Our first Christmas together was spent thousands of miles from either of our families, so we had the distinct opportunity to establish our own set of traditions. I explained to Philip the idea of Advent as looking forward to Christ's birth and helping us to remember why we celebrate Christmas. I also described the fun of opening stockings on December 6th, a way of spreading out the gifts of Christmas and commemorating the real person behind Santa Claus. Since Philip hadn't really thought much about how his boyhood Christmases were celebrated, he agreed to include these traditions our own set. Our first Christmas was simple. Philip's brother called to wake us up early; he had always been the early riser in their family. Then I made cinnamon rolls for a special breakfast. I'm pretty sure we went back to bed before spending the rest of the day just relaxing and enjoying time together. We took our dog for a walk to play with other dogs at the park in the evening. I don't remember for sure, but we probably stayed up playing games together or reading side by side.
Once we had children, keeping traditions became even more important. By doing the advent wreath, we were really teaching our children the significance of Christmas rather than just reminding ourselves. After a few years of St. Nicholas Day stockings, Philip mentioned to me that he wanted to share with our children the joy of opening a stocking on Christmas morning. He very much has fond memories of this part of the celebration. I outwardly agreed, since it would be selfish to insist on all of my traditions and none of my husbands, but in my heart I was reluctant. After all, nearly everyone opens stockings on Christmas morning; I enjoyed being part of a different group of people who celebrated St. Nicholas instead of Santa Claus. It seemed more cultured to have each item in the stocking mean something: something for warmth, a food item, chocolate money, etc. After pondering and fuming for a few days around December 6th, I realized that my children still knew about the story of St. Nicholas and were just as excited about stockings Christmas morning despite the dozens of other presents to be opened that same day. The spirit of Christmas is all about giving, and I could joyously give the gift of Christmas morning stockings to my husband. Besides, I was getting a little tired of finding little wooden trinkets to put in the stockings every year.
One of my favorite family traditions is one that started our first Christmas without our really knowing it. We spent this holiday in our own little home in Beersheva, Israel. Ironically, the country in which the miracle of Christmas took place does not celebrate it. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and to make up for the lack of Christmas cheer in the rest of the city, I decorated our house lavishly. We went to the local plant nursery and found an evergreen tree in a pot. As it was only three feet tall, it did not fit nearly all our ornaments on it, but I found a creative way to hang the rest. I didn't think we had enough decorations for the walls, so I started drawing and coloring pictures of Christmas trees, snowmen, and stockings. Philip joined in the spirit, and together we used nearly all our brick red crayon to make a "chimney" for our stockings.
Amidst all this creativity, Philip made a picture of a snowman sliding at a playground. He titled it, "What Snowmen Do While We are Sleeping." Inspired, the next evening, I drew a picture of a snowman sledding down a hill. Each year thereafter, we drew snowmen pictures to add to the collection. Anyone who is with us for Christmas is invited to join in. My mother has contributed several and my brother has two. The girls have joined us when they have turned two. We now have so many, that it is hard to keep track of who has done which picture and in which year (especially among the ones drawn by two-year-olds). Last year, we wrote the name and date on the back, but I wish we had done this from the beginning. Each year, we hang the pictures on the wall and smile at the silly scenes: Daddy's snowman roasting a hot dog, Grandma's shopping at "Bal-Mart," Mommy's jumping on the trampoline. Daddy's are most creative; Mommy's all have one of the snowmen with his hat falling off. The days before we draw our new picture are filled with private musings over what we will do this year; it must remain a surprise until we all show our completed pictures.
Tonight was our annual "Snowmen" drawing evening. Simeon scribbled in his high chair for awhile. Hollis drew a snow-baby trying to run off with a snow-mother trying to catch him. Meriel's was a snowman roasting a mango over the fire. Eris made a snow-ballet class. Mommy's is a snowman drawing "What People Do While We are Sleeping." Daddy's is a Bangkok snowman in front of the fan. So now we have five new pictures, we have two candles lit on our advent wreath, next week we will go to the garden market to search for a suitable Christmas "tree," and we are looking forward to stockings and cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. Throughout it all the purpose behind traditions is upheld: we share joy as a family and keep Jesus as the center of our home.
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