Family Traditions: The “Pink” Christmas Tree
By Casey Mullins of Moosh in Indy
In a feat never before seen in my life, a three foot by two foot section of my Christmas tree turned pink this year.
It was my own fault really, on the day I was married I was given a Christmas ornament by my neighbors declaring 2001 to be our first Christmas together. A new tradition started when I opened that little crystal charm on a red satin ribbon, we were going to be Christmas ornament collectors. By we I mean me, for some reason my husband was never as excited about the annual quest for an ornament as I was. Still, we have ornaments from our honeymoon, our first trip to Disney, our first anniversary and Cody’s favorite football team, the Broncos. When we had our first daughter we were again given an ornament by my neighbors marking her first Christmas (she had been born 11 days earlier.)
I had never really searched out ornaments, that is until Addie’s 3rd birthday. For some reason I had ended up at a Hallmark store and there it hung, Barbie as the Island Princess. Maybe 4 inches high and perfect in every way. I had just spent the previous Tuesday producing the most perfect Barbie Island Princess birthday cake. Addie was given the Island Princess dress up as a gift. To say I wasn’t sobbing in public holding this tiny little ornament encompassing my little girls first real birthday party would be a lie.
From that moment a trip to Hallmark the day after Thanksgiving has become our thing. By our I mean Addie and me, we leave Cody at home, he just doesn’t get it yet. We push every button, pull every string and look at every single ornament until the perfect one is found. Addie gets to pick one each year and many times a grandma who knows about our tradition will send her a little trinket for our tree as well.
Which is how my tree turned pink this year.
After we had finished putting all of our ornaments on we stood back as a family to admire our handiwork, the section Addie had focused on (which coincidentally was the only section she was able to reach) oozed a sort of pink glittery glow. I told Cody in a few more years his tree is going to be overtaken; given that I’m currently pregnant with our second child the rate of pink domination could double by next Christmas. Or there’s a very good chance we could be picking out our first Batman ornament in 2011, maybe then Cody would be more interested.
Growing up our only real tradition was a dinner of crab legs and strawberry daiquiris on Christmas Eve, given it is such a deliciously perfect way to celebrate, Cody had no problem adopting this little tradition into our newly formed family. We didn’t have many other traditions until Addie came along and we’ve since added the Christmas Eve Jammies tradition. New pajamas on Christmas Eve, the most darling ones possible (this year features a 1950’s sketch of Rudolph all over light blue flannel.) They make Christmas morning pictures even more adorable, especially if there’s major bed head involved.
We have a few other funny things here and there, some from Cody’s childhood (giant! bowl! of! chocolate!) some from mine (advent calendar!) some of our newer ones (cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning!) and I’m sure as the years continue we’ll add a few more unintentionally. I have never remembered looking forward to a Christmas as much as I am looking forward to Christmas this year. It’s our second Christmas in our new house (we moved in at Christmas time last year) and our first Christmas with just our little family. Even though I miss my parents and the home I grew up celebrating Christmas in horribly, I realize how blessed I am to have a home in which to begin making memories of our own. There’s something about the glow of my Christmas lights reflecting off of my walls that just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
Oddly enough when I was originally asked about my holiday traditions the only thing that stood out were the ornaments (maybe it was all the pink staring at me from the front room?) However now that I think about it the entire month of December is one beautifully orchestrated tradition that involves us being together, celebrating what we believe and sharing the many blessings we enjoy with others.
How about you? Is your family dominated by tradition or are you still finding what fits into your family?
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You can follow the fabulous Casey Mullins daily at her personal blog Moosh in Indy.
Read More on Christmas
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