I adore Christmas - by far my favourite part of the year. When the retailers start putting out their decorations (in October) I don't tut tut like everyone else, I am five years old again basking in the glitter and wonder.
This Christmas will be especially magical with Isaac two years old and able to grasp some of the concepts and excitement. In addition, I go back to work full time next year so every moment spent with him up until then is absolutely precious. So much of our experience of Christmas is shaped by our childhood memories, and I think it is a privilege to be part of creating that magic for Isaac.
When I think back to Christmas as a kid, I remember:
- Baking and decorating butter cookies with my sister, mum and grandmother
- Making decorations for the tree and hearing stories about the decorations we had made in years past
- The smell of pine needles and Jasmine. As a small child we always had a real tree and the smell lingered on the ornaments for many years after we succumbed to the Brisbane heat and bought a plastic tree. Mum and Dad have had Jasmine flower in Summer for as long as I can remember
- The way that Dad decorated our house to rival any department store (and still does!)
- Trimming the tree and listening to Ann Murray and Kenny Rogers singing Christmas Carols (so daggy, but I still get teary listening to that CD!)
- The way the table was set so beautifully, with the good china, for Christmas Eve dinner. Dad always made it look fantastic and we opened presents afterwards, as is the European tradition.
- Going in town on the train to look at the Myer Christmas windows and the big tree
- Staying up late to go midnight church services on Christmas eve and the sound of the choir
I will continue many of those traditions with Isaac, and add some of our own new ones:
- Looking at the streets filled with Christmas lights (God Bless those people who decorate their houses each year and bring so much joy!)
- Buying a gift to place under the K-Mart Christmas wishing tree for a child less fortunate
- A Christmas party with his friends
- A photo with Santa at the department store (Garden City's set up is truly magical). And yes, it is a little bit traumatic the first couple of years, but am told they think it's hilarious looking back on the photos in years to come
- My husband's family celebrate on Christmas Day, so we will have a morning filled with presents and a beautiful breakfast. An afternoon of even more food, with the adults napping and the kids playing with their new toys.
Our mothers group is going to have a morning dedicated to Christmas craft. Always a bit of a challenge with the littlies, but we have come up with a great list (thank goodness for the internet!):
- Reindeer collages, made up of a shoe traced for the reindeer head, and the hands traced for antlers. If you do this each year, then you can see how much they have grown. - http://www.allfreecrafts.com/christmas/reindeer-art.shtml
- Santa stars - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/Santastar.shtml
- Potato prints on paper for Christmas Wrap
- I am going to paint a Christmas Tree outline on a large, long but thin canvass (the kind you can get from dollar dazzler type shops very cheaply). I haven't quite decided if the kids can just glue and paint on the tree, or whether to make ornaments out of felt and place velcro on the tree so that they can "redecorate" to their hearts content. I love the latter idea, but hope I have time.
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