‘How to Make a Christmas Special’

Someone once told me, “Tradition is a wonderful thing, as long as you make your own”.

I always appreciate neat, packaged statements like that, with political-philosophical impact. They help keep my life in order. Besides, I’m an avid bumper sticker fan.

The question of tradition is particularly relevant at this time of year. So many of us race through the season juggling family visits, party hopping and ringing cash registers instead of sleigh bells. By the time the holidays arrive we’re bankrupt – physically, spiritually and literally. We chase the illusion of the perfect, traditional Christmas only to discover that we’re not the Waltons afterall.

Every December I buy, wrap, give, mail, bake, eat, dance, and drink. In short, I become a verb. But like Charlie Brown, there is always this nagging suspicion that something is missing. Christmas just doesn’t feel like it used to. Part of the problem as anyone will quickly point out, is that Christmas has become “highly commercialized”. If you watch Saturday morning cartoons with your kids, you’ll find the number of toy commercials staggering as Christmas approaches and their message is clear: It’s not just the toy – it’s the label. Funny, it used to be the thought.

So this year I decided to ask my family how we could make Christmas special for us. Here are some of our ideas:

• make your own decorations (the Creative Crafts store in town can help)
• get a book from the library on Christmas celebrations around the world and every year pick a new way to enjoy the season
• take the whole family to the Magic Show offered by the Richmond Hill Curtain Club (Tickets $3.50 Call: 994-3703)
• buy UNICEF Christmas cards and help them to help others
• take the kids for a walk in the woods too collect pine cones and make wreaths as gifts or build small towns using pine cones as trees
• start a “year End” book where each member of the family can record their best and their worst moments of their year for posterity
• ask your child(ren) for one special piece of their artwork or gather up their swimming badges or perhaps a certificate of merit then have it mounted and framed.

Last Christmas, I quietly borrowed three pictures that my seven year old had drawn and framed them fro her bedroom. We spent part of Christmas day hanging her pictures and when we stood back to admire her private art collection I was particularly touched by the glow of pride on her face.

Sharing the spirit of Christmas isn’t expensive and joy is never captured by force. Let go of the obligations, forget about the pre-packaged expectations. Design your own Christmas and start a family tradition.