Joy of Tradition

One of my favorite things of the Christmas season is tradition. I didn't grow up with many traditions as a kid. I remember often feeling sad in Church classes when the teacher would solicit Christmas traditions from us, and I had nothing to share. I do remember sitting there and thinking, "one day, when I have my own family, I will have my own traditions, and my kids will be able to share something, and not feel so sad."

 Elfie Star, hanging with the drumset, returns every December 1. He flies home to the North Pole on Christmas Eve.

December 1st alway brings the return of Elfie Star, our Elf on the Shelf. He's been in our home for three years. He was a gift from my lovely friend Sally. The girls were three and five years old at the time, and it was the perfect age to begin a fun tradition with our elf. 

One year, Elfie Star got us out of a Christmas jam. You can read about it here.

They look forward to finding Elfie every day.

We love having him in our home. I know there are a lot of other elves out there, but we're glad we have our Elfie - he's not a trouble-maker, and not a mess-maker, thank goodness. Elfie sits politely, just does his job, and reports back, like a good elf should, and moves around the house because he knows it's fun to surprise the girls. Just as we all need a little reminder, he helps remind the girls to be kind to each other. Elfie's also very sweet to respond with notes whenever our daughters want to give him a present, or send him a thank you note.

Elfie brought a note in response to the gifts/notes the girls gave him. The look on their faces is why traditions like this are worth it for me.

We have a lot of fun with our elf, and seeing how grateful, and how delighted the girls are with the tradition, makes the challenge of remembering to move Elfie, and a little bit of time to write notes now and then, all worth it. While some may debate Elf on the Shelf, like many do about having a TV in the house, my thought on it is simply, it's all about how you use it, not the thing itself. Plus, Christmas simply isn't the same once you have kids. It's better.

"Dear Elfie, I love you because you are so nice."

The other tradition I love is our 12 Books Before Christmas. When I first started the tradition, years ago, we didn't have that many Christmas books. Each year I added to our collection, and it's gotten to the point where we have to start earlier in the month, and we read a couple books a night to get through them all. For a book lover, it's a great problem to have. 

Wrapping time.

Since we read every night, changing the stories all over to Christmas themed books makes the month incredibly special. The girls look forward to unwrapping a book and not knowing what story we'll be reading that night. 

All set, and ready to go. Although, I did order a few more books still to arrive.

A few other traditions we incorporate all happen to be on Christmas Eve. After we've read Christmas stories all month long we read the true Christmas story of Christ, His birth, and the miracles and celebrations that heralded the miracle. After the story we open up new pajamas on Christmas Eve. Then we all pack into the car and drive around the neighborhood looking at lights in our new pajamas, with a cup of hot chocolate. When we get home we spread out reindeer food outside our home, and set out the cookies and milk for Santa.

Christmas rules.

We stay home every Christmas, as we believed early on, once we had kids, Santa comes to our home. Having that firm tradition has really helped center us for this holiday.

I love the consistency of tradition. It builds trust, and creates a bond that lasts. I'm so grateful for this time of year, and for our beautiful little family.

What are your favorite traditions?

Cheers!

Visit my Christmas posts on Today's Mama:
Kid Christmas Party
Elf on the Shelf
12 Books Before Christmas