Traditions

So now that Christmas is over, we can go shopping for next year! Only joking…take at least today off and relax.

After I described our Advent Window activity in last week’s post, several readers wrote to tell me about holiday traditions they have experienced. Some people talked about going downtown to see the Eaton’s or Simpson’s windows, in the “olden days” when such stores existed. The windows always had moving parts: scampering mice, scurrying elves, moving conveyor belts with toys under construction, and a winking Santa sitting in a rocking chair and checking his naughty list.

Then Santa moved inside the store, and kids lined up for a visit and a chance to take a picture on Santa’s lap, while the parents got out their wallets. Next there were the years of Breakfast with Santa. We took our grandchildren a couple of times but unfortunately breakfast was ignored as the kids spent their time checking out the pile of wrapped packages and figuring out which one Santa was going to give them.

A popular neighbourhood tradition – rows of blow-up Santas. We have a few in our area – a Santa with a green parcel in one hand and a candy cane in the other. Walmart must have had a sale. Apparently one street in Toronto, Inglewood Drive, has over 50 of them. Pretty amazing until the power goes off. Then you have a whole lot of “dead” Santas lying on the boulevard. Not a good Christmas look.

Readers reported about several versions of the Santa Claus parade. A friend, who spends the winter playing golf in Florida, wrote about the Golf Cart Parade: Christmas-themed golf carts being shown off by golfers driving around the local streeets instead of on the links. I was reminded of when we lived in the country and the farmers in Schomberg held the Tractor Parade. They would decorate their fork lifts, or back hoes, or manure spreaders, and spread cheer along the main street.

Lots of families share traditional gifts. Sometimes parents buy the kids new pyjamas every year, which the kids open on Christmas Eve and wear to bed. Under any other corcumstances, this would be seen as a cop-out by the kids: ” What? You bought me CLOTHES?” But disguise it as a tradition and everyone is excited.

In our family, my son and I trade an old book that neither of us has ever read; we just take turns giving it to one another. Neither of us can remember how this tradition started. This year it was my turn to be the recipient. The package was disguised as a …Book! Still, I didn’t guess it. Duh

My son is delighted at this turn of events; one year soon he’ll be sneaking into my house ahead of Christmas, taking anything of mine he wants, and wrapping it up for me. And, as my memory fades, I’ll open it and say: “Oh how lovely! I used to have something just like this. It’s perfect.”

Christmas is now just 364 days away. It’s not too early to start planning your traditions.

Sue

The famous book