Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I am not very 'PC' but honestly I don't give a crap and really don't want to go around saying happy holidays so that I won't offend anyone. Come on, stop blubbering and deal with the semantics, it is nice to have one month out of the year when you can feel justified to talk to strangers and wish them well. See now, how sad is that, even 'merry christmas' requires a disclaimer in this crazy world we live in!

Considering the Christians (one random monk 1500 years ago who was placed in charge of deciding when Christ was probably born) dumped this holiday over the pagan winter solstice, you could say happy snowflake season and it would mean the same to me. This is the first year that I am going through the Christmas season with new eyes (having shattered my rose colored religious glasses this last year), and have to say it is a bit of a let down. For any of my Mormon family members who are now hyperventilating and dialing my ward bishop's office or the relief society president, please breathe and relax, I don't have a seat reserved in Hell yet. It is possible that critical thinking should not be applied to religion because they require one to have faith, but at this point in my life I am saturated with Santa, unicorns and Joseph Smith! I just want the truth. If tomorrow they find the North Pole or unearth a coin from ANY city claiming to exist in the Book of Mormon I will embrace the fat man in the red suit, kiss him square on the mouth and beg his forgiveness for my disbelief!

Back to the 'bit of a let down' I mentioned above.... I have to say it is really only a small bit of a let down, honestly I am ashamed to say that when I was a practicing Christian I must not have been a very good one. Christmas is pretty much the same as ever and I have realized that I never did really celebrate Christ during this holiday. When I was a child, I remember reading the story of the Christ child with my parents. Now as a parent, I look back and see that I have never once done the same with my girls. So ya, the moment of worry about how this Christmas will be different this year is kind of a mute point. Christmas for me is lights, family, good food, love, time with my girls and well a whole crap load of gifts and too much money spent!

Hell, whatever the season is to you.....I wish you all the best! Peace, Cami

Christmas Traditions

They say children learn by repetition, in fact its main purpose is to reinforce memory. Christmas traditions are a wonderful way of creating repetition for our children and families over the holidays. The sights, smells and sounds of the traditions we start will imprint memories for years to come. Even the simple ones, like the taste of egg nog, will bring back all the joy and love from years past.

My personal favorite is opening a new ornament on X-mas Eve, each person gets a new ornament to hang on the tree. My mother started this tradition when we were small, then as adults she gave us all of our ornaments for our family trees. I've loved this tradition and have carried it on with my girls.

Every family has traditions and no matter how simple they are, even if they don't cost a dime, don't underestimate their importance. In this crazy commercial era we are living in, I worry that traditions are dying away. Like compound interest, traditions compound love through memories over the years. They bring us back to footy jammies and laying awake waiting for Santa. They bond us to our siblings, awe us with gratitude and remind us why all of the hard work we do at Christmas time is worth it!

After all, without something to look forward to....What else is there? I won't be in footy jammies this year, but I will lay awake, not excited for Santa, but to see my girls open their gifts. In two years they won't remember what I gave them under the tree, they will remember laughing over the butterscotch pull-a-parts that we made Christmas morning....because we do it every year. :)