A New Tradition

Merry Christmas! We truly hope this season has found you full of joy and peace! After last year and not really getting in the mood, I rebounded and this year am enjoying the whole Christmas season... never mind that we just installed our Christmas tree on Monday or that this year is a tight year for presents; this year just feels right. This year feels like it truly is all about family and spending quality, not quantity, time together. This year brought a lot of heartache and frustration, both personally and professionally; but it also has given us so much to be thankful to the good Lord for. Miracles, big and little, do happen every day! We just need to open our eyes more and be more thankful!

I was reading today on Facebook about a friend's dilemma for a "traditional" Christmas dinner. She received a bunch of response, to which she responded that her family decided to go with "traditional" ham dinner with all the fixings. This got me to thinking about tradition and how nice it is to make up your own tradition(s). Why follow other people's definition of "traditional?" A "traditional" Christmas dinner doesn't have to be ham, turkey, chicken and all that... A traditional Christmas dinner can be something your family picks out for their very own... My side of family broke away from ham/turkey because of boredom. This year Bob and I will be hosting my family Christmas and we almost broke "tradition" to make fried & baked chicken with southern flare for the fixin's... In my heart of hearts (or maybe my intense craving for my mom & Aunt Vanessa's wet burritos & enchiladas), I could not break from our tradition of "Mexican-themed" dinner. Why not just use your favorite foods for your tradition? Have a smorgasbord, with each person making their own favorite food(s)? It could be fun! Whatever you do, enjoy the tradition your family makes and especially enjoy the time everyone gets to be together. Family isn't a chore, family is the basis of our love and coherency.

This year we are starting a new tradition. My family hadn't done presents in years (except for the kidlets); as us "kids" all got older no one seemed to care about "getting gifts," we just wanted to be together. But this year, I think we found something fun to incorporate. We are doing a book exchange (this was Bob's idea). Each person has to bring a book that they enjoyed reading, we do a drawing and each person gets a book from the stockpile of books brought; which they must read in one year (they have until next Christmas). We are keeping track of who gets each book by writing out name and date on the inside cover. When each book is read by each person, we'll bring new books into the picture (we can actually bring new books into the picture at anytime). There are other "rules" we have, but the basis of this is each person learns about their family's taste and hopefully broadens their own horizons.

With a little creativity, we can all break free of the conundrum of someone else's traditions. Why not make your own!? A new tradition you make with your family could mean years of good times, something you want your kids to remember with great joy. There are no rules to life, except to live it to the fullest; make your own rules or have you, traditions.

May you all have a blessed Christmas and a Happy & Healthy New Year!
Dawn