We asked the kids, "Do you want to attend the gingerbread house decorating fundraiser again this year?" Their answer was a quick, resounding, "yes!" It appears that last year we created a new family tradition when we attended this event. They raved about it. I remembered it as enjoyable, crowded and uncomfortably warm. The memories the children pulled forth held a little magic. So we went again. More magic.
Sometimes it seems the magic of the Christmas tradations is not made of actual events, which have the same ups and downs of family life, but the selective memories preserved from each event. We tend to remember the good, and the laughter. So every year we make new holiday traditions, trying to recreate some spontaneous fun or unplanned event that stuck in our childrens' minds as magical.
This year we will revive an old holiday tradition of making plaster-gauze masks on New Years eve. We have probably succeeded in pulling off this group activity five times over 20 years. But to the children, it is a priceless element of the family holiday season. My youngest will join his older cousins who remember the tradition and it will be set in him too. That is truly the beauty of the season...
No comments:
Post a Comment