Simply Me: Holiday Traditions

I love all the Holiday traditions that we have made as a family. I always make my own Christmas cards and special treat bags as place settings for Christmas dinner and when my kids were born I started the tradition of buying them a Christmas tree ornament - the idea being that when they moved out and had a family of their own they would be able to fill a tree with special ornaments. I always get an ornament that reflected what they had done over the past year and have such an enjoyable time deciding what to get them.... and, because I always want the perfect ornament, I start looking in October! My mother-in-law started the tradition of playing the “Christmas game” on Christmas Eve where we all steal small gifts from one another while a timer decides when the game is over (this really brings out the best in all of us!). This year we may have started a new tradition of cutting down our own Christmas tree – will see how I feel about that when next Christmas rolls around. We have the usual traditional turkey dinner with all of our favourite desserts, and I always have to take some family photos; this year I was really happy with the ones that I took in Fish Creek Park. Setting up the Christmas tree, decorating the house and my Christmas village are some of my very favorite traditions. We have the traditional Christmas day games of Christmas trivia and the "oven mitt" game which consists of unwrapping many layers of tighly wrapped paper using heavy mittens revealing a small prize. Some of our traditions have changed slightly over the years as we have lost loved ones and can’t bear to keep that tradition going without them - but new traditions fill the empty and sad space in our hearts and we go on.

Now that Christmas Day has come and gone, quite quickly I might add, our family is now glued to the television set to watch the World Junior Hockey Championships which traditionally start on Boxing Day. We have been doing this every year for as long as I can remember and both Craig and Meagan have grown up knowing and loving this tradition. We, or should I say, they plan their entire day around what time the games will be on and nothing can change it. Game one began at 1pm today and everyone is glued to the TV, only coming up in between periods to refresh the beverages and snack trays. It doesn’t matter where we are in the world, we MUST watch the hockey. I think my most favourite times were when we spent Christmas in Saskatchewan with my in-laws and my father-in-law would be so enthralled in the game you would almost think he was the coach…. Dale and Craig have since taken over that position with Meagan joining right in… somehow I think if you opened up all the windows in my house, Team Canada could actually hear them shouting and cheering them on. In most recent years it has been really exciting to watch as Craig has known some of the players.
Of all the holiday traditions we have as a family; I think this one is my favourite as I get to watch my family interact with each other in such a positive and joyful way.