Recently someone I admire a great deal shared his thoughts about being a good receiver. My mind went back to a Christmas when I was very disappointed in what Santa had left me. The little doll as not what I had wanted and hoped for. I wanted a Thumbalinadoll, that when activated, moved like a real baby. The doll Santa left me was just a plain doll. There was nothing special or unique about her.
I am not proud of my feelings on that Christmas and hope Santa forgot about it long ago. But I haven’t forgotten. Regret is not healthy. The only way this bad experience can serve me now is to learn from it and let it go. In our hustle and bustle we may forget to slow down and express adequate appreciation. I am committed to enjoying each little moment during this special time of year. Hope you are too!
Christmas is rich in traditions. It is the traditions that keep us connected year after year. Early in our marriage, my husband and I determined that we were going to blend our childhood traditions and create our own Christmas and year-round traditions to insure that our family had reason to feel and remain connected. Traditions cement our sense of belonging. Creating and carrying out traditions has been a delightful lifelong pursuit. We are flexible enough not to resist change and willing to adapt new ways of doing things. In addition, we enjoy our adult children including us in their own young family’s unique traditions.
I really have enjoyed the comment “we always_______”. It is fun to know we can count on things to be consistent year after year. But we have to be careful not to become too rigid since it is fun to explore new ways to celebrate.
One tradition that a daughter has created is for her children to sing Christmas songs on the stairway while they wait for their parents to get up to see if Santa has arrived on Christmas morning. Most years they go through dozens of songs before the exhausted parents pull themselves out of bed. Another has created a tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve which is always new pajamas for each family member. And another daughter’s tradition is the food they have for breakfast on Christmas morning.
What are some of your most cherished Christmas traditions? And what do you hope to be remembered for when your posterity reminisces about Christmas’ with you?
This year we will once again have the blessing of our soldier son’s visit at Christmas. Excitement mounts as I count down the days until his arrival. His one and only Christmas wish was a ticket home. Having been away for a solid year, he is not shy about expressing his excitement to come home for Christmas. And we are excited! Our whole family will be together once again.
However, his unit is on global readiness alert. Should his unit be needed, he will have to return within 24 hours to his Army base for any emergency assignment that comes up. He is required to keep his cell phone with him at all times and to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice. He warned of this months ago, but it wasn’t until we got “test” calls and e mails from the Army to make certain we could also be reached that I was reminded how serious this is. Of course a call like this could ruin our plans for his short visit. We are praying for no calls and an uninterrupted visit.
One thing I can promise is that I will enjoy every single moment he is here. From the moment we welcome him at the airport to the moment we will have to send him off again, we will fill his reservoirs with love, fun and relaxation. He has served long and hard. He will be well cared for by us as parents, his adoring sisters and his fan club of nieces and nephews along with friends and extended family.
Counting the days until our soldier son arrives to share with use in celebrating this sacred time of year.
