Traditions to Soothe the Spirit

As my regular readers know, I have had an emotional time lately and in some ways Mr. B makes it worse.  With motherhood comes sentimentalness (yep, I made up that word.....a little hobby of mine).  I look at him and wish that he will never know the sadness or pain in the world and instead only the joys, hopes, and dreams.  As my wise husband, D, responded the other day...We will protect him from all of it for as long as we can, but then when he finds out, it will be okay...(paraphrased a bit).


Well traditions and family are my answer this year....the soothing my spirit craves.  I thought I would share those with you...both new and old...as a way to lighten the mood of my blog and add a little holiday cheer to the world.  I am a part of this world like all of you and thus adding happiness is also my duty.

First, old traditions from my childhood.  My parents loved the holidays. They could get a bit silly, in the way kids love.

1. To You, From Me....read the gift tag...this was a special present to the whole family...basically if you were holding the gift it was "to you" and if someone else was holding it they also read "to you"...This tradition began in my mom's family when she was younger and is the reason we have so many board games
2. Playing games after dinner on any holiday even if we ate later than planned (we are not very prompt :)) 
3. The Ugly Present...invented in my generation during my childhood, yet has been around so long it seems like it began with the universe.  This was a specially wrapped present that used all the odd bits and scraps of paper and the ugly bows, such as olive green and fuschia, that always came in the bag of bows.  My dad's job was to exclaim over its beauty, while we snickered.
4. Rice porridge for breakfast...easy recipe:  throw a bunch of rice in big pot, add water, cook all morning while everyone unwraps presents, add water as needed.  when cooked through (no time frame at all because longer simply means a little softer) add real butter and sugar to taste.  A bowl of this tastes like my childhood memories

New traditions:

1. Donate one toy to a charity...and of course take a picture during this...he is so young that so far this confuses him
2. Christmas Eve...before bed...Mr. B unwraps one present and it is pajamas from mama and dada to wear the next morning
3. Read Robert Sabuda's pop-up book of Twas the Night Before Christmas
4. Go to bed and wake up to have a relaxed morning in new pajamas with family

Yep, that did the trick, I am smiling already.

Happy Holidays!
Hug those you love plus some!!!

Love,
T