Christmastime!

In the words (or lack thereof) of the Vince Geraldi classic, "Christmastime is here!" It's a sweet time for us, although it always reminds us how much we miss our families back home and the traditions we've built with them. But the best way to walk through that is to create traditions of your own. How, you might ask, are we doing that? There are a few things, and we seem to develop them more each year.

Music

It really is interesting how our entire culture switches to a special type of music for Christmas, but we're not complaining! In addition to listening almost entirely to Christmas music, we just plain listen to more music this time of year. Between a few Pandora stations we've created, the Christmas music in our iTunes, and an ever-growing Spotify playlist, the sounds of Christmas are filling our home all the time. We tend to stick to songs about the celebrations ("It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas") or the true nativity story ("Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,") and avoid the Santa Claus songs (more on that later). Later on, we also hope our children will sing with us!

Church and People

Whether we like it or not, our children will surely grow up thinking that in December, we see a lot of people, we to go church a lot, and Daddy goes to church a whole lot. And, yes, we like that. It tells us that something special is afoot. All this bustling and busyness creates an anticipation- it often makes me feel like someone is coming. That's perfect, and I hope it feels that way for our children also.

We also spend a lot of time with people, which reminds us of how nice it is to have someone near. That's a wonderful thing to have on your mind when you consider the God who came near to us. God truly is with us!

Skip the Mythology

Most of the people who know us well enough to read our blog know by now that we don't do Santa Claus with Sarah. I don't completely remember how it came about, but we actually decided before we were even married not to do Santa in our home. So far, it's turned out very well for us.

Imagination is a beautiful and powerful thing, especially in a child. Things like the Tooth Fairy, the Boogeyman, and whatever else Dad and Mom make up are healthy parts of childhood. But as parents who are trying to use a story and a holiday to teach a deep and vital truth to our children, we decided it just isn't a good idea to mix that story with a mythological one. So there is no Santa, reindeer, elves, or even Frosty around here this time of year. There are several reasons for this, but the greatest is that a far better story is already being told.

January is really the start of winter on Cape Cod, so we do plan to sing the story of Frosty the Snowman after Christmas, when there is snow on the ground. And we'll tell them about Santa (both St. Nicholas and Santa Claus) when they start realizing what's going on in their friends' houses- we just won't act like the latter is real. And eventually, when they're old enough, we'll watch fun movies like "Elf" together. Until then, we'll give them gifts, tell them we love them, tell them the real story, and skip the Santa songs when they come up on Pandora. 

Candy!

There's often a bowl of hospitality candy in our house, which we rarely ever eat from. But not at Christmastime! Not only does Christmas get its own special candy, but we actually enjoy it rather than just having it there for guests. Andes mints, Candy Cane Kisses, fudge- it all lives here during Christmastime. And then there's this ever-growing pile of cookies and other goodies just a few feet away! Why? So we'll remember, and our kids will learn, that it's the most wonderful time of the year. 

Decoration, Tree, and Ornaments

Yet another way many people make Christmas special is to decorate, and we're no exception. New England has a tradition of putting candles in the window to signify an open house, and we've adopted it. But our favorite tradition comes from our families: trimming the tree together and telling the stories of ornaments while we put them up. What a great way to remember our family, and for us to tell our children more about our own mommies and daddies.

Gifts!

We have a Father in heaven who knows how to give good gifts, and we try our best to model that to Sarah.  But we never expected to be showered with so many gifts from others! In the following picture, for instance, one present is from Emily and one is from me- the rest came from outside our home! I get a sense of the love and generosity of our church and family every time I see that mound of gifts that has grown too big for the tree, one that I hope our children will get as well. In the future, I think our plan is to put all the gifts we receive under that tree until Christmas Day, just to remind ourselves of the generosity of our loved ones. Perhaps that will point us all to the generosity of God and the good gifts He's given us.

Stories (One Day)

When Emily was pregnant with Sarah and Christmas came around, it came upon me to start writing bedtime story adaptations of the Christmas stories in the Gospels. I wrote one called "John is Coming!," and another called "Jesus is Coming!" Then Christmas came and they went into the vault until that little baby would be old enough to understand them. One day she will be, and I look forward to sitting with her before bed and dramatizing the stories of my Lord's birth. Stories teach so well, especially to children. I don't know if I'll keep writing them, but I do hope to sit down and learn the fine art of storytelling before my children some day soon. 


Surely more festive fun will develop as our young family grows in wisdom and number, but that's what we do for now. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!