Every year, the boys and I make a trip to the store, where each child gets to pick out one ornament to put on the tree. The intention is that one day we will actually remember whose ornaments are whose, and they will have a small supply to take off to college or their first apartment or wherever life takes them. And of course, in the meanwhile we get a pretty tree that’s full of character but growing more crowded by the year.
On these shopping ventures it can be hard to stay on task: just get one ornament per person, then head for the checkout aisle. I see SHINY stuff everywhere and suddenly I find myself creating a need for those tree lights shaped like the ones from the 30s or that new beaded runner for the table. And of course, I don’t always manage to quell the urge. Our Advent calendar was a fairly recent impulse purchase (though I’d been wanting to buy a nice one for years). A few years ago I really needed new gold balls to replace all the ones that were pulled off the tree and broke when I had toddlers in the house. And I always find myself looking at new tablecloths and candles.
But when I was surveying the house yesterday photographing my holiday decorations, I was struck by just how many of those things have been constant from year to year. I’ve had my Mary/Jesus statue and wooden creche for at least 11 years, maybe longer (that’s nearly my whole adult life). I have a little wire tree that I hang these little antiquey ornaments on. I remember finding the ornaments in a little gift shop here in town–years before I lived here!–and loving them. That was at least five years ago. There’s a tin that my Aunt Kay gave me when I was maybe 9 or 10 years old. (it came with a puzzle inside; the puzzle did not survive my childhood, but the tin did). The Santa with his reindeer was a gift from Jon’s aunt the year we got married. Many of the ornaments on the tree date back 10-15 years, some longer.
And I realize that the things I get the most satisfaction from are the ones that have been around the longest, that I pull out year after year. I absolutely love taking out my creche and setting up my little wire “tree” and seeing my old friends emerge from the tissue paper. I even love putting it all away when Christmas is over, wrapping each item carefully and looking forward to seeing them all again. To me, one of the coziest parts of Christmas is seeing the same, familiar old decorations around the house and knowing that no matter how much things change, our Christmas decor looks pretty much the same year after year.
I still enjoy and want to continue the tradition of buying one new ornament a year for each child, but when I really think about it, I get by far the most enjoyment from the things that have been constant from year to year. They may fall out of fashion or chip, come unglued or lose pieces, but I still plan on hauling them out year after year. When it comes to holiday decorations, I just really love my old stuff.
And that’s a good thing to keep in mind when I’m looking for an excuse to stay away from yet another display of new holiday tablecloths and runners.
Some of my favorite old ornaments are ones your mom made years ago. I love the memories that are attached to all my ornaments. They all seem to hold special little stories. Having kids collect their own unique ornaments is a great idea. We always had our own box of ornaments and every year as a child the most exciting part was opening up that box and getting to hang “our ornaments.” Matt just came and picked up his box from mom’s this weekend.
Hey Carolyn,
I would love to see those ornaments sometime. Chances are that I ‘helped’ (I use that term loosely) her make them. Is there perchance a mouse peeking out of a stocking?
Somehow, the sibs and I seem to have lost a bunch of Mom’s Christmas stuff through our multiple moves, which was devastating to me–I loved her stuff best.
Nice post! I agree — the continuity of holiday traditions is what makes them, well, traditions. When I was editor of a travel magazine, I collected ornaments from places I’d covered all over the U.S. (I wrote the names of the places on the backs of the ornaments, so I’d always remember where they came from.) Getting them out every year is a wonderful way to revisit those places in my mind. And when my son was born, many of my shower gifts were tree ornaments, some printed with my son’s name and birth date. I treasure all of those ornaments, and what they represent.
When I was growing up my grandparents would buy us a new ornament every year..Imagine doing that for 6 grandkids!! When I was 17 I got married and moved to Missouri, That Christmas my grandmother shipped off all of my ornaments and a new one too! I loved those ornaments. They were the most special things in the world to me. There were some that were just cheap dollar store type with my name written in Sharpie on the bottom, and there is one that is so elaborate that it makes me giggle with glee when I see it. When I turned 24 my ex husband and I divorced…He destroyed all but one of them (the elaborate one happened to have a piece broke off so I had put it in a box and stashed it away in the thought that I was going to fix it then pack it back with the Christmas stuff) Here it is five years later. I cried two years ago when I purchased a tree and realized I had absolutely no ornaments to put on it. My best friends from Texas were thoughtful enough to actually purchase a bunch of them and send them to me for Christmas of 05…My first Christmas alone. This year when my new step children and I were putting up the tree (I’ve been married for over two years, we just didn’t put up a tree the last two years) I cried for an hour because I love these new ornaments just as much….That’s not to say I don’t want to punch my ex in the mouth for what he did to the other ones. But these new ones are so special. So I think your son’s will love them hopefully as much as my twin sister, brother and cousins all do.
A mouse peeking out a stocking sounds familiar, it might be one that my mom has on her tree? My favs are the ceramic mouse sleeping in a mail box and puff ball mouse peeking out of a plastic and yarn box. I’ll take pics of the ones I have and send you when I think of it. I’ll mention it too my mom too. Maybe she has some extras. I still have my original stocking too that she made.
I agree, it’s the memories that are attached that make them special. Of course your boys may one day look at the ornaments you bought together and remember the holiday shopping trips. Don’t forget you are still making their future memories(so you can splurge a little!). Will you have a special pregnancy ornament for the tree for this year? If you can’t find one you ought to make one. I wish my daughter’s school made ornaments with the kids-my school did that when I was in elementary school. Those are more special than the store bought ones. Anyone else frustrated that most ornaments today are so heavy that it’s difficult to find a tree branch that will hold them?
I forgot to add that I did a scrapbook page on my favorite ornament, the one I look forward to putting on the tree every year. It’s a material star with a face, and it was a present from my kindergarten teacher. She was a really nice lady and I loved that it was from her and was so cute. Since I made the scrapbook page about it, my kids will know why it was so special to me, and it’s history won’t be lost and can be passed on….hopefully long after I’m gone it will be adding good memories for family members.
I am the same way! I have little treasures that were given to me when I was first married or that I collected as I grew up. It’s still fun to update, but those old favorites are still the foundation!
Steph
wish I saw this before. what a neat idea. I will certainly start this tradition next year. I think I have been too too low key the past few years.