traditions and memories

When I was a kid, Mom used to make us pancakes in the shape of our initials. Luckily, both my boys have short names, so this morning I decided to make special pancakes for my family too. Seth ate up his name, John ate a J, and Dave got heart-shaped pancakes. I hope that this tradition (of sorts) becomes a fond memory for my kids as it did for me.

The last few weeks or so, my family and I have been talking a lot about traditions. Particularly with the impending holidays coming up, and the pressure and stress that comes along with them. My sister and I both agree, that when we think back in our lives about

Christmas and the memories we have of it

we think of the traditions we kept. Like each Christmas morning we'd get up and wake everyone else up, then open our stockings. But we weren't allowed to open anything until everyone came downstairs, and it felt like an agony waiting for them to shower and dress and wander downstairs. Then we'd have to eat breakfast (a formal sit-down breakfast) and wash the dishes before we opened anything under the tree.

Every Christmas morning for breakfast it was a tradition to eat venison mouthfuls, and scrambled eggs, and sweet bread that cousin JoAnn used to bring. We'd also all go for rides in the car and look at the lights on the houses, and the day after Christmas we'd go to the movies. These are the traditions of my family growing up, and the memories I had.

I dont remember anything about what awesome presents I got, or how big they were, or how many there were. So, in a time where Dave and I are scrambling to make our money stretch and stressing about having to buy presents for everyone, I think we'd all agree that perhaps it's time to create our traditions and make them our own. So that even if we can only afford to send out pictures this year, instead of presents, and even if Seth only gets a few presents, I hope that someday he won't care cause all he'll remember is how much fun he had.