The hub bub of the election is over and who knows what is going to happen! Wouldn't it be great if some of that loot the feds are handing out would "trickle down"? That's a real theory, right? Not sure if any of it ever trickled into my pocket! But I finally did get my $600 stimulus check today (okay, it did take a while for us to file our taxes so we can't blame that on the federal government). $600....what to do with it? Maybe pay the school taxes for Canada Lake???
Christmas is already going to be meager! My mother has been saying that since the mid fifties when families actually did have some money. Every year my sister reminds me of the meager Christmas that is coming up....and we laugh alot about it and then about a week later I receive a box with lots of treasures all wrapped beautifully sent from my sister. Nothing meager about loving!
So....rituals and traditions! They help us with transition according to an editorial in the NY Times on Sat. 12/6/08. (Hope the tradition of receiving the NY Times is still around next year at this time...but I digress)
Rituals and traditions!!! I didn't really think we had many in our family to mark the importance of holidays like Christmas, but then I remember the anticipation of the finding out what Santa left us under the Christmas tree, hidden under the big white sheet. I never really understood why Santa brought those white sheets to everyone's houses along with the bags of toys, etc...but who wants to know too much when you are four and five years old waiting for the big reveal! Voila...the sheet comes off and there are the brand new ice skates I prayed for...bargained for! And, the black patent leather Barbie case for my sister (she always made out better than me...probably a better bargainer)! And, then there were the stockings! We did open our stockings before my mom and dad got out of bed (were they having sex while we opened our stockings?...ooohhhh, I just thought of that)! I loved the stocking part! It was like Halloween all over again (my personal favorite in terms of holidays).... the trading, the comparing, the negotiating over the loot...and wondering why we would get tooth brushes in our stockings! So, I guess in hind sight we did have some little traditions and rituals around "getting stuff" and I am unsure if these memories help with transitions or not, but I found myself creating these same Christmas morning rituals with my own three children. Little did I know that one of them who shall remain nameless as hopefully she isn't fully cooked yet has taken it all a step further and is the self-appointed Queen of Christmas morning gift giving. Which really means "no sheet". She is the sheet! She gives out the presents one by one and demands that each of us pay attention while the other opens each present. It can go on for hours and as each minute passes, the other self-appointed King of the family expresses his annoyance at the amount of time it is taking to open yet another CD! And...the Queen expects the appropriate response to each exposed gift. It isn't enough to just admire the gift. There must be some demonstrative out pouring of appreciation...like jumping up and down..shouting accolades of all kinds. Meanwhile the head King is beside himself and we are getting closer to the climax of Christmas morning...the real Jerry Springer event! But that is another story for yet another day! So...be careful of what you pass along to your children! If rituals and traditions truly keep us connected, then search for something to share that has value and meaning and stay away from sheets and black patent leather Barbie doll cases. Or you can wait until you are a real grandma...and write the $12 check! That' what I am waiting for.
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Traditions and Rituals...great blog! Most of my memories are those that I can see my own children already recreating, though they are ones that came out of my head after they were born.
I taught my children that we die with our memories and that whatever we did on Christmas Day we did together. (Of course we know that can not always be the case) Airplane tickets hidden somewhere in the house and a treasure hunt to find them and try to identify where we were going was BIG, BIG, BIG! (We did this for 5 years when they were going through those teen years) Last year when son #2 was alone in Iraq, daughter #1 and son #3 surprised Bryce and I with air and cruise tickets to the bahamas. WOW. Not prepared to see what you teach your children show up in that way. We took their "spririts" with us and left for an amazing time...just us and lots of new memories.
But we always miss our kids. Don't we? When you do not have real great memories growing up, it is important to create them when we can. It is the spirit. And mixed with a few spirits and good firends it can only be good! LOL
I also have a present queen to monitor the presents and make sure all goes according to her divine design. Another chapter! Thanks Julia for sharing...you are special. But you need to reshape your feelings about that Ginny doll...she was my favorite...
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