Merging Holiday Traditions

I loved Christmas when I was a kid. I wish I could say it had something to do with the religious aspects, but it was the presents, the toys. It was the best time of the year because I got more toys than I could conceivably play with... although I did give it my best effort.

In our family, we opened gifts on Christmas morning. During the night, while we slept, Santa brought our gifts and left them out for us. There were four of us kids, and we all had our special spot. Mine was the single chair in the living room. When I came down Christmas morning, my chair would be covered with toys and clothes. Not wrapped, just neatly laid out.  The year I got a new bike it was parked next to my chair. The same with the chalkboard I received the following year. It was like a party. And later, after my parents woke and got their coffee, we attacked the wrapped gifts under the tree; the ones we'd gotten each other. It was a wonderful experience and although I couldn't put it in words then, when I got older I knew I wanted that same experience for my children.

My first week of law school I met the man who would become my husband. Now, this blog post is not the place for THAT story, but we were inseparable from that moment on. Christmases during the years we dated and the ones after we married, before children, we spent rotating between our two families. He was surprised the first holiday he spent with my family to learn we opened gifts on Christmas morning.

His family opened gifts on Christmas Eve!

As I expressed my incredulity, he went on to share his childhood experience of opening gifts at night on Christmas Eve. And all of his gifts from Santa were wrapped and nestled under the tree. I smiled indulgently, but I knew in my heart that if he was lucky enough to spend his life with me, our children would follow my family's traditions, not his weird ones.

Ten years later, we had a choice to make. We had three children and one was old enough to understand Christmas and look forward to it. We'd continued visiting our families during the holidays, but we both knew it was time to start our own family tradition, and that meant staying at home.

And settling the long debate of Christmas Eve versus Christmas.

We both had valid reasons for our preference and they were backed by years of emotions and memories. It wasn't easy, but we had to do what was best for the family we created, not the ones we grew up with. And in the end, we came up with a compromise that has since become our family tradition. We open gifts on Christmas morning, but they are all wrapped and nestled under the tree, even the ones from Santa.

From the W3 family to yours... Happy Holidays!!

What are some of your favorite Holiday traditions?

Tracey Livesay
True Love in black & white
www.traceylivesay.com
Mimosas at Midnight
Twitter: @tlivesay
Facebook: TraceyLivesayAuthor

First Friday - Books, Movies, Movies, Books... And Santa Clause!

by Sofie Couch

What is it about the big man in red that says Christmas, hot chocolate, reindeer, cookies... and sexy! Do what?

You heard me. I said sexy... in reference to Santa Clause. He is hot! Okay, maybe I've got a thing for giant men with beards. Mr. French was my first crush. I think maybe because he reminded me so much of Saint Nick when I was in some developmentally sensitive moment. "Mistah Fwench! Mistah Fwench!" And my husband, (hmm, come to think of it, another large bearded man), gave me as a gift one Christmas, the entire first season of Family Affair. Ahhhh, that man knows me well.

I think it's the lumberjack mystique. Santa Clause is the wounded hero, who lives in seclusion, who has disavowed all society, except for his annual practice of attending to the needy. When he's not giving to the poor children of the world, he's running his own sanctuary for put-upon little people. They raise reindeer, don't ya know.

And then there's that other giant hottie, Hagrid. Yeah, I'm talkin' Hagrid of Harry Potter fame. Unsung hero, gentle giant, huge heart, (Robbie Coltrane), layers of clothes, and hair, and mystique. Speaking of which, here's a link to a bit of fan-fiction I've been playing at over at Movellas, HAGRID's HEART. (Note: it's not finished, so this is just a teaser, but if you really want to know, I'll tell ya how it ends.)

Do not judge me. (Yeah, that Santa in the photo has no pants. He also has no head, legs, arms or spirit. He's just there in my office for inspiration.) It's a popular theme this time of year. I'm off to watch THE SANTA CLAUSE 2: The Mrs. Clause. You'll want to catch that one if you haven't already. Then you'll know what I mean. Tim Allen with a beer gut and white beard - hot!