I have always loved the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” – and today I find myself humming one of the favorite tunes from that show – “Tradition”.
It's a word you hear a lot of at this time of year. We take comfort in doing things just for the simple reason that we have always done them. It’s easy and predictable – even if it means more work, and even if after lots of years, it might not actually be all that enjoyable anymore! But it’s tradition, right?? Or is it just habit? And in the case of the standard holiday over-eating – maybe a bad habit?
Three years ago this December, Greg and I returned home after living 600 miles way from our children for 2 months. Our Thanksgiving had been a frozen turkey TV dinner and a Skype chat with the kids. Hardly a traditional holiday. Arriving home in mid-December, we just didn’t have the time or the energy to do ALL the things we normally would do at the holidays. Our children were 5 and 8 at the time. To them, if you did something even once before, in their minds it became “tradition”. I am sure they were disappointed a few times that year; however, when I think back on it, I don’t remember what we missed. I just remember what we DID get to do.
I’ve cut back this year. I was overwhelmed at the beginning of the holiday season with all the “have-to” items that were in front of me. All those years of accumulating “new” traditions as our family grew had turned into a burden- and I admit as much fault in perpetuating the problem as anyone else – maybe more. SO, I am making fewer cookies, and we are trying out more new recipes than re-hashing old ones. The garland never made it out of the box. [Really – I think I actually hate garland. Who knew?] I am enjoying a lot of new music instead of relying on the same old play list.
SO, I guess I am accumulating one more new tradition – to focus less on tradition. So far it has been a blessing. We are not passing on everything we love to do. But, we are only doing it if we really want to. I still made Chocolate Cherry cookies from my 3rd grade Brownie troop bake off and I will insist on Christmas Eve singing Silent Night in the dark while holding a candle. Not because it’s a habit, but because it’s tradition.
