Friday, as part of the NOGGING MY EGG initiative 2007, CJ and I pulled out the red and green bins full of Christmas stuff and prepared to decorate our heads off.
(have I mentioned how much I LOVE bins?)
These bins were hidden deep in the recesses of our very long, narrow closet. (Whoever designed closets in the 1920′s should be SHOT. Ok, ok, usually I’m not a violent person. But something about small closets makes me VIOLENT!)
Getting the bins out of the not-closet proved to be almost too much for me. BUT, not one to be put off by a bump on the head – OUCH!- or a whack to the elbow- SMACK!- I persevered.
I put on the Christmas playlist and we carefully unwrapped each decoration to the festive sounds of “Here comes Santa Claus” and “Silent Night.”
Our Christmas decor, like most of our seasonal decor, is fairly pathetic. See, before CJ, I wasn’t so into the whole decorating thing. I thought it was fairly cheesy. But, like just about everything else, these opinions went RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW when CJ appeared on the scene.
Suddenly I found myself in a mad dash to pile my shopping cart with snow globes, Christmas lights, holiday towels, and cheesy figurines. If it sings a tinny rendition of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer? All the better… I’ll take two.
Slowly, year by year, I’ve amassed a three-bin collection of the stuff.
We pull it from the bins, piece by piece. CJ’s eyes light up at the recognition of THE PENGUIN SNOWGLOBE. The TALL silver Santa! The stained-glass gingerbread house! The cheesy plastic singing moving merry-go-round!
“Where should we put THIS one, CJ?” I ask him, holding up a ceramic Santa.
“Mommy, it goes OVER HERE.” he tells me matter-of-factly, and proceeds to set each decoration in EXACTLY the same spot as it was last year.
I’m amazed at his memory.
As he lovingly winds and shakes each snow globe, I realize that THIS is what memories are made of.
The best part of holidays are the traditions. And, contrary to what’s published in Real Simple and Oprah magazine and implied by every Christmas movie ever made, these traditions don’t have to be perfect, unique, or even particularly pretty.
What’s important is the DOING. The ENJOYING. And the REPEATING.
Do, Enjoy, Repeat.
This is the stuff that the best traditions are made of.
And THIS I can do.
***
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xo Jen
December 3, 2007 at 11:52 am
Great post – those are my best Christmas memories – the reminiscing over each ornament.
December 3, 2007 at 11:52 am
Thanks for reminding us that the holidays don’t have to be picture perfect to be memorable.
December 3, 2007 at 12:19 pm
So it’s snowing and CJ is wearing shorts and a t-shirt, lol.
My oldest loves pulling out the ornaments each year. Especially the ones she’s made.
December 3, 2007 at 1:30 pm
I agree. Until recently I was the tree nazi and all the ornaments had to have the perfect spot. Now, we have 5 stars all on one branch, and it’s ok, bc Xander thinks that he’s such a big boy for doing it.
December 3, 2007 at 2:08 pm
I’m excited to do this next weekend. We’ll turn on the station that only plays Christmas music, get the hot chocolate with marshmellows going and decorate our little hearts out.
It’s the enjoyment on the twins faces that just makes my day.
December 3, 2007 at 4:16 pm
What a great post! It brings back memories from decorating the tree as a kid. How well we knew each and every ornament. I hope my son will soon have some of those memories of his own.
December 3, 2007 at 4:46 pm
It’s so true Jenny. Some of our lamest traditions are their very favorite CAN NOT MISS BECAUSE IT’S SO SPECIAL events. PS – I almost bought a stained glass gingerbread house just like that one at Pike Place Market a couple of months ago. So cute.
December 3, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Such a heart warming post. My boys remembered where everything went this year too. Christmas holds so many memories.
December 3, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Amen!
So, how come kids can remember where things go from year to year, but they can’t remember that you told them “no” two minutes ago?
December 3, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Do, enjoy, repeat. I absolutely love that.
December 3, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Ah, yes.
Do: Let the kids DO the work.
Enjoy: Enjoy a glass of wine and sit my fat booty on the couch while I watch the children and husband DO the work.
Repeat: Someone get Mommy another glass of wine.
I think you’re on to something here.
December 3, 2007 at 7:14 pm
I know what you mean about not being particularly into Christmas decorating until the kids came along.
I now have a reindeer quilt with button eyes festooning the back of my sofa, but I wouldn’t have been caught dead with it five years ago.
December 3, 2007 at 9:53 pm
I have the same TAR-CHAY Christmas boxes.
~great mind, baby, great minds!~
December 3, 2007 at 11:36 pm
We just barely did this. I need to load up a shopping cart; our decorations are a little pathetic. Thank heavens my kids are young enough to think they’re fabulous. Happy Holidays, Bananas!
December 4, 2007 at 7:49 am
I completely agree! Great post!
December 4, 2007 at 9:03 am
our best Christmas memories are over our ornaments. We, each ‘kid’ has received one ornament from parents & grandparents each year since birth. I am 29 – you do the math. Plus the ones we’ve made… now my kids.. yada yada. It’s a treasured walk down memory lane adn really tacky history!
This was a great post. Thanks for sharing!
December 4, 2007 at 10:26 am
That is sooo true! Great post :-) And CJ is to adorable!
December 4, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Oh, now I’m feeling very Scrouge-ish. Still trying to find the ‘enjoy’ part of it. But I’m trying! Do I get credit for trying?
Queen of
Shake-Shake
December 5, 2007 at 6:26 am
Our home is like Rachel’s… every ornament has a meaning.
We have so much fun looking at them all again. Every year that the girls get bigger they understand what the ornaments mean a little better.
Now if we could only master the baking of Christmas cookies!
December 6, 2007 at 10:53 am
Hey! I’m a bin person, too! I bow down to you though, I only have two red and green Christmas bins (but about 35 TOTAL bins I keep for moving). Isn’t the unpacking wonderful? I love the music, the smell of Christmas gone by, and most of all, the memory making. My son loves it as much as I do, and boy does he have an opinion as to where things should go.
From Here to There