Last night, Ellen was under the gun and asked me to type her paper for her....I am so glad she did as often she turns her work in and I don't see it beforehand. As tempted as I was to correct the grammatical mistakes, I typed it exactly as she wrote it. As I typed it, I reflected on the fact that the presents she receives from Santa on Christmas morning never made into her paper.....but what was important about the Christmas season did ~ visiting with family, laughing the entire time, listening to the priest during Christmas Mass and then winding the evening down with her family. Now, more then ever, when we are so bombarded with commercialism during the holiday seasons....I am striving to harder and harder to simplify and enjoy the spirit of this season. It is gratifying as a parent to know that our efforts are paying off! And I am grateful to have an extended family that has provided meaningful, traditional, non commercialized traditions that have rooted in my children's psyches and will provide a strong foundation for years to come. On a lighter note....Ellen searched forever to find the perfect picture to go with her essay and this is the one she chose! She thought it was just so "cute"! She is after all - twelve....and I am just not ready to let her grow up yet! It is such a fun age!
Christmas
Traditions
Does your family have
any special Christmas traditions? My family has many, but one of them having
our entire family meet at my aunt’s house on Christmas Eve. Not only do we get
to spend time with our immediate family; we also get to visit with cousins we
don’t see often. The festivities
begin with Chinese Christmas. Because everyone brings goofy gifts, we are
laughing almost the entire time.
Then we have secret Santa, and we give our gifts to the cousin we were
assigned to. Don’t forget Santa
Clause! Santa even comes to visit,
and he lets all the children sit on his lap. After Santa leaves a priest comes and says Mass. Once Mass is finished we all head home
to sit by the fire and drink eggnog.
Every year I look forward to this special time.
Ha, you know if you change Ellen to Alex, add two years and make that a great aunt, my son could have written this paper! [kind of scary in a good way I think :)]
ReplyDeleteI love this time of year!
xx
The pictures aren't there...
ReplyDeleteThat said, I loved her paper! I just love our family's traditions, and I miss being there for them. Think of us this year! We are going to start some special traditions up here.
I thought the graphic came through.....oh well! I went back and worked on it but couldn't make it work. We will be thinking of you and can't wait to hear and "see" your special traditions!
ReplyDelete