Tradition

It's Christmas Eve Eve. I'm sitting here right now having just finished wrapping the last of my presents and I'm watching Muppet's Christmas Carol and I'm finding my mind turning to tradition. Maybe it's just this time of year, but I find comfort in my traditions, both the ones started when I was a child and the ones I've started on my own. And yes, Muppet's Christmas Carol is part of that. We would watch both that and White Christmas on Christmas Eve, all the lights off except for the Christmas lights, me and my sisters inevitably falling asleep before White Christmas was over. Christmas morning was never a mad dash to the presents. We would have to wait for our parents to tell us it was time to come in to the living room. Me and my sisters would all gather in one bedroom giggling and talking about what we hoped we got, knowing that our parents were reading the paper and drinking coffee while we were anxious to start our holiday. Once we were released we would start with our stockings, eating the chocolate we found inside as our breakfast. Then it was time for the presents. We would all take turns opening a gift so Christmas morning really would last all morning. My dad would crack a beer mid morning and say it was his birthday so he was allowed. I have nothing but fond memories of Christmas, and to this day it is the one holiday I insist on being with family.
So now I'm an adult and I think of how I spend the holiday now. Christmas Eve I usually work and go to church afterwards. After church I come home, get in my jammies, and cuddle with the cats on the couch. I start out with Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (unless it's a late service or I'm really tired) and end with Polar Express, drinking either a glass of wine or hot chocolate depending on my mood. Christmas morning is just me and the cats but I make sure there are presents for us under the tree and a stocking stuffer. I put on Christmas music and eat Christmas cookies with my coffee and then spend the rest of the day with someone in my family.While my traditions now aren't exactly the same as then they are based in my childhood and bring me comfort and peace. And isn't that what Christmas is about? We all have our traditions, those things we do every year at Christmas time that connect us to our friends and family, put a smile on our faces, and warm our hearts. Maybe it's a movie you watch every year or a relative's house you go to, a carol you sing in church on Christmas Eve, a food you eat for breakfast. Our traditions connect us to our past and grow and evolve to include our future. Whatever your traditions are I wish you a Merry Christmas.