Family traditions

I made brief mention in my last post of family traditions that I like during the Christmas season. My favorite is our stockings. I would take a picture and show you (and I still may at some point), but the wire to connect the camera to the computer has been packed and is currently in no-man's land.

The tradition is simple. Each member of the family has an inexpensive stocking. Each year we sew something on the stocking that we feel represents the year. My wife and I started this tradition the first Christmas we were married and it's fun to see the space on the stocking changing from plain red to a variety of symbols that represent our lives.

My stocking has several symbols of college (because that has been a big part of my life for several years). I think my favorite symbol is the slug that I put on in 2005. The slug was the symbol from my first real attempt at gardening. I was living on the Oregon coast and we had a SERIOUS slug problem. I would go out every morning with a spray bottle full of ammonia and shoot the slugs. I counted on an typical morning and I shot well over 100 slugs with ammonia (ammonia kills slugs like salt, but it is better for the garden than salt). I also tried containers of beer to drown the slugs (it works, but yeast and water work just as well). Enough about slugs. To make the symbol, I cut a slug out of a piece of fabric (not an easy task). Most of the time we just find a picture on an old t-shirt or something so it takes minimal artistic ability, but in 2005 I cut the slug from an old shirt that my grandfather had given me because that was the year that he passed away. No, I do not associate my grandfather with slugs, but I truly enjoy the memories of my Christmas stocking.

This year I put a bike gear on my stocking. It was a simple iron-on decal that I ironed onto a toilet cloth (as a symbol of the importance of the environment in my life and my efforts to take action).

My wife sewed on a walking stick because she had some back problems and got around with this old nasty walking stick for some time this year. We called the stick a 'Nancy stick' in fond memory of a neighbor in our last house.

The mugwump (5 year old son) sewed on a plus sign because he started school and he enjoys math. Actually I think he enjoys reading and history more, but we already have a book on there from last year.

Six-Pence (3 year old) decided to have a puzzle piece sewn onto his stocking because he loves to do puzzles. I don't know that puzzles are the most monumental thing in this 3-year old's life, but that is what he wanted to put on there, so we did.

Jaguar (the 10 month old) obviously didn't have much say in what went on his stocking, but we decided to put a musical note because when music starts, he really likes to dance. Of my three sons, the youngest has by far the best rhythm.

So what are your favorite holiday traditions?

Children's Museum

We went up to the Children's Museum in Salt Lake last week. It was interesting. I love going and watching kids play and interact. I also like watching the parents and how they interact with their children. I learn a lot and try to find things that I can do better and things that I never want to do.

We'll start with the things that I never want to do. OK, what this really comes down to is a disdain for portable electronic devices. Lets start with cell phones. Dads were particularly guilty on this one. If you are going to take your kid to the Children's Museum, spend time with your kid. Take the obnoxious blue glowing growth out of your head and interact with your kid. Leave the cell phone in the car, is there really that much that is as important as spending time with your children? Of course if you're a doctor on call, it would be appropriate to have your cell phone, but the conversations I overheard were not medical emergencies. I fear that some fathers think that spending money to get their kids into the Children's Museum is their exhibition of love. I'll give you a hint, it's not the money, it's the time and interaction. While the Children's Museum offers some unique opportunities for interaction and exploration, entrance is only the monetary fee for a positive relationship.

I'm done bashing cell phones... Well almost. My next annoyance was digital cameras, which are often built into a cell phone for your convenience. I have nothing against recording images with a digital camera, but let the kids play! I don't know how many parents I saw rushing their kids around to each exhibit so that they could get a picture of their child posing (pretending to play, but looking at the camera), just to be pulled to the next exhibit to "play". Of course I recognize in this modern age that if there was no picture taken of an event, it never really happened (excuse the sarcasm). Why did you pay to go to the Children's Museum, to let your kid play, learn and have fun, or to get a different back drop for pictures? Just because I didn't like the people posing their children and moving them, doesn't mean that I'm against pictures, see, I even took a couple myself.

So here's the top of Six-Pence's head while he's playing with dominoes at the Children's Museum.

This is the Mugwump building a castle out of giant Legos. Notice the great view I got of the top of his head. No balding yet. Oh, and the giant Legos were really cool, just PLEASE don't get us any, could you imagine trying to store those things?

So what are you supposed to do at the Children's Museum? Here's my opinion... not that I'm opinionated. While I may have led you astray with my comments on cell phones, I don't think that you have to constantly play with your kids at the Children's Museum, especially if you play with them at home. You just have to be available to play. I like to let the kids run free and just follow them and watch how they interact. Often they will come interact with me and then I get a chance to play, but if they want to play with other children, that is fine as well. This works great for the next month, and then we'll have three kids. So how does that work if there are two parents and three kids? Anyway, I think that parents being available to their children is hugely important.

As I was getting the pictures from the Children's Museum, I found some others from a topic that I forgot to write about. Christmas. It was great, thanks to everyone who got us stuff, we appreciate it. This was a wonderful year because we didn't get any electric junk or commercialized toy stuff. I don't mind toys, but when the toys are all based on TV shows or movies, suddenly the toys are no longer imaginative, they are a marketing ploy. Anyway, we didn't get any and we're thankful for that. Here are a few pics.

That is Six-Pence dressed up as a frog. The boys love imagination and dressing up as things. Grammie did a WONDERFUL job making costumes for the boys, they are beautifully made and the boys love them. The only problem is that big brother steals the eye balls of from the frog and then makes the frog close his eyes and run around blind. Grammie is really smart, she sent four spare eyeballs in case some get lost.

The Mugwump can now dress up like a cowboy. While he loves the shirt, vest and chaps, we find him wearing the boots all over the place.

Look at this, both boys are looking toward the camera and one of them is even smiling. These pictures are rare. You can also see the truck that carries toy cars. The boys love that as well. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

My favorite Holiday

I think I may have blogged about this last year, but I'm going to do it again because I enjoy the subject. I'm not especially a fan of Christmas. Santa, trees, gifts, lights, and way too much junk food; it just doesn't do anything for me. Oh, and the holiday was supposed to be about Jesus and doing good for one another.

Actually I'll be honest, this is the first year since I was a young child that I've really been looking forward to Christmas. The reason that I'm excited for Christmas this year is the traditions that we've started as a family. Today we spent time making ornaments to take to the local nursing home Christmas morning so that we can spend some time with those who often struggle through the holiday season. We also left our Thanksgiving tree up longer this year so that we can keep in mind those things that we are thankful for, and make leaves for them and tape them to the tree. When we take down that tree, I'll make a list of things that made it on the tree.

So the real reason that I'm excited about Christmas this year is that I don't care if there are any presents under the tree. In years past I have either worried about what I might get or that I might have gotten something else something that they don't like or whatever. This year I purchased very few gifts. Two to be precise. I bought the Mugwump wood and hardware so that we can build a bird house together and I bought my wife a couple of things that she wanted (I won't write it here because she can read). We didn't buy Sixpence anything because he's got plenty and he won't notice the difference. We didn't get our parents or grandparents anything because it would put us in a difficult situation financially and the only ideas that we had for gifts were just clutter. We would have purchased stuff that they didn't really need, they might have used, but most likely would have ended up as trash in the near future. We are trying hard to stand up against that, so we didn't buy anything for a lot of people. That is hard, because when I was growing up gifts were a way of showing love. We most certainly love our family, but we are trying to disconnect the idea of gifts and love. If suddenly tomorrow there were not a single gift under the tree, it would in no way influence my family's ability to celebrate Christmas. We're glad they are there and we appreciate others' generosity, but we would still have the spirit of Christmas without them.

Oh, I was going to write about my favorite holiday. OK, I don't know that it is really a holiday, but I really like the Winter Solstice. I think there is a reason that Christmas is on December 25, just after the Winter Solstice every year. I think that the real reason for Christmas is a celebration of light. Now in the Northern hemisphere the days are pretty short, but night is getting long! Jesus was the light of the world, he brought to this world light and hope for things to come, even for those of us in the darkest of despair. The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year and a changing of trends. Starting now, every day will be a little longer, allowing plants a new opportunity for life that will feed animals and allow them to prepare to produce new life. Whether a religious holiday or simply from a perspective of the seasonal changes, this is a wonderful time for hope and renewal.

As the earth brings forth new opportunities I look forward to opportunities to make changes in my life. This year I'm going to make some changes in the garden to try and grow several new foods. I hope to use planter boxes to extend my growing season. I hope to plant some of the cold tolerant plants from early spring all the way to late fall to see how long we can have fresh vegetables available to us. I want to take advantage of the light given to me. Of course there are also opportunities for personal and spiritual growth that I will be making so that I can better know Jesus and help His children have joy and light in their life.

Merry Christmas to all (Boy, that's cliche')