Prompt 4 is…. (if you’re thinking, “Wait! I missed prompt 3!” no worries, so did I. A picture of “Whimsical Holiday Decor.” I don’t even know what that means. Skippin’ it.)
Prompt 4: What is one tradition you plan to pass on to future generations of your family and friends?
Kind of a loaded question for a childless-almost-forty-year-old. I don’t know how you pass on a tradition without kids. I guess I hope my sister passes on our family’s traditions to her kids. Or maybe I just hope they include us in the new traditions they create for themselves. That would be good, too.
As for traditions I enjoy…
I like a real tree. I like the smell and the feel of a real tree. I like the imperfection of a real tree. I like the responsibility and the struggle of a real tree. I like the memory of my dad tagging a tree ahead of time and cutting it down himself. I like the memory of unveiling said tree when it was ready to bring in and set it up.
The actual decorating of the tree is actually not my fave. If I could just come home one day and a real tree would be set up and completely decorated, I’d be a very happy girl. Probably has something to do with bucking against the extremely precise way we decorated growing up:
- Ginzo picks 5 Christmas CDs to be played IN ORDER. No shuffle. No way.
- Lights go on the tree
- Kate and Ginzo check for duplicate colors too close together and switch them (not kidding)
- Ginzo hands us our ornaments one at a time. Hanging them has it’s own rules:
- Small ornaments up top and larger ones down low
- Each turn (one by one) goes on in order: Front, side, back, side, repeat.
- You do not put two ornaments in a row in the front.
- You do not skip the back of the tree.
- You hang Ginzo’s for her because she is conducting this orchestra of decoration, BUT her ornaments follow the same pattern – no skipping.
- You ask dad to find a branch strong enough for your porcelain bear ornament and he inevitably skips the front/side/back/side order and is reminded it is not optional.
- Garland on
- Star placed
(Ginzo is either laughing at the precision of this description or bitter that I don’t love it the way she does 😉
Yeah – I’m cool with decorating a little more willy-nilly than that. Or making Caleb and Sam do it for me 🙂
Christmas dinner is a fave.
Christmas music is a fave.
Not sure what I’ll pass on or to whom, but there are definitely some traditions that I really love that I hope continue. Fingers crossed.
changethetape 
You cannot have same color lights too close. Swapping is Christmas SOP over here too.
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A. Ginzo was never involved in the “duplicate colors too close”. That was all Kate.
B. Front, side, back, side came about because you each wanted all your ornaments on the front!
C. Children never realize that their parents idiosyncrasies are often a result of the children’s idiosyncrasies. Is that a nice enough way to put it?
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I also remember having to choose a tree” before it’s time” cause some children insist that a day on the tree farm, in brisk weather, making sure the tree that is selected is PERFECT, does not equate to “ having fun” ! And changing locations after all have gone to bed.. wow ! fond memories. Love your memories, I didn’t have those same ones growing up. 7 of us at a tree would not have been a pretty sight.
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