The fall holiday season is special in the life of a child. Personally, I get by from January through September, always looking forward to this time of year. What can be better than pumpkins being carved and seeds being roasted? (If you have not done this, you are really missing out.) What can be better than crooked jack-o’-lanterns and punkin guts all over everybody? There are costumes to pick out, trick-or-treating or “trunking” to anticipate, school programs to attend before getting ice cream, turkey day to celebrate, and before long, the old Christmas décor will make an appearance (in two weeks for my clan). Little things become the big memories of growing up.
Growing up in the sixties, our experiences were different. We didn’t carry cool plastic containers to ask for candy – we had brown paper grocery bags. We covered entire areas of town and came home at least two or three times for a fresh bag. A great ghost costume was a sheet thrown over our heads and a mom giving us a lecture. Wise children chose old sheets. A towel with an “S” on it immediately turned one into Superman or Supergirl. Folks gave away all sorts of candy – from orange circus peanuts out of the package to full-sized candy bars to goobers (peanuts). Thanksgiving was mostly just a chance to get out of school for three days and to watch dads loosen their britches to watch football while the kids played outside. Christmas trees were real back then (I never saw a fake tree until the ’70s and figured they must be a sin of some sort). Christmas lights were not all that common, and I took them as a symbol of wealth. On Christmas morning, we got one thing we needed, like shoes or jeans, and one toy. Stockings were full of fruit, nuts and ribbon candy with the felt fuzz from the inside of the stocking stuck to it.
Today, the holidays are more complex and the celebrations typically more elaborate. But the traditions that matter the most are often the simplest. The messy kitchen, the salty pumpkin seeds, the school show, driving to look at Christmas lights (so much better today), smelling the turkey, making cookies, decorating the tree – those are the things kids come to expect and never forget.
As leaders, parents, and grandparents, we have an opportunity to create those memories. We don’t have to make every holiday bigger or more expensive. We only need to make them memorable year after year. Kids deserve traditions that cause them to look forward to fall over and over again. We can give them memories that carry them into adulthood.
I remember hardly any presents from growing up, but I sure remember my grandmothers, who have been gone for 50 years. I remember laughter, games, and joy. I recall Mom making roast instead of turkey. Watching my skinny, sweet-toothed dad gorge himself on pie and cake still makes me smile. I remember the holidays as a constant homecoming.
As the holiday season approaches, let us make room for the small things that become large things as they last through the years. And let us remember that some kids don’t have good memories of the holidays, and they have not experienced the joy of anticipation. Let us determine to gift them with those so they will dream of recreating them for their future families.
Blessings
