Kelly, on the Foster Adoption Blog just wrote about her holiday traditions, and got me to thinking…do we have holiday traditions? Sometimes I hear about all those families who have such meaningful rituals and I feel a bit jealous. But then, I realized we do indeed have traditions uniquely our own. Here are ours.

A Game for the Family. We’re a game-playing family, with the exception of LuLu, who finds it both hard to follow the game and overwhelming in a sensory way. So, Santa Claus always brings the family a new game. We prefer the ones that allow for an open number of participants, so we can use them at parties. In the past, Santa has brought Scattegories, Taboo, Uno and the beloved Cranium (in more than one version).

Christmas Tree Orange Danish. Each Christmas morning for the past decade or so, I’ve made the Danish shaped like a Christmas tree, with maraschino cherries on the top. It’s very simple, since it all comes from the can! It’s a good way to start the day with coffee and juice and all that present-opening. Funny thing is that while everyone eats it eagerly, no one seems to want orange danishes other times of the year. In fact, I wonder if we even like them? But it’s become a tradition, and the one year I didn’t do it, the kids complained.

Crosstitch Stockings. Each of our family members has a homemade stocking, made by yours truly. They are truly beautiful (if I say so myself). The last one I completed was LuLu’s and it took me five years…I started before she arrived. It has been the most intricate and difficult to date (kinda like the kid!). It was a modifiable pattern that allowed me to choose the gender and ethnicity of the two children sleeping under a big patchwork quilt while sugar plums of sparkling filament dance in their heads. So, there sleep LuLu and Kay. I am the only one in the family without said homemade stocking. I have one started, but it will be another year or two before I get it complete. Meanwhile, my stepdaughter has been dating the same guy for more than a year now…so I’d better get a move on in case I need to get another stocking going…

White House Christmas Ornaments. My sister-in-law, who lives in the DC area, started years ago sending her family White House Christmas Ornaments. We have both the ones she’s sent us and Super Dad’s mom’s collection. I struggled for years about where/how to display these (they are beautiful). But we have them on our staircase railing entwined in some evergreen. We can hardly wait to see what this year’s edition is like (but I won’t peek on the website!)

Our Christmas Party. I blogged about this before, but it’s rapidly becoming a tradition that we through a party for friends and neighbors each year. And play one of those party games that Santa brought from years past…


Photo: Our mantle with stockings - note how Julie's stocking is the plain "stand in" stocking...just waiting for me to finish my next masterpiece!