Hey, It’s Christmas time! I thought about writing a post about decorating the house and sending out Christmas cards and then I realized I already did those posts a couple of years ago. And then I started to think about what Christmas was like growing up, what it was like while my kids were growing up, and what it’s like now. That got me thinking about things that have changed and things that have stayed the same. That got me thinking of Christmas then and now.
When I was growing up I loved Christmas time. I loved decorating the tree with my parents. I loved Christmas Eve with my dad’s family and a house filled with loud Italians laughing and eating all night. I loved playing with my cousins who I only got to see once a year on Christmas Eve. I loved it all! When my kids were little I loved cutting down our own tree and decorating it with them. I loved watching them get excited about Christmas and spending time with their cousins at grandma’s house. That was Christmas then. Now I still enjoy decorating our tree and putting on all of our ornaments from different places we’ve been to. I love spending Christmas with my family, especially my two grandchildren, and I love the new memories we are making. That is Christmas now.
I have always loved decorating the house for Christmas. Growing up living in two-family homes there wasn’t much I could do so I made the best of it. When my husband and I bought our first house I was excited that I had a place of my own where I could put up Christmas lights. I remember when we had a small deck built in the front of our house I was all excited that I had a place to put lights on the outside of our house. That was Christmas then. These days I am able to elaborate a little more with our Christmas lights on the outside of the house we now live in along with putting them around the front door and all that good stuff. That is Christmas now.
Last, but certainly never least there are Christmas cards. I can remember when I was growing up watching my mom write out Christmas cards. I remember walking past the dining room table seeing her sit there as she wrote out each card and addressed each envelope. I suppose that put a rather strong impression on me because that is something that has always meant a lot to me. That was Christmas then. These days, well actually for the past twenty-six years now I have been sending out our Christmas cards. I started with boxed cards from Walmart to taking a picture of our kids each year as they grew up for a Christmas photo card to putting together a collage of pictures of my family and our trips and such on our cards each year. This is something I love doing, but fear that it is becoming a lost art for most people. This is Christmas now.
So these are my Christmas’s then and now. Do you have any Christmas traditions that you still do with your family? Is there anything around Christmas time that you use to do that you may or may not still do? Maybe there is a tradition you would like to start with your family. I would love to hear from you if you are reading this post. And I would like to wish you all a Very MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Kathleen Smith is an indie author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story