Christmas Traditions

Today presented quite a dilemma... We are completely overjoyed at having our beautiful baby girl in our home, the fact that it's still six weeks and change before her due date, one of the most important things we need to do, is let her just rest... If she's sleeping, we need to let her sleep. She still needs to pretend, as much as possible, that she's still baking in the womb, blissfully unaware of what's going on around her.

We fully, completely, 100% agree with all of that!

And therein lies the dilemma.

My family has a Christmas Eve tradition that's been going on a long time. I checked with my mom a couple days ago, making sure I had the origins clear before I went blabbing about it here.

One Christmas Eve, about 40 years ago (quite possibly exactly 40 years ago) my family didn't have any specific plans. Mom and Dad had 6 kids over age 5, and one incredibly adorable nine day old baby boy. She was just fixing up a batch of tacos for her family.



As she was preparing dinner, there was a knock at the door... It was my aunt and uncle, Doris & Dennis Deford (all their kids names start with D too...) and their kids. They were moving over Christmas, or something like that, and were hoping to drop in for some Holiday Hospitality...

My family was happy - as you know, it's always fun when cousins come visiting at Christmas time! After dinner, Mom said she didn't really have anything dessert like, so they just broke out the ice cream.

Important Side Note: My family, growing up, ALWAYS had ice cream. Not just ice cream, but SEVERAL flavors of ice cream. It was a great life, and it came in very handy that Christmas Eve night 40 years ago...



After feasting on tacos, they all feasted on ice cream sundaes and banana splits! Needless to say, a great time was had by all, and it quickly became a tradition.

By the time I was old enough to be aware of such things, Christmas Eve meant rotating between our house in Des Moines, and my aunt and uncle's (Ken & Nancy, this time) in Bellevue. A few years later, my uncle Richard moved over to the wet side, and married my aunt Dorothy, and their house joined the rotation. About 20 years ago, we added a white elephant gift exchange, and a Christmas Carol sing-along... Last year a family talent showcase joined the agenda. The whole night is amazingly fun, and it just doesn't feel like Christmas without it.

But this year, on Christmas eve, we have a tiny baby who needs to not be all stimulated.

The Fix:

Richard and Dorothy are hosting this year, and their house is huge... Huge enough that we'll be able to pick a quiet room for Danee to hang out in, in her porta-crib, away from the noise and stimulation and germs... She'll make a quick public appearance, then retire to her safe haven, where we'll check on her regularly.

And the rest of us will fully take in the Christmas Eve party, and all the traditions therein!

Merry Christmas To All of You!!