Simple And Meaningful Christmas Traditions We Treasure

It’s a bit before 7:00 am on the morning of Christmas Eve. I’ve been awake for almost two hours after only sleeping for about two hours last night. This has been the norm for me for a while now, but on this morning…I don’t think it’s because of COVID. On this morning…I think it’s because for the past nineteen years…this has been Christmas morning in our home. We’ve done it this way since Ellie was born

grandpa and grandma…

You see…Christmas day has always been spent at Grandpa and Grandma Louiselle’s house. In the earlier years of the cousins’ childhood, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law lived downstate. They traveled north with my niece and nephew for Christmas and stayed with Grandpa and Grandma. Back then, we were usually off to Grandpa and Grandma’s house by about 8:30 on Christmas morning. Our niece, Ashley and our nephew, Thomas were little…and Grandpa was, and still is, just a big little kid at Christmas…and the three of them were ready to see if Santa had visited overnight. We didn’t want to have our kids rush through opening their presents here at home and then leave the house…and their new toys…right away for the rest of the day, so we started celebrating our Christmas morning with them a day early.

It has worked beautifully! And even though the cousins are teenagers and young adults and they’re okay with sleeping in and checking for the empty cookie plate and milk glass a little later in the morning these days…Grandpa’s not. No, but really, we’ve been doing it this way for so many years that it has just become our tradition and we never thought to change it.

enter 2020…

Like so many other families this year, things look different. As much as we all want to, we aren’t going to Grandpa and Grandma’s house tomorrow morning. There aren’t cinnamon rolls baking in the oven for later this morning. And we’re not, having just opened gifts with the kids here, in the middle of a wrapping paper fight at our house right now. I can smell Mike’s coffee and hear his footsteps upstairs while I’m still cozied up downstairs in my second favorite writing space.

Three of the kids are still asleep and one is downstate…likely still asleep, as well. Mason and Becca will be coming north (we’ve all been quarantining) and we will get to spend part of our Christmas with them, but it will be after Christmas Day.

And, other than not being able to sleep…I’m working on being okay with this. We’ve done this before. Not holiday quarantines and COVID…but changing things up. Saying goodbye to old traditions to make room for new ones.

Just as this morning usually holds its own traditions and memories, so does this evening.

christmas eve…

Christmas Eve, from the year I was born, was ALWAYS spent with my grandma.
I knew the first Christmas after we lost her (nine years ago) would be painfully difficult.
I knew I would need to start a new tradition.
On that first Christmas Eve without Grandma…Mike and I started Christmas Eve “movies and milkshakes” with our four kids.

No gifts exchanged this night. No fancy dinner this night.
Just homemade milkshakes, stove-top-popped buttered popcorn, and Christmas movies. Oh, and jammies. Only jammies allowed this night.
After a difficult first year, this night each year now holds so many of my favorite and most treasured memories.

We won’t be doing movies and milkshakes tonight, but…we will be doing them. When Mason and Becca get here. Once they’re here…then it’s Christmas Eve. We’ll do it then. And then the next morning will be our Christmas Eve-morning that we celebrate Christmas with our kids, There will be cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. There will be wrapping paper wars in the living room. And there will be a smile on this momma’s face…having made it all work out somehow.

it’s only a number…

The 25th is just a number on a calendar. We make the day count.

As you’re waking up this Christmas Eve morning, what does your holiday look like? Different…I know that. And, I’m so sorry. But what have you made work out…somehow? What traditions are you able to still make happen? What new traditions have you been given the opportunity to begin? Share here how you’re navigating this unpredictable and mixed-up season. Share here the hard things. Because together…we can make the hard things easier.

My wish for all of you is that you find comfort in the familiar and courage in the new. That you’re able to see through the chaos to reveal the calm. And that you tuck away and treasure every single moment that brings a smile to your face.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!