December
2006
Holiday Memories…(click here to reply)
I like this mom's honesty. Sometimes I think we remember things from when we were children differently. We remember what "sticks" for us. Perhaps those fabulous memories from when we were kids also included bickering and whining, but what we remember is the joy and shared experience of ritual.
I have only one daughter. Our family is very different from what I grew up in - I'm divorced and remarried to a man that isn't so passionate about Christmas, finds Christmas music annoying and gets totally stressed about gift buying/giving/recieving.
My daughter and I trimmed the tree the other day (we had the ritual of putting it together too, since we have a fake one) and each ornament held some memory from my childhood or younger adulthood…we told stories as we placed them on the tree, Christmas music in the background…it was very pleasant. Sweet, but a lot quieter than what I remember of a family of four affair.
Another tradition my family had when I was a child was to sing a carol for grace at dinner instead of our usual grace. We'd light an advent candle, either my sister or I would choose a carol, and we'd sing it as a family before eating. I love that memory.
I don't even own advent candles now. But I do sing a carol to my daughter each night for a lullaby.
It's changed, shifted, but the feelings are similar - closeness, family, magic…my daughter doesn't do the whiny thing. (Unless I am singing Christmas songs in public - no matter how quietly.)
So, what are some of your memories? Do you remember bickering and whining when you were a child, or just the "good stuff?" What do your kids do now?