A litte somethin' daily

With the momentum of daily blogging gathering such force, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and commit to a daily something through the New Year.  I'm not affiliating with any method or group in particular because teh only one I know of is holidailies.  And somehow the name holidailies creeps me out.  Surprising as this maybe to some of you, I'm not a big holiday person.  I think it is the obligation of the whole affair that makes me feel as if I'm being stalked.

Holidays so often feel like work and alot of hurt feelings and too many personalities to appease.  I know this is because of who I am, and not because anyone else expects it of me.  It is pressure I apply to my own self.  And end up feeling like a caged animal.

You'd be surprised by my attitude if you knew first hand how holiday-ish my mother and sister are.  And that my childhood was full of magic and fun because of my mother's own personal brand of fairy dust she sprinkled on each holy day.  But it is my sister Shannon who inherited her cheesy love of colored lights, Christmas baking, quaint decorations and a parade of Christmas CD after Christmas CD after caroling.

According to my mother, there are Rules about the holidays and here are a sampling of those that I have also adopted:

1.  Take One Holiday At a Time - For example, no Christmas music, decorations, trees or wrapping until AFTER Thanksgiving has passed.  (Makes sense to me.)

2.  Nobody should ever be left out or left alone for a Holiday.

3.  There is always someone worse off than you, don't just give a little, give alot - especially your time.  (My childhood and early adulthood is filled with snapshots of wrapping gifts for toy drives, serving at a food kitchen on Thanksgiving, bringing blankets and hot soup to a homeless park on Christmas...

4.  Children get one present from Santa (yes, we lie in our family and I'm totally cool with it), one from mom & dad, and a rockin' Christmas stocking.  The rest comes from doting grandparents, aunts and uncles.  Keep it simple; be conscious of creating young gluttons with a disposable attitude.

Those are the holiday traits I inherited from my mother.  I'm not saying that Shannon didn't get those too, she just also got the Christmas cheer gene that I didn't.

Yesterday, while we set up our tree, made a bay leaf and pinecone garland for the fireplace and decorated the entry with poinsettia and gold-leaf pinecones, I had to channel my mother.  I had to call on her example to put that Christmas music on the stereo.  Imagine...me, playing Christmas music of my own accord?!   But I want my child to grow up with as much magic and sparkle for the holidays as I did.  It's worth the effort and it's even easier when I have Satchel to do it all for.

The other thing about holidays (Holy-Days) that is bothersome to me is how far from their origins they have wandered.  There is so little reverence or history to our holiest of days.  America has commercialized holiness into a package and it drives me crazy.  We have also crushed the history of the days (often Pagan in truth) into the darkest of obscurity.  I'm not big on a particular religion, though I was raised Catholic, but the void of Spirit in our cultural traditions is something that makes we, as a herd, are roasting a turkey to honor the massacre of Native Americans when it is much more important to me to devote a day to Gratitude.  Or, buying presents because a certain day appears on a Calendar page instead of remembering that one time in this world, people believed a child was born that would bring peace and humility to civilization.  Or that Winter Solstice/Yule is celebrated to mark a deep psychic time that signals rebirth and the coming light?  Where did these traditions go?

In addition to magic-making, I want Satchel to know these traditions so that he might consciously carry something holy within himself and not be lured into the commercial holiday machine of spending money and living out of obligation.

What traditions do you hold dear from your childhood?  What traditions will you pass on? 

Comments

[heidi]

That's such a great and reasonable plan for presents. My brother and I were spoiled with tons of presents, and while that was very nice, it isn't feasible or even a good idea for my new family. I definitely want to give Molly a special present just for Solstice, and have her help us choose a charity to give a small donation. Beyond that, one Santa and one Mom & Dad gift is a great plan.

I'm planning on blogging about the holidays soon, as I collect my thoughts on blending our Christian heritage with my pagan faith. I don't know how they'll be integrated but it means a lot to me that the Earth centered holidays aren't lost in the chaos for the little one.

I'm looking forward to reading you daily for a while:) Best of luck and blessings at this magical and hectic time of the year!

[Jeanettte]

"Children get one present from Santa (yes, we lie in our family and I'm totally cool with it), one from mom & dad, and a rockin' Christmas stocking. "

This, in fact all you've written - sounds exactly like my Christmas's growing up. You've inspired my tomorrow topic:)

[Leigh]

First of all, I freakin' miss you.
Second, good for you for taking on the daily posting. I cannot wait.
Third, I cherish your advice on holidays (holy days). In fact, since our rendevous in Phoenix, Jason and I have committed to paring down the winter holiday by only giving one gift to Kaia and a "rockin' stockin'". I think it will be perfect.
I think I'll write about some childhood traditions in one of my upcomign posts!
Love U,