Traditions

Growing up, I knew there were always things that I looked forward to at Christmas time. For me, and all other little kids, this was one of the most exciting times of the year. Being married and having my children a little older, and able to understand things, has made me reflect on the traditions I had growing up. In my mind, my parents never skipped a beat, but maybe it was at the force of their children. I don't have Christmas photos from when I was young, so I decided to post some of the pictures of the things my family has started doing. I've thought about some of my favorite things growing up, and decided I'd post about them, so if they don't get handed down, my children would know some. My top, most awesome, tradition I had growing up was a tie between my mom making Christmas candy for all of our neighbors, and getting woke up before the sun was up to open presents. The close second, which was a simple tradition, was calling my Aunt Nancy's family to wake them up. Ohhh, how I loved that my dad would call and do this. Maybe it was because we "thought" we were waking them up to excitement, or maybe they were all really annoyed... Who cares, I loved this. I also really loved eating shrimp Christmas Eve. I suppose this was my dad's family tradition growing up, and he had passed it down to his family. Either way, I looked forward to this meal, who cares about turkey or ham?!?! I was about the shrimp. Looking back, I truly had it made growing up. Did I get everything, and then some?? No. In fact, my mom had talked about how some Christmas were "tiny" or scaled back because of a funeral or money. Here's the thing, had you asked me, I thought I always had it all, and that everything was great. With Christmas two weeks away, and the rush of making everything perfect, I guess I should really remember that it is about making my kids Christmas as great as I had it growing up... And that is what they are really going to remember. Binghams. We're crazy, at least for the Alan Bingham family. I wouldn't trade it for the world. As siblings we all have our place, and our roles, and it adds to the enjoyment of being with each other. I hope some day, my children will be able to sit around laughing, and reminiscing about the traditions we had, and how much fun they were.

One tradition we started this year was we presented the kids with "Golden Tickets". It permitted them to go on a ride to see the lights around town. They were also granted popcorn. When we got home, there were cookies and hot chocolate waiting for them. How I love Christmas, and the extra special time we get to spend together!!