What are traditions?
Tradition; what are the traditions of your family? Either as you were growing up or that you are starting with your own family? What is a tradition? I’m sure Merriam-Webster has a great definition, but it is just something you are passing along to your family. It could be your beliefs; it could be customs from a previous generation, or something you want to start within your own family, that your kids will remember and treasure. As our kids got old enough to start creating some of our own traditions, we started two. One was to put up a manger scene, which we added to every year. We were pretty frugal, so we would add on to the scene at the end of the year, when everything went on sale. Then, the next year when we put it out, there would be fun new pieces to add. The other tradition was to go to Christmas Eve service. These two simple ‘traditions’ grew into something just a little bit different as our kids got older. They understood that we celebrated Christ’s birth on Christmas day, so it didn’t make sense to them to put baby Jesus into his manger when we first set it up, as that was usually two weeks or more before Christmas. So, we started a game of ‘hide and seek’ with the baby. The baby would be found and moved to another place by family members throughout the two weeks leading up to Christmas Eve.
On Christmas Eve, we would have potato soup and tuna fish salad, a tradition carried on by my husband and me, from my family. Then, we would get dressed up and go to church. When we came home, we would change into our jeans or jammies, and then set a time for the search for baby Jesus to end. At the designated time, whoever had hid him last would take him out of hiding and ‘place’ him in his manger bed. It was so precious to see them do this when they were little. As our kids have gotten older, the tradition has not stopped. The manger scene is up, and the person who placed him in the manger last year has hidden him this year, to get it all started again. I am pretty sure as our Granddaughter gets a little older, that she will be joining in on the fun!
What are the traditions your family has for this time of year? If you don’t have any, it is never too late to start. I pray that you and your family will have a very blessed Christmas, and enjoy your time together, making memories and coming up with traditions.
Merry Christmas from Kids Connect!
