Christmas Traditions

This time of year always gets me thinking of Christmases past as well as those I want to create in my own family's future. Tonight I wanted to tell you about one of our traditions and ask you to share one of your own with me.

I was born in Germany, where my Dad was serving in the Army. The year before I was born, my mother bought a Nativity set with her future children in mind. It is heavy plastic, but looks like the finest art. I mean it. You have never seen plastic so pretty. When my mother found this Nativity scene, she bought it immediately, even though it was pretty steep for their meager budget. She had Momma-dreams for this purchase. Mom wanted a Nativity that her children and grandchildren could enjoy. Could play with. Could use to retell the Christmas story.

We did. Oh, how we did. We loved it so much that my younger brother and I actually had to take turns setting up the "official" version each year. When it was Brett's turn to set it up, I would sneak in and change it just a smidgen to see how long it would take for him to notice. He would do the same to me. But, I think, not as often. Oh how we loved that thing! Still do. In fact, Sloane plays with it now, and Brett and I get fussed at for rearranging her design.

When I was about 19 I began to think of marriage and children. Not all the time, but always at Christmas. I wanted to be well-stocked when the day came that I had my own traditions to create. I began my own quest for a plastic Nativity that was beautiful and not fragile. I looked for years before I finally found it. It's been about fifteen years since then, and Fontanini Nativity scenes have become collectibles. I don't care for that aspect of it, but I do love my Nativity scene. Sloane plays with it in the same way Brett and I did. My favorite part is that every Christmas Eve she acts out the Christmas story for our family, with more and more elaborate scripts each year. I love it!

What Christmas traditions and decorations do you cherish?



I don't have a good picture of my mother's nativity set, but I'll try to take one this year to share with you. The picture above was found here, and will give you a good idea of what Fontanini looks like. Of course,our set is not nearly so fantastic. The inspiration for this post came from here.