Traditions - revisited

I'm sure every year, everyone has holiday traditions. Mine started with my children when they were very young, and I wanted to take pictures on Christmas morning without them wearing their most comfortable pajamas. Pajamas that consisted of favorite worn T-shirts, sometimes with or without pants. So, I started a tradition on Christmas Eve. All my children were allowed to open up one Christmas Eve gift. A “Santa” gift. It was always a new set of pajamas. When the kids were younger, they loved opening at least one gift early, present though as they grew older, they knew what that gift contained. This tradition satisfied two significant things for me. First, my children got to open at least one gift, and second, my Christmas photos consisted of children dressed in matching pairs of pajamas. As the years have gone by, my children have grown, yet we still maintain this tradition. A tradition that brings a chuckle to everyone as they always ask: “Gee, I wonder what Santa will bring us this year?". It has become a challenge for everyone to have the most surprising reaction when they open the box and see their new pajamas.
      As always, Christmas Eve is celebrated at my house. Along with another tradition we have of decorating Christmas cookies. In the past, it was challenging to see how many Christmas cookies I could bake and make them decorate on Christmas Eve before opening up that first Christmas eve present. These decorations have ranged from pretty traditional decorations to morbid decorations due to my children's odd sense of humor. Those evenings are always full of laughter, jokes, and general family goofiness. I'm sure this year will be no different, as each of my family members who gather has always been close. In fact, we are looking to have ten dogs, a 4yr, and a 6mo old, to join our 11 adults. It will be a very noisy and fun-filled evening. On Christmas day, everyone takes their gifts and heads out to spend the day with other family members. This is fine with me because I know my children are here every Christmas Eve, and I am one lucky lady. In fact, this will be the third year in which there will be four generations represented in one room. For that, I am blessed for the holidays.
     I hope whoever reads this has a tradition they can count on for the holidays. Especially this year, when we all need something we can count on to be certain. Happy holidays and take care of you and yours.