December 2, 2008 3:34 PM
Christmas Traditions: Ornaments
Every year I give each of my children a special Christmas ornament. Each child also has a special box to hold his ornament collection for eleven months between Christmas trees.
Some years I look far and wide to come up with individual ornaments. Some years I get a certain ornament for the boys and a certain ornament for the girls. But with 12 children, over the years I've sometimes been too busy to do much more than get nine translucent pearly angels, or seven porcelain teddy bears with legs that move, or six carousel horses, or four teeny tiny nativity scenes (numbers vary because, after all, I didn't always have 12 kids!)
When I started this tradition, I told the kids, "When you get married, you can take your box with you for your own Christmas tree." And lo and behold, first one, then a second daughter, then a son got married and took their box of ornaments with them.
I'll never forget the year one of my grandsons was looking at our tree and suddenly noticed, "Grandma! We have this angel too! And this teddy bear! And this one with Jesus!"
"Yes, I gave those to your mommy when she still lived here with your aunts and uncles. She took hers with her when she married your daddy. "
"Our mom gives us a special decoration for when we get married, too," my grandson informed me solemnly. I couldn't help but smile.
Traditions keep a family connected through the generations. You might want to think about adding this one.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care
And fit us for heaven to live with thee there
from the Christmas carol "Away in a Manger"
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Comments
I have done this ever since I became a mother. Many times the ornaments I choose have something to do with an overarching theme for our family for that year or a vacation we have taken. Sometimes they are just the ones I found too cute to resist. Whatever they are, my children *love* to unpack their ornaments every year. They remember more about them now than I do. I am sooooo glad that I started this tradition! Good advice, Barbara!
Posted by: Mrs. King | December 2, 2008 4:41 PM
We do the same thing in my house & it is one tradition I have carried from my own childhood. My kids love looking at the ornaments that I got when I was 5 or 7 or 9 years old. It's fun for me, too!
Each year I try to pick out ornaments that are appropriate for each child in light of what's been going on in their life for the past year or based on some interest they have. Some years, though, like you, I just picked up identical ornaments for the kids & called it good. :-)
I think it's a neat tradition & I'm happy to see someone else does it with their kids, too!
Posted by: Kate | December 2, 2008 4:42 PM
I love this tradition!!!
Posted by: Betty Connally | December 2, 2008 5:17 PM
We have this tradition, too ~ although, we try very hard to find a particular ornament each year for each child, depicting something memorable. for example - my 3 year old has turned into a real helper in the kitchen. Whenever I ask if someone is available to help, he comes running. He also named his baby sister LilyPie, and the name has stuck. We found an ornament of an old stove, complete with a pie coming out of the oven.
Then, we write a note to each child that goes with the ornament, reaffirming their value, complimenting character growth & reminding them of stories that happened throughout the year.
They love to re-read the notes as they open each ornament before putting it on the tree each year.
This year - my two oldest are no longer in the house & my younger batch is young enough that they don't have any memories of traditions. we figured that now we be a great time to reevalute our traditions & drop, add or change.... So we asked the middle boys about what was important to them. My 10 yr old son said, "I'd really like to keep the ornament tradition!"
thanks for encouraging others to begin this wonderful traditon!
Posted by: tracy | December 2, 2008 5:25 PM
What a great tradition! I'm loving all of your Advent ideas, especially as a mom of a young family... I'm definitely planning on starting this tradition this year with our one year old and will continue it with the next baby on the way!
Posted by: Adele | December 2, 2008 6:14 PM
We do this too. Started the first Christmas my husband and I spent together right before we got engaged. I try to find ornaments that either reflect a current interest or something we've done as a family in the past year. One yr was an astronaut after our trip to NASA and this yr I made ornaments online w/ a picture from our DC trip. The boys love them and can't wait to open their boxes every yr and look through "their" ornaments.
Posted by: Lari | December 3, 2008 9:28 AM
