Traditions

I have big plans for December and this blog, however, I would recommend that - as a reader - you adopt a "wait and see" attitude. You see we have embarked upon what is my favorite season of the year. Fueled by anticipation, this time of year, is always preceded by a flourish of creativity and energy - usually during the month of November. Unfortunately, the brutal pace of the season, with parties, concerts, shopping, and things that have to be done, tend to beat the life out of any creativity and energy that emerged before Thanksgiving.

Again, - think "wait and see"

Today I want to talk about traditions since - traditionally in our household, we try to restrain any mention or focus on Christmas until after we have properly let Thanksgiving have its day.

Then the floodgates open and eleven months of pent-up Christmas celebration comes bursting through.

I believe traditions are an important part of families and the Christmas season especially. Some families think outside the box for Christmas - planning vacations to areas with warm climates is one example of thinking outside the box; that's not for me. In fact, it's just hard for me to fell Christmassy if the weather is warm.

The problem is traditions are not practical. Many times one has to do illogical things in order to keep traditions.


This fact was illustrated on the morning after Thanksgiving by my attempt to keep a tradition with the kids that began about four or five years ago.


I usually take off the day after Thanksgiving, R. seems to usually end up working that day.

So several years ago, I thought the kids and I would start a tradition of eating out for breakfast - at the Waffle House on the morning after Thanksgiving. I believe on the first year we did this, we actually went to a local shopping mall for awhile afterward just to be a part of the excitement.


One year, the tradition was threatened by some gastronomical difficulties Ab was experiencing at the time. We were able to go but had to leave pretty quickly. Last year we spent Thanksgiving with R.'s family in Memphis, Tennessee and so we skipped the tradition.


This year I was moving slowly and while I was getting ready - my wife gave in to the pleading of my children and fed them.


So when I emerged from my room all dressed and ready -there they sat with peanut-butter toast still in their wicked little hands -


"We're starving!" they had cried. And Mom gave in.


I am not sure what I would have wanted her to do. . . but I was not pleased with her response and sulked for a period of time. I think in my tradition-based-paranoia, I deduced that she had tried to sabotage my plans since she couldn't join us


It was almost as if the success or failure of my entire holiday year had hinged on getting to Waffle House with hungry kids in tow.


Anyway, I plan to tell you more about the rest of the day in an upcoming post, but suffice it to say I placed the importance of keeping a tradition higher than the importance of maintaining good relationships.


So I will be more careful not to be Clark Griswald this Christmas.


I do like traditions - I beam with pride when my children tell other people... "we ALWAYS...." I like the permanence of that. I like that these regular events become a part of who we are as a family.


I think God is okay with traditions... the Jewish calendar was filled with feasts, holidays, and various other traditions: bringing families together, addressing injustices or bitterness, bringing hearts back to God and History, celebrating victories, remembering struggles.


R. and I have had traditions that have come and gone ... some stayed.


For about two years we kept a tradition of decorating the tree on Thanksgiving night. Turkey fatigue got the best of us one year - I think - and so we never returned to that tradition.

When Ab was a baby, we baked a "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" cake every Christmas Day. By the time AA had come along, there just wasn't enough time on Christmas morning to add one more baked item.

Since the year before R. and I married and for about 8 or 9 years, we went Caroling every year. It had begun as something to do during the "lull" that used to come about after all the parties and holiday events were over. There was very little planning, some folks just got a phone call saying -"we're going Caroling tonight". And someone would volunteer their home to serve coffee and snacks afterward. It was a lot of fun and we felt that we were really uplifting some of the folks we visited. But that tradition became too organized and large and we got too busy so it fell by the wayside.

I want to talk about a few of the things that we do -as a family- to keep the season special and hopefully to keep our focus on the birth of Jesus.

If you have any to share, feel free.