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Writer's Block: It's A Tradition
Darlings, we do have our share of traditions, some of them dating back to my childhood. Isn't funny how some traditions that seemed totally stupid as a kid are the same ones you hold onto as adults? For example, here's some traditions--or you could call some rules--my mom had.
TRADITION #1: Thou shall not decorate until the house is clean.
This one killed me as a kid! There I was, excited about Christmas and decorating with all the boxes brought out of storage. But nooooo . . . we had to clean first. Not fair, right? But then again . . . it was also quite smart seeing how it was the perfect motivation to get my brother and me to scrubbing. Besides, you seriously can't decorate a dirty house!
TRADITION #2: Thou shall not eat your popcorn until the movie starts.
We weren't big movie goers when I was a kid because they were expensive. But during the holidays, the budget relaxed and we would always go see a movie, sometimes with my father on Christmas Eve. However, the expensive popcorn, sodas and snacks my parents bought? We weren't allowed to start eating them until the movie starts.
Okay, this one is brutal and my kids absolutely hate the torture of having to wait before digging into their popcorn. Still, really, it is smart. Especially now when previews take forever and most people are usually done their snacks by the time the movie starts. But not us, nope, we still have our food, hehehehe.
TRADITION #3: Thou shall not snoop for presents.
Trust me when I say that I learned this lesson the hard way. And to this day, you could have all my presents piled on the kitchen table with only a sheet over them and I will NOT touch it. Not even one little tiny peek and that's all I've got to say about this subject. ;)
TRADITION #4: Thou shall not put any presents underneath the tree before Christmas.
Again, I like this tradition, unlike my husband who always wants to put a few presents underneath the tree early. But as a kid, it was always so magical to wake up Christmas morning to find presents mounded underneath the tree, so this tradition stays.
~~~
So Mom and I do agree on some things when it comes to Christmas. But, there were some traditions Mom always followed that I have long ago abandoned. Such as . . .
~~~
TRADITION #5: Thou shall give children new slippers on Christmas Eve.
My brother and I were allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve and it was always a pair of new slippers. New slippers were a must in our farmhouse that was heated with only wood stoves. I tried to keep this tradition alive with my kids--but they hate slippers. Even the cute Barney or Tweetie-bird ones. So this one has died.
TRADITION #6: Thy father shall take thy children out on Christmas Eve so thy mother can get work done.
Every year, my father would take my brother and me somewhere fun on Christmas Eve, like to the movies, bowling alley or skating rink. This was always such a treat because he worked night shift and we didn't get to spend time with just him very often. Mom stayed home to get all the last minute things done, like wrapping, cleaning or baking.
At first, Bob and I did hold on to this tradition. He has a roughly twenty-year tradition of his own, where he meets up with his friends at a restaurant on Christmas Eve, so he started taking the kids when they were older, leaving me home. But, about five years ago, I saw a serious flaw in this. Why am I at home working when the holidays are about being together with your family? So now, if there is last minute work to be done, we all do it together in the morning so I'm free to go have fun. We take about forty dollars worth of quarters so the kids can go wild playing the video and basketball games while us adults hang out.
Now that's a good tradition.
And then there's also my tradition of making a TON of mini-cheesecakes for my husband to give out to business associates, like I did last year. That's what I'm doing today, and by this evening my fridge will look like this . . .
Yum. And now it's back to batch #5 for me . . .
TRADITION #1: Thou shall not decorate until the house is clean.
This one killed me as a kid! There I was, excited about Christmas and decorating with all the boxes brought out of storage. But nooooo . . . we had to clean first. Not fair, right? But then again . . . it was also quite smart seeing how it was the perfect motivation to get my brother and me to scrubbing. Besides, you seriously can't decorate a dirty house!
TRADITION #2: Thou shall not eat your popcorn until the movie starts.
We weren't big movie goers when I was a kid because they were expensive. But during the holidays, the budget relaxed and we would always go see a movie, sometimes with my father on Christmas Eve. However, the expensive popcorn, sodas and snacks my parents bought? We weren't allowed to start eating them until the movie starts.
Okay, this one is brutal and my kids absolutely hate the torture of having to wait before digging into their popcorn. Still, really, it is smart. Especially now when previews take forever and most people are usually done their snacks by the time the movie starts. But not us, nope, we still have our food, hehehehe.
TRADITION #3: Thou shall not snoop for presents.
Trust me when I say that I learned this lesson the hard way. And to this day, you could have all my presents piled on the kitchen table with only a sheet over them and I will NOT touch it. Not even one little tiny peek and that's all I've got to say about this subject. ;)
TRADITION #4: Thou shall not put any presents underneath the tree before Christmas.
Again, I like this tradition, unlike my husband who always wants to put a few presents underneath the tree early. But as a kid, it was always so magical to wake up Christmas morning to find presents mounded underneath the tree, so this tradition stays.
~~~
So Mom and I do agree on some things when it comes to Christmas. But, there were some traditions Mom always followed that I have long ago abandoned. Such as . . .
~~~
TRADITION #5: Thou shall give children new slippers on Christmas Eve.
My brother and I were allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve and it was always a pair of new slippers. New slippers were a must in our farmhouse that was heated with only wood stoves. I tried to keep this tradition alive with my kids--but they hate slippers. Even the cute Barney or Tweetie-bird ones. So this one has died.
TRADITION #6: Thy father shall take thy children out on Christmas Eve so thy mother can get work done.
Every year, my father would take my brother and me somewhere fun on Christmas Eve, like to the movies, bowling alley or skating rink. This was always such a treat because he worked night shift and we didn't get to spend time with just him very often. Mom stayed home to get all the last minute things done, like wrapping, cleaning or baking.
At first, Bob and I did hold on to this tradition. He has a roughly twenty-year tradition of his own, where he meets up with his friends at a restaurant on Christmas Eve, so he started taking the kids when they were older, leaving me home. But, about five years ago, I saw a serious flaw in this. Why am I at home working when the holidays are about being together with your family? So now, if there is last minute work to be done, we all do it together in the morning so I'm free to go have fun. We take about forty dollars worth of quarters so the kids can go wild playing the video and basketball games while us adults hang out.
Now that's a good tradition.
And then there's also my tradition of making a TON of mini-cheesecakes for my husband to give out to business associates, like I did last year. That's what I'm doing today, and by this evening my fridge will look like this . . .
Yum. And now it's back to batch #5 for me . . .