Christmas Traditions and Memories

This will be Ladybug's first Christmas!! And at 6 months, I think this is great time for her to experience Christmas. Not that she'll have any memories of this time, but she is a very observant baby and is having fun exploring her world. Soon that world will include a Christmas tree and presents! (Normally I have Christmas decorations up by now, but with a 6 month old, I find I don't always get things done like I used to!)

One of my favorite memories growing up was playing with a small wooden nativity set every year. It was a small part of Christmas traditions, but it is a vivid memory in my mind. Now I collect nativity sets. I have about 20 or so. I don't display them all every single year, but they range in size from mini-mini to about 6 inches. We actually keep one nativity set displayed year round on the table in our entryway.

I have seen several great kid-friendly nativity sets and will definitely be adding one of those to the collection next year for Ladybug to play with. Why shouldn't she play with it? She will learn about the Christmas story, who the characters are, etc, etc. And she can learn a great lesson about life, as I, her mother, remind her not to "lose the Baby Jesus." Literally and figuratively.

Another great memory I have from Christmases growing up is surrounding the Advent wreath at church. I grew up in a small, country church, where we shared our pastor with another church. The Advent wreath was a large wagon wheel suspended from a pulley system so that the wheel was horizontal rather than vertical. As kids, we were charged with scouring the woods for lots of ground pine so that the adults could dress the wreath in it. And then the older youth (my sister) would be in charge of misting the ground pine every week to keep it fresh.

One year, the ground pine dried out a little too much. After the candles had been lit, the pastor was offering a prayer. All of a sudden, we heard feet running to the front of the church. We all looked up to see the sprayer bottle in my sister's hand as she was putting out the candle and fire that had spread to the ground pine! I guess she had been neglecting her duty until then!

I would like to start the practice of keeping an Advent wreath in our home and using it for family devotions. I don't think we'll get that done this year, but definitely next year.

Another favorite part of Christmas is, of course, the music. I love playing Christmas music from Thanksgiving until New Year's Day. Or sometimes even until Russian Christmas (or Epiphany, January 6th). That's also when I take the tree down. Why not enjoy the season and the reminders of the true meaning of Christmas as long as possible?

For more Holiday Happenings, please visit Jen at Conversations with My Haidryer.

For more Holiday Open Houses, please visit Tiany at Less of Me - More of Him.