fall short of becoming habit/routine/tradition.
take for instance:
for the last several years we have been going to the Carousel down at westlake center with the Farrar Family on the monday before Christmas ... last year we changed it up and went on saturday. this year we were back to monday but with all the snowfall we decided to back out - we also had some not so healthy kidlets and didn't want to push it. so i had a fantastic idea to get pizza and watch a bunch of Christmas movies together and fall asleep under the Christmas Tree. in theory this is a fun family film festival featuring frosty, rudolf, santa, and the polar express.
and then ammon fell asleep - this was the intended result of movie night ... good job ammon for following the plan!!
the girls on the other hand were no where near as cooperative ... i should have remembered that they have NEVER fallen asleep in front of the tv, EVER in their lives!!
it was 1am before i threw in the towel/ran up the white flag/called it quits - andy had gone to bed at midnight when i finally surrendered to the fact that easton wasn't going to fall asleep either!!
this morning when ammon stumbled into my room at 7:50 to get a drink of water ... and then brought easton back with him at 8:10 ... and elyssa came in at 8:15 - BAH! i got out my BIG RED REJECT STAMP and threw this new tradition on the top of the "failed plans and rejected traditions" pile!
next Christmas i'm going to be better prepared with more age appropriate ideas for tradtions to begin ... or maybe i'll just stick with the ones we've got!!
What traditions have you started that have failed miserably ... or better yet - which Christmas traditions have worked really well?? inspire me!
9 comments:
umm. . .our advent calendar where we put up a piece each day is pretty bare. Looking at your countdown clock, I'm running out of time.
One thing I have decided recently about traditions is that for some things, like the carousel, that it's okay if we only do it every other year. That way I don't feel pressured to fit them into our schedule and we have room to add new things.
I hope the kids don't get sick and that you all have a great Christmas.
I am NOT a gourmet chef or an expert baker and probably never will be. But, I did learn a fun Reindeer cookie recipe from Mr. Food. Every Christmas Eve we buy (but you could also make) peanut butter cookie dough. I slice the dough into circles and lay it on the cookie sheet. Then, I pinch the dough in the center so it kind of looks like an 8. On the top half, I use pretzels for antlers and 2 M&M's for eyes. On the bottom, one more M&M for the nose (some Rudolphs, some regular). We make these for Santa every Christmas Eve. It's probably the one tradition we've managed to continue each year without any difficulty.
So enjoy reading your blog. Love all the pictures. We should go on a photo shoot sometime. I love taking pictures. As far as traditions, I've decided that less is more and just see what happens. My biggest flop was trying to read Christmas story a day to the kids for the whole month of December. Good idea until you run across a night when it is way too late and I'm way too tired. Its not everyday anymore. Merry Christmas!
Ah, Your blog always makes me smile! Just relaxing for a minute and thought I'd take a peak at blogs. I have two traditions. #1 is I try to make Christmas Candy. Sometimes I only get one thing made, but that's ok, too. #2 I can call a tradition because this is the 2nd year we've done it! :) It is that we have a special box for Jesus and on Christmas Eve we write him a letter telling Him of our gift for Him for his special Day! We then put it under or in the tree and it is the "FIRST GIFT OF CHRISTMAS!!!" (Can you hear the "Polar Express" Santa?)
Oh, I guess there is 3. I always read the poem I read at the Christmas Breakfast, "From Santa, with Love". Have a great Christmas tomorrow!!
You always crack me up! I don't think our kids would ever fall asleep in front of the TV either. We love the Christmas Pickle tradition, it is an ornament that looks like a pickle, that on Christmas Eve Adam and I move to a secret spot on the tree. The first kid to find it gets a little extra gift, this year it was a lifesaver storybook. It is fun and funny, and easy and no one loses sleep over it!
Oh my gosh Em! I'm so happy you wrote this post. You see, all my friend's blogs have darling little pictures of their kids holding perfectly still, participating in the family nativity with fabulous costumes and being so touched by the spirit of Christmas...but in my house, it was whines and cries and fightings and screaming...MERRY CHRISTMAS! lol So, anyway, its nice to see that not everyone is having kids that follow the plans! ;)
Sure do love you bunches!
too funny!!! We love to watch all the movies but no one ever falls asleep in front of the t.v. It's just a stay up late night and get your own breakfast in the morning kind a thing cuz mom and dad will be sleeping! :) I know my kids are a little older than yours...one of these years that tradition will work like it's supposed too! :)
You are a fun mom for trying...those are the things kids remember and love!
I laughed out loud at this post. I have so many creative things I like to do all year long that are associated with a particular holiday. When I accomplish them I feel great. If I don't get to them or they flop, it is kind of a letdown. Which is really opposite of the feeling you try get by creating traditions. I was so happy to read this post and get some perspective and know I am not the only one that has a reject pile!!!
I've noted this as a definite FAIL, and will be dutifully following in your footsteps (or, rather, NOT doing what you say doesn't work). As for our traditions? Um, sadly, we've so far had a tradition of not decorating for Christmas because we're never home for it. This year included. We'll be around next year, though, so I'm going to have to bite the bullet and decorate. Heaven help me.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!!!
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