Written By: Carolynn Carriger
Growing up, Christmas was magical to me. I loved the music, the decorations, the toys, and (when we lived up north) the snow.
It was probably my favorite holiday.
Until it wasn’t.
When I was about 12, I couldn’t feel that same magic and excitement. It felt like another blah day. And that made me sad - I just wanted the magic I’d always felt.
It took me a long time to figure it out. See, we always did the same things on Christmas. We always went to my dad’s parents. We always ate the same food. We always saw the same people.
Some would say it was a lovely tradition. And it was, but I didn’t like some of our traditional activities anyway, let alone repeating them each year. (We were one of those families that had a jello mold dessert which I actively avoided.)
And then a few years ago, while watching The Holiday, I wondered why it was that we couldn’t have pasta with our holiday meal. Every time they talked about their “Christmas fettuccine” on screen, I was jealous. Most of my family loves pasta, so I asked my mom (our holiday planner) if we could add it to the menu. She didn’t mind, so that year, we had pasta.
It was such a small thing, but it made me realize – we were so busy following traditions that we forgot to ask what we actually wanted. Or maybe it was just me forgetting to say what I wanted.
So now, I think more about what I want, and if it’s something traditional, that’s fine. But if I want something different, that’s fine too.
And honestly, trying something different is so much fun – it’s kind of become my tradition.
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