Sheila Sims Iding
Celebrating Christmas is about Jesus’ birthday. We all know that. It’s first and foremost. But in that celebration are traditions that make Christmas your own unique celebration. Some traditions are new. Some traditions are forced (by circumstance). Some traditions have been carried over from when you were little celebrating Christmas as a child. No matter how you celebrate Jesus’ birthday, traditions are an integral part of Christmas…each and every year. I treasure our annual traditions:
The next day school traditions – The day after the school Christmas Program.
The post-program celebration of singing their hearts out.
Finishing Advent Book – Week Four
Finishing Christmas Book – Adding angels to the manger scene.
The taking down and putting together all their Christmas/Advent
Projects into a Christmas portfolio…one of my favorite things
they take home each year.
Students helping me open the gifts they brought.
Short vowel review/introducing magic E…the magic E wand/game.
Finish our daily adding ornaments to our Advent Tree.
Finish our daily Advent Adventures of Benjamin Bear on his way to Bethlehem.
Pooh Christmas movie and Christmas concessions ordered long ago.
(writing thank you notes during the movie)
Sending prayer and friendship circle to end 2013 together.
Good bye Christmas hugs to each Care Corner Kids and the giggle of
saying “see you next year!”
Detroit Metro Arrivals – Heading to Detroit Metro waiting, waiting, waiting for Tim to walk through the doors of the international terminal. Lining up to be the last hug because mine is typically the longest hug…so I wait my turn. (It’s worth the wait.)
Finishing Christmas shopping – last minute gifts – fun stocking stuffers
Finishing baking – one more batch of cookies – one more bowl of frosting
Christmas Eve morning – We start the festivities Christmas Eve morning
by the special tree in the living room.
- opening toys (I still buy toys…I’m never growing up so my boys (and Addie) shouldn’t either.)
- opening gifts from our family in Minnesota
Christmas Eve afternoon –
4:30 mass – arrive at 3:30 and catch up reading Advent book (I’m always a few days behind in that little blue book)
6:00 – dinner reservations at Mitchell’s Fish Market
8:00 – home so brothers (and now Addie) can exchange their gifts
watch Christmas movie together (probably Home Alone AGAIN)
Late Christmas Eve – all in bed (we have to chase Tim to bed because he is still on “China” time.)
“Santa” arrives.
Stockings are stuffed.
Christmas morning –
Early morning rush (after early morning runs)
Gather around the tree – open Santa gifts first, then family gifts, then stockings.
Christmas breakfast – gather round the table for special breakfast
Prepare food for Sims Christmas gathering.
Load up gifts and food and family to gather with family.
Eat, drink and be Merry.
Head home and examine new gifts (yours and others), discuss new memories and crash together in the family room. (Probably watch Home Alone 2 again!)
Head to bed with the whole family under one roof again, safe and warm and together.
Thankful for another Christmas full of cherished traditions…except when it’s not.
Except when the ice storm and others try to be the Grinch and steal Christmas traditions and steal Christmas itself.
- No last day of school celebrations and send off.
- No waiting for arrival hugs.
- No Timothy (a sad change in plans)
- No last minute shopping
- No last minute baking
- No Christmas Eve morning around that living room tree
- No Christmas Eve brother exchange
- No stockings hanging…no stockings stuffed…no stockings period
- No Santa gifts magically appearing on the hearth
- No gathering around the brightly lit Christmas tree
- No family room filled with wrappings…filled with new memories…filled with family
- No Christmas morning breakfast at our table…nobody at our table
- No crashing in the family room Christmas night
The ice storm and a former friend tried to steal Christmas this year. Like the Grinch they tried to keep Christmas from coming. But, like in the Grinch story, Christmas came just the same. We always knew it wasn’t about the gifts. We always knew it is about Jesus and family and traditions and the memories we make each year. We were missing family. We were missing traditions. We were missing the usually memories. But…we didn’t miss Christmas.
An ice storm, a multi-day power outage, a friend’s betrayal, a deserted family room, a cold, eerily dark house, and a lonesome, unlit Christmas tree all threatened to steal Christmas. But in warmth of a little hotel room Santa left gifts on a table, gift bags became make-shift stockings and family gathered all around (thanks to skype). We were robbed of our usual cherished traditions but we weren’t robbed of the special memories this Christmas gave to us and the new appreciation we have for traditions. And in that little hotel room gathered as family, celebrating the birthday of Jesus, we stole Christmas right back.