“Come on, Mom. We can do it.”
“I don’t know. Its pretty heavy.”
“I think we can do it.”
In our house, one tradition is to put up our Christmas tree Thanksgiving weekend. We decorate while Christmas movies play on TV. We have a heavy, large tree in a bag that requires Dad to bring up from storage. Dad didn’t have time to bring the tree up before heading out hunting. My ten year old was certain he and I could carry it up the stairs. I knew I couldn’t move the tree by myself. My 65 pound son is very helpful, but not the strongest. I had serious doubts about our ability to get the tree to the living room. He clearly felt otherwise and was relentlessly after me to try it.
Traditions bring family together. They bond relationships and build positive memories. They give you something to look forward to durning the Christmas season. And, they can teach the meaning of the season.
I love decorating for Christmas as much as my son, so naturally I gave in to his request. I decided it didn’t hurt to try. We were able to wedge it out of the downstairs closet. It was time to try and lift it. He took the light end of the bag. I, of course, got the heavy end. Did I say it was heavy? We head toward the stairs when he says, “How come I’m the one going backwards?” “Because I have all the weight,” I grunted. Up we went. We have a four level, split house. I shifted and grunted as we went up all four levels. We made it to the living room. I dropped the tree and flopped on top of it in exhaustion only to hear my son say, “That wasn’t so bad.” I growled, “Because I had all the weight!”
Traditions don’t have to be elaborate or expensive. They only need to matter to the ones participating in them. What matters especially during this season is to include Christ in our traditions. Advent candles, nativity scenes, church programs and even Charlie Brown Christmas are simple easy ways to bring Christ into our traditions.
We had a great day of decorating and managed to sort of watch all three Santa Clause movies. I’m glad he talked me into trying to get the tree upstairs. I should have made un-decorating the tree a tradition.
What are your traditions? Share them here and we can build a great list of ideas to share.