Monday, December 28, 2009

Thoughts on Traditions

"The way you celebrate Christmas can be a gift in itself, handing down traditions that will give your child a feeling of continuity, comfort and joy in all the Christmases to come."
-Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers' Neighborhood)



I'm a quote hoarded. When I read a quote that sticks with me, I write them down. Sometimes I'll find a post-it note stuffed in a magazine or a random drawer with a quote I liked written on it. It's always a nice surpise to find a long-lost quote.

Anyway, this is the quote I found this morning. And since it is Christmastime, and I'm stuck inside because the wind is howling too badly for me to take Grace sledding, I figured I could think about traditions.

One of my favorite memories is decorating our Christmas tree. Our tree is a hodge-podge of ornaments. Each one of us has a personalized name ornament from Bronners. There are handmade ornaments from my "wish-I-was-crafty" stages. There those oh-so-wonderful paper ornaments we made in elementary school with our school pictures smack dab in the middle. And then there is a mixture of old and new ornaments gathered throughout the years. This is my parents' tree, but the tree Matt and I have at our home resembles this one.

We have the Bronners' ornaments with our names. I have handmade ornaments from students. I have extremely old ornaments that belonged to my grandparents. My Cabbage Patch kid ornament and mouse ornament are two of my favorites. Matt has an Onsted football player ornament with the number #8 on the jersey.

Putting up our tree is one tradition that will remain close to my heart. As soon as Grace is old enough, I hope she'll enjoy this tradition and hearing about each and every ornament on that tree.
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I had every intention to write about more than one tradition. I guess I'll save them for another post.

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