Here for Traditions
I love routines and predictability. To say change is tough for me is an understatement. I take it personally when Instagram unveils a new layout. So, you can imagine what a treat this year has been for someone like me. Everything changing all the time. No routines in sight.
“We needed to be able to count on what we always do. we needed tradition.”
#amyshereforthis
At the beginning of November, I noticed posts on social media showing off Christmas decor. Many people said they needed the Christmas cheer and cozy twinkle lights earlier this year. I get that. I’m not here to tell you when to decorate for Christmas because that seems to be a controversial topic and as a rule I try to avoid controversy when I can because it makes my palms sweat. Anyway, I bring up the early decorating because I considered it for my house. I wondered if we should go ahead and put the tree up in early November instead of our usual day-after-Thanksgiving plan. We needed the cheer, sure, but I realized something we needed even more than that: predictability. We needed to be able to count on what we always do.
We needed tradition.
“Traditions bring us comfort, remind us of times gone by, and ground us in the things we love with the people we love.”
#amyshereforthis
I think we all need traditions right now. In a year that has upturned almost every routine and plan we had, we need something predictable. Something to rely on. Traditions bring us comfort, remind us of times gone by, and ground us in the things we love with the people we love.
My husband and I have visited Candy Cane Lane in St. Louis Hills every year of our relationship. Dating, engaged, married, toting small children. All of it. This year will be our tenth year enjoying the lights on that little street.
There was one year early in our relationship when we argued because we couldn’t find Candy Cane Lane and--in the years before iPhones--had no way to look up directions. There was another year--2014 I think-- when our nephew stayed with us for the weekend. We drove through Candy Cane Lane then took him to Ted Drewes for chocolate custard that he would later barf all over our couch. Our visit 5 years ago was marked by our impending parenthood, my pregnant belly round as a snow globe. Three years ago, our daughter was in a very intense Frosty phase, so the entire walk down Candy Cane Lane was peppered with her shouts over snowman sightings. Last year, my son Oliver was 19 months old with a broken leg, but Candy Cane Lane offered its same twinkly magic from the comfort of the stroller.
“these traditions are a yardstick, a way to remember our growth.”
#amyshereforthis
This tradition, along with other Christmas favorites like Anheuser-Busch Brewery Lights, Garden Glow at the Botanical Garden, and viewings of our favorite holiday movies while snuggled on the couch make each Christmas season special. We aren’t bored with the routine of these events, we revel in the ways they remind us to look back while at the same time firmly planting our feet in the right now. Like the marks I make in a door frame to measure my kids’ height through the years, these traditions are a yardstick, a way to remember our growth. We remember how different we were when we did them last year or the year before.
With a scaled-down Christmas season, 2020 might be the year for starting new traditions too. My family has been taking evening walks through our neighborhood, Tower Grove South, to look at all the decorated homes after dark. In years filled with parties and events, we’ve never taken time for this many nighttime strolls before. I hope it’s a tradition we keep around.
What traditions can you depend on in this topsy-turvy year? Are there new ones you’re building right now? Whatever your holiday season looks like, I hope you can find comfort and predictability in traditions you love.
Be well and merry Christmas!
