We have a few Christmas traditions in my house, but this is one of my favorites. Every year when we buy our tree, we have the tree lot cut off a 1-2 inch wide section of the trunk. I use permanent marker {nothing special about why other than I had it in the house the first year and it worked great!} to put our name and the year on it, drill a hole for a string to hang it, and then we use it as an ornament for our tree for the next year. I started this 3 years ago and will continue to do it every year now.
We have a Christmas tree with “memory ornaments” on it. Our tree doesn’t match and doesn’t have a color theme, and its not the kind you look at and immediately say “wow! That’s incredible!”. Each year, each of the kids get an ornament that represents something they’ve been doing during the year. This year they are girl scout, boy scout, soccer and school themes. We also get an ornament from a family trip to remind us in years future about awesome adventures we’ve had as a family. I love this kind of tree. I look at it and see memories, love and family- my life.
When the kids grow up and go off on their own, I’ll give them their ornaments so they have something to start with for their own trees. My Mom did this with me and my siblings, and I have some VERY OLD {especially if you ask my kids} ornaments on the tree from when I was a kid. Strawberry Shortcake, a brownie scout, soccer ornaments, cheerleader ornaments {yes, I was a cheerleader in High School}, a scuba diver from when me and my Dad went scuba diving in the Caribbean, and lots of chocolate themed ones {I love dark the best!}.
On our tree now, we also have some of my husband’s ornaments from when he was a kid, and my kids’ ornaments. Fast forward 20 years and all the kids’ ornaments will be gone and it’ll just be me and the hubbs’ ornaments. We get each other one too. He has fantasy football ones, a tent from when he went to Havasupai with my Dad and brother and brother-in-law, and a Laker basketball {he’s been a fan since he was 10}.
Memories are what makes the Holidays so special. It’s not the presents or parties. Its not the fancy meals or abundant desserts we give ourselves permission to eat more of than we normally would. It’s the feelings of being connected to each other in intimate and intricate ways.
I’d love to hear what some of your special Holiday traditions are!
Holistic Living RN 