Christmas Traditions

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Traditions are a funny thing. All of a sudden the kids are 11 and 9 years old and traditions are more than just the things I think we should do. They are now little things that the kids recall year to year that mean more than the “big stuff.”

I consider seeing Santa and getting our annual picture taken a tradition. For the kids it’s going to Unos after the picture that they remember. The visits to the Enchanted Village, seeing Christmas lights, making cookies and decorating are all traditions and things we try to do each year. But it’s when we decorate the tree and have to watch Christmas Eve on Sesame Street that always makes me smile.  It’s from 1978- Elmo isn’t even on it! But we did it years ago, so it matters. New Christmas pajamas matter. Writing a letter to Santa and then reading Santa’s response Christmas morning matters. And of course the Church on Christmas Eve, dinner upstairs, breakfast up the street and opening gifts. They love the ornaments- each year getting a new one (or two or three) and remembering the stories of ornaments from years past.

And of course our Christmas card. It’s own tradition.

I love this time of year and can’t believe how many holidays we have celebrated as a family. Some traditions we were intentional about starting. But the ones that seem to be remembered- the little ones, the important ones- are the ones the kids remember and cherish. And hearing about those are the ones I love.

The Velveteen Rabbit

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In 2013 we went to see The Velveteen Rabbit at Boston Children’s Theatre. The adaptation was written by BCT’s Artistic Director Burgess Clark and has become an annual BCT holiday tradition. Brendan had wanted to audition since seeing the show but conflicts with his 4th Church shows always conflicted. This year he decided that he wanted to audition for the role of The Boy. And he got the part.

Because it’s an annual tradition, Brendan can tell you who of his older BCT friends (and other kids he doesn’t know) were in past year’s productions. The year we saw the show Samil played the boy. Brendan was thrilled to find out Samil would be one of the puppeteers in this year’s show. Opening weekend another part “Boy” was also in the audience- and she just finished up a Broadway run in School of Rock (Bren may have freaked out a little bit when he saw her!).

The show was beautifully done and Brendan was terrific (biased mom and all). It was so awesome to see audiences react. It was especially sweet to see young kids at the school performances react. The cast and crew were wonderful and we can’t think of a better way to get into the holiday spirit.

The cast had a Secret Santa swap and funny enough Samil had Brendan. He painted him beautiful little canvases of some of characters in the show. They will now be part of our holiday decorations. Such sweet memories.

“Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’

‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.

‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’

‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’

‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

A Christmas ornament for 2016

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Chris and I have found the hardest part of parenting is having to talk about what is going on in the world. We do our best to stick to the facts but do share why we feel the way we do about issues in the world. There have been a number of difficult conversations this year.

One conversation that was especially difficult happened the day of the Orlando massacre at the Pulse Nightclub.

It was Pride weekend in Boston. Our family has marched in previous parades, and had it not been for Bren’s rehearsal, we would have again this year. Bre was looking forward to watching the Tony Awards that Sunday night and Aidan- though not as interested in theater- wanted to see the Hamilton performance. It forced us to talk about what had just happened so that hearing the news on television would not be for the first time. There were tears and hugs and questions about how something like this could happen and why there are people who hate other people in the world. When Lin-Manuel Miranda spoke his “love is love is love” words, our kids heard it loud and clear. And we hugged them both with tears in our eyes.

And of course the other difficult conversation was the morning after the election.

One Christmas tradition we have is to ask the kids to choose a picture that represents the year for them. We make an ornament of the picture for our Christmas tree. While choosing an ornament on Personalization Mall, our Bren came across the “Love is Love” ornament- a rainbow on one side and a place for the year’s picture on the other. That’s the ornament he chose this year.

Every year the kids choose a favorite picture from the year and we put it on a Christmas ornament. When I was ordering this year’s Brendan saw there was an option for a picture on one side and “Love is love” on the other side. He decided that’s the one he wanted.

Perfect choice for 2016.
PS The picture he chose for the other side is him in his Marilyn Monroe costume.