Well, here we are…Christmas
Eve! Christmas has always been my favourite time of year…I love winter &
the smell of snow (yes, snow smells) & the crunch under my feet…but as I
mentioned last year, it had always been bittersweet. Not this year though, this
year is all sweet & I am beyond excited to start my own Christmas
traditions with Elena! Some traditions we’ll start this year but some will have
to wait until Elena is older & can understand.
When I was a kid, I could not
wait for Christmas morning! When I learned that some families exchanged gifts
on Christmas Eve, I was so jealous! I remember one year, my Dad had to work Christmas
Day (he was a street car driver in Toronto) so my parents decided we would open
presents on Christmas Eve morning. I was so excited!! Except then I was super
excited Christmas Eve Eve!!! So in honour of that excitement &
anticipation, on Christmas Eve Elena will be allowed to open 2 presents…one
will always be a new pair of pajamas…so she looks cute in Christmas morning
photos…& the other will be a Christmas story book…oh sure, as the years go
by, these gifts won’t be a surprise…she’ll of course figure it out but it’ll be
a fun...
Tonight we are going to my
Mom’s church for their Candle Light service…I’m not sure if this will become a
tradition since I’m not religious at all but the service is beautiful, I know
Elena will love the music & my Mom will enjoy showing us off. I feel a
little hypocritical going since I don’t buy into the whole religion deal but I
can really appreciate the beauty of it…
As for the Santa Question…I
love the innocence & magic of Santa Clause…I love the idea of believing in
the generosity of a jolly man who fulfills a Christmas wish…however, I never
liked the idea that some kids get a ton of gifts from Santa (not judging here,
this is just my opinion) or that they get everything they ask for. Aside from
the fact that I just can’t afford to do this, I don’t want Elena to have that
sense of entitlement…Elena will receive 1 gift from Santa Clause Christmas
morning plus her stocking will be stuffed with fun little goodies…I think that
allows her to experience the magic yet keeps her expectations grounded.
Once Elena is old enough to
understand, before Christmas she & I will go thru her toys & she
will pack up the ones she no longer plays with & ones she’s grown out of
& we will donate them to the local mission. Also when she’s old enough to
understand, we will be involved in the Adopt-a-Family program. I will teach Elena
that even though we don’t have a lot, there are others that have even less. Christmas
has never been about the commercialism for me & I want to make sure that
Elena learns more about giving than receiving…
I’m sure over the years we’ll
develop other traditions & refine these but I think it’s a good start. I’m
just so very excited for Elena’s 1st…I know she won’t remember it
& I’m sure she’s going to be pretty over whelmed but she only has one 1st
Christmas.
So Merry Christmas, everyone! Happy
Hanukkah…Happy Kwanza…Happy Winter Solstice…or whatever you celebrate, enjoy!
Merry Christmas--what a difference 1 (or 2) years makes! I'm so happy for you and Elena. Enjoy this first Christmas and (of course) take lots of pictures!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas! My siblings and I always got new PJs on Christmas Eve, too! I think that's one of the traditions I'll pass down. We also always got a Christmas Ornament that we could hang on the tree. Then when we left home as adults my mom gave us a box with all the ornaments from each year. I think that's another tradition I will pass down, but I'm loving the idea of a book on Christmas Eve too.
ReplyDeleteMerry 1st Christmas Elena!! I love the ideas for family traditions.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of Christmas traditions - I'm going to have to think of some for me and Finn to share, too.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
So exciting creating your own Christnas traditions!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas :-)
These sound like wonderful traditions to start with Elena! Merry Christmas!
ReplyDelete