I love the holidays. As I say that you can picture me wearing an over-sized “grandma” sweater with a cup of steaming hot coffee in my hand and a ridiculously sappy smile on my face. I’m the kind of person who puts decorating the Christmas tree on my top ten favorite things to do. The holidays are in my opinion the best time of the year. Who’s with me? I love the family time, the feasts of homemade food, the smell of pine trees in my living room, and the holly jolly music you only listen to one month out of the year.
Gracie was born just barely before the beginning of the holiday season. Her birth at the end of August marked the end of summer and the beginning of fall. Two short months later it was time for her first Halloween. Then just last week she had her first Thanksgiving, and in another month she will celebrate her first Christmas. It’s a very exciting time for a first-time mom.
Once little miss Grace joined us I didn’t want to waste any time in starting to create our own family traditions. A few weeks after she was born I told Seth I really wanted us to take her to an apple orchard. On our way there I thanked Seth for agreeing to make this trip on his day off even though Gracie won’t remember a single part of it. He laughed and said that he was, of course, happy to spend time with us. Then he said, “Shan, you’re an “All-American” girl. When it’s Halloween you want to carve pumpkins, when it’s Easter you want to paint eggs. And in the fall you want to go pick apples. And that’s ok with me.”
When I was growing up my dad was the one who instilled a love for family traditions in me. The night before Christmas we always listened to the same ancient record with a story of how Rudolph lost his red nose. Then on Christmas morning I would always run to see if “Santa” had eaten my cookies and left a note. Of course, there was always a friendly letter waiting for me. The cutest part is my dad changed his handwriting so I wouldn’t recognize it. When I was little I always thought Santa had the coolest handwriting and would try to mimic it for the next couple days. These unique traditions gave me so many things to look forward to as a kid. I hope Gracie appreciates the traditions Seth and I create for her.
So, how have I responded to my baby experiencing some of our family traditions for the first time? Even though she will have no memory of her first Halloween, you can bet your entire stash of tricks and treats that I dressed her up in an adorable costume. It was a pretty big deal for me that we didn’t carve pumpkins this year. But next year I will look forward to watching her dig her hands inside her pumpkin and pull out a handful of gooey sticky mess. We may have had a pumpkin-less Halloween but I would still call it a success because she ended up in a tiny giraffe costume complete with a hat and boots. She may have only been awake for five minutes of it but I got about a thousand pictures and videos to prove it. I’m not sure if I would call Thanksgiving a success but it was still memorable. She pretty much farted, cried, and slept the entire day. If she ever asks us what her first Thanksgiving was like we will tell her even though she was a cranky pants the whole day it was still the best Thanksgiving we’ve ever had because she was there.
I think I will always be an over-sentimental tradition-loving mom. When it’s Fall I will orchestrate a yearly family outing to an apple orchard and for Halloween I will compete with my kids to see who can create the spookiest pumpkin carving. I might even dust off on my Santa handwriting skills just for Gracie’s enjoyment. My little family traditions always made me feel special. As a kid my childlike brain would think, “I bet no one else’s family does this” even though tons of them probably did. Nevertheless it made me feel special to see my parents going out of their way to make the holidays fun.
I know Christmas is about more than just family fun but I do think it makes the Lord happy to see all the love and cheer. It’s crucially important to Seth and I to teach Gracie about who Christ is and why we celebrate His birth, and it’s also imperative that we raise her in a family that makes faces on squash-like fruits and invents silly handwriting.
Blessings,
Shanna
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