Monday, October 15, 2012

Winter chats before Halloween

A little early, I know, but Pete and I revisited the idea of what Christmas traditions our tiny family will honor this year while we picked up Legos last night (a typical stocking stuffer for us). With our budget being as tight as it is, leaving the chickens with a pet sitter to be with family 1000+ miles away is not really an option.

We both come from different families (obviously) with different religious and economic backgrounds and therefore even more varied holiday tendencies. Blending these has been okay so far, we generally cater to whoever we are spending the time with so as not to offend anyone. When we all lived close to each other, it was even easier: one family celebrates on the 24th, the other on the 25th. But now that we are way out here, are we celebrating on both those days, one of them, or on a different day?

Trying to blend our personal solstice leanings with America's 'Corporate Chrustian Santa Claus' was not really a problem until Emagene's most borrowed library video became Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, full of Santa images. Do we add a visit to Santa, complete with ridiculously long lines, whinny, snotty-nosed kids, in a mall to our doings??

Anyway- I'm rambling.

The "grown-ups" in this house discussed all this and what makes the holiday season special to our family. Living in Texas, having a fresh pine-scented house may not be affordable without artificially scented candles, but we are still determined to price and decorate a tree. We also plan on going to see something with way too many lights on it, hang and fill stockings, put at least one gift for each person under the tree, drink a ton of hot chocolate, bake lots, and eat way too much food while watching the seasonal claymation, animation, and live-action classics. I would hope for a snowball fight somewhere between thanksgiving and valentines day, but I don't think that's possible down here.

What traditions make the season special for you and yours?

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