Linus Got It Right!

It's crunch time.  Christmas is less than a week away and for some people the thought of that evokes a battery of emotions, not all of them Jolly. Let's face it, the holidays can create a lot of stress and anxiety. There is a lot to get done. Decorating, shopping, wrapping, baking, Christmas cards, mailing packages, parties and so on. Our lists can rival those of Santa himself.

This Christmas my list was no different than most, it was long and time consuming, not to mention expensive. When I started thinking about completing all the tasks listed there, I'll be honest, I felt more like the Grinch than Cindy Lou Who.  I did not like feeling that way, something had to change. My priorities, my perspective, my expectations, my attitude or maybe a little bit of all of those things.

I decided to evaluate all of the things that threatened to interfere with how I wanted to celebrate Christmas this year. For each entry on my list I asked myself the same questions:

Why am I doing this? Is it maintaining a tradition or keeping an obligation. Doing the same something just because you always have, isn't enough. Is it meaningful and intentional or are you just going through the motions?

Who am I doing it for?  Is it just for me? Am I forcing others to conform to meet my expectations? Is it something they enjoy and would they do it on their own?

Is it necessary? Would it be missed if I scratched it off the list? Would it diminish the holiday experience for anyone?

Does it add stress or bring joy? If the answer is add stress it has got to go. Bring on the Joy!

The conclusion was this, the items that stayed on my list are the traditions worth continuing that mean as much to others as they do to me. The necessities (boys have got to eat!) and things that add joy to our celebration.  Everything else was taken off completely or scaled back to some degree. The new list is more manageable. It has lessened my stress and allowed me to enjoy the duties I still have to get done. More importantly, it has given me the time to focus on what Christmas is really about.

I hope that you too can delete a few things off your list, eliminate stress, seek more joy and have a very Merry Christmas.

I love the speech Linus gives in A Charlie Brown Christmas. I think it is a perfect illustration for what I have written about here. Linus got it right! Watch his speech below.

Linus' speech

Traditions

Photo by Owen Richards

Holidays are usually full of traditions. Growing up, Christmas was especially this way for my family.

Decorating the tree was an event. We all helped. We had a live tree and most years we went out to a tree farm, picked out the one we wanted, cut it down and brought it home. We decorated it with the same ornaments from year to year. We covered it in multi-colored blinking lights, garland and silver icicles. The lights stayed off until the decorating was completely done. Then we shut off all the lights in the room and plugged the tree in. It made it seem very magical as a young girl. We usually took a trip to The Country Club Plaza and drove down Falmouth Street took look at lights. On Christmas Eve we each opened one gift. It was always the same thing, new pajamas. We didn't care that is was the same thing, we were still excited to get them.

Christmas morning everyone had to be awake and come into the living room at the same time. Santa never wrapped anything at our house so you could instantly see what he had left. Other gifts were opened one at a time starting with the youngest person to the oldest.

Oh Christmas Tree...

Many of the traditions that were started when my sisters and I were young we have continued in our family. However, as a mother of boys, I have had to make adjustments to some. We decorate our tree as a family with the same ornaments, angel and tree skirt every year. The boys help with a few ornaments each and I finish up. No drum roll, or big reveal, and that's OK. Their Christmas Eve pajamas most years are a fun pair of boxers since that is what they sleep in.

Christmas morning looks basically the same except our boys take turns opening gifts instead of going youngest to oldest. We also try to make time to visit the Plaza. Our trip usually also includes Crown Center and some sort of food along the way. We have added some traditions of our own. Our boys get a new ornament to commemorate the past year.  Owen adds a new Nutcracker to his collection. We attend church together on Christmas Eve and I make ice cream cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. (recipe below)

Individually these things are just acts, duties, habits and customs.  But when they are put together with a purpose and consistency they become much more. They are memories that become a part of your family's identity, your history and your future.

Owen's Nutcrackers

So, if you have family traditions I encourage you to continue them, even if your kids grumble, they will thank you for it later. Make it fun, change things up a bit, add something new to an old idea. And if you don't have any traditions at all, then maybe this is the year to start some. Most of all enjoy whatever you do as a family this Christmas!

"It's true, Christmas can feel like a lot of work, particularly for mothers. But when you look back on all the Christmases in your life, you'll find you've created family traditions and lasting memories. Those memories, good and bad, are really what help to keep a family together over the long haul."

 - Caroline Kennedy

ICE CREAM CINNAMON ROLLS

Ingredients

·         12 Rhodes™ Cinnamon Rolls or 12 Anytime!™ Cinnamon Rolls

·         1/2 cup sugar

·         1/2 cup brown sugar

·         1/2 cup vanilla ice cream

·         5 tablespoons butter or margarine

Instructions

Place frozen cinnamon rolls in a sprayed 9x13 in pan.

In a small saucepan, combine sugars, ice cream and butter. Cook over medium heat until sugars are dissolved. Pour mixture evenly over frozen cinnamon rolls. Leave in oven over night.
In the morning bake at 350°F 25-30 minutes and frost. Enjoy!