One of my favorite long standing Christmas traditions is the act of choosing a special ornament for each child each year until they move out.
I always try to choose something that represents something important that happened in their lives that year or something symbolic of their current hobbies and interests.
As you can imagine, with eight kids we have collected a lot of ornaments over the years. When we trim the tree, many of the ornaments are discussed fondly.
There is a Dalmatian ornament from 1995 when my 20 year old, now serving in the Air Force, was enamored of the movie 101 Dalmatians and watched it incessantly.
There is an airplane ornament that represents the year that my oldest son was 15 and soloed for the first time. He is also in the Air Force at this time.
There are ornaments that my parents chose for me – retro 1960s things that have always been a part of my holidays. There are even ornaments from the 1920s through World War II, which belonged to my mom and still survive despite decades of children, dogs, and cats.
When my oldest daughter got married and moved out, she took with her the ornaments that she had been given over the years. Her first Christmas in her own house was hopefully made a little more special with the memories she had taken with her.
I think so – she has continued the tradition with my grandchildren.
Do you have a special family tradition? Please share it with us in the comments!
photo credit: Noricum
