We were supposed to leave on December 22, my grandmother's birthday, but were delayed in our travels by a day, due to our car deciding that what it really wanted for Christmas was a new pair of sensors for the anti-lock braking system. (At least, I think that's what the problem was.) That Monday also happened to be pretty snowy so the weather may have kept us back even if the car hadn't. Since the car's ABS light came on while we were heading to the in-laws' on Sunday, we ended up staying the night there so Joe could bring the car in first thing Monday. The aforementioned snow meant snow day for local schools, including the one where Joe's mom works -- so she got to stay home and spend the entire day playing with her grandson. One might say that Christmas came early for her. (And for me, since I got to sit around and watch goofy holiday specials while they played.) ;) So it was a bummer to lose a day, but at least it was a nice day! And on Tuesday we set off for my parents' with a newly inspected, fully working car.
For as long as I can remember (and as long as my dad could remember!) it has been a tradition for my mom's side of the family to gather at McDonald's for breakfast on Christmas Eve. Why this is our tradition, I can't say, but I don't think it matters at this point. It's tradition and that should be enough. Only I guess "it's tradition" wasn't enough for my aunts this year, because the only people that showed up for our Christmas Eve breakfast were my dad, Joe, John, and me. :( (My mom was working so at least she had an excuse.) Needless to say that was disappointing, but we had a nice breakfast together anyway. I know Mickey D's ain't fancy er nothin', but once a year hotcakes and sausage is a decent switch.
That evening was better: we had our traditional dinner of lasagne with my cousin and his family, followed by our traditional dessert of peppermint stick ice cream with homemade hot fudge. (Traditions are important, you see.) Then everybody else went to church while Joe and I put John to bed. My parents have a new coal stove so I guess we could have hung the stockings there this year... but we laid them out on the dining room table the way we always did growing up, when we had no chimney. :) John's stocking this year was a borrowed one. I decided I wanted to make one for him, but unfortunately I decided this around Thanksgiving, and since I neither sew nor knit at the present time I realistically decided to save that project for next year. (And now you know why I asked for a Knifty Knitter for Christmas. How weird am I? Seriously.) When my parents got home from their church service, we all sat at the table and, er, helped Santa fill the stockings, which was actually kind of fun. I've never been part of that before. (I imagine it will be even more fun in a few years when John leaves cookies out for Santa. :D )
On Christmas morning, for most likely the last time until he hits his teenage years, John was the last one to wake up. Even Joe and I were already awake! He was absolutely adorable when he finally did wake up though -- smiling and giggling and obviously happy to see us. (He doesn't usually wake up to us being right there with him so I think that was a nice treat!) Unfortunately his cheerful mood disappeared when we changed his diaper and got him into his Christmas outfit (he thinks getting dressed is the ninth circle of hell), but he looked cute and perked up when we got upstairs. Aunt Dotty came and of course Gram, and we all opened our stockings. John had some little pirate guys and a knight with a horse (Little People-type toys), some mini board books, and of course an ornament (tradition again), a Bumble which was sent by some very sweet friends. Only thing I didn't do this year were the Christmas socks. Joe doesn't wear them and I have half a dozen pairs already... I suppose I could have gotten some for John, but I didn't. Maybe next year. Then it was time for our traditional (there's that darn word again) breakfast of cinnamon rolls, followed by... Joe, John, and I going to Mass! And then back home for the opening of gifts.
John wasn't too sure about the whole thing. He liked playing with the toys that came out of his stocking, but didn't quite understand that he could reach into the stocking to find more. And he wasn't too thrilled about sitting on the floor to open gifts -- he didn't know what was going on and he wanted to walk around. Joe helped him by tearing back some of the wrapping paper so he could grab it. Well, ripping the paper was pretty fun... but every time he got a good piece in his hand, Daddy would take it away before he could taste it. And then once the paper was off, another gift was in front of him before he had time to investigate much of the first one. I guess when you are 8 months old, Christmas is more confusing and frustrating than fun. But he did like playing with his new toys, once we got through the whole ordeal of opening them. ;)
For the afternoon, we went to my cousin's house (which used to be my grandparents' and is where I spent every holiday growing up) to have lunch/dinner and more presents with the extended family. This time John napped through the gifts, which I think was probably a good thing. :) My cousin Lindsay was there with her three little ones (age 4, 3, and 2), who were absolutely enthralled with "baby John" and he was just as fascinated by them. It was totally adorable to see them all together. The bigger kids would crowd around and give John hugs, and he would reach out to touch their faces and hair, and "talk" to them. Wyatt pretended to fall over every time John touched him, which John thought was pretty funny, and Taylor "read" him his new Christmas books. You could tell from the way he watched them running around that he was just dying to get up and chase. (Holidays next year are going to be lots of fun!) Then after the other kids left, John occupied himself for a pretty long time digging around in a basket of cat toys while we chatted.
We spent the next couple of days visiting with friends and trying not to get stuck in the snow, which was made easier when it all melted over the weekend. Our drive back was complicated by 50mph winds instead, but we made it in time to celebrate a second Christmas with Joe's family. John had turkey and cranberries and mashed potatoes and peas for dinner just like the rest of the family, and then we gathered around the tree. Again John wasn't too sure about the gift-opening. He was thrilled to be handed a gift bag (with nice handles to pull on and chew) but not really interested in peeking inside. This time Mommy and Daddy did most of the unwrapping as he was starting to get tired and cranky (and there was a lot to open!). Santa must have been working overtime because John even had a stocking with his very own Pez dispenser (...tradition!). Then he slept through the chocolate pie (not that he can have it anyway), and then we brought him home to his own bed. (But not his gifts, because the car was already overflowing.) And that was John's first Christmas.
Sooooo... perhaps we have detected a bit of a theme? I don't know what it is about Christmas, in particular, but it is the holiday I associate with traditions... and there are many. Traditional movies to be watched and songs to be sung, decorations to be put out, foods to be made and eaten, books to be read, places to go and things to do. Traditions are great for kids and great to carry on into adulthood, a little way to revisit your roots. And of course they are meant to be passed on, which has been my focus this year, perhaps to a maddening extent. In years past Joe and I have pretty much just been going along with the traditions of whichever family with whom we happened to be spending the holiday... but now there is a little man, and there is no denying that we're our own family. From here on out we're making our own traditions: a little from my family, a little from Joe's, a little that's uniquely us.
It's exciting for me and I have tons of ideas (though I'm lacking in execution thus far, but mainly because John is too little yet to realize anything is going on). I talked about some of the Advent things when the season began (I have ambitious plans for "someday"). Certain little Christmas things I know we'll keep from our families: I always had Christmas socks in my stocking, and Joe always had a Pez dispenser. I always got an ornament too; and when I moved out, I took along my box of ornaments and they now decorate our tree. That's a tradition I've always known I would keep with my kids.
Certain things, like which Mass we go to, and how we spend Christmas morning, are impossible to say right now. At this point we are continuing to alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas: one here, one there, next year switch. And I realize now that that's not going to last forever, and I don't want it to. Talking to my sister just before Christmas this year, we both realized how lucky we were growing up, and also that our kids just won't be so lucky. One set of grandparents lived with us, and we spent Christmas morning with them having breakfast and opening gifts. The other grandparents lived 5 minutes away, and all our aunts and uncles and cousins were local, and we spent the afternoon with them, opening presents, having Christmas dinner, and playing the day away. That won't happen for my kids. We'll always see both families around Christmastime, but we'll never spend Christmas Day with both sides. Eventually we'll settle into a new pattern. I don't know what it will be, but families change and traditions evolve. We'll all find something that works.
I think this is how goofy traditions like Christmas Eve breakfast at McDonald's get started. One year, somebody probably wasn't going to be able to spend Christmas Day with the family. So the family decided to get together for breakfast the day before, so at least they'd all get to see each other, even for a little while. And it stuck, and turned into an annual ritual, and eventually everybody forgot why it started in the first place, until one year it just stopped.
Hmm. There's a lot more I could say, going down that road. But I'm not going to, because this post is already too long, and I'm already up too late. All I really wanted to say is, we had a nice first Christmas with John. It is fun sharing old traditions and coming up with new ones for our family -- but it's also more frustrating than I realized it would be, complicated by the distance factor which can't be helped. But that is life, I suppose.
Anyway, to end on a high note, here's a picture of my Nativity scene all set up for Christmas. The woman with the baby and the water jar on the left side (in front of the angel) was my Christmas gift this year. :) The green mound in front of the Wise Men was my husband's addition: they have to cross the Andes to get to Bethlehem, you see. ;)
