Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it and Happy Holidays to those who don’t. We had a wonderful Christmas this year despite COVID and all the limitations out there right now. We were able to shop online and get everything we needed and filled our stockings, as well. Yes, it wasn’t the same as prior years but you make it work with what you have.

Traditions combined

So my husband and I both had family traditions for the holidays with our families. Over the years, we have found that we have combined those traditions into our own family. For example, growing up, my husband’s family always had Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve and even opened a few gifts. That was the night of celebration. However, my family celebrated on Christmas Day. Christmas Day was when we had our big dinner and opened presents. My family had a tradition where the kids would stay in our rooms or sit in the hallway and wait until our parents called us out to the tree. I have vivid memories of sitting in the hallway with a full view of the tree with all the presents around it. Just sitting there filled with excitement!

Our traditions

We have created our own traditions. We have taken my husband’s Christmas Eve dinner tradition and made it our own. We always have our dinner on Christmas Eve. We tend to either have a roast pork or ham. This year was a spiral cut ham. I wasn’t crazy about it but all three kids enjoyed it and that made it all worthwhile. It’s a challenge to find something they all like. Then, on Christmas morning, we’ve carried on the tradition of the kids waiting to come out to the tree. Even with two of them being teenagers and one an adult now, they will wait. I love that! I think that is something they may carry on with their own families some day, too.

Gifts

I have to say as the years go by and the kids get older and older, buying gifts gets harder and harder. Gone are the days of just walking into a store(well, thanks to COVID…that is real…haha) but being able to just go into a toy section and get all of our Christmas shopping done in one shot. At one point, the kids were happy with just about anything and it was so easy to buy a lot of gifts for cheap. But, slowly that all changed. They started to want certain items and now as teenagers, those certain items have gotten more and more expensive. Part of me can’t help but feel bad that we don’t have that mountain of gifts under the tree. That mountain has seemed to have reduced to a mole hill. But, an expensive mole hill. If I could, I would still want to give them that mountain of gifts.

NYE plans

This New Year’s Eve should be pretty interesting. I think it will definitely be memorable and historic without all of the people crammed into Times Square to watch the ball drop. It’s exciting to think about leaving 2020 behind but I don’t think 2021 will be much different. I think it’s going to be probably until 2023 until we start to see some normalcy. This year we are doing a family game night. I bought a couple of new board games and I’m looking forward to playing with the family. We are also planning on having a bunch of yummy snacks and drinks.

What are your plans for New Years? Do you have any yearly traditions with your family? I wish all of you a happy, safe, and healthy new year.