Monday, November 17, 2008

Tradition vs. Fear of Change

On Sunday, Adam and Madi were looking at old pictures. Revisiting the past is always fun for me. I have an attic full of tupperware bins that house all the memories of my two little girls. I have every art project, report card, ribbon, stuffed animal, sports equipment, etc. You name it I saved it. My husband and girls have made fun of our attic for years as it is nothing but a sea of these bins, but for some reason they are important to me. I have many things in my life that I look forward. Traditions that we have done as a family from the time my girls were little. Every Christmas morning, Jim and I must go down the steps first with our coffee, turn on the christmas music, light the tree and then the girls were allowed to come down the steps one at a time while pictures were being snapped of their precious faces and not so tolerant faces as they got to be teenagers. These traditions are important to me. We continue them today. Even with my 30 year old Jenny and 28 year old Karen and now Adam and Madi and Gavi. Christmas morning always has happened the same. I wonder, is it fear of change or just my desire to pass on traditions to my children which they will find important enough to pass on to their children? Some day will my grandchildren remind their children that they must stay upstairs until everything is ready and then snap their pictures, while remembering, coming down Nana and Pop Pop's steps one at a time while Nana watched on with nothing but love and hope for the future of our family.
















1 comment:

Heather Nicole said...

This brought a tear to my eye.

I side with tradition. It is what makes each family special and it gives the whole family something to look forward to every year.

But I am all for starting new traditions as well. Its nice to add a little something new as your family grows.