We made it to Christmas number six with children before we caved, so I guess that deserves a medal of sorts. But really, I haven't been too thrilled with the idea of the (somewhat creepy-stalkerish) Elf because I want my kids to behave well because they are well behaved. Not because they are worried about the Elf reporting bad behavior to Santa, thus not getting all of the toys they WANT AND NEED for Christmas. Lots of thoughts on this, including my reservations with really 'doing' Santa at all. And my reservations with giving them excessive gifts (er, being the only grandchildren on both sides of the family doesn't help with this at all), and making Christmas about Santa and gifts and everything decidedly NOT what Christmas should be about.
Nate tells me to lighten up, it's fun to have the elf and fun to believe in Santa and our kids won't be spoiled brats because of the toys under the tree. I do think it's possible to celebrate the secular part of Christmas along with the Biblical meaning. Why can't Santa and Jesus *both* get the spotlight? It doesn't have to be all or none, right? We frequently talk about the real meaning of Christmas, they are going to Sunday School and learning about baby Jesus, and they get really excited about the prospect of his birthday party (ahem, possibly because of the gifts, yet again).
But I digress, because this post just got way too deep for my liking. Let's just look at pretty pictures instead, shall we? {Side note--both Truman and Cecelia are bonkers for Candy Cane Jane, our elf, and it's quite entertaining to see their excitement each morning when they find her! She is not a crazy-Pinterest-worthy elf making huge messes or anything elaborate. But she seems to give them a little thrill, and I'm a sucker for the extreme happiness that silly little things like an elf bring to my kids.}
Candy Cane Jane has me thinking a lot about Christmas traditions lately. Apparently we are going to make the Elf on the Shelf a part of our tradition, and we have numerous others that will contribute to our memories looking back on these Christmases with littles.
Face Under The Paper Shots
This is a tradition started by my mom's family, so Memaw and Papaw were the initiators. Looking back through the pictures from my childhood, were is always one 'money shot' image from every Christmas. We always took a picture under the wrapping paper chaos/aftermath and it's hilarious to see the changes over the years. Sometimes I'm a cute little innocent three year old, sometimes I'm an awkward pre-teen, and sometimes I'm glaring at the camera as a teenager. Most of the time my brother is ultra adorable. The more I think about this tradition, the more I realize I probably love it because of my obsession with comparison photo collages. So there you go;)
2010
2011--not quite the 'money shot' but still cute!
2012
2013
2014
Can't wait to force the children to do this for many many years to come!
Christmas Eve Church Service
This is just an excuse to show you my kids all dressed up and adorable. But we really do try to go to the Christmas Eve 'family' service at our church each year. I remember going to church on Christmas morning at times and it was BRUTAL to wait to open our presents until after church. I think going on Christmas Eve, then doing some gifts with my in-laws that night is a great way to spread out the madness a bit. Christmas morning has always been 'just' our little family opening gifts and I hope we can keep it that way in the future, too! But yes, church. We go on Christmas Eve and I don't hate to don festive apparel on these baby faces of ours.
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Christmas Pajamas
Hardly a tradition specific to our family, but still a fun part of the holidays. With each successive child I get more and more excited for matching Christmas pajamas, too!
2010
2011
2012
Two pictures from that year because, OMG, baby CC.
2013
2014
Yessssss. You know there will be plenty from 2015 to satisfy my desire for all things matching.
Snow Ice Cream
This is a little less generic than the tradition above, more unique to our family (perhaps?). But my mom always made my brother and I 'snow ice cream' after a fresh snow. Which, looking back, growing up in Missouri compared to my kids growing up in Wisconsin probably meant a lot fewer opportunities for the goodness of this treat! All you need is a bowl of snow, then pour in some milk, give it a few shakes of vanilla extract, several heaping spoonfuls of sugar, and then top it with food coloring. Easy peasy, delicious, and obviously a big hit with the kids. We don't just do this at Christmas so it's more of a 'winter tradition' thing, but bonus if we get a fresh blanket of snow on Christmas Day here (as if we need more sugar on Christmas, but whatever).
Fun in the Snow
Yep, not a Christmas-y thing really, but chalk this up to 'reasons why winter is somewhat tolerable in Wisconsin.' Because playing in the snow is ridiculously fun, even as an adult---but especially through the eyes of a kid. And especially when there is still a baby in the house that despises the snow, thus allowing me to come inside early with that baby as Nate plays with the bigger kids. I have this all worked out to make 'fun in the snow' JUST the right amount of fun for me.
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014 (note the pumpkins in the background, this was definitely in November but it counts!)
How is that for a walk down memory lane? What traditions does your family do for Christmas? Do you love/hate the elf like me? Most importantly, have you ever tried snow ice cream?? ;)
We don't have kids, so our traditions aren't the same as most people's, but we have created a few in our 3 years of marriage: we drive {or walk if weather allows} through the lights display in our local park. We have a tree devoted specifically to ornaments we have collected from our little vacations and getaways {and I print a picture of each ornament and write on the back of it the story of how we acquired that one...and we read those stories as we hang each ornament on the tree}. We frame our Christmas cards each year and display them all together - this could get interesting in about 10 more years. And on Christmas Eve, we sleep by the tree, so we can wake up to our stockings!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the idea of sleeping by the tree on Christmas Eve! How romantic!
DeleteI have struggled with the hubbub of the season and worrying that we are losing the meaning of Christmas. A long time ago my parents' friend, who is a Catholic priest, gave me a small statue of the kneeling santa. I had forgotten about the statue and then my mom pulled it out. Oh my goodness, does that change everything for us. Thank you for opening your life for us to follow. It is a lot of fun to see your kids as they grow!
ReplyDeleteOoooh, my mom had a little figuring of Santa kneeling to Jesus in the manger, I always loved it growing up!! I'll ask my mom if she still has it;)
DeleteNice! We have an elf in the shelf, but our elf doesn't report bad behaviour to Santa. Our elf is all about sharing the happiness of Christmas, so, she looks for moments of the kids being helpful, loving, and kind. Then she loves to tell Santa about all of those moments, and hearing all of that makes Santa very happy! Santa and the elves get SO happy hearing all of this good stuff that they in turn just need to share their happiness with the whole world, and so they make toys and treats for all the children.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, that's the narrative we use with our elf on the shelf. Happy Christmas!
Great idea, focusing on the positive and not the negative. Love that!
DeleteI am with you 100% on the elf! we haven't caved yet. I say because I'm sure Sarah will ask eventually.
ReplyDeleteI wrestle with the presents every year. Do we just go by budget? A certain number? A certain list (want, read, need, wear) or what? So this year I decided that Santa brings 3 presents (Jesus got 3 presents). Because he gets the credit for stockings too. Then we will get them a fun toy. Always new pjs, and maybe a few other things depending on budget/age/lists... This keeps it at bay a little bit but also still fun. They get so many things from all of the grandparents/aunts & uncles/ cousins, etc that I hate to go overboard. But I do enjoy the magic of Christmas.
Might steal the idea of 3 gifts----seems like a great number!
DeleteI can't stand an entitled, bratty attitude, but I have patience for foolishness and squirrels. Too many toys? No worries. Toys reproduce and take over the house. Insist that the kids treat other people and each other well. Oh, and that bratty Elf? The most civilized, tender child I ever raised was a huge Simpson's fan. I figure he got out all his badness victoriously via Bart. There you go. love, Val
DeleteWe tried Elf on the Shelf when Trent was 3.5 I think and he didn't care, so we stopped ha. Now my niece/nephews are so confused why we have an Elf if he isn't one of Santa's and isn't magic blah blah blah. Had to come up with a quick answer on that one! I would love to make snow ice cream but alas we get an inch of frozen ice every few years...so that isn't likely to happen anytime soon. I love Christmas clothes and the special food we only eat this time of year (Christmas Wreaths, yum!), anything we can do just during this time of year to make it even more magical. :)
ReplyDeleteChristmas jammies are my favorite part of Christmas now that I have kids, I'm pretty sure. And yes, Jesus and Santa can coexist! Our elf doesn't report bad behavior to Santa, mostly because it doesn't work on my kids, darn it. It's mostly just fun to look for him in the morning - but honestly, I'm not sure how many years we'll be able to keep it going - feels like it'll get old after a couple more years, but we'll see!
ReplyDelete